Dunfermline Athletic

Is Scottish Football Finally on the Up?

Date: Tuesday, 30th Oct 2018

Anyone who regularly scours social media or browses internet football forums will be aware that Scottish football is regularly the butt of the joke regarding "sub-standard football".

As has been reported over at [ The Guardian ] , those who regularly belittle the leagues north of the border are brazen and often disrespectful in their approach, failing to recognise that the biggest leagues in world football only exist as they do thanks to sponsorship money, TV rights and investment from wealthy owners.

While the Scottish Premiership does receive a decent amount of money from Sky and other broadcasters, the figures are pitiful when compared to the Premier League or even the Championship and this is partly where the problem lies

There is, however, sufficient evidence to suggest that Scottish football could be on the rise after a long period in the doldrums. In the six years since Rangers went into liquidation, Hibs, Aberdeen, Ross County, St Mirren, Hearts, Inverness Caledonian and St Johnstone have all lifted silverware.

You could argue this indicates Scottish football is slowly becoming more competitive, but detractors would quickly point to the fact that Celtic will be going for their eighth successive Scottish Premiership title this year (the current record is 9 and is held by both Rangers and themselves). Nevertheless, the fact that we are finally seeing new names on major trophies north of the border is encouraging.

With Craig Levein back in the hotseat at Hearts and Rangers looking rejuvenated under Steven Gerrard, the Scottish Premiership is looking like more than just another one-horse race this season. Interestingly enough, Levein recently explained, as described in [  the Scotsman, Craig Levein excited ], that this is now a golden age for Scottish managers. Add in the fact that Kilmarnock and Hibs have been flourishing under Steve Clarke and Neil Lennon respectively and this could be one of the most gripping seasons in Scotland for some time. Whilst it does now seem a long time since the halcyon days of the Pars under Jock Stein, the reemergence of some of the aforementioned clubs proves that, with the right men at the helm and the right people above, Dunfermline can once again dream about returning to past glories.

In terms of Scottish national team players coming through the ranks, look no further than Manchester United`s Scott McTominay who has opted to play for Scotland over England because that`s apparently what his heart was telling him.

In addition to this, Glaswegian Andy Robertson played a key role in helping Liverpool to the Champions League final last year before they were soundly beaten by Real Madrid. As can be seen at [ Betfair ] , Jurgen Klopp`s men are around 9/1 to go one better and lift the trophy this year.

If they do manage to do this then there`s no doubt that Robertson will once again be heavily involved in the European campaign.


Whether Celtic take home their eighth successive title this year or not, it does appear that Scottish football is slowly starting to put itself back on the map. It`s fair to say it will take a little more to convince the rest of the footballing world of this fact, but with a few impressive Champions League results over the years, Celtic have certainly done more than most to raise a few eyebrows. In terms of the national team, whether Alex McLeish is the right man for the job remains to be seen, but qualification and success in major tournaments will go a long way to demonstrate that Scottish football is on the way up.



views: 4,527
Story Archives
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998

To top