All Scottish Premiership clubs playing in European play-off round fixtures next season will be able to request the postponement of one specific league match following a new policy approved by the Scottish Professional Football League Board.
In a move designed to enhance their preparations for the tie, any clubs involved in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League play-off round will have the option to reschedule their domestic fixture on the weekend of August 23-24, which falls between the first and second legs.
An SPFL statement on Tuesday read: “The SPFL’s Competitions Working Group had been exploring how the league could best support clubs aiming to reach the league phase of UEFA competitions amid an extremely congested fixture calendar, due to the additional dates required for UEFA club competitions from this season.
“The Competitions Working Group – which includes a number of top-flight clubs – has now unanimously made a recommendation to the SPFL Board to introduce a policy allowing any club participating in a match in a UEFA club competition play-off round to apply to the SPFL for a postponement of its William Hill Premiership round-three match without the consent of its opponent.
“To date, any such postponement would have required the agreement of the opposing club and the league. The new policy, which has the support of the SPFL’s broadcast partners, has been approved by the SPFL Board for season 2025/26.”
Scotland are set to have five representatives in Europe next term, and all of them could feasibly be involved in a play-off round. This season, Hearts faced Viktoria Plzen in a Europa League play-off, while Kilmarnock met Copenhagen in a Conference League play-off. Both Scottish sides were defeated on aggregate.
SPFL chief operating officer Calum Beattie said: “We are understandably very keen to support our clubs in qualifying for the league phase of UEFA competitions.
“There are huge benefits in having our clubs in the latter stages of European football. Not only does it help Scotland’s UEFA coefficient ranking and the reputation of our league, but there are clear commercial benefits for the competing clubs, as well as important solidarity payments for our non-participating clubs.”
Next season, the Premiership winners will go into the Champions League in the play-off round, while the runners-up will enter qualifying round two.
The third-placed team will start in a Europa League play-off if the Scottish Cup is won by the Premiership winners, while there will be two further representatives in Europa League qualifying round two and Conference League qualifying round two.
