On Wednesday night after Celtic had beaten Hearts in a game which had a bit of everything, from spectacular goals to missed penalties which all led to a nail biting finish, a few things got me thinking about Scottish football in general. Firstly I thought about how good a game and occasion it actually was, not just because Celtic managed to leave Tynecastle with all three points in what is one of the league’s toughest away games, but due to the excitement the game itself actually entailed.
A raucous atmosphere at the ground long before kick off jumped up a notch when the game actually begun under the floodlights in Edinburgh. How that atmosphere changed after two fantastic goals, one a thunderbolt strike from distance and the other a deft back heel flick as the away team shot into a two goal lead. The general tempo to the game, dictated by a Celtic team in full flow who played some beautiful football at times.
Into the second half with the crowd quieter than usual, suddenly reinvigorated after the home team got back into the game with a controversial goal that should have been offside. The atmosphere then turned up once more as a penalty is awarded, then missed as the ball strikes the post and scuttles across the line and out of harms way. The tense finish as Celtic looked out on their feet but held on bravely against a battling Hearts team for a huge 3 points.
This was a game made to be screened on live TV, thankfully it was. Full of drama and excitement, an impressive standard of football on show from the two teams involved and a fully involved set of supporters on both sides who remained vocal throughout. A match with all these ingredients is hard to find these days as you skip through the almost endless offering on the sports channels, which brings me to my point (thank god I hear you say). Is Scottish football being massively undersold?
The second thing that made me question this was Matt O’Reilly’s interview after the match. As The Celtic Star’s Niall J reported in his article yesterday regarding the game, the Englishman had this reply to being asked to sum up his debut.
“Intense. The atmosphere was crazy, more than I’ve ever experienced as a player.
“I’ve come from mainly (English) League One, where there are fans but not like this. I’m not used to it so it was definitely a good experience in that sense.
“Yeah, just really happy to get the first game under my belt and hopefully now I can push on.”
The third thing that made me want to write this article was on Thursday i spoke to a friend who has previously had zero interest in Scottish football, someone brainwashed by the glitz and glamour of the EPL who would scoff when Scottish football was mentioned. He watched the match due to his father in law having it on when visiting the in-laws.
He talked about how it was a great game and his surprise at both the football on show and the atmosphere at the ground. With little knowledge of the game in Scotland he presumed Celtic and theRangers played cannon fodder during the season in front of half empty, crumbling grounds. He’s definitely not the only one. So how can this popular assumption be rectified?
There are a lot of people that will never want to watch Scottish football no matter what. They will always laugh at it and mock it with the age old ‘my nan could play in that league’ nonsense, but what we have to offer as a league is a very good product footballing wise. However its main selling point is a uniqueness that some of the bigger leagues have long lost, it has a pure footballing soul which is nurtured and preserved by the supporters. The fans add so much to the match day experience in Scotland.
Although Celtic have been hindered by the full blooded nature of the game in Scotland at times this season with multiple injuries due to questionable tackles, it does show the intensity our game is played at. The bad tackles could easily be cast out of the game here if the referees done their job correctly, without fully eradicating the overall intensity. Look at the players over the years who have come from the EPL and not been able to keep up with the pace the game is played at North of the border. Many fans of teams down south miss watching matches with that type of passion involved.
I almost never watch English football anymore. The atmosphere is embarrassing. Sometimes it feels almost like your not sure if it’s real crowd noise or that fake stuff they added to matches played at empty grounds during Covid. A round of applause here, a few ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ there, a boo if you listen closely. A few boring songs that fade out half way though as the majority of ‘tourist’ fans only know the opening line. The camera pans to the crowd and the majority are too busy taking photos or videos on their phones for their social media than actually watching and getting involved in the game.
Even the game itself down south is watered down. It’s full of players on huge wages who half the time look like they don’t give a toss. Players unwilling to put their bodies on the line and give everything they have got for their team. Plenty of games with huge build ups ending in low scoring bore-fests you wish you hadn’t wasted 2 hours watching. Look at the Scottish League. Yes there is a lot of things that need improving in our game (I will be touching upon this in a follow up article). One thing you can guarantee though is players giving 100%. We also have games which aren’t the most exciting but we have just as many exciting games as the EPL has.
Yes it’s obvious that our league has nowhere near the standard of footballers the EPL has but the standard is better than a lot of people think and is increasing all the time. Teams such as Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and Motherwell are all capable of putting on good performances. They get good crowds at their home matches who are constantly backing their team. They have some very good footballers in their ranks and are often bringing talented youngsters through into their first team.
I’m going to be writing my next article about what needs to be done to advertise the game in Scotland to a greater level and looking at the TV rights deal we currently have compared to other leagues that don’t offer half as much entertainment as the Scottish Premiership does.
Conall McGinty
What a load of bollocks. We deserved the result and the only good thing about the game is none of our bhoys got carried off
Absolute nonsense, which is proved every year in Europe when most spl teams fail against so called 2nd rate European teams,Scottish football srecord in Europe is abysmal.