St Mirren chairman John Needham has been hit with a GBP6,000 fine by the Scottish Football Association over tweets about Rangers fans.
The Saints supremo was charged with making “discriminatory or offensive” comments by the SFA compliance officer after historic tweets of his were highlighted ahead of St Mirren’s 2-1 defeat by Rangers in October.
Needham apologised after the match for his social media activity.
Writing on Twitter, he said: “On Friday 22 October a number of Tweets I created in the past referring to Rangers fans were highlighted on Twitter. As a club chairman I have extra responsibility for the conduct and example I show.
“These posts are completely inappropriate and do not reflect my character or beliefs as a person and I very much regret them.
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“I apologise unreservedly to the directors and fans of Rangers and to everyone at St Mirren. I am acutely aware of my responsibilities. This won’t happen again.”
However, at a hearing on Thursday he was fined GBP6,000, with GBP5,000 payable immediately and GBP1,000 suspended until the end of this season should there be a further breach of disciplinary rules 71, 73 or 77 in this time period.
Needham joined the Saints board in September 2020 and became chairman when the fans’ takeover was completed in July of this year.
Meanwhile, Livingston manager Davie Martindale’s hearing over a “misconduct” charge – initially set for December 2 – has been rescheduled for Thursday December 16.
Scottish Premiership games added to Sky live schedule
Two more Scottish Premiership games have been added to a Sky Sports’ live schedule for December and January which includes Old Firm and Edinburgh derbies.
A total of 10 matches in December and January will now be shown on Sky Sports – the only broadcaster to offer live coverage of the cinch Premiership – with Celtic’s trip to Hearts and Rangers’ visit to Ross County after the winter break the latest to be added.
Schedule highlights include the next meetings between Celtic and Rangers, and Hibernian and Hearts.