Scotland - A Very Foreign Land To The English

AS A young man, almost like a Mormon, I did my spell of duty as a foreign missionary, trying to teach guid Scotch ways to the good folk of West Yorkshire - only to find out the Tykes were simply well-adjusted Jocks what spoke funny: a chip on each shoulder: "There's nowt as queer as folk" instead of: "Here's tae us, wha's like us - damned few and they're awe deid"; aye, Scot and Tyke have much in common, particularly a dislike of them damned southern softies.

 

So, spending a few days in leafy Richmond, West London, I have re-discovered, as if I could forget, that, to the average chap from Greater London, Scotland is a small, far-away land, of which they know nothing and care even less.

 

Take the sports pages of the London papers. Narry a mention of that afternoon's Scottish football - just wall-to-wall papp about the mighty English Premier League.

 

Almost as bad on Sunday, with the Celtic score heading a single paragraph about the SPFL. Indeed, more coverage was given to the likes of the German, Italian, French and Spanish Leagues, than to events in Scotland.

 

Bloody ungrateful lot - we send them our brightest and best for over 100 years, we manage them, teach them to pass and play and they ignore us.

 

Of course, that attitude is a load of twaddle. The reality is, the EPL is such an over-bloated, over-rated competition, it gets publicity everywhere, even Scotland.

 

Maybe, if our national papers were to decide to NOT cover the EPL, but to put more resources into properly covering Scottish football, to bigging-up its good points (yes, there are some) and to trying constructive criticism rather than vainly trying to convince a body of fans who know better, that the product is any good - we might get the improvement we need and a better domestic game.

 

The EPL is the biggest enemy of the game in Scotland and the quicker our football authorities fight back and convince the papers to put Scotland first, then the better will be the health of the game in Scotland.

 

Of course, that healthier game will only arrive once the blazers extract their digits from their bottoms and make it better.