Livingston future in doubt
The future of Livingston is in jeopardy after the Lionheart consortium withdrew their offer to take over the debt-ridden club.
Livingston now face an uphill struggle to beat the SPL deadline of 31 May when clubs in administration will be deducted 10 points for next season.
A Lionheart spokesman said: "We can confirm that the offer has been withdrawn and the deal is off."
Irish tycoon Pearse Flynn was behind the proposed takeover move.
Livingston were plunged into administration in February after the bank withdrew support for former chairman Dominic Keane, with the club about £7m in debt.
Seven players were made redundant at the time and the club have just four contracted players for next season.
A spokesman for the club's administrators, Kroll, said: "It is naturally disappointing for this to happen when we felt we were so close to finalising a deal.
"Our main objective has always been to ensure the survival of Livingston FC, which remains our primary focus. "
Meanwhile, West Lothian Council said that they were disappointed with the role played by the Halifax Bank of Scotland - the club's main creditor.
Councillor Willie Dunn, Convener of the Enterprise and Development Committee, said: "After face to face meetings with the bank we believed that a resolution to this matter had been achieved.
"However, we received a fax this afternoon (Tuesday) asking the council to enter into agreements which we as a council believe to be inappropriate.
"One of the suggestions from the bank was that the council would buy back assets (the stadium) which it owns for £10m, which would allow the bank to write off debt which it had accrued.
"It has also been suggested that we dispose of up to 20 acres of residential land in favour of the bank's development partner without exposing it to a fair and open bids.
"We will not allow HBOS to hold the people of West Lothian to ransom and we will not allow public money to be used to underwrite questionable commercial decisions.
"We are now seeking an urgent meeting with Robin Cook MP, Bristow Muldoon MSP and the chief executive of HBOS, to seek an explanation of the bank's actions which could lead to the demise of Livingston FC."
However, it appears the proposals that have angered the council came from the Stadia Development Group, who own a 25% stake in Livingston Stadia Management Limited.
Stadia had gone into partnership with Livingston in an office and hotel development at the City Stadium.
The company, run by former Bank of Scotland managing director Gavin Masterton, released a statement saying: "SDG is disappointed to learn through the media that each of these options seems to have been rejected by the council."
Marvin Andrews, Derek Lilley, Lee Makel and Jon Paul McGovern are among the out of contract players that have already found new clubs.
