AGREEMENT was finally reached yesterday between the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Premier League that will result in the start of next season's SPL being delayed by one week until August 15 in order to supply Scotland manager George Burley with six days' preparation for the country's World Cup qualifier in Norway on August 12.
And the horse-trading that has brought about this resolution means that the SFA have given the SPL the go-ahead to schedule league matches for the Scottish Cup semi-final weekend of April 11/12. However, unless there is Scottish involvement in Europe
an club competition quarter-finals – which would raise the possibility of no free midweeks between April 14 and the end of the league season on May 8 – the SFA expect that the cup semi-finals will revert to their preferred weekend slots. If that is the case, the understanding of the SFA is that the SPL card would then be played on one of the free midweeks.
Burley believes the SPL's decision could prove decisive in Scotland's bid to qualify for South Africa.
He said: "I'm absolutely delighted that an agreement has been reached. This gives me time to prepare the boys properly for the crucial match in Norway and means that the first game of the season – which is always played at 100 miles an hour – will not now take place a few days before we head to Oslo.
"My thanks to the SPL for finding a solution to this, which I know has not been easy. This gives us a real chance to take the country to the World Cup."
The SPL decided to grant Burley's wish despite being angered by the SFA's negotiating tactics, which included withdrawing a firm commitment to switch the cup semi-finals to midweek.
The SFA will now only move the fixtures if a Scottish team reaches the quarter-finals of a European competition. Should that not happen, it appears they would expect the SPL to squeeze in an additional round of midweek league matches sometime in April next year.
That will not please the SPL, who are extremely concerned about fixture congestion in a season already shortened by next year's World Cup finals. The SPL said in a statement:
"The SFA told us yesterday (Friday) that they would meet our request (for a firm commitment to move the Scottish Cup semi-finals to a midweek]. But, subsequently, this commitment was withdrawn.
"The SPL board… were deeply disappointed at the SFA's unwillingness to provide the commitment sought. But, given the board's wish to meet the Scotland team manager's request for a free weekend on August 8, they decided the season would now start on August 15."
