Recently, Scottish football supporter have been participating in a fan’s survey which now has the approval of the SFA.
Everyone who’s yet to fill this in ought to do so at the earliest possible opportunity, and let the governing bodies know what we think.
Amongst the issues under discussion are some which are considered tremendously important to football fans in this country, including match pricing and, more vitally, reforms to the SFA itself, including Financial Fair Play.
The survey is partly being run by Fans Direct, an organisation which has proved tremendously successful in getting supporters opinions across in England.
Whether or not it translates into action here in Scotland remains to be seen, but this if enough of us get our opinions on the record it becomes difficult for the SFA to argue that it’s only a small number of fans who hold these views.
Ticket pricing came into focus recently, when Celtic fans were subsidised for the trip to Kilmarnock. Celtic clearly take issue with the Rugby Park club’s decision to charge our supporters more than any other fans in the country.
The club has not openly backed the “Twenty’s Plenty” campaign, but their decision was a definite step in the right direction.
Fans care about finance. Of course they do.
They want cheap ticket prices, especially when you consider the quality of some of what we watch.
But there are issues that would change not only the fan experience but the way the game in Scotland is run.
Financial Fair Play tops the list. How many times have we explored the issue?
A dozen or more.
The need for it is acute. One club in Scotland continues to spend money that it plainly does not have, and their reliance on soft loans and the generosity of directors is a recipe for the kind of chaos that we’ve seen already at the OldCo and at Gretna and other clubs.
It ends in disaster. How many warnings does the SFA need? We all suspect their reluctance has to do with the behaviour and the needs of a single club, but it’s become ridiculous that the governing body refuses to consider a scheme that would benefit the whole country, and would ensure fairness across all of the leagues.
Sevco isn’t actually the only club that overspends. Dunfermline just won the Division 1 title and were last year criticised, heavily, for exiting administration and going on a spending spree.
Too many clubs in Scottish football have gotten themselves into trouble because they were allowed to; Financial Fair Play will change all that forever and protect them from themselves. Not every club will like it; Sevco seems to enjoy spending what it doesn’t have (click here for yesterday’s article on the way they seem to mirror Trump’s Republican Party in stupidity) and they will certainly not enjoy being told they have to get it under control.
But this helps everybody, and it’s long overdue.
You can fill in the survey clicking on here.
I would recommend that every Scottish football supporters do just that.
Please share this article and make sure as many people do it as possible.