Season of highs at all levels of Scots game Product’s appeal to sponsors on the up Flexibility is key for future of the game Links to cross-border match-upswelcome

made the top six of the Ladbrokes Premiership for the first time and Ross County won the Development League.

Personally, taking the Ladbrokes League 2 trophy by helicopter to sunny Forthbank to be presented to Arbroath after their final day title success in front of 1,000 travelling fans left a real impression and reminder of how much Scottish football means to so many people across the country. It was a great day for Dick Campbell.

Equally, seeing Dundee United fan and amputee footballer Tommy McKay scoring his half-time goal at Tannadice and then being awarded the SPFL’s Ladbrokes Goal of the Month again showed the positive power of football. IF by product you mean how the Scottish game is viewed by those on the outside looking in then having Hearts, Rangers and, from next season, Hibernian back in the Ladbrokes Premiership after their respective absences from Scottish top-flight football has been well received by other clubs, by TV audiences and by our commercial partners and sponsors. So, yes! the world would love a title race going down to the final day – the reality is that doesn’t happen that often.

That Celtic enjoyed such remarkable and unprecedented consistency in this season’s Ladbrokes Premiership has received deserved recognition and even an acknowledgement from their own first team manager that it may never happen again.

While it is not for me to comment on the individual performances of clubs, it is also widely recognised that the current Celtic management team and players have set higher standards than we have seen in Scotland for some time.

Aberdeen have provided the strongest challenge in recent years including this and as they and other clubs strive to meet the high standards set by this season’s Ladbrokes Premiership champions we would hope that in the long run that would benefit the standards