Brechin City chairman Ken Ferguson says the club is planning for the Highland League after their relegation from League Two was confirmed.
City went down 1-0 at home Kelty Hearts in the second leg of their pyramid play-off this afternoon, which resulted in a 3-1 aggregate defeat to the Fife outfit.
There remains uncertainty over which division Brechin will fall into, with the Angus outfit falling into the Highland League boundary.
It has previously been suggested the club would instead favour a move into the Lowland League, however.
Speaking to BBC’s Sportsound programme following the defeat, Ferguson says a move to the Highland League is the scenario he is expecting.
Ferguson said: “The rules are that we go to the Highland League. That’s how the rules are placed at the moment and that’s what we have got to assume will happen.
“There are going to be some very serious discussions going on at the club in the coming days.
“At this moment in time, the rules are we will go into the Highland League.”
Brechin’s defeat ends their 67-year stay in the Scottish leagues, continuing a slide which started with their relegation from the Championship in 2018.
Kelty, who defeated Highland League champions Brora Rangers 6-1 on aggregate in the semi-final, will now take their place in the SPFL for the first time.
Ferguson spoke of his sadness at the outcome, adding: “It’s obviously a very sad day. I’d like to congratulate Kelty on their promotion, it’s a great achievement for the club. I’m sure they will enjoy themselves in League Two.
“For ourselves, I’m extremely disappointed and it’s a very sad end to what has been a poor season after all.
“It’s just a feeling of sadness at this moment in time.
“We have got a proud history. It’s only a few years ago that we were in the Championship. We just weren’t able to stop that slide, it just carried on.
“It was 1906 the club was formed. We have had a lot of good years, we don’t want to focus too much on this.
“There have been a lot of enjoyable times. We got 250 fans in today, which was the first time they have seen this team.”