Meeting of the Parliament 11 November 2025
It is a pleasure to speak in the debate.
Football is our national sport. It is a passion for many of us in Scotland. I had lots of passion on Saturday, while I was watching Hibs beat the mighty St Mirren 3-0 after failing to do so last season. I am taking my life in my hands by mentioning that in front of George Adam.
I also remember—this will show my age—when Scotland beat Spain 3-1 back in 1984, when Kenny Dalglish turned away and scored a memorable goal. I was at Hampden on that day.
I coached professionally for 11 years with Hibs and during my career was lucky enough to visit Holland, Germany, Denmark and Portugal, sharing ideas and discussing coaching methods. Football is a global language.
It is the dream of every football academy player to play for Scotland. I had the pleasure of coaching players who went on to do that. I know that there are young players in the academies now who are targeting Euro 2028 as an opportunity. I remember watching a young Billy Gilmour many years ago, when he played for Rangers, and thinking that he was a fantastic player. We can all see where he is now.
My son has followed in my footsteps. He now coaches at Nottingham Forest, having previously been at Hearts and Celtic.
We have been talking about legacy, which is key. This year, Scottish football supporters topped a European attendance chart for the third year running. Citing a recently published UEFA report, the Scottish Professional Football League said that
“football fans across Scotland have recorded significantly higher top-flight attendances per capita than any other league in Europe”.
We should be proud of that. UEFA’s report, entitled “The European Club Talent and Competition Landscape”, was launched in 2023. The latest report revealed that the Scottish premiership had 18.5 attendees per 1,000 people at matches last season, which is a 5 per cent increase on the previous campaign. That is 70 per cent higher than any other league in Europe. Portugal’s Primeira Liga sits in second place, with 10.7 attendees per 1,000 people, and the Netherlands’ Eredivisie is third, with 9.77 attendees. England’s Premier League has 6.97 attendees per 1,000 people. Around 4 million fans attended top-flight matches in Scotland last term. That is the eighth-highest attendance in Europe.
I was lucky enough to attend the last two European championships—in 2021 in Scotland and in 2024 in Germany—with my wife, my son and daughter, and their two partners. The memory of singing “Flower of Scotland” at the Allianz arena in Munich at the first game of that championship was incredible. The build-up to the game with Germany supporters was great—we sang and enjoyed German hospitality. Our support was, of course, incredible, and it drove tourism to Scotland. The game itself was fine for only 10 minutes, unfortunately.
Hosting Euro 2028 presents an opportunity for us to build on Scotland’s strong track record of delivering major events. The bill will enable Scotland to play its part in hosting the championships, ensuring that Scotland meets UEFA’s host nation requirements. It is there to protect us from exploitation, ticket touting, unauthorised trading and so on, and the Scottish Government has worked with partners and key stakeholders in the Parliament. The bill takes action on ticket touting and prohibits the unauthorised sale of championship tickets for profit, above the face cost, and that will apply to all matches. There is an exception for the auction of tickets to raise funds for charity.
The bill will prohibit unauthorised street trading and advertising in designated event zones. George Adam is right to mention the sale of hats and scarves, which is a feature of every Scotland game that we might go to. As some members have said, there is a balance to be struck, as local business needs to see the benefit of the tournament coming to Scotland. The bill will set criminal offences for ticket touting and unauthorised trading and advertising. It will, of course, be an offence to obstruct an enforcement officer.
Scotland will play Greece on Saturday—and Denmark next Tuesday, when I will head to Hampden to cheer on Scotland to world cup qualification. I hope that we will be cheering on Scotland before Euro 2028, when the team heads to the USA, Canada and Mexico for the world cup in 2026.
15:41