It was a gathering that would, it was hoped, instil some faith in those who govern the upper echelons of our beloved national game. Incredibly, but perhaps inevitably, the decisions reached by the SPL clubs, have done exactly the opposite.
The fate that awaits the Ibrox club if, as remains a very real possibility, it goes into liquidation and has to start up again as a newco, is no clearer today. As a consequence, what little trust supporters in this country had left in those charged with running top flight football dissolved even further.
Every Scottish football fan – no matter who he or she followed – waited with interest for word from Hampden yesterday. Having adjourned two previous meetings on changes to financial fair play rules in recent weeks, an outcome was, finally, at long last, imminent.
When the announcement came, however, it left much to be desired by all parties. Yes, harsher penalties for clubs going into administration, failing to pay taxes as well as neglecting to remunerate their players were all agreed upon by the 12 member clubs.
Those rulings were "very bold" and would create a "tougher regime" according to SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster.
But the really big decision – what punishment, if any, to hit a newco applying for membership of the league with – was shirked spectacularly.
It has been decreed that clubs reforming will have sanctions imposed on a case-by-case basis.
Doncaster's argument that, as of this moment, the SPL clubs do not have a newco application to consider so no judgment had to be passed, is balderdash.
His organisation has taken action that is reactionary. They have shut the stable door long after the horse has bolted from it. A progressive body would have had safeguards in place long, long ago. Many of the top leagues in Europe, like those in the Netherlands and Germany for example, certainly do.
The clubs' assertion that punishment on a newco should be decided based on the individual circumstances of the club is also inherently flawed. For a disciplinary system to work there needs to be uniformity. No club can be seen to be treated any differently from any other for any misdemeanour on or off the field. Consinstency is crucial to the process.
If the chairmen and chief executives of the all 12 of the SPL clubs were in any doubt about this truism they need simply have moseyed along the corridor at Hampden to the SFA.
Their colleagues have spent the best part of the last nine months or so defending their new disciplinary set-up against accusations of inconsistency and even, in some cases, bias. So why have the SPL clubs prolonged the incertitude? The answer is simple. Money. What else?
Any decision that would have penalised a Rangers newco – the possibility of imposing a points deduction and taking 75% of television revenue for three years were mooted and rejected – would have angered Light Blues supporters.
They have threatened to boycott any club responsible for damaging their precious institution by not attending matches at their stadiums – an action that would seriously, in some cases fatally, affect their income.
Furthermore, any decision that would have allowed a Rangers newco to re-enter into the top division in Scotland WITHOUT any penalty would have angered large amounts of opposition fans in general and Celtic fans in particular.
Many have threatened not to buy season tickets from their own clubs and boycott others in protest at what they perceive to be a loss of the game's sporting integrity – an action that would, once again, impact greatly on revenue streams throughout the league.
Directors and officials in every board room in the land will have their fingers and toes crossed in the days to come that the Company Voluntary Arrangment proposed by Charles Green and his takeover consortium is accepted by Rangers creditors.
For if it isn't, then they will have to, at some point in the not too distant future, make a decision on whether to hammer a Rangers newco or let them back into the league unpunished.
Whatever their choice, there will be an outcry from one side and the repercussions would be significant. It should be no great surprise that the SPL – an acronym that stands for Scottish Premier League and not, as many people now believe, Self Preservation League – have fudged this burning issue. They have previous for failing to take decisive action.
Remember the league reconstruction debate? Plans were in place that it was hoped would alter our ailing national game for the better. However, around this time last summer the proposals were shelved.
One of the major choices they did make, meanwhile, was to accept a lucrative deal with television company Setanta despite the misgivings of Aberdeen, Celtic and Rangers. What a catastrophe that turned out to be.
Nobody is denying that the SPL clubs are currently in a difficult predicament. Whatever course of action they decide upon they will be derided and shunned by significant sections of their paying customers in the biggest financial downturn in living memory.
But, as the old saying goes, it is tough at the top. They need to start taking responsibility for our national game and begin making these big decisions regardless of what the fallout may be instead of continually making things up as they go along.
