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View Full Version : Culture, Media and Sport Committee to meet and discuss state of Scottish football



JohnStephens91
04-07-2012, 07:23 PM
As it says in the title there will be a meeting at Westminster to discuss this as it was reported on the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-18706453

For those of you wishing to contact your MP there is a very limited amount that they can do in this situation, the best course of action is to contact MPs who sit on the CMS Committee and they can be found here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/culture-media-and-sport-committee/membership2/

It is probably advisable to send them a short e-mail regarding the feelings of fans of our club regarding the situation so that it may be used as evidence. There are some good MPs there, most notably Steve Rotheram who is a big campaigner for the Justice for the 96 campaign and delivered one of the best speeches ever in the House of Commons. The ball is in out of our court now regarding Newco, whilst we have pressured Petrie and company to vote no to Newco, it is down to the SFL now to decide. There is very little more we can do other than e-mail all the boards (I have done this) and hope for the best. Even if the outcome is not what we wanted we can do our bit to help show up the corruption of the game up here, whether it is at the very top level (Doncaster, Ogilvie) or on a club level with ties to the Old Firm (Bannatyne, Findlay) we must be prepared to have our feelings known.

Also while we are here we can also out into words our thoughts on the measly package from the BBC we receive compared to the EPL and also the Sky TV deal being worth peanuts in comparison. We can also try and force them to discuss how bias football journalism is here and the scaremongering tactics that are employed to try and keep a revolt at bay. This is our time to stand up and be heard.

Hibercelona
04-07-2012, 07:27 PM
Emailing other club boards is pointless.

As I said on another thread "The boards will know the figures and facts better than any football fan".

They don't need everybody to throw emails at them to figure out whats going on.

They know better than all of us.

JohnStephens91
04-07-2012, 07:35 PM
Emailing other club boards is pointless.

As I said on another thread "The boards will know the figures and facts better than any football fan".

They don't need everybody to throw emails at them to figure out whats going on.

They know better than all of us.

Alright, well I have already done this. I basically spoke about how all of our fans were united with a majority of the support in the Scotland and it would be a shame to see us betrayed, I didn't mention facts and figures. There is also the fact that there is a lot more than 'e-mail other clubs boards' in my original post, how about looking at that and discussing everything or the most important aspect instead of one line I put in?

marinello59
04-07-2012, 07:45 PM
If politicians start getting involved now our game really is totally screwed. Though Wee Eck has gone strangely quiet since his early attempts to plead Rangers case with HMRC.

Renfrew_Hibby
04-07-2012, 07:50 PM
On that committee is Labour MP Jim Sheriden (my local MP) He is a total fud and old firm apologist. Big Celtic man who has openly talked before about how they could help get the old firm to the promised land of the EPL.

I would say this will come up with nothing new and propably take an old firm sided stance as if to say 'what can be done to help their chances' blah blah blah

Hibercelona
04-07-2012, 07:53 PM
Alright, well I have already done this. I basically spoke about how all of our fans were united with a majority of the support in the Scotland and it would be a shame to see us betrayed, I didn't mention facts and figures. There is also the fact that there is a lot more than 'e-mail other clubs boards' in my original post, how about looking at that and discussing everything or the most important aspect instead of one line I put in?

Cool your jets, I wasn't having a dig at you mate. :thumbsup:

I pretty much agree with everything else you have said.

But i'm pretty sure the emotions of fans from the SFL will reflect the emotions of SPL fans. They'll let their clubs know how they feel, just like we have with our own.

Saorsa
04-07-2012, 07:54 PM
If politicians start getting involved now our game really is totally screwed. Though Wee Eck has gone strangely quiet since his early attempts to plead Rangers case with HMRC.Could be right but it may no be such a bad thing, the people that run the game in this country cannae be trusted IMO.


They're no likely tae investigate themselves and come tae the conclusion they've been at it. :greengrin

ScottB
04-07-2012, 08:04 PM
Honestly I think complaining about the BBC, and definitely Sky is an utter waste of time and dilutes the key issue.

TV rights are worth what they are worth at a commercial level. That argument would suggest that every sport should be getting equal proportional shares of the money available, which is a nonsense. TV viewing figures for Scottish football are probably laughable, especially the highlights on the BBC. I'd wager Match of the Day gets way more viewers, wouldn't be surprised if Sky's EPL coverage gets more viewers up here compared to the average SPL match.


The key issue here is the corruption, both moral and actual that is investing our game at multiple levels. We must focus on that, rather than create addition arguments that have little to no chance of achieving anything other than offering another area for the powers that be to focus on and let these ******** get away with this mess.

JohnStephens91
04-07-2012, 08:10 PM
Could be right but it may no be such a bad thing, the people that run the game in this country cannae be trusted IMO.


They're no likely tae investigate themselves and come tae the conclusion they've been at it. :greengrin

Exactly, and by providing them with first account fans reactions then they can use these as evidence. If the fans can utilise this opportunity we may see an investigation take place and perhaps some of the guff uprooted from the top and bundled away somewhere they can't have a profoundly negative influence on the whole of Scottish football.

Eyrie
04-07-2012, 08:17 PM
I expect our Dear Leader to complain that this is the UK government sticking its nose into Scottish football. Yet our own MSPs wouldn't do this because they'd be too worried about upsetting one or both sets of Ugly Sister fans, so it needs to be done by an outside group.

JohnStephens91
04-07-2012, 08:19 PM
Honestly I think complaining about the BBC, and definitely Sky is an utter waste of time and dilutes the key issue.

TV rights are worth what they are worth at a commercial level. That argument would suggest that every sport should be getting equal proportional shares of the money available, which is a nonsense. TV viewing figures for Scottish football are probably laughable, especially the highlights on the BBC. I'd wager Match of the Day gets way more viewers, wouldn't be surprised if Sky's EPL coverage gets more viewers up here compared to the average SPL match.


The key issue here is the corruption, both moral and actual that is investing our game at multiple levels. We must focus on that, rather than create addition arguments that have little to no chance of achieving anything other than offering another area for the powers that be to focus on and let these ******** get away with this mess.

But let's be fair, when you look at the issue as a whole the state of Scottish football is a vicious circle. The money being pumped in is very little and was cordoned off mostly for the Old Firm who received a lot more than they should have done. Due to the very little amount of money available it actually crippled many clubs financially hence the dramatic drop in quality from the era of Sauzee and Latapy for us. English football receives plentiful amounts from Sky and also the BBC who splash out obscene amounts and very little here, if we received more money the quality of football is likely to increase to a more acceptable level and also generate more interest in Scottish football, that is why so many love to watch English football is because of the money the clubs have and they get it from obscene TV money and this in turn increases attendances and also makes them able to attract wealthy owners.

The overlying issue though is of course corruption and this should be a key focus first and foremost.

ScottB
04-07-2012, 08:29 PM
But let's be fair, when you look at the issue as a whole the state of Scottish football is a vicious circle. The money being pumped in is very little and was cordoned off mostly for the Old Firm who received a lot more than they should have done. Due to the very little amount of money available it actually crippled many clubs financially hence the dramatic drop in quality from the era of Sauzee and Latapy for us. English football receives plentiful amounts from Sky and also the BBC who splash out obscene amounts and very little here, if we received more money the quality of football is likely to increase to a more acceptable level and also generate more interest in Scottish football, that is why so many love to watch English football is because of the money the clubs have and they get it from obscene TV money and this in turn increases attendances and also makes them able to attract wealthy owners.

The overlying issue though is of course corruption and this should be a key focus first and foremost.

It's not the job of TV companies to fund football though, TV companies pay for what people will watch. Suggesting they should pay more so more people might watch our game just isn't going to happen. Are we actually getting significantly less money than in the Sauzee days? I'm not sure, the big change since then is that most clubs have stopped spending money they never had to begin with. The English game is popular the world over, hence the vast TV deals. Nobody outwith our country is likely to ever care much what we get up to at the end of the day.

Our game should be trying to move away from its dependence on TV money, not trying to make it worse.


Ill be intrigued to see what comes of this, FIFA after all forbids political interference in the sport. An investigation into just how 'free' Scotland's press really is would be most welcome though...

JohnStephens91
04-07-2012, 09:13 PM
It's not the job of TV companies to fund football though, TV companies pay for what people will watch. Suggesting they should pay more so more people might watch our game just isn't going to happen. Are we actually getting significantly less money than in the Sauzee days? I'm not sure, the big change since then is that most clubs have stopped spending money they never had to begin with. The English game is popular the world over, hence the vast TV deals. Nobody outwith our country is likely to ever care much what we get up to at the end of the day.

Our game should be trying to move away from its dependence on TV money, not trying to make it worse.


Ill be intrigued to see what comes of this, FIFA after all forbids political interference in the sport. An investigation into just how 'free' Scotland's press really is would be most welcome though...

Did the French government not look into the French Football Federation? I guess we need to wait to see what issues are going to be discussed by the committee and hopefully they can get something sorted. Hopefully the press falls under it as well, I am meeting my MP to discuss what the general concern is over the state of Scottish football before getting further involved in issues such as the press which are an outlying issue.

For now though if people e-mail a couple of the MPs on the committee regarding cheating and corruption would be good so that they have first hand accounts to take with them to the meeting.