Arguing for our limitations

There’s an old saying which goes; ‘Argue for you own limitations are sure enough they’re yours.’ We who inhabit the clannish and internecine world of Scottish football should heed well those words. For too long we’ve listened to folk from south of Hadrian’s wall tell us that our football is akin to a Pub League and that their product is the best in the world. I have heard more than a few Scottish fans agree with them after some European disaster but that self-deprecating humour Scots are famous for is in no danger of becoming a permanent Caledonian cringe.  

That misplaced arrogance many English commentators and supporters have about Scottish football has become so deeply ingrained that it leads to knee jerk judgements about our game from people who have seldom if ever actually watched a game up here. We’ve all had it on holiday when we’ve been lectured by some ill-informed EPL acolyte about how poor our game is compared to the mighty Premiership. I even had it off a nice chap from Dublin who followed Arsenal. He didn’t see the irony that so many of his ilk following English clubs is actually stunting football in his own country. The island of Ireland has over six million people living on it and yet the top supported club side there, Cork City, averages barely 4000 fans at a home game. Even in Dublin, a city the size of Glasgow, clubs like Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians do well to break 3000 at a home match as does Linfield in the north.

100 miles away in Scotland, a country of similar size we have far higher engagement in domestic football. Celtic and Rangers are among the top 20 best supported clubs in Europe with the hoops 2017-18 average of 57,523 placing them as the ninth best supported club in Europe. Indeed they are just just 6 (yes six) fans behind Inter Milan who sit in eighth place with an average of 57,529. The SPFL is the seventh best supported league in Europe behind the big 5 and the Netherlands. As well as Celtic and Rangers playing to big crowds, we have Hearts (18,336), Hibs (17,964) and Aberdeen (15,633) all playing to decent average attendances. All of this in a nation the size of Sweden where the average top league attendance is just over 8000.

Where Scotland really loses out though is in the revenue television pours into football. If we discount the so called ‘big 5 leagues,’ comparable footballing countries to Scotland such as Portugal, Austria, Sweden, Greece, Norway and Denmark all receive significantly more money for TV rights that the SPFL. Even the BBC stitches Scotland up paying just £2.8m per year for the Sportscene highlights programme. (Gary Lineker earns £1.75m per year for introducing match of the day.) Meanwhile they pay the Premiership in England £68m per year for Match of the day. That is around 24 times the amount they pay for Scottish football. Given that Scotland pays 9% of the BBC licence fee this is hardly equitable. This lack of revenue is what really makes it difficult for Scotland to grow the game and develop the infra-structure such as coaching facilities, modern stadia and indeed a higher ratio of properly trained coaches. In countries such as Holland you fill find all weather football pitches in most towns and villages. In Scotland the few we have for our youngsters are over-priced and often booked out.

All of the above demonstrates that Scotland need not cringe about its footballing pedigree. We have a proud history in the game and our clubs have appeared in 10 European finals which for a small nation is no mean feat. We are the best supported league in Europe per capita and have some of the most committed and passionate fans around. Yes, the game here has its issues but it is nowhere near as poor as some of the ‘my Nan’ brigade down south would have you believe. Their condescension is as old as the game itself and leads to their clubs shopping for players in Scotland as if they were in Poundland.

We saw Arsenal begin their bid for Kieran Tierney, an experienced international and Champions League player at £15m. Meanwhile the same club purchased French youngster William Saliba from St Etienne for £27m. This is an 18 year old player who has played barely 25 competitive matches! This arrogance when it comes to purchasing players from the SPFL was seen when Virgil Van Dijk joined Southampton for £12m three years ago. Are we really expected to believe he improved so much since he left Celtic that he was worth £90m to Liverpool and became Premiership player of the year and a Champions League winner? Of course not; Virgil was an excellent player in Scotland too. We see the same nonsense with John McGinn who was purchased by Aston Villa from Hibs for around £3m. He is currently being touted as a £40m player in the Premiership.

It is to be hoped that Scottish clubs start valuing their players more realistically in the future and stop underselling them. Scottish clubs rely so much on money from the fans and from transfers that they sometimes sell too cheaply. This of course stems partly from our poor TV revenues but also from believing some of the guff written about our game. I watch a fair bit of football on TV and the best matches I’ve seen have not been in the over-hyped Premiership but in our own SPFL. There’s a rawness and an energy to Scottish games which I like and it is more often than not entertaining fare. I have watched Premiership games with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of talent on the pitch and the entertainment value has been dreadful. As Neil Lennon once said, ‘I’ve seen games in England which would make your eyes bleed.’

As a new season gets underway enjoy the football on offer and don’t be sucked into the circle of negativity about Scottish football. It’s been run down for so long that some of our own supporters believe the nonsense written about it. Whether it’s the thunder of an Edinburgh derby, the battles when the big two travel to Easter Road or Pittodrie, the excitement of the play offs or the unmatched passion and noise of a Celtic v Rangers game, our football has much to offer.

Enjoy the new season and hopefully it’s a good one for Scottish football as well as the Bhoys in Green.