Hamilton docked nine more points after rule breach

Hamilton Academical have received an additional nine-point deduction following a Scottish Professional Football League disciplinary tribunal.

It follows the League 1 club’s failure to comply with the SPFL’s requirement for all clubs to successfully acquire a bronze-level Scottish FA club licence by 31 March.

Hamilton were relegated last season after receiving a 15-point penalty for a number of transgressions, including issues over the ownership of their stadium and player registration.

They left their hometown ground and moved to Broadwood Stadium, 15 miles away in Cumbernauld, this summer and were then issued a six-point penalty in October after paying trialists and fielding amateur players while under a transfer embargo.

Hamilton had been leading League 1 at the time and would be sitting second, five points behind leaders Inverness Caledonian Thistle, had they not been sanctioned.

The SPFL says Hamilton were “given multiple extensions to this date to comply” with the requirement to acquire a bronze licence.

“The club admitted breaching these rules following the award by the Scottish FA of an entry-level licence due to the club’s accounts being unaudited,” the league stated.

Last month, the SFA decided that neither owner Seref Zengin nor director Gerry were fit and proper to hold a position within Association Football and the latter failed in an appeal against that ruling last week.

The club expressed “its deep disappointment” that it was being forced “toward costly and protracted legal proceedings…at a time when the club is working tirelessly to stabilise its finances and protect its future”.

While Strain is concentrating his efforts on challenging his exclusion, he was replaced on the board by Jonny Towers, a senior executive at The Funding Globe Ltd, a company that provided emergency financial support on Friday.

That was required after the club was advised by majority shareholder Zengin that, despite previous assurances, player and staff wages would not be paid.