QUEEN'S PARK officials, coaching team and players were stunned to hear that they were at home in the second leg of their Play-off Final against Clyde on the radio after silence from the SPFL over the fixture switch.
The Hampden side were due to face the Bully Wee on Wednesday at the National Stadium and then travel to Broadwood on the Saturday as the Cumbernauld side were entitled to be at home in the second meeting as they had finished in the higher position in League Two.
Clyde however cannot host the game due to a three day BMX event adjacent to Broadwood and, unbeknown to Queen’s, the SPFL announced that the order of the games as well as the date of the first meeting was changed.
The club’s General Manager Christine Wright said: “Clyde have put out a statement saying that knew this was a possibility since March. They have obviously told the SPFL and the SPFL have not had the courtesy to inform us or talk to us about the change or the possibility of a change.
“The first we learned about was when it came on the radio when everyone was travelling back from our game at Cowdenbeath. It is extremely disappointing that no-one spoke to Queen’s Park about this. I would imagine that if one of the Hibs and Falkirk ties was to be switched around then those clubs would not find out about it on the radio.
“The SPFL informed me when I called up to check what was happening that they sent an e-mail to the office of the club on Saturday afternoon. The fact that we were playing away from home and there was no-one in the office seems to have been missed by them. They do have various people at the club’s mobile phone number so a phone call could have been made.”
Clyde booked their place in the final with a 2-0 win at Elgin as they emerged victorious 5-1 on aggregate. Jordan Kirkpatrick and Scott Linton got the goals for Barry Ferguson's side at Borough Briggs to set up another two meetings with their fourth tier counterparts.
"We knew Elgin would come at us being two goals behind but we just had to try and play our own game," Linton said. "We were never going to try and just sit on our
lead. We're through now and I wanted Queen's Park in the final because we've not beaten them this season so we need to set the record straight."
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