CELTIC chairman John Reid has called for clarification on rules surrounding fixture scheduling ahead of the kick-off to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season.
The end to last season's title race, in which the Parkhead side pipped Rangers to win their third championship in a row, was mired in some controversy due to the Ibrox club's fixture backlog caused in part by Walter Smith's side reaching the UEFA Cup
final.
Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell had claimed an extension to the season would bring in to question the "integrity" of the SPL while his Ibrox counterpart Martin Bain complained that not enough had been done to help the Govan club.
The SPL Strategy Conference at Dalmahoy on 30 June discussed the issue and it was agreed that a working party would be set up to look at the issue in more detail.
Reid welcomed positive dialogue with other SPL clubs about fixture scheduling and reiterated the club's position on the issue.
"Celtic Football Club fully understands and supports in principle the requirement to have flexibility in relation to fixture scheduling," he told www.celticfc.net.
"We would back any measure to achieve this objective. However, it is clear and only common sense that such an approach should, in the interests of clarity and fairness, be one which is pre-determined at the beginning of the season and understood and agreed by all clubs.
"As a club we have encouraged debate on this issue for some time and we will continue to work with all other parties in the Scottish game to ensure that agreement on this matter can be reached.
"Football supporters are the lifeblood of the game and these supporters of all clubs who travel great distances to matches and make a substantial financial commitment to our game deserve a structured approach to fixture scheduling, accepting clearly the need to accommodate any television changes.
"It is the fans who make the game what it is and it is important that they are given paramount consideration with regards to this issue.
"Ad hoc changes to fixtures and the consequences of these decisions impact heavily on supporters – these supporters can only benefit from a more focused approach."
Reid also called for the re-introduction of the winter break, another issue on the agenda at Dalmahoy.
He said: "For some time, Celtic has also supported the re-introduction of the SPL winter break, something which we feel would be of great benefit to the quality of the game in Scotland."
The full article contains 427 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
