Rangers try to have five clubs expelled from the league

[Gorgiewave]

I read the following on wikipedia:

"1964: Summer of this year sees Rangers reveal a plan to remove the Warriors from the league, along with four other clubs.

1968: Stenhousemuir (along with Albion Rovers, Berwick Rangers, Brechin City and Stranraer) win perhaps their greatest ever victory, with the help of local solicitor Robert Turpie, and guile of long serving secretary Jim Weir, finally defeating the Rangers plan after four hard years."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenhousemuir_F.C.

Can anybody tell the story of why Rangers tried to have these clubs expelled from the league?

[LEATHERSTOCKING]

They wanted the league reduced to two divisions of 16 clubs.

[GMartin]

Why these teams ?

[Scottish]

They were the poorest attended over an average of the previous three seasons.

[Gorgiewave]

They wanted the league reduced to two divisions of 16 clubs.

And, in turn, why did they want that? Were they supported in this by any other club and did it have any relationship with reconstruction a few years later?

[Scottish]

It's probably too long to relate here but Bob Crampsey covers it in his centenary history of the Scottish League. There's a newspaper extract on London Hearts

But, yes, Rangers did have support and it must have been considerable as a two-thirds majority (25 clubs at that time) was needed to effect the change. However, they didn't have the support of Celtic and that was crucial.

This didn't have any direct effect on the reconstruction of 1975. League reconstruction is a never-ending debate in Scottish football.

What did happen was the the SFL itself proposed a 14-12-12 set-up for 1965-66, based not on merit, but on attendances over the past three seasons.

This never got off the ground.