Floodlights illuminate Central Park, home of Cowdenbeath F.C. in Fife, Scotland. Cowdenbeath play in the Scottish First Division.

Photo credit: Neil9014 on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Hurlford United versus Glenafton Athletic, West of Scotland Super League, 1st Division, 5 March 2011.

Photo credit: poity_uk on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

What we didn’t know until Scotzine pointed it out in the comments was that fans of Aberdeen’s opponents that day, Celtic, made exactly the same point with a banner of their own that read “It’s time to put fans before TV”.

It’s not exactly a new story that television has become the dominant force in scheduling games. The days of uniform Saturday 3pm kickoffs are, of course, numbered in Britain, and have been for some time.

Still, the growing disaffection with the last-minute schedule changes and difficulties on group travel that result from fan unfriendly kickoff times is certainly spreading. For once, Rangers fans agree with their Old Firm rivals, this month also holding up a “Fans Before TV” banner.

Moreover, as you can tell from the photo, that Aberdeen-Celtic semi-final was not exactly a packed house, with Scotzine noting “The stadium was far from full with around 20,000 seats left empty, a sizeable chunk in the Aberdeen end.”

In part, this seems to be because the 12.45pm kick-off time did not take into account train timetables: the earliest train to arrive from Aberdeen that day was at 12.20pm, giving fans barely enough time to scoot over to the stadium in time for kickoff.

It was also the second protest in a month for Celtic fans, who expressed their disapproval at a 6pm kickoff on a TUESDAY by tossing a dozen extra footballs onto the pitch right at kickoff for their April 12th game against Motherwell.

There will be many who will say: who cares. Television pays their money and makes their choice. But it could also be one factor contributing to a drastic fall in attendances across the Scottish Premier League this season.  Aberdeen’s crowds are down about 10% to 9,769 per game, leaving just four Scottish Premier League teams averaging above 10,000 for the season. League-wide, the average attendance is 13,783 for 2010-11, dipping from last season’s 13,915 and even worse, down from 15,537 in 2008-09.

Again, kick-off times are only one element of many challenges facing Scottish teams that aren’t named Rangers or Celtic. That said, what had once been a habit going back generations – going to games set on a predictable schedule – is now becoming a chore just to keep track of for fans.

Aberdeen fans protest yet another early kickoff, made for television – this time, 12.45pm on a Sunday.

Photo credit: Aberdeen & Red Ultras on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool

Big Story

The words “Franchise Football” strike fear into football fans across Britain. The reason that Wimbledon’s move to Milton Keynes, where they became the MK Dons, continues to generate outrage now many years on is because it abrograted a simple cultural belief common to the vast majority of fans: in some sense, a team “belongs” to its local community. It shouldn’t be moved about like a McDonalds.

But, as Bobby Brandon wrote on these pages last year, MK Dons were not the first “Franchise FC” in Britain; a Scottish precedent had been set in 1995, when what is now Livingston FC (then known as Meadowbank Thistle) abandoned Edinburgh for a new home and stadium in Livingston, West Lothian.

And then in 2002, Airdrie United bought out Clydebank FC to take their place in the Scottish Second Division, killing Clydebank FC despite extensive efforts by United Clydebank Supporters  to save the club (the rise, fall and rise again of Clydebank was covered in detail here by Damon Main last year).

Now it looks set to happen again, and unless the Scottish FA steps in, a trend of “franchising” could spread in Scottish football. This time, as the outstanding Scottish blog Away from the Numbers explains, “Cowdenbeath FC and their supporters seem to be facing the fight of their 119 year history at the moment, as it was revealed that they may be looking at possibly groundsharing or possibly a merger with/takeover by Edinburgh East of Scotland non-league side Spartans.”

Details are sparse, but Away from the Numbers speculates it could mean “a takeover by Spartans to buy the Cowden name, move them lock, stockcar and barrel to Edinburgh and have them play under Spartans name in Spartans’ Ainslie Park ground.”

One reason Spartans might want to do this is the same as that of Aidrie United’s reasoning before them: the lack of a true pyramid system in Scotland means the incentive to “buy” a place in the Scottish League is strong for clubs below that level.

In this case, Spartans currently play in the East of Scotland Football League, one of three “non-leagues” immediately below the Scottish Football League, which does not have automatic promotion and relegation with those leagues below (a lack of promotion/relegation isn’t just for  MLS, folks!). Opportunities to join the league are thus rare, and in 2008, Spartans were denied their application to replace defunct Gretna.

The situation, then, is not quite comparable to the way MK Dons jumped the pyramid in England by taking over and moving Wimbledon (in England’s true pyramid system, they could have started a local club and fairly moved all the way up the league, as Wimbledon originally did starting in non-league football).

The Scottish football authorities could alleviate what seems to be a growing pattern of clubs attempting to parachute up the pyramid by instituting a promotion and relegation system from the non-leagues to the Football League.

If they don’t, more franchising may well follow.

Quick Hits

• Oh, Sven: saying you’re not paid well at £2m for a few months work managing the Ivory Coast at the World Cup probably isn’t too clever, especially when that country’s average daily wage is £3.
• David Conn on the financial fiasco at Hull City.
• You may be interested to know that Declan Hill’s blog says a new version of his excellent book “The Fix” on corruption in football is coming out soon.

The Sweeper appears daily. For more rambling and links throughout the day every day, follow your editor Tom Dunmore @pitchinvasion on Twitter.

Hampden Park, Scotland, following Rangers' win in the League Cup final, 1-0 over St. Mirren despite having two men sent-off.

Photo credit: poity_uk on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Archibald Leitch's ornate, wrought iron gates outside Ibrox.

Photo credit: poity_uk on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Big Story
Rangers and Celtic’s financial futures look a little bleaker today. Scotland will only have one entrant in the UEFA Champions League for the 2011-12 season, after falling below Belgium in the rankings used to determine each country’s qualifiers. Moreover, their champions will not advance automatically to the group stage, and will instead have to navigate through three qualifying rounds.

The news is a massive blow for both Celtic and Rangers, with next year’s title race in Scotland likely to be even more fierce than usual. Both clubs released their financial reports for 2009 this week, and neither club is on a rosy path without Champions League football.

The timing of this new could hardly be worse for Rangers, who continue to seek a buyer, with majority shareholder Sir David Murray looking to offload his 90% share in the club. Rangers remain mired in significant debt and beholden to Lloyds Bank despite impressive profits of more than £13m announced for the second half of 2009. Most of that profit, though, was dependent on Rangers Champions League appearance.

Celtic’s financial report, meanwhile, neatly illustrated the price of not making it to the Champions League group stage:

The cost of participation in the Europa League, to which Celtic were consigned this season, becomes clear in comparison to spoils from the Champions League. Set against the results for the same period in 2008, turnover is down by almost a quarter to £36.11 million and the operating profit has fallen from £12.68 million to £4.7 million, with the pre-tax profit similarly reduced from £8.36 million to £1.27 million.

Celtic chairman John Reid put the difference from missing out on the Champions League at £7 million, with bank debt for the club increasing to £0.97 million to £3.13.

Even tougher times could be ahead for one of the Old Firm.

Quick Hits

• Arsene Wenger calls for UEFA to adopt a more transparent process in how they select referees: “It has to be clarified first of all how they [Uefa] nominate referees for games. They have to be much more open on how they rate their referees. Nobody knows really how they name their referees. Where is the ranking of the referees? I believe too much has gone on in the last 30 years. What has happened is not good for football.” And for once, Alex Ferguson agrees with Wenger, expressing his own concern about referee selection for the Champions League.
• FIFA have given Portsmouth special permission to sell-off their players outside the transfer window, with some questioning the integrity of the Premier League for the exceptional action. West Ham’s co-owner David Gold said: “I do have a problem with a club being able to buy those players and gain an advantage over a competitor. I wouldn’t want a competitor buying a player not usually available to them to help them stay up, and neither would my club’s rivals want West Ham doing that. A principle needs upholding.”
• Meanwhile, FIFA have admitted ticket prices for the World Cup in South Africa were set too high.

The Sweeper appears every weekday, and once at the weekend. For more rambling and links throughout the day every day, follow your editor Tom Dunmore @pitchinvasion on Twitter.

No dogs or football colours allowed. The Talbot Arms, Milngavie, Scotland.

Photo credit: bluerondo on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Meadow Park, Irvine. Irvine Meadow XI v Arbroath, Scottish F.A. Cup, 3rd Round. 28 November 2009.

Photo credit: The ever-excellent poity_uk on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.