MIKE MULRANEY, the vice-chairman of the Scottish Football Association, believes the move to lateral flow Covid testing would be ‘transformational’ for SPFL clubs ahead of the new campaign.
Clubs have spent thousands of pounds on PCR testing for managers, players and staff throughout the season to ensure that all four league divisions could be played to a conclusion this term.
That financial burden on boards to meet the costs of the process each week has been crippling for many but there may be light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the procedures and protocols that must be adhered to ahead of the new Scottish season.
At present, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are carried out by clubs and then sent away to a laboratory to determine if any members of their ‘bubble’ have contracted Coronavirus and must self-isolate in accordance with League and Government guidelines.
But the potential move to lateral flow tests (LFT) that can diagnose the virus there and then could now save significant amounts of time and money for clubs across the country as attentions turn to the new campaign.
And Alloa chairman Mulraney is well aware of the benefits that will come if a new testing regime – one which mirrors the process that can be carried out at home - can be rolled out in Scottish football in the coming months.
“I expect to change from PCR to lateral flow," Mulraney said. "That might be a societal experience for some time and it’s an appropriate mechanism for football to move forward.
“Lateral flow has a manageable cost base for our national sport. The PCR testing has been crippling for clubs.
🗣️"We have got to get the fans back in. I think the government understand that and will work with us to ensure it happens."
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 28, 2021
Scottish FA vice-president Mike Mulraney hopes lessons can be learned from the Euros and crowds will be back in grounds for the new SPFL season🏟️👇 pic.twitter.com/C928tAL4vR
“But as the world gets smarter how we contain this we’ll move to lateral flow and that will be success. It will be exponentially cheaper.
“For a club like Alloa it takes it down from £3000 a week – with more times up at £6000 per week - down to a few hundred. It’s transformational for our game and our clubs.
“We spent a lot of money. It’s the full team, the management, physios, the kitman, everyone.
“It would be a huge difference going to lateral and it will be about how often we do it, but I’m sure we will continue being on the front foot and it will be successful in keeping clubs as safe environments.”
The costs of implementing a strenuous testing regime came as clubs were denied income from gate receipts as their grounds remained padlocked for the majority of the campaign and supporters were forced to watch on from home.
Crowds of 12,000 have been permitted at Hampden for the European Championship fixtures this summer, however, and there are hopes that will be the first step towards fans being able to return for domestic clashes sooner rather than later.
“It will depend on the Scottish Government but I’d like to see good crowds everywhere when the league season begins," Mulraney said. “It’s critical for Scottish – and world – football.
“The difference in getting 500, 1000 or 2,000 fans in to the game we love is absolutely fundamental to the sport.
“It was March 13 last year when I said we had a huge problem and people thought I was overstating it.
“But the game was closed down within two weeks. There’s no crystal ball.
“All of the governments are dealing with unprecedented problems. But we’ve been dealing with this for over a year and hopefully we’ve learned and as the challenges change, football continues to be at the forefront of looking how we get back to normality.
“It’s not football as we know it without fans and we need them back. It’s important we are flexible as it won’t be one size fits all."
First Minster Nicola Sturgeon confirmed on Friday that Glasgow will remain in Level Three of the Government’s Coronavirus restrictions for another week following isolated outbreaks in the city.
BREAKING: FM @NicolaSturgeon confirms Glasgow will remain in Level 3 restrictions - hope is to move to Level 2 on Sat 5 June if situation stabilises
— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) May 28, 2021
Live updates: https://t.co/6c2LjsdH78 pic.twitter.com/kXhbUDsIlc
But Mulraney remains optimistic that supporters will still be granted access to Hampden next month as Steve Clarke’s side face the Czech Republic and Croatia and look to qualify for the knockout rounds.
Mulraney said: “It’s important Scottish football shows we can embrace the opportunities and get fans back in to the game. We can learn from other countries.
“I have a friend in Australia who was at a game with 35,000 fans there.
“We do have to make sure Scotland is not left behind. I’ve got confidence the Scottish Government will see that Scottish football fans are not at a disadvantage to any other part of the UK.
“You can never be hyper confident with anything that happens with this horrible disease.
“But I’m confident we will see fans at the Euros. That’s what we’ve been told, I see no reason not to believe it.
“We’ve to look forward now. We’ve had a very difficult year as a nation and as a sport.
“There will be some sideways steps, it’s important we don’t take any backward ones."
Scottish football has now emerged through the most tumultuous campaign in its history and there are reasons to be positive for the game ahead of the new campaign.
There were fears last summer that some clubs wouldn’t survive the financial hardships caused by Covid but Mulraney believes the adversity has brought out the best in the sport.
Mulraney said: "I said a year ago it was foolhardy to think our clubs were not in danger.
“At the same time I said the Scottish game would come together to make sure it didn’t happen and we’ve seen that.
“The JRG is unprecedented and I know for a fact the rest of Europe has contacted us to see how we did it because we were on the front foot.
“Scottish football has suffered obvious difficulties but we’ve looked after each other and it’s fantastic the game is still strong thanks to the fact clubs have shared best practise to get through this together."
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