Falkirk chairman Martin Ritchie sympathises with Charles Green after his criticisms of plans to rip up Scotland's league structure.

The blueprint, drawn up by the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League in conjunction with the Scottish Football Association, would see the league bodies merge before forming a new 12-12-18 set-up.

But the proposals - if pushed through in time for next season - would see runaway Third Division leaders Rangers remain in the bottom tier, even if they go on to win the title.

That sparked an angry outburst from Green and led him to reveal that he has now advised his fellow Ibrox board members that they should seek to quit the Scottish game as soon as possible.

But while he declined to comment on that threat, Ritchie did admit he could empathise with the Light Blues and their frustrations at being denied promotion.

Falkirk were barred from joining the top flight in 2003 when their former Brockville home failed to meet strict SPL stadium rules.

Ritchie said: "It's understandable that you will be frustrated if you are at the top of the league and then find out you won't be promoted.

"Falkirk have been there when we were denied promotion to the SPL because of stadia criteria. I can fully understand why he's feeling upset."

Falkirk were barred promotion from the First Division when they admitted they could not come up with a 10,000 all-seater stadium in time for the start of the 2003/04 season.

They did eventually win a place in the SPL in 2005 when the rules on stadium capacity were relaxed to 6,000 seats.

Raith Rovers chairman Turnbull Hutton believes those criteria will have to be watered down again if the new set-up is to get the go ahead.

But while Ritchie admits he has yet to see the finer detail of the proposals, he is supportive of the general themes contained in the SPL-SFL blueprint.

He said: "The fundamentals of a better distribution model for the finances are a big step forward. As are the plans for a new governance structure. These are very big plus factors.

"The full details haven't been revealed yet but we are led to believe that there will be a significant smoothing of the financial distribution from the top league down.

"First Division clubs will likely be the main benefactors of that. It means there will be more money to support clubs who wish to maintain their full-time status and youth academies. That has to be welcomed."

Following a summer of acrimony sparked by the Rangers liquidation crisis, Ritchie admits he is encouraged by the new-found sense of camaraderie sweeping through the game.

"Working together has got to be the first step," he added. "So much media concentration has been on the actual league structures.

"But no structure is ideal. We at Falkirk would prefer a larger league but we need to make progress at the end of the day.

"And if we can make progress on the financial and governance structures it means we have something to build on. I'm very encouraged."