The summer of 1980 was something of a crossroads for Scottish football. Aberdeen had just broken the Old Firm monopoly by taking the league title outside Glasgow for the first time in a generation, while crowd behaviour was in the spotlight after the Scottish Cup Final riot. Crowds were dropping and money was tight.
This prompted the Scotsman newspaper to commission an in-depth survey of the state of the game, entitled Scottish Football: the Pride and the Poverty. It was published over six days and, as a young fan, I cut out every article and kept them for posterity.
Now, 40 years later, the articles make for fascinating reading. I have digitised the full set of features into a single pdf, which you can download here.
This prompted the Scotsman newspaper to commission an in-depth survey of the state of the game, entitled Scottish Football: the Pride and the Poverty. It was published over six days and, as a young fan, I cut out every article and kept them for posterity.
Now, 40 years later, the articles make for fascinating reading. I have digitised the full set of features into a single pdf, which you can download here.
Edited by Arnold Kemp and David Hearst, with contributions from Hugh Keevins and various academics, it was a serious and robust project that went into much greater depth than newspapers usually have the time and space for.
There is detailed analysis of what makes clubs tick, including their financial figures and their wage bills. They asked clubs large and small what their plans were, how they approached football as a business and how they balanced that with the desire to win matches and competitions. It reveals how clubs as varied as Aberdeen, St Mirren and Montrose cut their cloth according to their circumstances, how Rangers were the most profitable club at the time, how Hibs and Hearts were finding life tough.
Unusually for the time, the authors even commissioned research into what the fans thought: why they watched football (or didn't), what they thought of hooliganism, the structure of the game and whether the national team mattered.
There is detailed analysis of what makes clubs tick, including their financial figures and their wage bills. They asked clubs large and small what their plans were, how they approached football as a business and how they balanced that with the desire to win matches and competitions. It reveals how clubs as varied as Aberdeen, St Mirren and Montrose cut their cloth according to their circumstances, how Rangers were the most profitable club at the time, how Hibs and Hearts were finding life tough.
Unusually for the time, the authors even commissioned research into what the fans thought: why they watched football (or didn't), what they thought of hooliganism, the structure of the game and whether the national team mattered.
There is an interesting graphic on how turnstile operators could cheat the clubs they worked for, coupled with an interview with the legendary Tom Fagan of Albion Rovers about how he confronted that particular problem.
All in all, a fascinating read. The challenge now is for someone to produce something similar for 2020 and compare the results.
All in all, a fascinating read. The challenge now is for someone to produce something similar for 2020 and compare the results.
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