NAE NOOKIE
18-12-2010, 11:02 AM
First the myth:
Without the OF away support a lot of Scottish teams will go tits up.
IMHO in this day and age that is a crock. Look at the attendances for Celtic at Killie or Rangers at St Mirren. These games dont even come near to selling out any more. And St Mirren Park only holds 8,000.
Same with Hibs: in a 16 team league If we lose two OF games and one Derby a season that means that we lose approximately 12,000 fans per year, which equates to one slightly above average home crowd. Not ideal I grant you, but surely not a disaster.
A number of years ago the Dunfermline chairman stated that the money made through televised OF matches was swallowed up by the fact that due to the game being on TV a lot of fans who may have gone to the game dont go .... 1) coz the game is on TV and 2) coz of stupid kick off times.
Now the problem:
If it wasn't for the fact that the tail wags the dog in Scotland we would be able to organise the league without two clubs greed making an interesting and varied fixture programme impossible.
In fact, if it hadn't been for the OFs exsistance there would never have been a need for a 10 team league in Scotland ..... EVER !
But they wont go away .. So some folk, myself included, think that in order to generate more interest and fill in a fixture gap in a 16 team league, an expanded League Cup in groups made up of teams from Scotland and Ireland would be a great idea, with the final in Glasgow or Dublin depending on circumstances. I am sure the Irish would be very interested in this idea.
But this way forward will never even be considered, not because of footballing or logistical problems, but because the thought of Rangers playing in Dublin would give the Irish Police nightmares. Who wants a repeat of Manchester with sectarian violence from both sides thrown in ?
So the bottom line here is that the OF are not a boon to the game in this country. They are the very reason it is on its arse.
If only the people running rest of the clubs would admit that and call their bluff by telling them you can play it our way or sod off !!!
If only ..... :bitchy:
Without the OF away support a lot of Scottish teams will go tits up.
IMHO in this day and age that is a crock. Look at the attendances for Celtic at Killie or Rangers at St Mirren. These games dont even come near to selling out any more. And St Mirren Park only holds 8,000.
Same with Hibs: in a 16 team league If we lose two OF games and one Derby a season that means that we lose approximately 12,000 fans per year, which equates to one slightly above average home crowd. Not ideal I grant you, but surely not a disaster.
A number of years ago the Dunfermline chairman stated that the money made through televised OF matches was swallowed up by the fact that due to the game being on TV a lot of fans who may have gone to the game dont go .... 1) coz the game is on TV and 2) coz of stupid kick off times.
Now the problem:
If it wasn't for the fact that the tail wags the dog in Scotland we would be able to organise the league without two clubs greed making an interesting and varied fixture programme impossible.
In fact, if it hadn't been for the OFs exsistance there would never have been a need for a 10 team league in Scotland ..... EVER !
But they wont go away .. So some folk, myself included, think that in order to generate more interest and fill in a fixture gap in a 16 team league, an expanded League Cup in groups made up of teams from Scotland and Ireland would be a great idea, with the final in Glasgow or Dublin depending on circumstances. I am sure the Irish would be very interested in this idea.
But this way forward will never even be considered, not because of footballing or logistical problems, but because the thought of Rangers playing in Dublin would give the Irish Police nightmares. Who wants a repeat of Manchester with sectarian violence from both sides thrown in ?
So the bottom line here is that the OF are not a boon to the game in this country. They are the very reason it is on its arse.
If only the people running rest of the clubs would admit that and call their bluff by telling them you can play it our way or sod off !!!
If only ..... :bitchy: