Hansard

I will do my best, Presiding Officer.

I thank George Adam for lodging the motion for debate, and I add my congratulations to St Mirren on their league cup win. I saw the Buddies win silverware—the Scottish cup—back in 1987. It was a thoroughly miserable experience for a seven-year-old Dundee United supporter. Perhaps Mr Ross might be able to enlighten me as to how Kevin Gallacher was offside when Iain Ferguson put the ball in the net. It was a ridiculous decision, frankly. As Celtic found out to their cost a few weeks ago, for every winner, there has to be a loser—that is the way life goes.

Scottish football is a very significant part of our national culture and our daily conversations. It is not just a business and a significant part of our economy; it is part of who we are as a country. We are the most football-obsessed people in Europe. We have the highest per head attendance rate of any national professional league. Those are the reasons why our Parliament should discuss the state of our national game. That is important, because it matters to people and it matters to Scotland.

It is also incumbent on us to recognise the challenges that the football monoculture of our sporting landscape presents for diversifying sporting activity and ensuring maximum participation in the game. That includes the women’s game, which has made great organisational strides in the past decade.

That being said, I strongly believe that the game should manage itself and that it should be supported to do just that. That is part of that essential culture. It is what makes the game representative of the communities that we live in and serve, as other members have pointed to. Law makers in the Government should act to protect that independence and the health of local institutions and not attempt to run them, which is, at times, a fine line to tread. The Government’s approach should be partnership, and the Parliament’s approach should be to hold up a mirror to the game. On that basis, I will comment on three issues on which I seek responses from the minister in her closing speech.

First, from my engagement with clubs—not just in my region but more widely—I am concerned that Scotland’s stadium infrastructure is reaching a critical moment. The seated stadia of the post-Taylor report era of the early 1990s are approaching the end of their lifespans. They are increasingly challenging to maintain, and compliance issues with access and safety are a growing concern, as that burden on clubs increases. The next Scottish Government should turn its attention to what that will mean for the professional game over the coming decade in relation to standards, safety and access for fans.

I also want to advocate on behalf of walking football and for the inclusion of that game in what will be, as we heard yesterday, a summer of sport for Scotland. I have played that game alongside my father in recent weeks. He is in his mid-70s, and he has a weekly game with Tayport Junior FC. Walking football can help men with loneliness, and it also provides healthy exercise and improves mental health. I pay tribute to Paul Berg, Tom Malone and the rest of the group that organises the weekly sessions in Dundee.

Walking football is being played right across Scotland, in all the communities that we represent. There has been a quiet revolution in how we see physical activity in later life, particularly for men who are so enthralled with the game. Walking football can also combine a cross-generational and cross-sex aspect, which should be considered. The minister might explain, in her closing speech, the opportunities to include walking football in that summer of sport.

Pretty much the only thing that has recovered in this country since Covid has been attendance numbers at football—most likely because the Scottish National Party Government and its Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery had nothing at all to do with it. I wonder whether it has to do with people’s pent-up frustration at having not been able to be with people when watching football. Watching streamed football at home was a thoroughly miserable experience for so many of us. That is not what the game is about.

Growing attendance at clubs such as St Johnstone, Morton, Motherwell and St Mirren—which are traditionally outwith that top rank—talks to the fan culture that has been imported into Scotland by YouTube. However, that comes with its challenges, as does my speech time—I am coming to a close, Presiding Officer.

We have already heard about the issues with pyrotechnics. The Government must also consider how exuberance and passion for local teams can be balanced with safety, inclusivity and the prevention of the return to the widespread violence that we saw in the 1980s. Cocaine use is a significant issue in that regard.

I hope that the minister will reflect on the three issues that I have raised, both in her closing speech and in her next few weeks of work.