THE SPL today confirmed they had paid the final instalment of fees for last season to their member clubs.

THE SPL today confirmed they had paid the final instalment of fees for last season to their member clubs.

The payments, totalling £800,000, mean more than £18million has been paid to clubs participating in last term's SPL, a record payout since the league's inception in 1998.

The Old Firm clubs were the biggest winners in the handouts with Celtic banking £3.06 million (a 17 per cent slice of the total) and Rangers collecting £2.7 million (15 per cent).

Motherwell, who qualified for the Uefa Cup for the first time in 13 years under new boss Mark McGhee, pocketed £1.71 million for finishing in third place.

Gretna, who went bust at the end of an ill-fated 2007/08 campaign, received a total of £800,000 which was paid before they went out of existence to help them complete their fixtures.

An annual support payment of around £1.7 million was also paid to the SFL last season.

That meant that £375,000 worth of parachute payments were also made to recently relegated clubs.

SPL company secretary Iain Blair said: "We achieved a record turnover last season and paid record fees to our member clubs. The current climate is challenging, but thankfully we are in good shape with turnover likely to increase even further this season."

SPL CASH

Celtic £3.06m
Rangers £2.7m
Motherwell £1.71m
Aberdeen £1.53m
Dundee Utd £1.44m
Hibs £1.35m
Falkirk £1.26m
Hearts £1.17m
Inverness CT £1.08m
St Mirren £990k
Kilmarnock £900k
Gretna £810k