RANGERS chief Charles Green today begged the SPL not to dump the club out of Scottish football's top flight for the first time in 122 years.

The embattled Ibrox chief executive delivered his last-minute plea during a crisis summit of all 12 SPL chairmen at Hampden this morning.

The clubs met to vote on whether to refuse the newco Rangers a place at the game's top table. Green arrived for the crunch meeting in a car driven by manager Ally McCoist.

But the talks were plunged into uncertainty this morning when it emerged that a final vote might be delayed yet again – plunging the game into even more chaos. And it came after SFL clubs yesterday refused to cave into pressure from the SFA and SPL to parachute Gers into the Irn-Bru First Division. And today, Partick Thistle slammed the door on any possibility of softening their stance over Rangers.

A club statement today said insisted there would be no U-turn as other SFL clubs played hardball, raising the nuclear option of Rangers newco starting again in the bottom tier of Scottish football.

Thistle said: "Arguably the most important meeting in the 122-year history of the Scottish Football League took place yesterday and was attended by a member of the PTFC Board.

"As a club we felt it was important that we entered this meeting with an open mind, taking full cognisance of all the facts, the opinion of our fans and free from prejudice and speculation.

"Unquestionably there are major financial consequences, for all clubs in Scotland, should a newco Rangers club not take a place in next season's SPL and there has been a proposal put in front of the SFL clubs that would allow Rangers direct entry into SFL1, contrary to the current league rules.

"On its own this proposal is clearly unacceptable, on a number of levels, and is something the Board of PTFC are not prepared to support.

"A more fundamental review of the entire Scottish football league(s) setup is clearly required.

"However, we feel that it is not the responsibility for making a decision, that will have huge ramifications throughout the game in this country, to fall on any individual member, or collection of clubs of the Scottish Football League.

"This is not a problem of the SFL's making and as a result it is not a decision which can be taken in isolation of SPL clubs.

"It is the opinion of Partick Thistle that the Scottish Football Association, the game's governing body in Scotland, should now take ownership of this unprece- dented situation.

"Our view, shared by the majority of supporters, is that a radical overhaul of our game is required.

"We are more than happy to be involved in any such process, however feel that the driving force for change has to be our National Association."