SPL In Crisis: Why The SFA Won’t Save Us.

I became well acquainted with the inner workings of Scottish football at a young age. The company my father worked for printed the matchday programmes during the 80s and early 90s. His boss was former Motherwell captain, Matt Thomson, a great man, who was enormously generous and it was not uncommon to find an ex-football player, having fallen on hard times, been given a job by the former full back.

Many a time I recall my father lamenting Jim Farry’s position as the SFA chief executive and, even then, it was widely known how corrupt and self-serving the SFA was. As a young teenager I recall my father calling me into the factory to aid in rectifying a printing error in a batch of programmes. A copyright symbol had inadvertently been replaced by a two-fingered peace sign (no doubt the work of a good Tim on the factory floor !) and Farry had threatened to sue if it wasn’t removed.

I earned 50 quid that day, spending an hour or so blotting out, with a black marker, the sign that Farry found so litigious. In years to come, Fergus would take a similarly offensive two-fingered sign and jam it right back up the SFA. The result was Farry being given his books in 1999, having being found guilty of deliberately stalling the registration of Jorge Cadete.

Current events are directly reflective of the standards (or lack thereof) that were implemented during the Farry era. The governing body of Scottish football continues to be mired in cronyism and pork barrel-style politicking. When Stewart Reagan was appointed in 2010, I was skeptical. He navigated the referee strike, but I felt he came across as largely impotent and bumbling. Only under the weight of massive outside pressure did Reagan, in his first real test of resolve, sack Hugh Dallas for circulating an email linking the Pope with child abuse.

Following this, celebrity scientist Richard Dawkins thought it appropriate to demonstrate his ignorance outside the biological sciences and damned the decision, describing the email as a “joke”. While I respected Dawkins’ defence of free speech, he unfortunately neglected to put his brain into gear before he put his mouth into motion.

What he failed to grasp was the context of the situation and how it removed the notion of any impartiality on the SFA’s behalf whilst stoking the flames of an already volatile, fractious religious divide in Glasgow. Innumerable incidents since have been unsuccessful in dispelling the notion that the SFA is simply not fit for purpose.

In the case of Reagan, I think he simply lacks the qualifications and mettle for a job that is way out of his league. Alex Thomson’s recent dissection of him was painful viewing as he continually stuttered at the interviewer’s questions and deflected blame.

Thomson a direct, well-respected, award winning journalist deserves praise in the face of criticism (from, well not the sharpest tools in the box) regarding the significance of his role in the Rangers debate. In my mind, the significance of Thomson is not how much fresh material he has generated, but the fact that he has brought the debate to a wider audience and, hopefully, encouraged UEFA to keep a closer eye.

The SPL and SFA are currently doing everything in their power to ensure Rangers survive. It is the most shocking display of prejudice and favouritism I’ve ever witnessed in sport. The SPL rules are undergoing revision that would allow a phoenixed Rangers to re-enter the top level of Scottish football with penalties, laughingly, regarded by some as overly punitive.

Considering the unpaid tax and debts they’ll leave behind, it’s a mere slap on the wrist. While the assertion is that Rangers survival is financially critical to the survival of the SPL, the real reason is far simpler. Rangers are the establishment team. Extrapolate further; their fan base in Scotland is a huge proportion of the electorate. The SPL, the SFA and the government all have to collude to allow them to survive in some form.

Scottish football fans were recently surveyed on how they would act if Rangers liquidate and are allowed to transfer their SPL league share to a Newco (http://www.splsurvey.co.uk/). Result ? They will vote with their feet. Any doubt of fair play in the Scottish game will be removed. If so, the governing bodies of the game will have achieved what they apparently sought to prevent by protecting their favourite club; the death of Scottish football.