European carrot can soften the blow of Covid and keep the Cup alive
Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows claims the Scottish Cup will be played to its conclusion this season.
His conviction comes from the fact that the Premiership clubs can’t afford to miss out on the money-spinning European bonus which comes with it.
With the Cup winners now guaranteed a Europa League play-off place, Burrows insists the extra cash UEFA are diverting into the tournament would make reaching the group stages a “lifechanging” event for all Scottish clubs outside the Old Firm.
There are 43 ties still to be played in this year’s competition.
Leagues 1 and 2 have been in lockdown for five weeks, and won’t restart until March at the earliest.
But Burrows (right) fears that top-tier clubs will bring pressure to bear on the SFA to finish their flagship competition.
“The prize is enormous,” he said. “You’re talking European football until Christmas.
“For a club like ourselves, Kilmarnock or Aberdeen – or anyone outside Celtic and Rangers – it’s life-changing money.
“Last year, the Scottish Cup didn’t get finished until just before Christmas.
“So the European place which would have gone to the winners went instead to Aberdeen for finishing fourth.
“Next season, because our co-efficient has improved, we have an extra club involved.
“The top two will both go into the Champions League qualifiers and the teams finishing third and fourth – or fourth and fifth depending on who wins the Scottish Cup – will go into the new Europa Conference League qualifying rounds.
“When you look at the Betfred Cup semi-finals this season, no one would have predicted St Mirren, St Johnstone, Livingston and Hibs would have been the last four teams left in it. “Given what’s at stake, if that happens again in the Scottish Cup, it would be amazing. “You’re talking about mind-blowing money.”
Last year, winning the play-off was worth over £2.5 million in prize money.
“In the group stages, UEFA forked out £500,000 for a win and £167,000 per draw.”
But those figures will be much higher next season when UEFA announce the figures in a few months’ time. Rangers are back in Europa League action – away to Royal Antwerp on Thursday night – and already they have outstripped last season UEFA income of around £8-million.
Alan Burrows would like a slice of that action, but remains a romantic at heart.
“The glory of the Scottish Cup supersedes everything for me,” he said.
“We’ve won it only twice in our history and the romantic in me would love to be there if we were to do it a third time.
“But, if the Betfred last four this season were the Scottish Cup semi-finalists, then any one of them – even Hibs, who are a big club – could be transformed overnight by winning it.
“In the league, only Livingston have a real chance of breaking into the top four, whereas, in the Cup, everyone has a puncher’s chance. Consequently, everyone wants the competition not just to go ahead, but to be finished this term.”
Rangers are keen for the Final – scheduled for May 7 – to be played because they reckon they can win the Double, while Celtic are anxious to avoid a first barren campaign since 2010.
“I sympathise entirely with the lowerleague clubs, and the logistical problems they’ve had and are continuing to have,” said Burrows.
“But, after going through this Covid campaign and being starved of cash, winning that Europa League play-off would be a game-changer.
“The money has been significantly increased and, while you’d be up against seeded opponents in the play-off, you’d still have a realistic chance.
“We’d immediately quadruple our turnover for the year – minimum.
“It would be like a Lottery win. “Money isn’t the driving factor for us taking part in the Scottish Cup – but that play-off is a lucrative carrot.”