Rangers and Celtic are the norms in Scottish football news. As a result, other teams aren’t enough to overpower them. The Scotland National team do not produce enough good results to repay the fan’s backing, contributing to Scottish football going downhill.
The members of the Scottish football industry must address Scotland’s big problem together. Meaning if everyone works together, they could bring back their Scottish footballing pride.
Scotland’s Footballing Problems
The Youth
First of all, youth is the foundation of this problem. The past years haven’t seen the youth improve much. Young aspiring footballers are leaving the Scottish Premier League. This shows youth players are extremely important and are the big factor for any club or league to succeed.
Last year, Livingston decided to cease their successful youth academy due to costs. Promotion to the Scottish Premiership meant costs were too much for Livingston. Young players will have fewer opportunities to make it due to situations like those. This decision meant around 50 teenage players were left without a club.
The solution to improve this is to invest more in facilities, youth teams and give more opportunities. A prime example of how to treat youth football comes from Ajax. Ajax has an amazing youth policy and continues to produce young talent. Because of the Netherlands’s elite mentality towards youth, their national team is excellent.
The National Side
The Scotland National team has a lot of fan support. Scotland’s passion and fire for their beloved country never die, but the national team do not seem to justify that passion. Travelling fans carry the good atmosphere from the Old Firm derbies to their international matches; only to see lesser results which further contributes to the reasons Scottish football is going downhill.
The current top sides in the league boast a lot of foreign players, this shows that the clubs are developing their own countrymen less. Rangers has players such as Alfredo Morelos, Borna Barisic, Jermaine Defoe, and a few others. Celtic also have a similar case with players such as Tom Rogic, Odsonne Edouard, Olivier Ntcham, and a fair few others too. This case means that Scottish players are given fewer chances and less development, impacting the national side.
However, the solution to this could also be youth players. Better Scottish footballers would come about if a better youth system were in place in Scotland. Players like Kieran Tierney of Arsenal and Andy Robertson of Liverpool are a grand example. It shows that there could be more players of their level out there, then ultimately serve their national team in aid of better results.
Europe
Scottish teams in Europe as of recent years have struggled. But recently there have been results, Rangers and Celtic doing well in their Europa League groups. The European competitions are an element of promoting a league, whenever a club does well, attention is given to their league.
Only four clubs from Scotland have competed in the Champions League. Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Motherwell. But only Rangers and Celtic have made it through to the group stages. The Europa League is a different story; nine clubs having competed.
Celtic and Rangers are currently close to the solution; doing well in the Europa competition. This will draw more viewers to the Scottish Premier League, meaning more income, and giving growth to the league.
A New Hope?
Given Scotland’s footballing dilemmas, there is still hope. If the youth systems and development are given more attention, taking an example from other countries, then Scottish football will flourish.
It is clear that youth systems are the way for a football league and a national team to move forward in terms of quality. Scotland can potentially revive their footballing glory and bringing themselves up to the standard of other countries’ football.
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