If you’ve been following the Scottish Football Monitor site, as I have, over the past couple of years you will probably be aware that one of its frequent contributors, John Clark, sat down recently with the SFA President Alan McRae and their head of media Darryl Broadfoot.
You’ll also be aware of the patronising, condescending tone Broadfoot took for much of the meeting, and the way he appeared to ignore the attendance of the President to declare himself as the principal person to whom questions should be addressed.
To all intents and purposes, he said, “I am the SFA.”
The idea that a mere press officer can say that in front of the guy who was elected to run things at the Association tells you everything you need to know, right?
This website has talked about Alan McRae before; he was elected in June last year and his presence at the SFA is so low key he might as well not be there.
In his time in charge he’s offered not one scintilla of vision or shown the slightest imagination about the direction of the game.
To say he’s proving useless would do him more credit than he’s due.
If he really is the last President to be elected under the current system then he will stand as the final proof of how dismal, and unworkable, it actually is.
I find it impossible to believe that this guy would, or could, succeed in any other corporate culture.
Not only would he never have risen through the ranks, but he would last about five minutes in a for-profit organisation with genuine accountability.
The SFA’s ineptness was shown in all its glory this week, of course, as the Scottish Cup tie between East Kilbride and Celtic was plunged into chaos with the battle, and subsequent fiasco, over the venue.
East Kilbride believed they’d been shoe-horned into playing the game at Hamilton, but no-one had told the Premier League club about those plans and they’ve announced that their ground can’t be used for the tie.
This after tickets have been printed, the TV companies have already laid their plans for the game and bets have been made using a code on Betfred.
The word shambles is too light a term for this.
Only the SFA could screw up this royally without someone resigning.
The idea won’t even cross anybody’s mind, of course; they are a national joke, but as the comments from Broadfoot show clearly they are beyond the point where they can be shamed or embarrassed by their own failures and ineptitudes.
Broadfoot told John that “time would tell” if fans would walk away from the game out of genuine disillusionment, an assertion that revealed no intention on the SFA’s part to try and prevent such a disastrous outcome.
Not only this, but he appeared to firmly knock on the head any suggestion that the association is taking fan concerns seriously.
For a start, he refused to acknowledge the mountain of evidence that the Lord Nimmo Smith enquiry was tainted, saying that no such evidence existed – a quite staggering repudiation of the many fans who’ve pushed this case into the public domain, and a response that requires clarification from a number of people including those who say Celtic are fully engaged with this campaign.
The SFA, through their spokesman, are saying there’s no case to answer.
If that’s an accurate summary of things then the campaign has failed to accomplish one of its goals, which was to have someone take these allegations seriously.
Furthermore, Broadfoot then defended the “integrity” of Campbell Ogilvie, who left office with dozens of unanswered questions about his tenure still hanging over the association and his role within it.
This general contempt for ordinary supporters is what we’ve come to expect from these people, but in their conduct here there is, at least, a grain of honesty and in their words a core of truth.
If there is going to be real change in the game it will have to come from the fans.
You can tell just reading this stuff that these people think themselves above it all, and better at their jobs than their performance can possibly justify.
If changing things means staying away from games, even if it’s only SFA run ones, or lobbying the clubs for real reform, or simply exposing these people and their absolute incompetence until something gives … well it’s the supporters who’ll have to handle it either way.
Our national sport is rotting from the inside.
These people are going to kill it unless we stop them.
Indeed m8 always has and they get their way always will.
the loonies are running the asylum
Sack the lot of them ,
Destroying any credibility we ever had
Lets see what the various court case throw up. Ignoring the fans is one thing, but if they are shown to be incompetent in a court of law then there is no come back for these clowns.
Sunday’s game would be a start, but likely is that? Feckin nae chance
There rotten to the core. From top to bottom they have to go.
All fans have to unite in this one.
Who do these people think they are. We are not idiots.
This is just not about Glasgow Celtic. It is abut the integrity of Scottish Football
Can someone answer me this, the SFA insisted on New Douglas Park for the EK cup tie, now that’s a synthetic surface is it not? So why now does it have to be the Excelsior stadium which too has an artificial pitch if I’m not mistaken? Could it be that the SFA (huns in sheep clothing) think EK would have a better chance (if they have one at all) on such a pitch, hence giving no thought to Fir Park, just wondering like!
Something stinks again where this bigoted mob are concerned!
Motherwell are playing at fir park the same day (paranoid)
They seem perfectly happy to watch the game disintegrate completely rather than change.
It leads me to the conclusion that the levels of corruption, cheating and aiding one club and its successor is so high they can’t allow any transparency or investigation into any of their affairs.
The comment from Broadfoot, if true, really puts the tin lid on it.
Unless every stadium is a desert we won’t do anything.
If every stadium is empty then it’s job done as ‘The Rangers’ will be the only club in business.
The bully boy tactics are alive and well in the Hampden bunker.
If this is true then he should pack his bags and go.
They are truly shameless.
I only wished John had asked who made the approach to have Broadfoot at the meeting?
Was he foisted on the President or did the President invite him in.
Either way he looks incredibly weak after this.
This surely cannot go on much longer.
It is beyond the pale that lies can be peddled in the full light of day and passed off as the truth.
It belittles thousands of fans who pay good money to watch a corrupt sport.
WE ARE THE SPORT.
SFA-sevcos favourite arseholes
All any decent honest supporters of Scottish football want is our game to be run fairly and honestly for ALL member clubs,Regan and Doncaster have always thought and still do ,that the old firm are Scottish football ,corrupt doesn’t even cover what these two are,Scottish football has become a laughing stock under these incompetents. We have to send them home again ,or die waiting
Never felt compelled to comment before, been reading this site for a while. SFA are a complete shambles. Another national embarrassment. The corruption and arrogance is astonishing. Fans need to lobby the clubs they represent for total change ASAP or the game in this country will be gone for future generations. Time for folk around the country whoever you support to communicate and have one voice!
It won’t happen guys.
I have been saying for the past year the only thing that will get the SFA/SPFL,and the people who should have sorted this out three years ago the club owners to do anything is vote with our feet.
Don’t hold your breath on that happening.
I am staggered you failed to mention the wee bit ‘banter’ at the end of the meeting when the subject of what team, if any, that Mr Clark follows. And Mr Broadfoot’s inference that the issue of old club/new club is purely a Sevco vs Celtic issue when it comes to the meaning of liquidation. Try telling that to the fans of Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs, Raith, etc.
Apparently DB does not talk to the Compliance Officer who received the evidence kept from from Harper MacLeod from them in Sept 2014.
This is how they work James by “not seeing” what they do not want to see and they do that because they are unaccountable to supporters in any shape or form.
As ST renewal approaches with what the forthcoming trials reveal fans will not have a better opportunity to change the game.
We need to start thinking. Thinking about the ways that we – as football supporters and the only upholders of Sporting Integrity anywhere – can rid our game of this kind of corruption. We need new innovative ways to gum up the SFA and SPFL so that they cannot function any longer as a way of asserting Sport once again in our game.