WILL SCOTTISH FOOTBALL BE A WASH OUT?

SCOTLAND'S MISERABLE WEATHER may have flooded several rivers across the country this week, however most of the country is experiencing a drought compared with the deluge of tears that has swamped Govan.

     Thousands of Rangers' fans wept in disbelief after a majority of SPL clubs vetoed their request to re-enter the Premier League after Rangers were officially liquidated.  And whilst this move is both admirable and morally right, football fans cannot help question whether this decision will have a catastrophic financial impact upon the game.

     The loss of Rangers from the SPL will damage all 12 SPL clubs.  Celtic and Rangers were the only clubs that could regularly guarantee full ticket sales.  Teams including Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Aberdeen - each of which hold one fifth of the capacity of Parkhead or Ibrox - struggle week in, week out to sell just a quarter of their capacity, and the exclusion of Rangers from appearing in the top flight for the foreseeable future will severely restrict the broadcasting revenue which flows into Scottish football.

     The clubs who determined Rangers fate were always going to find themselves in an impossible position.  If they had invited Rangers' Newco into the top-flight, fans across the country would have lambasted them for adopting a weak and cowardly stance.  So many fans will now carry an air of smug conceit; the mighty Rangers, consigned to oblivion through their own arrogant financial mishandling, now rest in the gutter where they belong.  However, it must be questioned, when the air of smug conceit evaporates, how long will it take before despair sets in?

     World class football players like Paulo De Canio, Giovanni Van Bronkhurst and Rino Gutusso will no longer come to Scotland to learn their trade, as an SPL without real competition will offer no incentive.  A lack of on-field talent will create generic disinterest in Scottish football, and broadcasting rights - which are soon to be revised - will fall considerably. 

     Rangers atrocious financial mismanagement has cost them and the whole of Scottish football dear.  But whereas Rangers, under the auspices of a Newco, will rise to play football again, the question remains: will Scottish football ever truly recover?