Reward for making finals: £9m. Real value to our game? PRICELESS
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell admits a £9million Euro wind fall after Thursday’s triumph in Belgrade is a welcome boost to Hampden coffers — but believes the impact of finally reaching a major finals is ‘priceless’.
A week after the governing body initiated a package of 18 redundancies, a UEFA pay-out will help offset projected losses of £4.5m next year.
However, Maxwell claims that the broader benefits of qualification to the wider game are impossible to overstate.
He said: ‘Obviously people will look at the financial rewards for reaching a major tournament and, while in the current climate this can be transformational, the impact of qualifying f or a major tournament for the first time in over 20 years is priceless.
‘Steve Clarke made a point of looking back to the Russia result (a 4-0 qualifying defeat in Moscow in October last year) and how that was a turning point.
‘He was utterly convinced the players could reach the Euros and it may have taken some convincing outside, but when you see the progress that’s been made, and you see the togetherness in the squad, he’s made us all believe. You simply cannot underestimate the impact of a result like this.
‘From the First Minister to the Tartan Army foot soldiers who could have been there in their thousands, the whole country can identify with this group of players.’
Nerves shredded by a painfully drawn-out suddendeath drama, Maxwell admitted he felt ‘privileged’ to be in the Red Star Stadium to see Clarke’s team end the nation’s lengthy spell in the wilderness.
Players will share in the UEFA money to the tune of £3m via a qualification bonus pool.
Insisting they deserve all the benefits coming their way, Maxwell added: ‘ Some of the team may not have been in many people’s initial squads.
‘But the manager’s loyalty and belief in those players was rewarded big time. It would have been a travesty to have Hampden as a host city for Euro 2020 and Scotland not be there. We may have done it the hard way, but we’ve done it.’
With Hampden pencilled in as one of 12 host cities across Europe, the challenge now is to find a way to get supporters back for the home games in the group against the Czech Republic and Croatia.
‘I know the players and the manager, as well as t he backroom team, will want to have Hampden packed to the rafters for the first match against the Czech Republic next June,’ said Maxwell.
‘Everyone understands the circumstances during Covid. But hopefully next summer, the world will be back to something akin to normality.
‘I can not wait to see Hampden at capacity and everybody watching from their living rooms to see Scotland back to where we belong. The Scotland fans deserve this. The players deserve this, when you think of the journey they’ve embarked on with Steve.
‘When you consider our clubs doing well in Europe, the Under21s are one match away from qualification for the European Under-21 Championship, and the women’ s team have previously played in a World Cup and European Championships finals, we should celebrate this progress.’