Buckie Thistle boss Graeme Stewart is devastated his players don’t have the chance to win promotion to the SPFL.
The Jags were meant to be taking on East Kilbride at K Park tomorrow in the first leg of the pyramid play-off semi-final.
However, on Thursday, the Breedon Highland League champions were deemed ineligible to compete for promotion having not been able to obtain a bronze club license from the Scottish FA.
A stipulation for clubs competing in the play-offs is they meet the SPFL’s membership criteria, which includes having a bronze licence.
Having received derogations from the SFA, Buckie thought they were set to be able to participate in the play-offs.
‘The biggest achievement of our careers’
To win the Highland League, Stewart and his players overcame a gruelling fixture backlog, which included playing their final six fixtures in a 13-day period.
Stewart said: “I’m devastated, especially for the players with the amount of games they played and what they put themselves through.
“At points we were running on empty and the players put in so much to win the league.
“For all of us, I think it’s the biggest achievement of our careers.
“They deserved the opportunity to go and fight for promotion in the play-offs.
“I’m absolutely devastated for them because as a squad I know how keen they were to show how good they were in these games and how keen they were to get promotion.
“A lot of the boys in our team feel they should be playing at a higher level and I agree with them.
“I’m absolutely gutted for them, and from speaking to them, it’s clear how disappointed they are.”
Stewart fancied chances in play-off
Stewart has been left with a case of wondering what might have been in the play-offs and admits he was upbeat about their chances of getting past Lowland League champions East Kilbride.
He added: “We might not have beaten East Kilbride, but if we’d had the opportunity and been beaten then I’d have had no complaints.
“But I was confident we could beat East Kilbride and get through, I was planning for us playing for another four weeks.
“This has happened and it ends the whole season on a downer. Unfortunately it’s happened and there’s nothing we can do about it.
“I can’t really comment fully on the administration elements of it, but for the players and management team it’s not the way we wanted the season to finish.
“As a club, we’ll have to learn from it and move on.”
Jags consider next steps
Buckie Thistle released a statement this afternoon saying they were continuing to investigate the matter, attaching an image of correspondence from the Scottish FA which said a decision on the club’s bronze licence would be deferred until May 15.
It read: “The club is endeavouring to get to the bottom of the decision to remove us from this weekend’s play-off semi final against East Kilbride FC.
“Club officials attended meetings and had discussions with both the SPFL and SFA on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but no indication was given at any point that Saturday’s fixture was in doubt.
“Attached is a screenshot from the Decision Note issued by the SFA, which clearly states a decision on the Bronze Licence is deferred until May 15. Buckie Thistle were awarded derogations on 3 of the items mentioned, and given until 15th May to resolve the Medical items.
“After further discussions with the SFA this morning, we are now looking into the possibility of taking this to arbitration, as per Article 99 of the SFA handbook.
“Further updates will be provided in due course.”
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