Kick Off 6.30pm

Monday 28 September 2009.

The chief Executive of the SFA Gordon Smith got events under way by taking to his seat at the front of the auditorium looking less formal than the rest of the panellists. He then broke into his opening speech and stated 'its all the fault of the SFA.' Of course it was all tongue in cheek but perhaps the comment was another sign of a man sick of the hassle, criticism and pressures of his role and problem ridden regime. At the same time there in spoke the words of the man at the top of the tree in Scottish football, or then again is he? Yes, Scottish football at administrative level and in terms of league set up is complex, confusing and of course it currently has many problems.

These problems or challenges were the reason the great, good and some would say bad of Scottish football gathered this week at a football conference at Stirling University's MacRobert Arts Centre in Stirling. The ongoing review into Scottish football, coupled with well publicised challenges faced by the Scottish game made for lively debate about Scottish football. The aim of this event was to encourage debate towards decisions about possible solutions to some of the present challenges facing the game.

Promoted by the University as 'Scottish Football under the Spotlight' alongside the SFA Chief Executive Smith were Henry McLeish the former First Minister and now the head of the latest review into Scottish football; Iain Blair the SPL Operations Director; David Longmuir SFL Chief Executive, Fraser Wishart PFA Scotland Chief Executive and completing the list James Proctor from Supporters Direct. Jim Spence from the BBC chaired the events from the stage.

The Discussion

A variety of topics were attacked from the outset with Gordon Smith kicking off by outlining his vision for increased athleticism, technique and the achievement of a new mentality within the Scottish game. Ultimately, Smith was keen to see a movement away from the 'negativity' that he suggests haunts the Scottish game. On the same vain, Ian Blair from the SPL went on to talk about the extent to which Scottish football currently is 'ill presented' by the media and fans. Whilst Smith had talked about negativity, Blair was keen to root out the OTT criticism he suggests comes the way of the SPL. Overall his solution and vision was for those involved in the game to adopt a more 'positive approach ' to how things are.

Then matters went to the lower leagues as David Longmuir from the SFL spoke of his desire to get '10% of the population from Scotland's small towns into games of local teams.' Fraser Wishart meanwhile talked about getting things right on the pitch, and then things he suggest 'would go right in the stands.' Interestingly James Proctor from supporters Direct talked with the most clarity of the whole panel and suggested how clubs have to end the current mentality of 'taking fans for granted.'

Henry McLeish's early words were largely clichéd and politically driven sentiments. Whilst Tony Blair once spoke and became the PM on the back of 'education, education, education', Mr McLeish spoke of 'development, development, development' and his faith in a newer 'learning and ambitious' Scotland to embrace the changes he would recommend.

The Debate

Questions from the audience to the panel were conducted by Jim Spence via a Question Time style format. First up came calls from the audience for a new pyramid style structure for the Scottish game. Some of the panel were supportive of the idea but sceptical of the buying into the idea by current member league clubs. Backing this up it was highlighted that only 5 applications to replace the liquidated Gretna suggested that aspirations for league membership did not current exist in Scotland. Against this, Fraser Wishart put forward the specific solution of a two league system set up with regionalised leagues underneath as a solution to the league structures problems.

The debate then moved onto questions about the number of separate bodies that run the Scottish game. Why does the SPL, SFL and SFA exist when one all encompassing administrative body would allow greater decision making and less bureaucracy. This led onto questions about how the review and associated research could actually move onto positive action and with it actual change.

After prompting from Jim Spence a show of hands from the audience suggested 70% thought change would not be successfully achieved as a result of the McLeish review. Afterwards prompts were made of the issue of club ownership and for clubs to move towards being part of the local community. Gordon Smith meanwhile spoke of the need for improved financial management from top down, highlighting the current financial problems faced by the major clubs in the English Premiership. Then the audience spoke of the damage to game of SNP's idea for free to air Scotland games. Increased investment by clubs in face potential of political interference into Scottish football from the current SNP regime. Gordon Smith spoke of his concern and alarm at the suggestion from the Alex Salmond government that all Scotland games should be free to air on the BBC. To wrap things up some fans in attendance spoke of the value of the abandonment of the reserve league via making participation voluntary. The question of safe standing came to the fore near the end of the debate but it was a mere token question; whilst James Proctor was positive about the idea the rest of the panel were never allowed to comment.

The Decisions

This was not the first recent investigation into Scottish football by an independent reviewing body. In the mid 1990's a whole host of esteemed football people gathered to assess and recommend change for the Scottish game. Amongst these were Ernie Walker, Tony Higgins, Lars Christer Olsen, Martin Rose and most notably the former Dutch national team manager Rinus Michels. Almost every change recommended by the reviewing panel was rejected by the SFA at the time.

Whether the reviewing capabilities and report from McLeish due to be published in January 2010 actually recommends radical change for Scottish football is open to question and certainly the audience seemed to have little faith that it could either before, during and after the event. To the credit of McLeish he mentioned a number of times during the night that he would only be recommending changes and had little control over whether any of these will be enforced. That alone suggests he himself is doubtful of the willingness of those in control to embrace wholesale change.

Reading between the lines, my guess is that Henry McLeish far from recommending radical wholesale change and league restructuring will embark on chiefly recommending a new 'mindset' for Scottish football to be adopted by fans, government and the games rulers. He will possibly recommend a joint partnership between the government and the SFA where innovative coaching ideas and new systems are to be introduced. At the centre of this idea will be the promotion of healthy living, increasing fitness levels and promoting increased exercise. In short, the review of Scottish football will probably turn out to be a waste of time as too many administrators in 'cushy number' jobs have too much to lose.   Instead of actual practical change being enforced from this review via league structuring the solutions will be theoretical and jargon ridden.   A massive cop out and a retention of the status quo will be the name of the game.  The problem is, if it aint broke dont fix it may be the assumption of the SPL and Gordon Smith, but it is clearly not the view of the supporters who are crying out for new ideas and change.

Its worth remembering that Rinus Michels who played a role in the last review of Scottish football spoke about 'cutting out the cancers within the game' quickly before rot sets in. It would be wrong to wholly dismiss the SPL, SFA and SFL and its rulers here but clearly there is a whole range of vested interest in the game from those three and the debate suggested that they are quite happy with the status quo and see no need for change.

But then again, maybe I am just being negative?