The curtain finally came down on a long, uninspired Scottish season in Zagreb on Friday night.
That was almost 11 months since St Johnstone’s failed attempt to qualify for the Europa League proper kicked the whole thing off. Yet in just over five weeks’ time, Celtic play the first competitive game of next season, a second qualifying round tie to try and reach the Champions League proper again. That is how low the Scottish game, and our UEFA co-efficient, have fallen in recent years.
It won’t be lost on Hoops manager Neil Lennon (below) that next season’s Champions League Final will be played in Lisbon, scene of their 1967 triumph when they were the best team in Europe. You can presently get 500/1 on that happening again in 2014.
With no time to draw breath between the end of this season and the start of the next campaign, it’s no wonder fans throughout Scotland are showing such little appetite to renew season tickets. A snap poll suggests sales are down by an average of 20% compared to the same time last season.
As well as the poor state of our game, there is wall-to-wall coverage of world football on television. Fans don’t have to leave their living rooms to get their fix. TV football coverage has gone from one extreme to the other. It used to be Scotland v England from Hampden or Wembley, and that was just about it. Not even the Scottish Cup Final got air time!
I’m old enough to remember the SFA’s obstinacy over live television coverage. They would not allow it to clash with any game being played in Scotland at the same time, even if it was at the lowest level. Nobody loves football more than me, but even I’d had my fill by last weekend. I didn’t even watch England play Brazil in the Maracana last Sunday. That would never have happened, not even a few years ago. Nowadays to me it seemed like just another game.
The authorities have got to try and make football special again. Blanket coverage on the box isn’t the answer. Yet at present we can’t even agree what the League set-up is going to be next season.
No wonder clubs can’t sell season tickets!
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