IT IS the day the Scottish League goes to vote, Obama versus Clinton with a pie and Bovril thrown in. On Thursday a door will open for only the fifth time in more than four decades and a new club will be allowed to join the Scottish Football League. This time there are five contenders to slip inside. It has seemed as though the north of Edinburgh club, Spartans, have made all the running, given that construction is well underway on their £3.5 million football academy and they have embarked on a charm offensive to make sure the media has known all about it. But this is Scottish football. Anything could happen when the Hampden committee room doors are closed and the vote takes place after lunch on Thursday.

Things could get as political as the race for the White House, as murky as Whitehall. Self-interest is the modus operandi in Scottish football and not a single vote will be cast by the 10 First, 10 Second and nine Third Division clubs without them giving thorough consideration to what it will mean for them first and foremost. Some will not vote for an applicant that might eat into their catchment area for part-time players, sponsors or even supporters. Some might think Annan Athletic in the Borders or Cove Rangers in the Highlands will mean prohibitive travel expenses, or even that Spartans have been too pushy and full of themselves. Given the very reason for there being a vacancy in the first place, the league as a whole will be determined not to have "another Gretna".

The five clubs have less than half an hour left to change their history. Each will be allowed to make a final presentation, lasting that long, to the 29 existing league members who will vote on who is allowed in. There will be a final question and answer session and then the five applicants - Spartans, Cove Rangers (near Aberdeen), Annan, Edinburgh City and Preston Athletic (from Prestonpans) - will have to sit on their hands outside while the vote takes place.

In these situations any applicant cannot help seeming like a vulture. Gretna were unloved by the end but their players, management and other staff were made redundant when they went into liquidation and no pleasure was taken from that among the clubs attempting to replace them. "When the Gretna situation arose it was a difficult one," said Spartans co-manager Mike Lawson. "When my son was two years old I took him to the 2006 Hearts-Gretna cup final at Hampden because I knew it was going to be a family occasion and there wouldn't be any trouble. I'm a lukewarm Hearts supporter but they Gretna did so well on the day I'd have been happy if they'd won in extra time.

"But they were giving Stevie Tosh more money in the Third Division than he was getting at Aberdeen. I do feel for Gretna and the folk who were there. But they will be a Phoenix from the flames who will rise again in the East of Scotland League or the Unibond or wherever. They definitely went a step too far though. I feel sorry for them but it was maybe always going to happen..."

Lawson is a lively, outspoken character who is the most successful manager in East of Scotland League history, He is also steeped in lower division culture having played more than 600 Scottish League games for five clubs. One of those, Meadowbank Thistle, are relevant to Spartans. They gave Edinburgh a presence in the lower divisions that has otherwise tended to be absent (except for the 1998/99 campaign Hibs spent in the First Division), but their attendances were dismal. Spartans have been eager to distance themselves from the idea that theirs will be too.

"We get tarred with the Meadowank Thistle tag," said Lawson. "You see it on the internet forums: we don't want another Edinburgh team, it'll just be another Meadowbank Thistle.' I played for Meadowbank in the biggest game in their history, the Skol Cup semi-final against Rangers at Ibrox in 1984. I wrote on an internet blog recently that if there were 200 Meadowbank fans at Ibrox that day I'd have been surprised. I got an email and a photo from a Meadowbank fan the next day saying it was actually 127, Mike, and here's the photo to prove it.' But at Spartans we took 1000 to Love Street. That's the potential we have, it's far bigger than people give us credit for."

Scottish League sources believe fewer than 1000 actually followed Spartans to Paisley for a Scottish Cup fourth-round replay in 2006 but they are relaxed about the exaggeration, having done their own checks and also assumed that all the applicants will attempt to polish their credentials a little. It is believed that the Scottish League has concerns about access/egress from Spartans' new stand and also about the schedule for its construction. It is not due to be ready until September 13 and that would mean Spartans beginning their Scottish League existence at Meadowbank Stadium if they are elected. Annan came out best from the summary analysis done by a Scottish League inspection team.

At the age of 57, Spartans as a club is undergoing a makeover and more supporters may follow them when the Ainslie Park ground is ready in September than would go to the dilapidated City Park. "When we had SFL clubs in the cup at City Park we had up to 1000 and there weren't many travelling supporters," said secretary/director Colin Hutchison. "For the visits of two SPL clubs - St Mirren and Livingston - we transformed probably the worst football ground in Scotland, City Park, into a fantastic arena. Our fanbase will be from the people who use the new facility. We have over 500 kids playing at this academy."

The Spartans Football Community Academy at Ainslie Park includes a 2400-seater stadium, club buildings and artificial pitches which were funded by, among others, Sportscotland/BIG Lottery and The City of Edinburgh Council. Around 1500 people from the local community will have access to the facilities every week. Spartans are marketing it as the future of football. Having been raised in north Edinburgh, Gordon Strachan is patron of the Academy, although he declined the chance to lend public support to the club's attempt to enter the league.

The other applicants' facilities are not in the same league as Spartans'. Will that be enough? "If we don't get in this time we will push for a pyramid structure and get in the next time," said Lawson. "That's the way we have to look at it."

They could have years to wait, or else just four more days.