Government has to act or clubs will fall off the edge of a cliff
SCOTTISH football is definitely worth saving. That’s the starting point for any sales pitch being made at Holyrood.
That the senior manifestation of our national sport needs to be rescued should also be fairly obvious; the continued absence of paying customers has left the industry in a state of near-collapse.
The question of where a children’s game played by grown-ups should be on the Scottish Government priority list is, however, a more thorny issue.
As someone who has been on both sides of the fence, a senior political figure with experience of pressing demands and balancing budgets, Henry McLeish is working hard to make a case for the game he loves.
And, if it’s obvious that he’d like the SFA and SPFL to make a little more of the running, he still hopes public money will be used to prop up the sport here in Scotland.
McLeish, author of a famous SFA-commissioned blueprint that achieved some — but not all — of its ambitions, told
Sportsmail: ‘I want to appeal to the Scottish Government. This is the time for them to step up and save Scottish football.
‘There will be strings attached. But the game is too important for the whole of Scotland, in every sense, for it to be going under in the way some people are predicting.
‘It’s not just a priority for the big clubs. We have 42 clubs in the league set-up, many of them with great history, and they have to survive as well.
‘I’d like to think that, without further ado, the SFA and SPFL will open up the books completely, make an honest presentation.
‘And I’d like the government to respond very, very quickly.
‘Time is passing and I know they’ve got huge pressures on health, huge pressures to help the economy.
‘But it would be sad if we ignored the plight of Scottish football, which is an integral part of every community up and down the country.
‘And, if you go down the bottom of the Premiership and into the lower leagues, you have huge problems.
‘We’re looking over the edge of a cliff. Unless the government act, some will fall off that edge.
‘It would be a catastrophe to see this history that has been built up, since the latter part of the 19th century, just go under because government and clubs — especially the top clubs — couldn’t get their act together to invest some finance.’
McLeish cites football’s role at the heart of so many communities as a key selling point when administrators meet politicians.
Those meetings, at least in a virtual sense, have been going on for some time now.
Behind the scenes, the Joint Response Group are lobbying hard for a rescue package — and the return of paying customers on match day.
The hope is still that, should progress be made down south, the Scottish Government will then be granted money from the UK Treasury to fund their own version of a bail-out.
Then it’s just a case of convincing them that the cash is going to a good and worthy cause.
‘I’m surprised that the Scottish football authorities have not been able to make a better case on all the issues I’ve raised,’ said McLeish (right).
‘The government have got to be convinced that, if they’re using taxpayers’ money, the large section of the population who don’t follow football will think it’s a wise step.
‘But I also think the football authorities have got to win the good faith of the government, who I think would — understandably — be hugely suspicious if there wasn’t some form of self-help included in the process.
‘The relationship is not as good as it should be. And the reason, for me, is that the football authorities are far too secretive.
‘They are far too unwilling to work with government to attack problems jointly.
‘The government doesn’t have a blind spot for football or any other sport. But the game has not covered itself with much glory, in terms of their approach.
‘And they must accept some humility, the football authorities. They are not in a good spot.
‘Of course the government has a commitment to the game. But the SPFL and SFA are not going about it the right way.
‘Unless these rifts are dealt with, we might make less progress on the financial side. ‘I think the slowness of response from the government has been down to that lack of trust. ‘There may be other sponsors and financiers out there feeling the same.’ Individually, clubs have been criticised for spending money on transfer fees — and then pleading poverty just weeks later. For some in the game, the preference is not for hand-outs but the freedom to start earning again. Which means a return of fans, at least in limited numbers. Failing that, of course, there probably isn’t a club in the country who would reject some form of compensation. McLeish would like to see the bigger clubs helping out their lower-league counterparts, ensuring they get their share of any cash windfall. Admitting that it’s still a hard sell, for those with no feel for the game, he explained: ‘The issue gets clouded by the income to the top leagues in Scotland and, to a huge extent, England.
‘This tends to distort the public image of the game. They think every club is flowing with milk and honey.
‘That is certainly not true in an objective sense. But it colours the views of government and the non-footballing public. That’s a real issue.
‘There are bigger issues than that. I don’t believe the views I’ve given about sentiment and history will win everyone over.
‘But football is a fundamental part of Scottish society and Scottish history. It’s a fundamental part of the community.
‘And, beyond the people who go every week, there is enormous interest in our clubs and our national teams. Sometimes, I think people haven’t woken up to the real implications of this pandemic, right across society, the economy and sport.
‘If the government doesn’t help, my fear is a large number of clubs will just be lost.
‘And, once a club goes under, it’s very difficult to revive.’