Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Former Aberdeen midfielder David Rowson hoping for a new-look SPFL

David Rowson in his Aberdeen days.
David Rowson in his Aberdeen days.

Former Aberdeen midfielder David Rowson hopes a fresh and vibrant Scottish game can emerge from the ashes of the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision to end the season early has led to champions being crowned and clubs being relegated before the matches were completed.

Navigating a way out of the mess while inflicting the least possible damage on member clubs has become the top priority of the SPFL.

Former Don Rowson, who retired in 2013, is a now a financial adviser in Glasgow and he is acutely aware of the financial implications facing all clubs as they prepare for the new normal of playing in front of empty stadiums for the foreseeable future.

But he hopes clubs can find a way to build a new structure which will breathe new life into Scottish football.

He said: “I feel for everybody involved. The word unprecedented has been used too often, but I feel for the people who had to make the decision on wrapping the league up early, the people running the clubs and the players.

“It has been 12 weeks of hell for them, but hopefully everybody comes out of it with a fresh view on things and we can catapult Scottish football forward.

“I’ve been in favour of an expanded top flight since my playing days and it hasn’t changed since I retired. The view of the players was that they were becoming bored of playing the same clubs week in, week out.

Rowson scoring against Kilmarnock.

“That’s another decision for the powers that be. TV money dictates how it goes forward because the TV want the four Old Firm games a year. That’s the biggest pull so it is difficult balancing the finances against a fresh look at Scottish football.

“We are guilty of being stuck in a certain way and that is maybe dictated somewhat by the big two clubs. The finances of the rest of the clubs, who need the income of the games against them, makes it a balancing act of where we go from here.

“Can we afford to do it? Even the bigger clubs are struggling. Aberdeen have needed cash injections so that shows you how difficult it is for everyone.”

The SPFL has agreed a deal with Sky to show Premiership matches next season to locked out fans by way of a virtual season ticket and that will be one crumb of comfort for the 6,500 Aberdeen fans who have bought season tickets for games they will not be attending in person for the rest of 2020.

It has been a baptism of fire for new Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack, who replaced Stewart Milne in December, but Rowson is optimistic his old club can continue to challenge at the top of the table once the restrictions put in place due to the virus have been lifted.

He said: “It is a big expense if this continues on. If we have a resurgence of the virus does that mean fans won’t be able to get back for a good number of months? We just don’t know.

David Rowson in action for Aberdeen FC’s former players’ team in a charity game.

“People around the club will have a better idea of the finances than, me but under Stewart Milne’s stewardship it has been well managed and I would like to think that continues.

“I would hope the tie-up with American finances helps Aberdeen and I would love to see them up there challenging Celtic and Rangers next year.

“They’ve done a brilliant job the last few years and I’d like to see it continue.”