Meeting of the Parliament 11 November 2025
There has been a consensus across the chamber that the 2028 tournament will be good for Scotland, good for Ireland, and good for the UK overall.
In his opening speech, the minister talked about armistice day. Interestingly, this morning, I was reading the Central Fife Times, which reported on a game between veterans and serving Black Watch members that took place in my home village of Kelty on Saturday. It raised quite a bit of money for Poppyscotland, and after the game, the participants proceeded to the war memorial and laid a wreath. That goes back to the point about how football—the same goes for many sports, but it is certainly football in Scotland—brings people together.
It is worth remembering that at the previous European championships in Germany, the Scotland fans—the tartan army—were praised to the highest by every community they went to, because there was a good atmosphere; it was a party atmosphere. At a time when we see so much division in our country and around the world, football has a key role to play in bringing people together.
The minister talked about Scotland’s global reputation for hosting events, and Davy Russell made a point about the staff who are involved in gearing up for such events. We should thank those staff, as Davy Russell did, and recognise that the authority that will have the greatest role to play in 2028, with the support of the Scottish Government, is Glasgow City Council, through its staff. We in the Parliament, therefore, want a guarantee that the council will receive the support that it needs to carry out the functions for the event.
I was speaking to someone about the bill the other day, and they raised a question with me about the infrastructure around Hampden. I think that the minister should be looking at the infrastructure that is in place. That lady gave me the example of the events that she attended at Murrayfield, which hosts all the big events, such as the large Oasis concerts during the summer, and she talked about the transport links. Another member in the chamber has drawn attention to the transport links around Hampden, in particular the rail track, so I hope that the minister would agree that we should look at what improvements need to be made to ensure that the proper infrastructure is in place.
Stephen Kerr made some interesting points, one being that, although we need to pass the bill in order for the games to go ahead, it is all about protecting UEFA’s commercial interests. With regard to some of the tradespeople who will lose out as a result of the bill, it is, again, for Glasgow City Council to work with those people, because the event will not happen only on the day. There will be a build up to it, and there will be real business opportunities. I hope that we can work with the council to ensure that on-street traders do not lose out and there will be opportunities for them.
Bill Kidd made an important point about legacy and what we can do to ensure that. The reality is that football is the national sport in Scotland. I talked about my home village—I live near a public park, and every night of the week it is full of young children playing football. There are boys’ teams and girls’ teams. A lot depends on the coaches, who are often parents or people who love the game, giving up their time to coach and support young people. I hope that part of the legacy of the games will be to recognise the voluntary work that goes on and to put in place much more support to encourage the growth of that. I hope that we will qualify for the upcoming games, but if we invest in grass-roots sports now, we can perhaps have the ambition of one day winning a European cup and the world cup. I hope that that will be the legacy that Bill Kidd spoke about.
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