FANTASY football can come true - just ask any fan of Hamilton Accies this season.

Sitting proudly atop the SPFL Premiership summit, the Lanarkshire outfit is proof that fairytales can flourish in our national sport.

And chairman Les Gray hopes their feelgood factor rubs off on the rest of the league as he urges the merchants of gloom to support the beautiful game.

Alex Neil has lead his squad of homegrown kids to victory at Parkhead on their way to becoming the league's biggest surprise package.

But it is a league where attendances could be better, as could the standard of most matches in a competition still without a sponsor.

The SPFL, lead by chief executive Neil Doncaster, takes its share of stick from press and pundits alike, but Gray is eager to look at the positives.

"I know Neil is working very hard to achieve a sponsor with his commercial team," he told SportTimes.

"I suspect there is still an element of uncertainty about Rangers and that might be stopping sponsors coming together, that is maybe one of the issues for them.

"I hope they can resolve that, it would mean more money for the leagues.

"In summary, is it better? Yes, I think it is. Will Celtic's domination be challenged? It is too early to say.

"Dundee United, Aberdeen, Motherwell looked as if they were presenting a challenge and it has changed a bit this year. I think it is exciting.

"Scottish football is too often talked down and I think we, as football people, should be talking it up. We need promote it as much as we can."

The fact that all four divisions of the new league set-up are operating without a title sponsor, as is the SPFL run League Cup, is seen by some as an embarrassment.

But former board member Gray insists it is not a black and white case when it comes to landing a cash deal.

He said: "I was party to a lot of the information and it is a very tricky balance.

"There are members who would instruct the board not to just accept anything and sell it too cheap.

"There are members who say 'we need to get something on the table'. You are trying to bring together the 42 clubs and you are a board of six. I could meet one chairman who would have a polar opposite view of another and I am representing their views.

"The league itself gets a lot of bad press, largely because I think they are misunderstood and people don't know the hard work that goes into it.

"Guys like Neil, Ralph Topping and Iain Blair put in endless hours. Until they get the sponsorship in, they are always going to be up against that.

"They do a damn good job. A lot of hard work goes into making Scottish football better.

Gray was at the forefront of change when the SPL and SFL came together last year.

And the Accies chief is pleased to have played a part in a new era for our game.

He said: "I don't have any desire to move up. Would I serve again and give up my time? I probably would, yes.

"I did it for that time and in the SFL for a number of years.

"I felt I had something to offer when the changes were being discussed and the transition was in the offing.

"Once it was achieved, there are people equally as good and better qualified to take it forward and I was happy to take a step back."