Livingston go into administration

Chairman resigned
The Almondvale club joined Dundee FC and Motherwell FC in administration with debts of around €14.7m. Chairman Dominic Keane resigned in the wake of the club's bankers, HBOS, pulling the plug and the players and staff at the club now await judgement on the number of redundancies that will have to be made.

Cup final place
The crisis did not deter the team from defeating Dundee 1-0 in the Scottish League Cup semi-final last night. Derek Lilley's last-minute penalty fired Livingston into their first major cup final, just nine years after the club changed their name from Meadowbank Thistle FC and relocated to the new town of Livingston, ten miles outside Edinburgh.

Survival question
However, it remains to be seen if the club will survive until the final at Hampden Park on 14 March - where they will face either Rangers FC or Hibernian FC - or how many of the players will still be employed even if they do remain in existence.

'No avenue unexplored'
Keane said: "No avenue of opportunity was left unexplored and I did everything I could. I don't think there is a crime in being ambitious. I think we were a bright spark in the game when it needed it badly." Livingston rose from the third division to the SPL in six seasons and, in their first year in the top flight, finished third to qualify for the UEFA Cup.