Old Firm’s ego and bluster tamed by Shrews’ TV figures
During a week of a “will they or won’t they?” Old Firm ticket spat, a sobering statistic passed almost in disguise.
While Peter Lawwell threatened not to take any of Celtic’s briefs for the festive derby, unless there’s a safety guarantee for Celtic’s 800 or so fans, up popped Shrewsbury Town to offer a measure of context.
The English League One side illustrated precisely what place we occupy in the wider audience Richter scale.
As Glasgow’s big two were playing party politics, leaked TV figures offered a glimpse of where the real appeal is for the couch potatoes – and it’s not anything that happens north of the border.
The Shrews had 4.5mi l l ion people watching their FA Cup tie against West Ham last season, 2.9million of those watched it in the United Kingdom.
Think about that and consider the fact that the average Old Firm TV audience in Britain hovers around the 500,000 mark.
Shrewsbury’s chief execut i ve Br i an Caldwell used to run St Mirren and his comments were illuminating.
He revealed that a Buddies game screened a few years ago didn’t even pass the 100,000 mark.
A generous 75,000 audience was going toe to toe with Taggart repeats on BBC Alba.
There were 300,000 watching Shrewsbury v Charlton and 277,000 taking in a midweek game between the Shrews and Bradford.
The figures open up a whole new world of reality.
The Old Firm’s television appeal betrays the narrative that they are clubs like no other.
Lawwell has every right to refuse to take Celtic’s meagre ticket allocation in what’s now a tit-for- tat game of one- upmanship between the clubs.
A fixture that is famed for its electrifying atmosphere will be diluted that bit more.
Yet both organisations will satisfy themselves that they have right on their side.
They would be well served to look at the bigger picture and consider why an Old Firm clash that bills itself as the best derby in world football is no longer television box office.
The unseemly squabbling over tickets has the look of a scrap between two spotty teenagers over who should get into the school disco.
If ever there is a time to be talking up Scottish football then it’s now – but it’s difficult when our b i g ge st clubs continue to promote themselves and their greatest asset as somet h i n g so problematic.
They aren’t the hottest show in town – TV figures have now shattered that myth.
Scottish football operates in its own self-obsessed bubble.
If there was genuine global value then BT Sport would have made an offer for TV rights that was far higher than the two-bob bid that saw them lose out to Sky.
The only reason Sky went the extra yard is due to the disproportionate amount of subscribers they have north of the border.
They’ve made their bid to take the Old Firm games to ensure a spike in their figures.
But the other fixtures? They could take or leave them.
So fight over tickets all you want, the wider world isn’t all that interested. They’ll probably be watching Shrewsbury.