Euros will be goldmine for hard-up SFA
The Tartan Army will be sitting on the sofa while Scotland go for it in Serbia – but there will still be some noise if Steve Clarke’s troops can pull this one off.
It won’t be just a cheer though. It will be a huge sigh of relief and it will be coming out of the socially-distanced directors box.
The nation is praying for a win. We are all fevered at the prospect of reaching Euro 2020, Euro 2021 or whatever we’re calling it.
It has been so long since we’ve been to a big bash it hurts right down to the bones.
The folks in charge of our game feel it too. The SFA might be the bogey men to some but they are fans as well.
But the blazers don’t just want to qualify – they need this. The SFA are skint, left potless by the pandemic.
Northern Ireland made more than £10million from Euro 2016 and we could really be doing with that dough now.
Chief executive Ian Maxwell laid it out last week. The SFA face a £4.5m black hole.
Hampden lying empty for play-offs, Nations League games, cup semi-finals, no concerts, conferences or coffee mornings, it has been absolutely brutal.
No wonder they are feeling the pinch. Our clubs have relied on the goodwill of fans buying season tickets for games they have little chance of attending.
They are suffering too but at least have had some dough coming in.
The SFA have been running on fumes, the cash from UEFA’s TV deals, sponsorship that was locked down and handouts from FIFA.
It’s not enough and no one should be chuckling if jobs go.
The SFA might get folks’ backs up but they are still the guardians of the game in this gaff. They already run a tight ship without having to shed technical staff.
The last thing we need is an enforced shake-up when it seems we’re on the right track.
It’s tough on Maxwell. He would have known the gig was a minefield before he walked up the steps at Hampden.
But there’s hee-haw he could do about a global pandemic apart from hope for the best.
The SFA were never exactly flush but they haven’t been bleeding banknotes all over the carpet in recent years.
They’ve kept their heads above water, got control of Hampden and invested in the future of the game.
It’s not trendy to give them credit but we’ve got a top boss now, some decent players and a cracking crop of kids coming through.
It’s a start. We just have to hope this shocker of a year isn’t too much of a setback.
Clarke can do the
SFA a major turn. Serbia are a big step up from Israel but he’s moulded the team in his image.
The Tartan Army won’t care about the balance sheets but winning would be huge.
Reaching the Euros would be priceless for fans – but worth its weight in gold for the Scottish game.