Want the latest Scottish sport news sent straight to your inbox? Join thousands of others who have signed up to our Record Sport newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

ST MIRREN have settled with a former youth player after admitting they failed to pay him the national minimum wage.

The Championship club have been forced to pay back £1200 to Kieran Doran after they handed him an illegal contract that paid only £1 a week.

HMRC launched a probe following a complaint from the player after Saints refused to release him from his contract when he quit full-time football to study at university.

Saints chairman Stewart Gilmour yesterday confirmed the club paid out but declined to comment further. Doran, who later signed part-time with Stenhousemuir but is out injured, also declined to comment.

He signed a three-and-a-half-year deal in Paisley in December 2012, aged 16 and still at school. The first seven months netted £1 a week but he didn’t even see a penny of that.

He believes he had no option but to seek legal recourse because St Mirren refused to release him from his contract two years ago.

(Image: Willie Vass)

HMRC could look at Falkirk after Will Vaulks admitted he signed an illegal £1-a-week contract there. Clubs, especially part-time outfits, could be forced to go amateur if the taxman decides to study the issue of pay that flouts minimum wage legislation.

Real Grassroots campaigner Scott Robertson said: “St Mirren’s decision to settle proves this is worthy of serious investigation throughout Scottish football.”

WATCH: David McCarthy and Craig Swan discuss the weekend's big talking points