On the pitch, it’s been a successful week for the Scottish FA. A victory over Georgia at Ibrox followed by a convincing draw away in Warsaw meant that if it wasn’t for the Germans suffering a World Cup hangover, then we might be sitting pretty.
Gordon Strachan has organised a good, solid squad and moulded them into something more than the sum of their parts. Something that many of his predecessors couldn’t achieve. Under Strachan, Scotland have become a pleasure to watch.
What this week’s results have also demonstrated is that the SFA were absolutely correct to push for the expansion of the European Championships. Many said that there weren’t 24 good enough sides to make France 2016 a success, and ultimately, the proof will be in the pudding. However, so far, qualifying has thrown up numerous interesting results. For too long, qualifying only worked for the benefit of the top nations. Not any longer.
Further praise must go to the Scottish FA’s communications department who have really excelled themselves in the past year or so. They’ve managed to create engaging content – Mark McGhee’s German lessons and Gauld & Robertson’s Football Friends videos have been brilliant – as well as marketing the national team in a highly professional manner. More power to them.
As Craig Fowler of this parish pointed out on a recent podcast, this is Scottish football and we’re not happy unless we’re moaning and unfortunately, the SFA have also given us plenty to complain about this week too.
Firstly, Scotland vs. Georgia did not sell out. In over twenty years of watching Scotland, I don’t remember a sense of positivity about the national team like this (and I include when we were qualifying for World Cups and European Championships). Yet the SFA couldn’t sell out Glasgow’s third biggest stadium. That’s a concern and it’s ultimately about pricing. I spoke to far too many Scotland fans on and offline that fancied going but balked at paying £42 to watch 90 minutes of football.
Ticket prices was another own goal for the SFA this week as tickets for the games at Celtic Park against the Republic of Ireland and England went on sale. Both these games are more expensive than Georgia. Of course, both games are likely to sell out, but those that justify the prices being charged? Not in my opinion.
Of course the Scottish FA have trotted out lines that in comparison to other events then these matches are competitively priced. That’s not something I’m comfortable with. We don’t want Scotland matches to become the preserve of the wealthy or the afflicted (we all know football fans that would sacrifice a lot to secure their tickets). I’d also be more comfortable parting with my cash if the SFA were to publish a breakdown of where the money was going. If for example I knew that £10 of my £42 ticket was going to fund youth coaching and building football infrastructure, then I’d probably have no complaints. But the reality feels like the SFA are cashing in on a lucrative qualifying group, which may have repercussions in the future.
Ticket prices are linked to another issue I have with the SFA this week. Their commercial deals are excluding a lot of people from supporting the team. This week’s games were shown exclusively on Sky and there were no highlights packages available on terrestrial channels. When this is coupled with costly tickets, and the fact you can only buy Scotland strips exclusively in one shop means that the visibility of the team isn’t as high as it could be. We’re lucky things are going great because otherwise these decisions may look questionable.
Ultimately, I can comprehend the position the SFA are in and understand why they’ve taken the decisions they have off the pitch, but it’s a gamble that as this stage, looks like it’s paying off. We’re now relying on Scotland having good performances. It’s comforting that this is something we’re now confident about. Bring on the Irish!
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