A pair of American midfielders will be playing in the Scottish Premiership next season after being granted promotion on Wednesday.
Ian Harkes and Dillon Powers currently apply their trade with Scottish second tier side Dundee United, but saw their team granted the league title after a delayed vote to end the current season. Dundee United’s rivals Dundee FC voted Wednesday to end the Scottish second, third, and fourth tiers due to the ongoing Coronavirus epidemic continued to have the season postponed.
The Tangerines rolled to an 18-5-5 record this Championship season, earning 59 points from 28 matches. They sat 14 points clear of second place Inverness CT with eight matches remaining. However, the Championship had been on postponement since March 7th and didn’t have any timetable to return.
Despite earning promotion back to the top-flight for the first time since 2016, Dundee United owner Mark Ogren wasn’t fully celebrating the achievement.
“It bring enormous pleasure and an over-riding sense of humility,” Ogren said. “It would have been thrilling to have achieved this in front of all our supporters, but I’ve been told on many occasions that if there is a hard way to achieve something, then we will find it.”
Dundee FC originally planned to submit their rejection in order to push for league reconstruction, however overturned their decision before the deadline on Wednesday. In addition to Dundee United moving up to the Premiership, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers won the League 1 and League 2 crowns.
Harkes joined the club in January 2019 from D.C. United and totaled 31 appearances this season in all competitions, scoring two goals and registering two assists. A former U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team player, the 25-year-old has yet to debut for the senior team.
Powers joined Dundee United in January on a free transfer from Orlando City. He made nine appearances for the Tangerines, going the distance in eight of them.
As for the Scottish Premiership, no official decision has yet been made in regards to ending its season which currently sees Celtic leading Old Firm rivals Rangers by 10 points. Current Americans Niko Hamalainen (Kilmarnock on loan from QPR) and Matt Polster (Rangers) are currently the only Americans in the Scottish top flight.