Motherwell's Alan Burrows makes Scottish football plea beyond Celtic title saga

By John McGinley

March 20, 2020

Motherwell chief executive and SPFL board member Alan Burrows is hoping Scottish football can look beyond the issue of final league standings and prioritise the health and future of every team in the country, The Scottish Sun report.

Much of the discussion about what happens in Scottish football as a result of the ongoing public health crisis has been around where teams should finish in the league, who should be declared champions and who should be relegated.

However, with football potentially postponed well into the second half of 2020, cashflow is a problem for the 42 member clubs of the SPFL and some could suffer badly over the coming months.

Burrows has now called for that to be the focus of everyone, ensuring that all 42 clubs survive.

As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “One of the things I have been saying, and it’s one of the main priorities as far as I am concerned, is that we must ensure when this has all blown over that all 42 clubs are still here.

“There has been so much talk about final league placings and the ramifications of that. But right now we need to get everyone through this.

“We need to help those clubs who need it and stop, perhaps, obsessing about ourselves and our own team.”

You can see where Burrows is coming from here.

There’s perhaps a lack of understanding about the hardships coming for many teams in the country who don’t have the resources of teams in the top-flight, including Celtic, Hearts and Rangers.

Scottish football is fundamentally built on getting fans through the turnstiles to support their team. From season ticket cash to walk up punters clubs, for the most part, live within their means based on this cashflow.

What’s next for Scottish football? / (Photo by Alex Morton – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Taking that spoke out of the wheel over the next few months could be disastrous and everyone in the country should have that as their main focus.

Quick decisions need to be made here so that issues such as paying out prize money can help stem the tide.

Hopefully, the SFA and SPFL can begin to find clarity over the coming days, rather than weeks.