Partick Thistle have been deducted three points and fined 6,000 pounds by the Scottish Women's Premier League after paying players who were registered as amateurs last season. The penalty applies to the current campaign, and it has pushed a side that finished sixth last term down into the relegation conversation.
What the hearing found
The case was heard on Monday. The Glasgow club were found to have breached SWPL player rule 37 and competition rule E31.11, the first covering payments to amateur-registered players, the second relating to what the league described as submitting incorrect information about the certificate and undertaking document required as part of the membership criteria process. Half of the fine has been suspended until the end of the season.
Thistle had the right to appeal and chose not to use it. On their own website the club said they acknowledge and accept the verdict, describing the breach as the result of a failure of internal process that has since been addressed so it cannot happen again. They also confirmed they admitted the breach as soon as it was raised with them, and apologised to supporters for the mistake and its consequences.
Where it leaves the table
Three points is a heavy deduction in a ten-team division. Thistle drop from eighth to ninth, three points adrift of Spartans, with only bottom club Aberdeen below them and now just four points behind. For a club that finished sixth last season, the gap between where they expected to be and where they now sit has widened considerably through no result on the pitch.
A recurring problem in the women's game
Registration and payment rules exist partly because the line between amateur and professional status in women's football has been moving quickly, and clubs operating with small back-office teams have been caught by paperwork that was designed for a different era of the game. That context does not excuse the breach, and the SWPL has clearly decided a points penalty rather than a fine alone was the appropriate signal. What it does explain is why Thistle framed their statement around internal process rather than intent.
Case facts: Partick Thistle deducted three points and fined 6,000 pounds, half of it suspended until the end of the season, following a hearing on Monday. Breaches were of SWPL player rule 37 and competition rule E31.11. Thistle, sixth in the SWPL last season, now sit ninth of ten, three points behind Spartans and four ahead of bottom side Aberdeen.
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