By PAUL FORSYTH
Published: | Updated:
If there is one manager more than any other who deserved credit over the weekend, it was John McGlynn who made a point in his post-match interview of acknowledging the game’s real heroes.
His team had just beaten Kilmarnock 3-0, and his exciting new striker, Jacob Murrell, had just scored his fourth goal in three matches, but they were not McGlynn’s main concern.
His biggest thanks went out to the supporters, 6,897 of whom turned out in the most preposterous conditions to watch a football match that should never have gone ahead.
Storm Boelo had been widely trailed, with its 50mph winds and torrential rain, but here were the fans venturing out in their thousands to make a spectacle of it.
‘The conditions were horrendous,’ said McGlynn. ‘The forecast wasn’t good coming into the game. We all knew it was going to be that type of game. The last 10 minutes, it was like hailstones. It was incredible.
‘So fair play to the players and a big, big, massive thank you to the fans. Obviously the home fans from my point of view, but fair play to the Kilmarnock fans too. They knew the conditions were going to be terrible but they’ve come along and paid their money and supported their team. Well done to you guys.’
Partick Thistle’s match against Stenhousemuir was played in farcical conditions at Firhill
Falkirk boss John McGlynn thanked Kilmarnock fans for turning up in ‘horrendous’ weather
Rangers striker Ryan Naderi celebrates scoring in their storm-hit victory over St Johnstone
The pity is that more don’t share McGlynn’s respect for the game’s lifeblood. Too many of its stakeholders offer only lip service to the paying punters before ignoring them when it matters most.
The passion and blind loyalty of fans is such that they sometimes need protecting from themselves, but you won’t find the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), or by extension the clubs, stepping up. They are content to remain silent as families set off in their cars, listening to radio bulletins advising them to stay at home.
After all, there is a TV deal to honour. Hospitality revenue to rake in. And a calendar so congested that the SPFL’s unspoken guidance is to get games played at all costs.
If that means leaving supporters stranded by cancelled trains, so be it. If it means late postponements, rotten football and pitches ruined for the winter ahead, well, we can live with that.
Greenock Morton’s match against Ayr United was postponed an hour before kick-off. Cove Rangers’ game against East Kilbride was abandoned with 20 minutes left. The same should have happened at Firhill, where Partick Thistle were allowed to complete a 3-0 win over Stenhousemuir despite farcical scenes on a waterlogged pitch.
‘That’s the worst conditions I’ve ever seen in a game,’ said Stenny boss Marvin Bartley, who claimed that the referee, Calum Scott, had admitted it was dangerous. ‘If the game’s 0-0, or we’re drawing, it gets stopped.’
Elsewhere in Glasgow, the pitch at Ibrox was becoming a safety risk towards the end of Rangers’ 4-0 win over St Johnstone, whose winger, Kai Fotheringham, was sent off for sliding too far into a tackle. Afterwards, there was footage of supporters wading through floodwater on Edmiston Drive.
Of course, it is also true that most of the games in Scotland were completed, largely because the biggest problem was the wind. And, historically, that has rarely been enough in itself to bring about a postponement.
But football should be better than that. It should care enough about its standards, its image and its supporters to exercise common sense when the forecast is so bad that power cuts, fallen trees and closed bridges are predicted.
The supporters will be here long after the TV companies and the matchday sponsors have come and gone. That is a reason to value them, not take them for granted.
