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New period of instability for Scottish clubs

Supporters Direct Scotland report on clubs in trouble north of the border:

With two League One clubs in administration, the season just finished marked a new period of instability for Scottish football clubs after more than a decade without any insolvency events. There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for both Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Dumbarton, but following developments in recent weeks it seems that another may be in even deeper trouble.

In Inverness, agreement has been reached for Caley Thistle to exit administration after almost 8 months. Earlier this week, a Creditor’s Voluntary Agreement was reached with 100% support which should see the club begin the new season under the ownership of Alan Savage.

Meanwhile, we learned yesterday that an old name has returned to senior football in the north… Inverness Thistle, one of the two clubs who merged in the 1990s to form ICT and who re-formed last year, have been accepted as the 13th club in the North Caledonian League (at tier 6, one level below the Highland League). We wish them well for the coming campaign.

In Dumbarton, it was reported yesterday that the Sons will take an alternative route out of administration. A plan is in place that will see the existing company liquidated, and a newco (Dumbarton Football Club 1872 Ltd, wholly owned by Canadian businessman Mario Lapointe) has been formed with approval from the SPFL to compete in League Two next season.

As reported last week, we attended a lively meeting of the newly formed Accies Supporters Association. The future for Accies is precarious, with no certainty where they will call home next season. With the publication of the fixture list imminent it must raise the question of whether they will be able to compete at all. Time is fast running out, and we hope the club owners and stadium owners can set aside their differences to keep the club in the town, or if not that an agreement can be reached for the club to relocate in time for the new season.

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