IT took a full 15 hours of persistent persuasion for the Scottish Football League to finally clamber into bed with the Scottish Premier League late on Thursday evening, but they have found themselves sharing the one pillow.

That might make for a few troubled nights for both David Longmuir and Neil Doncaster, the organisations' respective chief executives, since there is only room for one head of the streamlined league body, and both men are to be considered for the role.

They were back at Hampden yesterday to share the duties of one chief executive; Longmuir and Doncaster attending the draw for the first round of the Ramsdens Cup, with the competition having been transferred from the auspices of the SFL during the formation of the shiny, new Scottish Professional Football League. A new board – on which Celtic's Eric Riley, Stephen Thompson of Dundee United and Duncan Fraser from Aberdeen, Les Gray of Hamilton Academical, Alloa Athletic's Mike Mulraney and Bill Darroch from Stenhousemuir comprise the club representatives – was also formed and its cardinal act of business will be to anoint a chief executive. Ralph Topping, chairman of the SPL, last night confirmed he will hold the same office for the SPFL.

Both Longmuir and Doncaster expect to be interviewed for the chief executive position "over the next 10 days or so" but neither were inclined to discuss their credentials openly. Indeed, amid the convivial atmosphere of a cup draw, both men sought to stifle their own intentions. "There will be a process in place in the next week or so and I will take part in that process," said Longmuir.

He was echoing the words of his erstwhile SPL colleague. "It's not a question of putting yourself forward. There are two chief executives and the new board will select one to be the chief executive of the new organisation. That is the process," added Doncaster.

It had been assumed that the formation of the SPFL would be just as routine, only for club representatives to drag it out long into the evening. The delay was considered to be due in part to the SFL board's dissatisfaction at a lack of detail on the financial aspects of the merger, although it is understood the SPL were not fully convinced of those reservations.

"The only way we could resolve that was insisting on dialogue," said Longmuir yesterday. "I insisted that both boards got together in a room and discuss the issues. And when you get football people in a room co-operating in a good spirit then you can achieve things.

"We were not satisfied with the amount of certainty we could have on certain aspects of the finances. But we got that. I am very positive about the future."

Any lingering financial concerns would likely be assuaged by the announcement of a sponsor for the league and Doncaster indicated that there is already dialogue with some interested parties. "We continue to speak to a number of different people," he said. "I would certainly believe it's a more attractive proposition, talking to one body for the whole professional game.

"The success of merging the organisations can only make the process easier. It makes the organisations more attractive to potential sponsors and broadcasters. We'll see what emerges."