OUR ONE BIG GAME CHANGER
SFA chief Maxwell in no doubt what making Euros would mean
TO IAN MAXWELL, what lies at the end of the Euro 2020 rainbow is both a pot of gold and a priceless opportunity.
The windfall from qualification would transform the SFA’s finances in one fell swoop, believes its chief executive, potentially opening up investment opportunities from grassroots football to improving Hampden. Beyond the monetary benefits, Maxwell also sees a chance to inspire a whole generation of young Scots.
Ten qualifiers — or two play-off matches — now stand between Alex McLeish’s side and the capture of that glittering prize. Playing the role of absent hosts for the four Euro 2020 games scheduled for Glasgow is not a prospect anyone wants to consider.
Maxwell sees strong reasons for optimism after Scotland finished their Nations League campaign with a flourish. Edging out second seeds Russia will now be the challenge in a section set to be dominated by Belgium, currently ranked No 1 in the world by FIFA.
If that road proves blocked, it will be down to the back-up option of the play-off already banked for March 2020. By then, it will be 22 years since Scotland last graced a major tournament.
‘I was still playing when we qualified for France ’98,’ reflected Maxwell, who moved from Queen’s Park to Ross County that year. ‘I was on holiday when the games were played but I remember watching it because Simon Donnelly was in that squad and I’ve known him for years.
‘But just as a football fan, that’s what we did back then — we watched Scotland in major tournaments.
‘To be able to do that again, particularly when some of the games are at Hampden, would be amazing. There’s a real legacy opportunity. We want to inspire a nation.
‘Getting games at Hampden gives us a real chance to do that, both in terms of the Euros coming to the country and our passionate fans getting the opportunity to watch some of the best teams in the world.
‘Then there’s the legacy element in the spin-offs and engagement and participation that we can drive off the back of that.
‘The games will be there regardless but, in an ideal world, we want to be there. Not being there would be disappointing but we’re very hopeful we can get through the group stage and qualify automatically.’
France had yet to adopt the euro when Colin Hendry and Co lined up against Brazil in Paris. Since then, the SFA is the only one of the home nation associations not to have benefited from qualification prize money from a major tournament.
The IFA banked in the region of £10million from Northern Ireland reaching Euro 2016, when UEFA income was added to television revenues, gate receipts from warm-up friendlies and new commercial deals. Four years on, the cash earned could be even higher.
‘I couldn’t put a figure on what it would mean financially to qualify,’ said Maxwell. ‘We had the social return on investment study report that came out two weeks ago and talked about the impact of football.
‘When you see the numbers involved in that, it’s difficult to put a figure on it. It would mean a huge amount and financially there’s a benefit to the city because of tourism and people coming in.
‘But there’s football participation, mental health benefits to playing football. There are so many different areas it touches that it’s hard to define it and say it’s worth ‘X’ but it’s worth a huge amount to Glasgow and Scotland.
‘For the association, the money would be transformational. It’s something we’ve not had. The sums involved for qualification and participation in Euro finals are massive and would let us go and strategically plan how best to use that income.
‘That’s an added extra. You don’t budget for that. It’s like when you’re at a club. You don’t budget to get to cup finals. If you get there then you need to use the income that generates in the best possible way. It’s similar with Euros.’
2020 is also the year when the SFA formally takes ownership of Hampden. Creating a national stadium fit for the future presents major challenges.
‘We’ve got things ongoing with Hampden as part of the Euro 2020 exercise,’ added Maxwell. ‘The giant screens are in and a new access control system is going in.
‘We’ve got criteria to meet in terms of floodlights, so we’ll have to change that at some point. There will be incremental things.
‘The big issue with Hampden is that everyone wants the ends to come in. We won’t quite have managed to do that but it starts us down that road. When you talk about finance, it’s about how best to use that money.
‘We can look at Hampden going forward. Supporters want to see bits changing and we know there are bits that need to change, but that’s a bit more of a long-term goal.’
Coming through the Euro 2020 qualifiers is the more immediate priority, with McLeish spearheading that task. October’s grim defeat to Israel had intensified public scrutiny of the national manager’s position, but Maxwell claims the SFA remained calm.
‘We were just concentrating on what we needed to do to make sure we had the best chance of winning the (Nations League) group and that’s what we did,’ he said.
‘There’s no point in getting into the “what ifs” because we achieved what we wanted to achieve.
‘Alex and I talk a lot. It’s different from clubland because there are obviously fewer games and it’s not like you have the SaturdayWednesday-Saturday schedule.
‘But we speak a lot about a variety of different things. As a chief executive, it’s about supporting the manager and knowing he’s got the support of everyone at the association. A manager wants to know he’s got the backing of the board, whether that’s at club or international level.’