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Date: 23rd June 2023
Andy’s Sting in the Tale
23/6/2023
“Is Henry McLeish Daft?”
That is the question the media should have been asking him this week after a Holyrood presentation hosted by MSP Fulton McGregor.
Henry, Stenny’s Chairman Iain McMenemy, and SFSA founder Simon Barrow combined and introduced a new concept in Scottish Football.
The Scottish Football Alliance.
And you are invited to become part of a movement for change.
An alliance where everybody is welcome.
Henry and Iain introduced the findings of the research and listening done by the Alliance and its call to action for a better future for our game.
It is all set out in the “Rebuilding Scottish Football” blue paper that sets out what Scottish football needs to do for a successful and secure future and says what needs to be done how to start the process.
The paper was compiled by us all going out there and speaking to people in the game and fans.
People who want a successful future and can see the common good rather than the extreme self-interest and power plays that dominate and harm our game.
The good thing about the paper is it is a work in progress and as such needs more and more input, planning and refining.
How healthy is that?
It wants opinions and views and expertise and help.
It won’t happen without the SFA and SPFL being part of it and they are the key element missing.
But so far, although invited to take part in the review, they have both declined/ ignored the request, and now their position is ‘they were never asked in the first place’.
C’est lavvy.
But they are part of the future and are welcome.
I was in the Holyrood ‘Smith’ Meeting room to hear the presentation and spoke with several journalists, MSPs and civil servants afterwards.
Henry had intimated that very few of the proposals, sensible as they are, would ever be embraced and undertaken unless there is a new concept introduced that we could borrow from England to overcome reluctance for change there.
An independent regulator.
Imagine the benefit of an independent regulator in place controlling how the game manages itself.
(This is well underway down south after a coordinated movement between the fans and the game and is being driven by ex-Sports Minister, Tracey Crouch, Gary Neville, and others).
We all know, deep down, our SFA and SPFL do not want any external control meddling in their wee business and how it works, for instance, they don’t want details of their meetings and agendas with our own Scottish Government and don’t want the amount of money taxpayers put into football quantified and analysed, And a whole lot more.
But football belongs to us all and should be transparent and forward thinking.
We will be lobbying Holyrood to help us open it all up.
So why might some think Henry McLeish is daft, as per my headline?
Well not that long ago he was commissioned and well paid by the SFA to research, consult, and write the McLeish Reports 1 and 2.
Both were launched to acclaim but pretty soon any real changes were put to the pending trays and then buried in the long grass behind the Hampden North Stand.
Well, here is McLeish Report Free.
And he and his pals have done it for nada, zilch, etc.
I was one of them.
Ordinary people.
People whose lives were changed for the better by football.
People who think it is right to give something back.
Have a read of it and think about what it is saying.
You don’t have to agree with it all, or even any of it if you have a better idea.
Just share it and help the future.
This is the link to Henry’s report.
https://scottishfsa.org/fans-review/
I’ll talk about some of the detail below in Sting and while there will be a welcome debate on style, and timings, I think there is the start of a manifesto for the 6th floor at Hampden to ignore initially, but I believe history will be on our side, and somehow they will come to see the bigger picture.
And I hear you thinking out loud.
Just where were the SFA and SPFL on Wednesday and what have they said so far?
The very sad answer is they were arranging and holding a closed (secret) meeting to discuss how to deliver Rangers and Celtic into the SPFL leagues proper, initially through their Conference League wheeze that they know full well that 90% of supporters are against.
A wheeze they avoided a vote on at their recent AGM because they would have lost.
They called those invited to a secretish meeting The Pyramid Working Group, PWG, but it isn’t any kind of open or working group.
Pyramid Finagling Group, PFG, would be a better title.
Or maybe the real name Colts Competing in the Championship Pronto, CCCP.
Now where have I seen those initials before?
That kind of closed meeting with minority self-interest agendas, conflated with real issues to confuse the real intent, but in reality reeking of favours and promises, is normal in Scottish football.
It has always been thus. the kind of thing an Independent Regulator would blow out of the water.
Scottish Football is Everyone’s Business
This Week’s Sting
The old adage is it is better to be lucky.
We somehow hired a manager who has moulded our internationals into a club side.
He was fortunate to inherit some good players and is taking them on a journey.
Yes, over 90 minutes, we were lucky to win against Norway but when the opportunities came we stepped up.
It is also disgraceful that Scottish viewers can see England men’s games on Channel 4 but not our own games.
All men’s and women’s games should be protected like Wimbledon and the Olympics.
I don’t have Viaplay, the ex Setanta mob, who screwed up our game, restarted, somehow got back into Scottish football and then sold out to some Scandis, but instead I was glued to good old Radio Scotland on Tuesday.
My son actually saw the game free in Monterrey, Mexico as part of a low cost sports package he has and in conversations with fans since I now know of at least three dodgy options and fire sticks that deliver the games almost for nothing.
It shouldn’t be like that.
Fans shouldn’t have to cheat or to live in Mexico to watch Scotland free.
The Viaplay nonsense shows how little fans are respected and fought for.
We are nothing more than short term cash cows.
A few years ago, there was a Scottish Blogger on one of the fans sites whose sign off was “Scottish football needs a strong Arbroath”.
He was right.
When Scottish football has strong regional and community clubs it will be flourishing and delivering a steady stream of players for Stevie and. Pedro.
Like any Scots Pine we need to be strong from the roots upwards.
Here are 15 things that our Fan review for the Scottish Football Alliance thinks Scottish football needs.
16 if I include a strong Arbroath.
Read them one by one and if you agree move on for now.
Simple lines that encapsulate a lot more.
If you disagree then tell me why and I’ll share it as part of a healthy and evolving process
Scottish Football Needs:-
1 To improve the product, build its brand and sell itself better to attract more income and more income streams.
2 To increase the level of competition between all clubs and in particular the Premiership.
3 To produce better quality players by nurturing youth development, with a fully funded Scotland-wide youth and elite strategy.
4 To develop a fairer distribution of resources.
5 To nurture the whole game from grass roots upwards for both sexes.
6 To maintain a full and fully open pyramid system in which every club can find its level.
7 To be accessible and welcoming to everyone, especially those who can least afford it, with a particular emphasis on tackling inequalities as a barrier to participation.
8 To improve the player and fan experience by improving the game’s infrastructure.
9 To recognise fans as the lifeblood of the game and not just the key source of revenue.
10 To ensure fans have an ownership stake and a strong voice in how their clubs are run.
11 To ensure the women’s game is seen as a priority.
12 To ensure that the fans have a strong input into how the game is structured and governed.
13 To change the games culture from short termism and narrow self-interest to seeing the bigger picture.
14 To achieve a root and branch reform of the governance of the game, with a remodeled SFA, and a democratic means of working with the SPFL.
15 To work with the Scottish Government and with other sports to create one of the healthiest and fittest nations in the world.
I can’t see much disagreement about things we need to do but the big question is HOW?
We need to be different, and better and that means thinking differently and looking ahead rather than backwards.
3. Thinking Outside the Usual Boxes?
Andy’s Nap Hand of Some of the ‘McLeish 3’ Recommendations
“Football has turned us all into cynics”, were the wise words from one of the journalists I spoke with after the meeting.
“They are too well paid to want to rock the boat”, was another good insight.
“Nothing happens without both, of two, particular votes and backing”, said another.
So is it a hopeless cause?
Training for and running marathons starts with a simple single step I’m not going to run through the paper’s 22 point framework and supporting info, read that at your leisure.
Instead I’ll focus on some easy ‘baby’ steps.
Some deliverables that will be good for the game.
Things where action should be happening whether there is an Independent Regulator or not.
Andy’s First Goal
The Pyramid should be reviewed and fully opened from top down and bottom up.
Andy’s Second Goal
The way the game treats youngsters and the welfare from ages as young as 9 especially when they get ‘dumped’ unceremoniously.
Andy’s Hat Trick
A football futures fund, like the Norwegian Oil Fund should be created and grown.
A long term living pension and investment fund for the game by the game.
Andy’s Fourth Goal
There should be a fans charter covering all aspects and sides of being a fan, including the responsibilities that fandom brings.
Andy’s Nap Hand
Kids football should be prioritised, free where earthly possible, and central to everything the SFA do.
Working with government there should be a plan for regenerating the sport in schools, where it flourished before the teachers strikes in the early 80s, and communities where costs can be an issue.
Input welcome as always.
And Henry McLeish is not a daft man.
Scottish football needs more Henry McLeishes
Have a great weekend.
This weeks background sounds to drown out the Morningside Seagulls noisy derby match with the Morningside Crows has been “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Glasto Headliner Elton, on vinyl.
Haven’t played it for years.
Bloody good album.
Posted in: Andy’s Sting in the Tale
Tags: Fan Led Review, fans, Football, Hampden Park, Scotland, Scottish fans, Scottish football, SFA, SFSA, SPFL