Aberdeen defender Ash Taylor believes a Scottish Cup semi-final in an empty Hampden would be meaningless.
With Scottish football’s shutdown showing no signs of ending anytime soon clubs in the Premiership are waiting to discover whether their season will be played to a conclusion.
The Dons are also in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup but Taylor insists no player will want to play a cup semi-final if their supporters are not present.
He said: “Football without fans is nothing really. You need the fans there. With my experience going to Hampden with the Aberdeen fans there is fantastic.
“It will be nothing without that and it will be a nothing game in a sense with no fans there. You need the fans there and if we need to wait a bit longer to play it then so be it.”
The Scottish football shutdown has led to players being given an early close-season break and Taylor has called on the authorities to do more to ensure players are kept informed of what the future holds.
He said: “What will be will be but it has been a bit of a mess.
“As players, we just want clarity and to know what is going on so we can prepare physically and mentally for the rest of the season or you can get yourself shutdown and ready for the following season and then to kick on.
“It has just been disappointing we haven’t got the clarity and we need it as soon as we can.
“The timescale and when we are looking to get back up and running it will be very difficult especially with the next season being so close.
“It is going to be very challenging to get the season finished which would be disappointing but hopefully we can get that semi-final we really wanted to play and then try to get to the final.”
League reconstruction has become the pressing priority during the shutdown as the SPFL tries to mitigate the fallout of an early finish and Taylor would back moves to increase the Premiership.
He said: “I am welcome to it. At this moment in time with the situation we are in and with the way things are going in the season I find it is probably the best decision to try and get on with it in terms of reconstruction.
“It will probably be best for all parties, nobody gets relegated and Celtic win the league.
“It would be pleasing to everybody and it would be more beneficial to the league to have more teams in it and to play everyone a bit less. I think it would be good for the league itself.”
