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I Play for Money
Thirty years ago Scottish football was riding high, producing many world-class players and regularly qualifying for international tournaments. But the social landscape was changing fast with a new political doctrine placing money above everything - resulting in one fifth of the work force in Scotland losing their jobs, fracturing the industrial communities that supported many of the football clubs. The game badly needed modernisation and a new direction. Emerging was a new breed of leaders with new skills, with the ability of keeping one eye on the ball and the other on business.
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Thu, Aug 25, 2016
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Ian Hanmore
Narrator
Season 1:
Thirty years ago Scottish football was riding high, producing many world-class players and regularly qualifying for international tournaments. But the social landscape was changing fast with a new political doctrine placing money above everything - resulting in one fifth of the work force in Scotland losing their jobs, fracturing the industrial communities that supported many of the football clubs. The game badly needed modernisation and a new direction. Emerging was a new breed of leaders with new skills, with the ability of keeping one eye on the ball and the other on business.
Football had become a global brand and Scotland was keen for its share of the action, and the cash. But the new money came at a price, top players demanded higher wages, kick-off times were changed and TV now called the shots. Clubs desperate to compete in this new world were vulnerable to hare-brained schemes, mavericks with deep pockets and ego-driven illusions. Almost overnight the dual drivers of money and media transformed the game - but left Scottish football struggling to forge an identity that would carry it into the future.
A look at the decline of the national team and the failings on and off the pitch that have marked this slide in fortunes.
The final part of this series looks at possible ways forward for the troubled Scottish game, new solutions to long-standing problems and questions which the national sport needs to face up to. It also charts the evolution of the women's game, the fanzine movement and the rise of messageboards and social media as drivers of how fans make their voices heard.
