The news that there are benefactors out there willing to invest in Scottish football to help it survive should be a welcome surprise for everyone involved in the game.
It was something I hadn’t heard of and came as a bit of shock when Hearts chairwoman Ann Budge announced at the weekend she had contacts willing to support the game.
Support is something Scottish football needs at this time and if it’s spread across the game then it can help a lot of clubs. There will be chairmen across Scotland who will be encouraged that funds could be found to help their clubs.
It’s welcome news for Scottish football. It seems to be a genuine offer, and if it is then hopefully it can come to fruition.
Anything that gives Scottish football a better chance of surviving in its current form is a good thing.
This money could be the shot in the arm that football needs.
A lot of chairmen, particularly in the lower leagues, have had to take tough decisions already to ensure their club survives.
For clubs outside the Premiership, I think they will need help because it could be a while yet before fans are allowed back into stadiums.
So funding to help teams through to that point could be important.
In the Premiership they get the bulk of the TV revenue that is generated so, although they may still appreciate some of the cash, it may be better if most of the money was spread around the lower leagues to help them survive.
A lot of people will be wondering why somebody like Edinburgh-based investor James Anderson is willing to do this.
But the good thing is there are people of significant wealth who are willing to help our game and it’s something that should be taken seriously.
From what I’ve heard it seems like Anderson already supports charitable causes and has helped Hearts before.
There’s no doubt coronavirus has greatly affected the game in this country and any support to help it survive should be gratefully received.
The SPFL is an organisation that seems to struggle to put commercial contracts together and secure funding.
The new Sky broadcast deal is an improvement and is very important to the game.
However, there is no league sponsor for next season and the Scottish Cup sponsorship runs out once the 2019-20 competition is completed.
Budge has managed to find people who are willing to put in their hand in their pocket to help Scottish football at this time. She operates in these circles and if this comes off then she deserves credit, but really the league body led by Neil Doncaster should be trying to get these people on board – it shouldn’t just be solely down to Budge.
The SPFL need to be moving in the same circles as Budge – they should be trying to entice these people to the game and secure the funding to help improve the game in Scotland.
They have struggled for many years to get the funding in to progress the game and help our clubs.
You look at England – the money they get from broadcasting rights and sponsorships is unbelievable and in Scotland we have a good product.
But I don’t think we sell it well enough and we need to sell it better.
This crisis has highlighted that there needs to be more money coming into Scottish football and more money needs to be set aside for the bad times.
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