DAVID SOLE
After a prolonged process, the SFA finally decided to rule out a move to Murrayfield for Scotland’s national game. Instead, the SFA decided to buy Hampden from their landlords, Queen’s Park, for the sum of £5m, half of which was funded by Lord Willie Haughey and Sir Tom Hunter. It will be a disappointment to the SRU, whom I’m sure would have loved to have been able to host both rugby and football matches at Murrayfield on a playing surface that is quite superb. Assets like international stadia are expensive to construct and difficult to fill regularly. Only a few years ago, even Scottish rugby struggled to sell out international matches – particularly in the autumn – so any additional income would have been gratefully received. I’m sure that the arguments over infrastructure and the ability to get fans to and from the stadium would have played a big part in the debate, yet there is something counter-intuitive about hosting international football at Murrayfield, no matter how strong the logical arguments in favour may be. It just doesn’t seem right. To say ‘goodbye’ to the Hampden Roar forever doesn’t seem right either – and, while Scottish football is suffering from a similar malaise that rugby endured only recently, with the right investment, focus and good fortune, things will change for the better. And then, hosting international matches at
Hampden decision will be a disappointment to the SRU
Hampden will seem the obvious thing to do. Meanwhile, an interesting advertisement appeared from a rugby agent in New Zealand recently. He was advertising on behalf of a Scottish Super Six club, who was looking for a ‘First five-eighth or 2nd five-eighth’ and offering a semi-pro contract including flights, accommodation, employment, gym and match fee. Clubs in Scotland have often trawled the Southern Hemisphere to recruit talent to bolster their domestic squads, but this seems to fly in the face of the rational arguments in favour of Mark Dodson’s Agenda 3. The Super Six was all about creating stronger pathways between the amateur and professional games and increasing the standard of rugby, so that the plethora of Academy players were not consigned to the gym for most of the rugby season. It was about giving these youngsters the opportunities to learn by playing a good, challenging standard of rugby, albeit with a fixture list that superficially doesn’t look too demanding as yet. To go and recruit overseas players to participate in the Super Six seems to be totally irrational at best, and stupidity at worst, as it will do nothing to further the careers of Scottish qualified players. If Dodson is going to force through Agenda 3 (and there may still be some doubt about this), he will do well to ensure that the objectives really do benefit the Scottish game.