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Scottish Football’s Covid Farce & Conspiracy Craziness

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Scottish football has dealt with Covid-19 in an unequal, inconsistent and chaotic way.

In April 2020, the pitch was dug up at Ibrox and SPFL clubs UNANIMOUSLY voted to end the season early. Celtic were subsequently awarded the title, leading by a 13 point margin at the time. The runners up had played a game less than the Hoops (29 as opposed to 30), but few doubted that the Hoops were certain to win the league. At the other end of the table, relegation was very tough on Hearts as they were just four points behind Hamilton with eight games to play, though the Jambos were also part of the unanimous vote.

Last season, Celtic were forced to play against Hibernian with 13 players out due to isolation, and Hibs themselves had to fulfil fixtures whilst members of their own squad were isolating. However, Aberdeen had two matches postponed when eight of their players were forced to isolate after being identified as close contacts in a city centre bar. Furthermore, St Mirren and Kilmarnock were allowed to postpone their games in the same situation. Farcically, the latter mentioned pair were both later handed 3-0 defeats due to being found to have breached Covid protocols prior to their respective outbreaks, but that decision was then reversed after a successful appeal and the games were rescheduled after all! (There are countless other examples of inconsistencies)

As if that farcical handling of affairs wasn’t bad enough, Dundee United and St Mirren have been asked to play with severely depleted squads amid the pandemic this term. Dundee United were 66/1 rank outsiders to win at Ibrox last week as six players were out due to the virus. Meanwhile, St Mirren only have a handful of outfield players available after a mass outbreak at the club. Yesterday, they asked the SPFL to postpone their upcoming fixtures against Celtic and Rangers, but laughably the request was denied.

Now, another debacle threatens to rear its ugly head in the Scottish game. The SNP have deemed that no more than 500 fans will be allowed to attend football matches as of Boxing Day (for three weeks). Three clubs (Celtic, Motherwell, Hibernian) requested the SPFL to bring the winter break forward, so that matches can be played in front of full crowds. Not only is this best for fans, but it is also much more financially sensible. Indeed, there would be derbies in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee played in front of just 500 people as things stand – costing the clubs millions in lost revenue and denying thousands of supporters the chance to attend major fixtures.

All clubs have subsequently had their say and ten are reportedly in favour of an early winter break, whilst two are against (Rangers and Ross County).

The usual conspiracy nonsense has now began. The same fans who wanted to ‘open the gates’ to be able to ‘rejoin their mates’ are now insisting that Celtic only want to bring the break forward due to an injury crisis at present. Besides the fact that the reverse fixture was played in front of a full house, and that 60,000 supporters would be denied the opportunity to attend the New Year’s game (people who are the lifeblood of football), are we to believe that nine other clubs just want to help out Celtic? Has there not been any consideration as to why 83% of the League want to bring the break forward and avoid playing in empty stadia?

It wasn’t that long ago that their own club agreed with such a stance.

In the last hour, the SPFL have announced that an official vote will be held on the matter. Scottish Premiership clubs have been handed three options regarding the winter break.

  1. Clubs can vote to start the break after the round of fixtures on Boxing Day
  2. Clubs can back stopping the season for three weeks before Sunday’s round of fixtures
  3. Clubs can opt to pause the season as planned after the Edinburgh derby on January 3

Votes must be returned by 5pm, when it is hoped that Scottish football will make a competent decision about how the game moves forward.

The chaos, inconsistencies and conspiracies have been quite ridiculous throughout this whole debacle. Hopefully, things can be done correctly going forward.

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About Author

Hailing from an Irish background, I grew up on the English south coast with the good fortune to begin watching Celtic during the Martin O'Neill era. I have written four Celtic books since the age of 19: Our Stories & Our Songs: The Celtic Support, Take Me To Your Paradise: A History Of Celtic-Related Incidents & Events, Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys: Celtic's Founding Fathers, First Season & Early Stars, and The Holy Grounds of Glasgow Celtic: A Guide To Celtic Landmarks & Sites Of Interest. These were previously sold in Waterstones and official Celtic FC stores, and are now available on Amazon.

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1 Comment

  1. martin on

    another option should be on the table, let the players and the fans of all the clubs vote to keep playing in front of crowds, or take up one of the options listed. Never happen though, letting the two sets of people that are essential to the game decide, cant have that eh, that would take the power from the tyrant and her mad, bought and paid for by pharma scientists. You don’t escape tyranny by trying to appease it. As said let the players and the fans decide, if you want to play, then play, if fans want to go and watch, let them go and watch. A shout out to Lawrence Shankland who had the courage to say what hundreds of players up and down the country, and managers and owners think, but with their cowardly silence and compliance are only making things worse. We are adults who can decide for ourselves