BARRY Hearn didn't hold back when he addressed the SFA convention at Hampden in midweek, but there was a bit of thought process there too.
Hearn is a typical Essex man, a wheeler and dealer from Dagenham who likes to mouth off, but you just can't argue with the promotional job he has done, whether it is in snooker, darts or boxing.
I have been at one of his darts shows in the SECC and it was a great night. Anybody with that kind of marketing success to his name has to be taken seriously and in my opinion he wasn't far off the mark.
Neil Doncaster and Stewart Regan just need to take it on the chin. They are easy targets and they are trying their best so I feel a bit for them on this one, but they need to learn from him. The SFA deserve the credit in the first place for inviting him to speak. They have not hidden from the situation or buried their head in the sands.
And there were good signs when Regan came out in the papers and agreed with a lot of what he had to say. But we have heard plenty of talking in the past. They need to prove it with their actions.
It is difficult to get sponsors in this day and age, but I do think there are interested businesses and companies out there. You don't want to price yourselves too cheaply, because you send out the message going forward that you are prepared to settle for bargain basement. But I still think that something is better than nothing in the circumstances.
One of Hearn's ideas for the future was to end what he called the "ludicrous" ban on selling alcohol within Scottish stadiums. We all know why booze is prohibited up here. It is nothing to do with Regan, Doncaster or any of the SPFL's marketing people. It is simply the police who are blocking it. It dates back to the riot after the 1980 Scottish Cup final. People still connect it with domestic abuse and religiously-aggravated bother in this country.
But in my opinion they can't hide behind that. The police and the politicians like to blame football for all the ills in society, but domestic violence can happen anyway if a certain type of person has a drink.
So Barry Hearn is quite right to bring it up. In England they allow clubs to sell beer, while you can buy alcohol at a rugby match in Scotland. Fans drink already, in pubs near the ground. You can't tell me there isn't domestic abuse in Sunderland or Liverpool, but you don't routinely hear football being blamed. They never make the game an excuse down there the way we do up here. Stop blaming the game. Ross County are a great wee club, where people could have a pint with no problem, but police say they can't.
Attendances were poor last week for the Scottish Cup and while these matches aren't on the season book, there is no doubt fans are not turning up. Clubs ARE trying, they are looking at special deals, but they maybe still need to do more. Scottish football is still overpriced, I am not going to deny that. I hate people harking on about good old days, but players aren't there because the finance isn't there.
We could look at salary-capping, or how many foreign players we can bring in, but that just cuts our own throats when it comes to the Champions League. Celtic and Rangers, apart from the New Firm days, have always been at the forefront of our game and I think that will eventually return when Rangers finally stabilise themselves. That, along with the European spots, and the play-offs, will be the competition in our game - a bit like the way Real Madrid and Barcelona hold sway in Spain.
Darts is massive now - Hearn has hit the target with that, and he has done it without throwing stupid money at it. He has just gradually grown the sport, got people interested in it again. I bet the tickets were cheaper at first but now there is the demand he can put an extra fiver on it.
We have to grow the game the same way by taking in ideas like Barry Hearn's - more ticket giveaways, sponsorship, selling alcohol, safe standing, the whole customer experience. Regan and Doncaster have got it in them to be the brains of the operation, although they don't have the gift of the gab the way that Hearn does. Why not hire someone like Hearn who can spout their mouth off, someone who loves to be centre stage selling the game?
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