Down the pan? SFA failure Regan had his hand on the flusher
Scottish football is going ‘down the pan’, so said the man who for eight years had his hand placed on the flusher.
Each day seems to end for our national sport with one wild cliffhanger after another but former SFA chief executive Stewart Regan offering a critique is a sure sign the plot is now being written by J.K. Howling.
These thoughts began to percolate after spitting out the popcorn as he spoke about the self-interest which is reaching critical levels and may end in courtroom dramas.
So there was the bold Stewart, straight-faced and brass-necked as he said: “If we do nothing, Scottish football is going down the pan. Lack of relationships, lack of sponsorship, lack of interest – it’s going to struggle unless it picks itself up and puts a plan together.
“Falling out, animosity, legal challenges – these things are not where the league needs to be. Scottish football is in a dreadful position.”
Regan’s legacy after being ushered out the door of Hampden with a golden handshake from his £300,000-ayear executive role is now being played out across the country.
The hypocrisy from a guy who aligned himself to then-president Alan McRae and his vice Rod Petrie was an exercise in serving thy self as he spoke about the state our clubs now find themselves in.
“Challenging head winds”. A phrase he chose to place on a statement over his departure, quite the understatement.
It should have read, failure to secure Michael O’Neill as national coach, the controversy over Scotland’s friendly tour of South America, the uncertainty over Hampden’s future and no sponsor to replace Vauxhall.
Regan should shoulder responsibility for his role in our race to the bottom as he was the pioneer of the introduction of the pyramid system, the root of just one of the problems.
A nation with too many clubs trying to sustain themselves professionally has ushered a host of aspirational but glorified junior and amateur teams through to overstretch in the pursuit of SPFL status.
Rewind to the words Regan used back in 2012 and his handling of the Rangers crisis.
He feared “social unrest”, “meltdown” while some spoke of “Armageddon”.
But in this Book of Revelation, a sure sign of the apocalypse is having the likes of Brora Rangers, Cove and Kelty Hearts banging the drum about the state of play.
These clubs have the right to their say in this monstrous structure but as t the architect,
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Regan’s plan led our game down t the c****er.
An analysis of t the facts shows p s performance schools, Project B Brave, pyramids.
They highlight
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Regan’s highly lu lucrative tenure a as a succession o of bonus payment box-tickers which have come back to haunt us.
And that’s all b besides the fact
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Regan led four utterly fruitless campaigns to try to qualify for a major finals.
In conclusion, nothing about Regan’s reign has helped our game and his legacy could easily have been to come up with a rainy day fund.
The SRU this week spoke about dispensing some of the £500,000 Club Hardship Fund for outfits which were in danger of going to the wall during this pandemic. It’s hands-on help from rugby but the SFA are silent.
Regan left the association rooked, his spell enabled self-interest and left us with pyramids and projects and no provision to help clubs survive this s***storm.