Andy’s Sting In The Tale (11/09/26) "Kids’ Stuff was Never Easy"
A lousy expression because nothing is ever easy till it’s easy.
We’re a week from last week’s St Andrews Summit and the Football team at the SFA are following up last week’s now public plans for changes to cup competitions as a major part of the answer of blooding kids.
The big number they shared of £40M more into the Scottish game if we get our kids system right flew right over the chairmen I have spoken to so far.
It’s a nice to listen to, but only a remote possibility for most clubs who struggle to survive and have enough of their own knitting to worry about.
Everyone’s Granny Knows Scottish Football is Failing to Produce Quality Youngsters
Despite the huffing and puffing of the last few years, we’re damaging more and more youngsters especially when suddenly getting told they’re not good enough.
The proposed plans seem to think the start to a new golden age is to include more youths in cup games.
And the way to turn the tanker is incentivising clubs with small short term financial bonuses and a ‘promised land’ of £40M if?
If?
If we get it right and start real change.
A Sleight of Hand?
Somehow the SFA’s Opening Gambit is to shift the responsibility on to the clubs.
That might be fine.
But only as a start and if it is recognised as just a smaller step towards a better system.
A start of a deeply integrated and fully funded process.
Why?
On its own it will soon run out of puff and be another lost opportunity.
I don’t know the team on the 6th floor but I hope they are big-picture aware.
So a good-ish start, maybe, but this needs more of everything.
It Takes a Village to Produce Footballers
Parents, family, peers, extended family, volunteers, mentors, facilitators et al, whoever he might be.
An endless list that every person who has ever played football all can recognise as parts of their personal stories.
Multifactorial Input is Needed or Forget it
Yes I understand that it’s one step at a time and yes times have changed but when we were good in Europe, and I mean really good, Scottish Football had three thriving elements that are no more.
i) A thriving Reserve League where talent could be blooded and supported by experienced pros.
ii) An amazing National Schools Pyramid recruiting and allowing for ‘late developers’.
iii) Larger SFA Leagues putting less pressure on managers and points gathering and with no spring trap to nowhere at the bottom.
iv) Strong local Junior options to farm out kids for ‘toughening up’.
v) Less kids in the elite ‘signed’ band meaning it really was just the best kids and allowing them to be integrated faster with older more experienced teammates.
I’d argue that all should be revisited in the kind of root and branch programme that is needed.
Last week’s put downs on some of the items sounded patronising and reeked of conventional wisdom blindness.
What Do Our Clubs Really Want/Need?
They don’t want hassle, or any costs they can’t recoup for certain.
They want talent, good enough and as cheap as possible.
Their focus is on enough league points and financial survival.
Always will be.
‘Big thinking ideas’ is just city slicker jargon for others like the SFA to worry about, our real business is to stay in business.
We owe it to all our fans to survive.
Andy Speaking
As this all develops we pledge our support but will watch with interest and ask the guys driving it all the fan’s questions when the time comes.
It will be soon enough.
But buyers beware.
When our international team hits the coming talent drought this will all escalate and suddenly become urgent.
Andy’s Sting in the Tale
1. Sent to Shrewsbury
2. This is the Arc Hotel
3. That Bloody Man
4. Unanswered Questions from The Dominican Republic
1. Uncle Sam Flies West, Because it’s Cheaper
I was intrigued for at least 30 seconds to see that current Spartans majority shareholder and Director, Scott Davidson is part of a 4 man plant into the Shrewsbury Town Board, ahead of a well advanced meticulously planned takeover. All that is left is crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s.
Spartans Directors Craig Graham and Will Dotson and Brad Friedl the ex-Premier League keeper are part of the plan.
There will then, subject to SFA clearances be an informal relationship between the two community driven clubs.
Good luck Scott.
I guess Spartans was always going to be his learning curve.
The major problem I’d surmise is Scotland for ambitious money driven projects is a road to nowhere.
Shrewsbury is fundamentally different, as a cheap potential pathway into the riches of the best league in the world.
Something which Spartans can never be.
Good luck Scott.
Shrewsbury is community focussed because it is quite remote from other English population centres with just under 80,000 residents.
2. 95 Annfield Road
The address of a newly converted, family run hotel looking on to Liverpool’s famous stands.
Now the proud home of the famous ‘This is Annfield’ Bill Shankly inspired sign we’ve all seen with Dalglish, Hansen and McGarvey proudly standing below as new signees.
It was taken down and replaced in the 80s and the original given as unwanted ephemera to a young Liverpool player, Ron Wilson by Boot Room Legend, Roy Evans to eventually grace Ron’s Isle of Man B and B.
This week it was sold by Wilson’s family for £115K.
The buyer with the deepest pockets (way above expected price), was the 6 year old Arc Hotel.
So the sign is heading back to Annfield and will now be the prop for thousands of photos in the future.
3. Infantino Updates.
He has said he will stand for re-election.
(OK this will take some finagling but he wrote the book).
He has now promised the next World Cup Final to Morocco.
Yes, the same final he had already promised to Spain.
But Morrocco are his new besties after supporting him during the recent travails.
The ‘FairSquare’ fan petition to the Fifa ethics committee from over 100,000 signatures.
The NGO cites 8 Trump-related incidents providing compelling evidence that Infantino has at a minimum, abused his power, violated neutrality and loyalty to ingratiate himself while seeking to gain personally and breaching articles 15, 16 and 26. I’d have my wee black silk hat on for the sentence.
4. If I Was in the Room?
Here are some questions from a longer list I came across last week from the Dominican Republic Fifa Members.
Why have you not called a Fifa Council to answer the questions from Council members?
Do you accept that all nations are equal with equal rights?
Do You accept you report to the members and are accountable to them?
Why did you give Trump a Peace Prize?
Why did you allow him to influence the integrity of the World Cup?
Why break Fifa rules on hydration breaks, half times etc?
Why Secretly plan to sell the commercial future of the World Cup and to a company linked to the Trump family?
Were the rights yours to sell?
Had you arranged a side deal?
etc etc.
Sting is
A lone fan voice, a candle in the wind.
Hope you enjoy it and some of it made you think.
We don’t have to agree on anything much anyway, that’s healthy and normal in football.
Fans need a louder voice.
We need your voice.
Andy’s Album of the Week
The Proclaimers: THIS IS THE STORY
(Their Capitals not me shouting).
Beaming us all back, Scotty, to 1987 when Scotland was a very different wee country under the horrendous neo revisionism by our First Lady with unemployment and uncertainty in all our traditional industrial communities.
A couple of unlikely heroes from the even more unlikely Auchtermuchty somehow broke through the media treacle by releasing this album.
At the time an unexpected melange of country influenced songs that told stories.
Stripped back stuff that was amazing live, and so passionate.
An antithesis of what people expected rock stars to be with thick Scottish Accents, rim glasses and fashion sense, well from Fife.
But it worked.
Non formulaic musical magic that commented on life with the unfairness of the politics never far from the surface.
Scotland then and since has been a better place because of Craig and Charlie and for me the three stand-outs here are , ‘Over and Done With’, Make My Heart Fly, and the amazing, moving gem that is ‘Letter from America’.
One day it will be an academic study anthem from a very dark passage of Thatcherism.
And Gerry Rafferty’s production of this unlikely hit single was and remains superb.
The NME which I still read back then had them as their Best New Act because they were.
And their 13th album hits us today.
‘You May Offend’, a title that maybe says it all in a world where many people like to be offended so they can make a meaningless fuss.
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