The Great Unwashed are rejoicing tonight after it was revealed that SFA director Gary Hughes will step down following a row over an interview from 12 years ago in which he referred to Rangers fans as the “great unwashed”.
It would perhaps have been more worthwhile to have held an enquiry into who actually kept that little snippet from a trade newspaper all that time so that one day they could produce it and use it to attack Hughes.
Tonight the SFA confirmed that Hughes will not seek re-election at its upcoming agm on Wednesday following Ibrox chief Dave King’s calls for him to be suspended.
The offending jokey comment that has ultimately Hughes his job at the SFA was this: “The next best thing to being at Celtic Park (only the great unwashed venture south to Ibrox) is watching the game, pint of Tennents in hand, with some like-minded souls.”
Hughes, who has been on holiday while the row was manufactured by Dave King, his buddies in the red-tops and his bed-fellows on the Rangers forums, said tonight:
“It has been an honour and a privilege to bring my professional expertise to the game I love.
“I have been involved in business for 30 years but the commitment of my oard colleagues – and indeed everyone involved in Scottish football – to improve the national sport in this country has made it an absolute pleasure.
“I will remain a passionate supporter of the Scottish FA’s activities but it is time to focus on other business interests at home and abroad.”
Most, if not all the Celtic bloggers have backed Hughes in this row which has been no more than a storm in a teacup given the vast amount of other issues that have gone win at the SFA in recent years. Campbell Ogilvie for instance did not resign when news emerged that he himself had taken an EBT payment of £95,000 – indeed this was justified on the BBC by one of their presenters saying that it was just about enough for a good night out.
However it is hard to offer Hughes too much support, given his backing for the SFA position in refusing an enquiry into the wrong doing at Rangers. There are simply too many skeletons in the SFA cupboards as far as Rangers are concerned.
How ironic them that an SFA man can be removed for making a wee football joke all those years ago.
The real joke is the SFA themselves.
