We’ve been hit by a TSUNAMI ... and it’s up to EVERY club to ensure that all 42 survive

MacGREGOR CALLS FOR UNITED STANCE IN BID TO PROTECT THE FUTURE OF SPFL AMID CRISIS

ALL in this together. Never a convincing slogan at the best of times, it’s begun to ring especially hollow in recent weeks. If Scottish football is to survive the worst crisis in its history, however, it’s going to take a genuine willingness — across all four SPFL divisions — to put self-interest to one side.

That may involve reconstruction, of course. It might even include the biggest clubs offering financial help to the lower leagues; good luck with that one.

Leaving aside the age-old question of whether Scotland is genuinely capable of supporting 42 teams, plus the pyramid system underneath, there are serious concerns over whether all will emerge from this lockdown crisis intact.

Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor — a man whose footballing experience has been shaped by the Highlanders’ climb up the league ladder — is among those desperate to ensure that not one club falls.

‘I do believe we need to unite for the sake of the game,’ said MacGregor. ‘Us at the top level have a responsibility for the clubs at the bottom, even financially. That is a personal sympathy I have.

‘I don’t know the mechanism, football is a very complicated business.

‘But we should be trying as a governing body, as the SFA and the leagues, to ensure every club survives this.

‘I’m just concerned about football full stop, with a massive recession coming.

‘Unemployment is going to be high in Scotland. There is going to be less income and, although people are desperate to see football, whether they can afford to see football is my concern.

‘Particularly for the lower-league clubs. We came from there, so we understand it.

‘I think we have to get together as 42 clubs and find a way for football to survive.’

Kind words about keeping every club afloat may not, of course, survive the first proposal to divide the communal pie a little more equally between the four divisions.

Premiership teams, already facing up to closed-door games for perhaps half a season, will already be forced to make some difficult decisions without asking them to give up more.

Yes, the new and exclusive Sky deal — assuming it remains unaltered by events — will be worth more than the old multichannel package.

But there’s no title sponsor in place. And, remember, it’s not just gate money that clubs will be losing as they play ‘ghost games’.

According to virtually every single economist in the UK, we’re heading for a recession.

All those local companies who usually take match-day hospitality — assuming anyone is allowed to buy a table for 12 even by the end of the season — may well be struggling.

So that planned August kick-off? Not quite the Promised Land that many might hope for.

‘My own view is that we’re probably going to be fanless until maybe Christmas,’ said

MacGregor. ‘And we’ll find some way of getting fans in then. ‘If we’re fanless, we need to find some way of transmitting — at best — live coverage of our games. Or, at worst, a delayed transmission as near after the game as possible. ‘So we need help from our broadcasters. And I’m sure we’ll be asking for that help now that the league is called, and we’re beginning to look forward rather than looking back. ‘I think every club is going to be faced with a challenge of reduced budgets. The fact we don’t have season tickets and away fans, hospitality, that will take 35 per cent away from our budget. And I think most clubs will be in that region. We will have to live on a much smaller budget and survive. ‘I’m sure most clubs are just desperate to get a date when they can actually get players back into training.

‘So I think that will happen in the Premiership. We are longing for that to happen.

‘But we’ve also got to recognise that we’re in a very challenging health situation and we need to be very respectful of that.

‘We are in a health crisis. I think the worst is yet to come. I think we’re going to have a tsunami of unemployment and mental issues, big things to deal with — and lack of disposable income.

‘I think the challenges ahead are more than the challenges we’ve had up to now. I’m not being negative there, I’m just being realistic.

‘I think this season is going to be a very different season to all the time I’ve been involved in football.

‘These things do worry me because we have a responsibility as 42 clubs to stick together — and try to make sure everyone gets through this traumatic period.’

Today, Championship clubs are holding a virtual meeting to discuss potentially cutting next season in half. A kick-off no earlier than October. And only 18 fixtures.

League One and League Two sides, having been confronted with the best guesses on what coronavirus testing for players and staff will entail, are still considering going into hibernation — basically padlocking the gates until a vaccine is found — as the only way of avoiding liquidation.

And, of course, all this has been played out against the backdrop of a minor civil war.

The Rangers dossier, the bungled vote, constant threats of insurrection, claims and counter-claims.

None of this points to 42 member clubs reaching unanimity on when the next Zoom meeting should be, never mind the kind of transformative legislation needed to safeguard all from the economic disaster of a global pandemic.

MacGregor described recent events as ‘unfortunate’, while conceding: ‘Ultimately, self-interest will be in every club.’

Yet, perhaps because he has no option but to believe in a better future, the man who made his fortune in energy insisted: ‘Football is a very resilient industry. The decisions being made by the Government are difficult and we’ll go with their guidance. But it would be great if the season could start as normal at the beginning of August.’

The date of the big kick-off is beginning to look more solid. The shape of the top flight? Less certain.

Admitting that exclusive rights holders Sky will have influence in how clubs vote on reconstruction, MacGregor said: ‘But they’re still getting four Old Firm games, so that’s the jewel in the crown. And it’s going to be a big jewel this year.’

Ah, of course. We forgot about that other great slogan so often attached to Scottish football.

All clubs are equal, then. But some are more equal than others.