The sorry state of Scottish football can be traced to a number of root causes. Chief among these is the greed and inherent attitude of the Old Firm and the organisation of our national sport by self-satisfying nobodies who enjoy foreign junkets at the expense of the man in the street.
The Old Firm have dominated Scottish football since the day and hour the sport was organised in Scotland. What's different today is the growth of marketing principles at both Celtic and Rangers and the emergence of a new consumer breed who happily sit on their backsides watching English matches on the John Logie Baird set in their living room.
The weather hasn't greatly changed, the stadium facilities are at their best ever and still people won't go. Why? Well I'd argue that the end product is not value for money for a start. Football is a competitive sport. Competitive? Don't make me laugh. I go and watch Dundee at Celtic Park or Ibrox and hope we don't get embarrassed. For £24 we get to squirm for 90 minutes and hope our team avoids a hefty defeat. It's the same for fans of all non-Old Firm teams.
In the 80's I had a terrible time. Dundee United were at their peak. What a great time to be a Dee!! That generation of Dundee United fans knew what it was like to take on the Old Firm and give them a bloody nose for their trouble. They expected to beat them at home and away. Does anyone really foresee that happening again? Not me. The Old firm would secretly tap their players, the west coast press would crucify Paul Sturrock for playing with his socks at his ankles and a new rule would be brought in giving the Glasgow "giants" the points whatever the result. Why? Simply because they have huge support and unrivalled media exposure. Their exposure is unmatched anywhere in the world. Nowhere reports football like the Scottish press.
Nowhere tolerates this ridiculous fascination with a two-team system like Scotland.
So what have the men at the top introduced to increase competition? Well let's see. The two single biggest anti-competition laws introduced have seen home teams keep the gate money and TV money shared unevenly. In addition the Old Firm have a veto over any future changes. Will this benefit Killie, Dunfermline or Partick? No. It simply makes the Old Firm stronger and the rest unwanted and unmarketable - fighting frantically for the scraps from the Old firm banquet.
These I believe are the core reasons why the standard is so poor across Scottish football and why a lifelong supporter like myself wonders at the point of turning up to watch the match. Surely to God anyone with intelligence can find a million better things to do with their Saturday afternoons.