QotS Chairmans views on the return of football.

Gio#56

Well-Known Member
Following the Scottish Government announcement today on exiting lockdown, Chairman Billy Hewitson has been sharing his thoughts about the return of football. He says clubs across Scotland need to have some kind of financial guarantee before football can return and believes restarting the game without a package in place would be “financial suicide”.

Queens were due to host Ayr United in the Championship the day football was halted with a ban on mass gatherings due to the coronavirus outbreak. Since then the club has been in lockdown with all staff, including management and players furloughed and the Chairman is keen to see the return of match days as soon as possible but insists it can only happen if the financial risks are taken away.

“As we continue to work our way through the current pandemic that has engulfed the country we along with other clubs are seeking clarity from the Scottish Government before we can make plans for the future”.

“There’s a lot of proposals being talked about, including playing behind closed doors. This would only be an option IF there is a financial model in place from the Scottish Government, football authorities or any governing body who will cover the loss of income. If there is no financial model in place then playing games without supporters would be financial suicide for clubs like Queen of the South”.

“You have to have revenue that covers your expenditure, if you have no income then you can’t spend money. For us the biggest expenditure is player’s wages and I’m sure that will be the case for most full time clubs. It might be a less of a risk for part time clubs as players have other employment”.

With no football since March the club's directors have been balancing the books, Queens like other clubs have welcomed the furlough scheme which has helped during a time of limited income. Billy added “during this period and going forward with no supporters we have been and would be looking at running the club on just 30% of our income. So it’s a dilemma for us; could we start up again and train for eight weeks with a view to start playing in August? I thnk the Premiership clubs could just about do it but it’s not clear for other teams and the biggest problem is financial”.

“There are so many questions and a lot of unknown just now so that makes it difficult to say what is going to happen. We want to be able to get back to full stadiums but we have to take Government guidance on that. Match day testing would be impossible due to the number of games being played and the time it would take to get results back. The hefty cost of individual testing machines would rule out clubs purchasing their own equipment so you would have to rely on mobile testing".

One other possibilty could be for clubs to play half a season - would that work for Queens? "It would be a lot less risky as you could hold off signing players etc. but for me the ideal situation would be for the Government to underwrite the season and we can start immediately”.

While he waits for some clarity the Chairman will be taking part in discussions with his counterparts at other Championship clubs to try to find a way forward “over the next couple of weeks the Championship clubs will be setting out their own road map of how they see a return to playing. There are five or six scenarios that could happen, but for me we all need to stick together and come to a collective agreement and come up with a proposal to present to the SPFL Board”.
 
Without and government help you can rule out leagues 1 and 2 and likely the championship too returning. No wonder Hearts are shitting themselves.
 
I really do think half of the teams in the premiership will be part-time by the time football gets back to any resemblance of normal.,the largely part-time teams in league one and two will simply mothball and only have someone to look after ground maintenance and possibly a manager but that will be about it.if clubs go out of business it’ll be the full time clubs that do.
 
We have far too many senior teams in Scotland. Around 1/2 of them at least need to be eliminated. They add nothing, absolutely nothing, to the game and are a drain on sparse resources. Look at the balloon in the interview, “we can’t afford this, we can’t afford that”, holding out the begging bowl for the Scot govt to pay for their continuing existence. What have QoS EVER given to Scottish football to justify being given taxpayers money?

The only good thing to come out of the Covid pandemic is the likely (please) liquidation of these parasites. They won’t be missed. Best of all would be if enough of them go out of business so as to make the SPFL unviable and we see an amalgamation with the English leagues.
 
If 1 good thing was to come out of this covid situation it would be the liquidation of most of these non entity clubs who add zero to the game. For the size of scotland we need SPFL and a championship and thats it. 24 teams max.
 
Sorry but I disagree with a lot. Saying clubs shouldn't exist because they are not providing real competition is absolutely selfish, egotistical bullshit. Clubs exist for more than just winning things, although that will be the aim for all, football teams are a big part of local communities all across the world, bringing families and friends together. Not all fans were born into Rangers supporting families, or are glory hunters who just choose winning teams, some people enjoy supporting smaller clubs for various reasons, who are we to say what's right or wrong just because we have a history of success?

I'd personally be gutted if my local vets team went bust, because I have a great group of friends and it brings us all together. Matches to look forward to, things to talk about and share passions with. We don't compete for trophies, we win the odd game and enjoy the whole social aspect, being underdogs and beating adversity.

A lot of clubs will have to downsize for a period, and some may sadly go bust, but that's the same with more than just football clubs at the moment.
 
We have far too many senior teams in Scotland. Around 1/2 of them at least need to be eliminated. They add nothing, absolutely nothing, to the game and are a drain on sparse resources. Look at the balloon in the interview, “we can’t afford this, we can’t afford that”, holding out the begging bowl for the Scot govt to pay for their continuing existence. What have QoS EVER given to Scottish football to justify being given taxpayers money?

The only good thing to come out of the Covid pandemic is the likely (please) liquidation of these parasites. They won’t be missed. Best of all would be if enough of them go out of business so as to make the SPFL unviable and we see an amalgamation with the English leagues.
Here’s the thing though it won’t be the non entity clubs that go into liquidation.hearts are more likely to go bust before a forfar for instance do and let’s face it is not anywhere near a certainty that English leagues are going to come riding to the rescue.
 
it sounds like the job retention scheme (furlough) is the only thing keeping these lower league teams going at moment. When that ends, or the leagues start again they simply won’t be able to pay wages.

If games are behind closed doors for the rest of the year I think almost all teams in lower divisions will have to go amateur (if they aren’t already).
 
Sorry but I disagree with a lot. Saying clubs shouldn't exist because they are not providing real competition is absolutely selfish, egotistical bullshit. Clubs exist for more than just winning things, although that will be the aim for all, football teams are a big part of local communities all across the world, bringing families and friends together. Not all fans were born into Rangers supporting families, or are glory hunters who just choose winning teams, some people enjoy supporting smaller clubs for various reasons, who are we to say what's right or wrong just because we have a history of success?

I'd personally be gutted if my local vets team went bust, because I have a great group of friends and it brings us all together. Matches to look forward to, things to talk about and share passions with. We don't compete for trophies, we win the odd game and enjoy the whole social aspect, being underdogs and beating adversity.

A lot of clubs will have to downsize for a period, and some may sadly go bust, but that's the same with more than just football clubs at the moment.
There's plenty of scope for these teams to exist in regional or junior football. They are puffed up amateur teams. For teams like Elgin, East Stirling, Montrose, Stranraer etc to have a say on how professional football is run is ludicrous. They drain money out the system and give next to nothing back. Now they want tax payers money to keep the lights on? What about the schools/hospitals/nurses etc?
 
So, we got punished and fined because of financial difficulties, but now they all want the government to help them. Scottish football summed up. Offering the fans the most pathetic football on the planet just to get money for their self serving crooks.


Jog on you shower of corrupt thieves .
 
it sounds like the job retention scheme (furlough) is the only thing keeping these lower league teams going at moment. When that ends, or the leagues start again they simply won’t be able to pay wages.

If games are behind closed doors for the rest of the year I think almost all teams in lower divisions will have to go amateur (if they aren’t already).
The only league that will play behind closed doors will be in the premiership.i just can’t see league one and two or even the championship starting back till crowds are aloud back in.
 
Is this the guy who took the moral high ground and voted down Thistle.??
That a very good point,prior to this it was self preservation at any cost ,now we have survived lets get a patsy to pay our survival,something that could have been applied to all months ago,including no winners or loosers just honest decisions for everyone's benefit.
 
There's a huge bill coming to the taxpayer to pay for the way the virus has been handled
It should not be made any bigger to keep non entity football clubs that attract less than a thousand fans per game afloat
If they can't survive then that is unfortunate but it's far from a tragedy
 
Dont know what hes worried about, the SPFL and Liewell have got it all under control. It will be fine !!!!!
 
After we get over this crisis and the financial reality hits this country and it will very badly.
The most important thing will be putting food on the table and keeping a roof over peoples head. It will be not throwing money at clubs who have been struggling for years,
Scottish football has been needed to be streamlined for years. Now is the time.
 
I suppose the question is whether it is a sound investment for the government. By keeping these clubs alive who pay tax in player wages and ticket sales etc. Will that future taxation pay for the bailout in the (hopefully not so) long term.

If not, you'd have to say it shouldn't happen. I'd certainly rather see bailouts happen to the countries conservation charities/zoos to ensure they don't fold before we are clammourring to ensure clubs like montrose don't fold!
 
Sorry but I disagree with a lot. Saying clubs shouldn't exist because they are not providing real competition is absolutely selfish, egotistical bullshit. Clubs exist for more than just winning things, although that will be the aim for all, football teams are a big part of local communities all across the world, bringing families and friends together. Not all fans were born into Rangers supporting families, or are glory hunters who just choose winning teams, some people enjoy supporting smaller clubs for various reasons, who are we to say what's right or wrong just because we have a history of success?

I'd personally be gutted if my local vets team went bust, because I have a great group of friends and it brings us all together. Matches to look forward to, things to talk about and share passions with. We don't compete for trophies, we win the odd game and enjoy the whole social aspect, being underdogs and beating adversity.

A lot of clubs will have to downsize for a period, and some may sadly go bust, but that's the same with more than just football clubs at the moment.
No one is saying clubs simply shouldn't exist, its more a case of should they really be professional.

There's far too many pro football clubs in Scotland for a country of our size.
 
imo professional should mean full time.

I dont mind how many tiers there is in scottish football but to become professional how can it be part timers?
 
I suppose the question is whether it is a sound investment for the government. By keeping these clubs alive who pay tax in player wages and ticket sales etc. Will that future taxation pay for the bailout in the (hopefully not so) long term.

If not, you'd have to say it shouldn't happen. I'd certainly rather see bailouts happen to the countries conservation charities/zoos to ensure they don't fold before we are clammourring to ensure clubs like montrose don't fold!
A point constantly missed on this thread clubs like Montrose will not be the clubs looking for a government bail out it will be the bigger full time clubs that will be looking for government hand outs.after this Covid crisis is over their may be only two leagues left and the majority of the clubs in those two leagues will be part-time.its not inconceivable you could see an arbroath or similar sized club in the top division.
 
He has no shame whatsoever. He voted to finish the league as his team was in free fall and definitely going down. He is now in the local paper saying it will be great that Hearts are in the same league as them next season because their fans will bring them much needed income

Would have definitely gone down Migsy. As poor as Thistle are QOTS couldn't but a goal let alone a point.

Man's a hypocrite.
 
To be honest some of these teams would not notice if it was played behind closed doors Pollok & Talbot attract bigger crowds and don’t survive on handouts from the spfl or an occasional cup tie
 
A point constantly missed on this thread clubs like Montrose will not be the clubs looking for a government bail out it will be the bigger full time clubs that will be looking for government hand outs.after this Covid crisis is over their may be only two leagues left and the majority of the clubs in those two leagues will be part-time.its not inconceivable you could see an arbroath or similar sized club in the top division.

As long as they all have to start from the bottom of the pyramid if they have had to take a bail out right? Although on the basis of recent votes, no doubt if celtic took one the majority of the rest of Scottish teams would take one in solidarity to ensure they stay in their rightful place!

I mean, celtic are gonna be running short what with their wage bill, bonus payouts and spfl bribes soon!
 
I’ve long said (easy for me as a Supporter of the biggest club) that some smaller teams should join forces. The Dundee clubs for instance, one club so they can join resources. Jim McLean wasn’t stupid.
 
Many clubs below Premier level will find it more sustainable to mothball for a season than recruit new squads and not get anywhere near the income to sustain them.

Logic tells me we are going to have a reduce league system (perhaps two leagues) with limited promotion/relegation between them and an agreement that mothballed clubs re-enter 2021/22.

This of course renders Budge's reconstruction talks a complete waste of time - we need to see who can actually participate 2020/21 first.
 
Most clubs in Scotland exist purely to exist and maybe have a run in a cup, however, that is their prerogative. Football isn't always about winning.
I have mates and family back home who support forfar,arbroath and Montrose respectively.i went to Montrose games with my dad and grandad before I started going to see rangers.they are quite content to win a promotion every so often and maybe a play off place.their is an arrogance saying well you don’t matter and you club isn’t important. the club they support is as important to them as Rangers are to us.
Just merge the teams is an easy answer and it doesn’t really work in terms of support Inverness Caley Thistle is a case in point while it has been a success on the park their are still a sizable number in Inverness who don’t go and watch them who were going to watch Inverness thistle and Caley
 
W
We have far too many senior teams in Scotland. Around 1/2 of them at least need to be eliminated. They add nothing, absolutely nothing, to the game and are a drain on sparse resources. Look at the balloon in the interview, “we can’t afford this, we can’t afford that”, holding out the begging bowl for the Scot govt to pay for their continuing existence. What have QoS EVER given to Scottish football to justify being given taxpayers money?

The only good thing to come out of the Covid pandemic is the likely (please) liquidation of these parasites. They won’t be missed. Best of all would be if enough of them go out of business so as to make the SPFL unviable and we see an amalgamation with the English leagues.
Wow ! The first part of your post is arrogant in the extreme. No club has any more (or less) right to exist at their own level than any other.
 
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