This article brings back many memories for me, some of them very personal.
For example, ten years after Dundee won the league Bob Seith was manager of Hearts and I had the honour of interviewing him for Heriot Watt Student Television.
It was the first time I ever stood on the Tynecastle pitch. I remember it so vividly, it could have been yesterday.
Bob Seith was such a gentleman, so polite to a wet-behind-the-ears student.
More important though is to remember that when Dundee won the league they were helping to create the Golden Era of Scottish football.
In a fifteen season period, starting in 1950, no fewer than SEVEN clubs won the top league in Scotland.
No surprise then that the supporters flocked to marches, creating attendance records that will never be broken again.
Fast forward to 2022 and Scottish football finds itself seemingly trapped in a duopoly situation, with two names having won the Premiership title in the last 37 seasons.
Why?
Because Rangers then Celtic arranged it that way, with; their retention of 100% of their home league gate money from 1980; impressive new all-seater stadiums with 50,000 and 60,000+ capacity respectively; vast expansion in commercial revenues; covert control of the transfer market for players; and cornering the main revenue from European competitions, notably the Champions League, from 1992.
I had felt that legal action against the duopoly might be required – and, indeed, that may still be the case.
However, the resurgence of Hearts – though not yet complete and not enough on its own – has given me hope that the Premiership can finally become a proper competition again.
I will wait two or three more seasons, allowing Hearts and, hopefully, other clubs to rise to the challenge on the pitch to the extent that the Premiership title finds another home in the near future.
“Best of the Rest” is not a title worth winning.
The proviso is that if 37 becomes 40 – four decades with only two names on the Premiership roll of honour – I will start the process of challenging the Celtic/Rangers through the courts. Duopolies acting against the public interest are illegal – and the Glasgow domination of the Premiership is definitely NOT in the public interest.
Hearts celebrate their 150th Birthday in 2024. Is that too early for them to bring the Premiership crown back to Scotlands capital?
Perhaps.
But there IS hope.
BELIEVE.
Time for Change.
— Read on www.scotsman.com/sport/football/alex-ferguson-and-dundees-scottish-title-win-bob-seith-recalls-famous-day-and-remarkable-act-of-generosity-3672025
Scottish Football Matters 