Why was this the best season?
Well, for a start, never since has one or other of the Old Firm failed to make the top 4 in the league!
The League Division 1 table in 1964/65 finished:
Kilmarnock: 50 points; Hearts: 50 points; Dunfermline: 49 points; Hibernian: 46 points.
Now that WAS competitive, with Kilmarnock winning the league on goal average after beating Hearts 0:2 at Tynecastle on the last day of the season.
The Old Firm? Not at the races!
The next season saw the rise of a genius at Parkhead. Jock Stein moved from Dunfermline and took struggling Celtic from 8th place in 64/65 to league winners in 65/66 – and European Champions in 1967. Stein transformed Celtics fortunes, in the process winning 9 league titles in a row from 65/66 onwards. That feat had never before been achieved by any club in Scottish football.
Sadly, it now features four times in the history of the Scottish game.
What have been the factors that have destroyed the competitiveness of Scotland’s top league?
How about this for a list?
* The genius of Stein and his Board, with astute signings, great management, tactical brilliance – and the ability to mobilise the huge latent Celtic support.
* The creation of the Scottish Premiership in 1975/76, reducing the top league from 18 clubs to 10. Ultimately, having to play the Old Firm 8 times a season in the league weakened the chances of the remaining 8 clubs.
* The decision in 1980 that clubs should keep 100% of their home match gate receipts. This strengthened Celtic and Rangers finances but undermined most of the other clubs, leaving them unable to offer a semblance of competition to the Old Firm.
* The utilisation of the Rangers Development Fund to rebuild Ibrox in the 1980’s. The £ millions in the fund, built up over many years, could only be used for ground improvements. The transformation of Govans “Old House” into a modern stadium helped revitalise Rangers, at the cost of making other clubs less competitive.
* David Murray buying Rangers in 1988. Rangers were already stronger because of their new stadium; Murray greatly further strengthened the clubs position.
* The creation of the Champions League in 1992. The ultimately huge wealth derived from this remodelled European Cup only flowed to Celtic and Rangers.
* The takeover of Celtic by Fergus McCann in 1994, leading to the rebuilding of Celtic Park in 1998. The 60,000 plus seat stadium, exceeding the capacity of Ibrox by over 10,000, significantly strengthened Celtics position.
Of course, there are other “events” that could be mentioned.
The departure of Sir Alex Ferguson for Manchester United weakened Aberdeen and, ultimately, the whole Scottish game. No club apart from Celtic and Rangers has won the Premiership since his departure.
Then there was the bankruptcy of Rangers in 2012. Hugely important for the Ibrox club. However, it simply turned the duopoly that had existed since 1986 into a Celtic monopoly. The duopoly has been restored in 2020/21 season.
So 36 years of total domination by two clubs; 56 years since the end of the Golden Age of Scottish football in 1965.
Let’s not mince words. Two-club domination has reduced Scottish football to a non-competitive farce. No one outside Scotland – unless they are “exiles” – knows of any club beyond Celtic and Rangers.
Edinburghs “Big Two” – Hearts and Hibernian – haven’t won the top league for 60 and 70 years respectively. In that time, their supporters have spent £600 million plus at today’s prices on match tickets alone.
Money poured down the drain?
Of course, there is more to football than winning the top league. Clubs remain important to their communities in many different ways and the value of this “community spirit” must not be underestimated or discounted.
However, in the end, football is a competitive sport and a decent level of competitiveness is required to keep interest alive.
The two club duopoly is strangling interest in other clubs, with many youngsters shunning supporting the clubs followed by their parents because there is no hope of those clubs winning any trophy. There are many competing attractions for youngsters today. Turning up for “also ran” matches on cold and wet winter afternoons is not an appetising prospect for many.
What to do?
Here are some potential steps.
* Introduce a handicap system in the Premiership, to make it successively more difficult for clubs to win the top league. “In a row” must become history!
* Increase the number of clubs in the Premiership, with each club playing one another only twice a season.
* Introduce an end of season Top Six knock-out play-off to find the Super Premiership Champions. Knock-out favours clubs with less resources. The winners of this tournament would get a Champions League place.
* Share home gate receipts. This would weaken Celtic and Rangers but strengthen most other clubs.
* Share 50% of all European tournament prize money amongst non-qualifying Premiership clubs.
It will take just a few seasons for the above measures to work.
Would they bring back the Golden Age of Scottish football?
Can we again see 7 different league winners in a fifteen year period?
WE WILL NOT FIND OUT UNLESS WE TRY!
Time for Change.
Scottish Football Matters 