Anxious times at Scots clubs

Ian McCall's departure came after only four months in charge

Morton chairman Hugh Scott says a decision will be taken in six weeks' time on whether the club will go part-time or close down.

Scott has been paying the players' wages out of his own pocket but told BBC Scotland that will not continue beyond the end of next month when most of the senior players will have to leave.

He insisted former manager Ian McCall's contract was not renewed primarily for financial reasons.

The decline of the shipyards and the football club are showing great similarities

Hugh Scott, Morton chairman

He compared the decline of Morton football club to that of the nearby shipyards.

Although the football season has finished, the Morton players have been ordered to turn up for training.

They have been told they will have only a two-week break in June, prompting the players' union to become involved.

Players' punishment

Tony Higgins of the union said he was seeking legal advice on the players' behalf given that it was normal practice to allow the players some time off to recuperate for the season ahead.

He added: "You could argue that by this imposition of training, the players are being punished for the club's present financial situation.

"But if the club are looking for a new owner, the one thing they'll want is happy players and this won't help the club at all."

Tony Higgins: Seeking legal advice

Mr Scott has been heavily criticised by Morton supporters who blame the club's downturn in fortunes on him.

Charlie Kavanagh of Morton Travel Association said: "Very few Morton fans are actually shareholders so Mr Scott holds all the aces at the moment.

"So if he wants to fold the club he can do that, but he'll be remembered in Scotland as the man that closed down Morton FC."

In supporters' hands

But Hugh Scott was adamant he does not want to close the club.

He said he had paid £500,000 of his own money to keep the club afloat over the last year, but that would not continue.

"If I wanted to close the club down, would I not have done it by now?" he added.

"I don't want to close Morton but it's in the hands of the paying public and the supporters' associations.

"If they say they're not coming next year, we cannot employ new players."

Hugh Scott: Attracted criticism

Regarding McCall, Mr Scott said: "He wasn't dismissed, he wasn't given a new contract."

With the threat of closure seemingly hanging over an increasing number of Scottish Football League clubs, Mr Scott emphasised the difficulty involved in keeping the club afloat.

"We won our first two games away from home at the beginning of the season at Falkirk and Dunfermline.

"We came home after winning those two games to a home support of 650 fans. There is not the support.

Fiscally responsible

"The decline of the shipyards and the football club are showing great similarities.

"The club won't go into liquidation. We have three options. We can sell the club, but so far, nobody has come forward with a bid, or we close the club, or we can keep it going.

"As a director of a limited company, you have to be fiscally responsible.

"That means you can only budget for the income you know is going to come in."

In recent times, Airdrie, Hamilton Academical, Clydebank, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers and Falkirk have been beset by financial problems which have threatened the very future of the clubs.

No Scottish league club has gone out of business since Third Lanark in 1967, but with the big business that is football catering more and more for the top clubs, the next casualty may come sooner rather than later.