Meeting of the Parliament 25 February 2026 [Draft]
I thank Gillian Mackay for lodging the motion for debate. This is the third debate in which I have taken part in recent weeks on the value of Scottish football—I see some regular contributors to those debates, including Mr Adam and Mr Whittle, in the chamber. I see nothing wrong in that—it speaks to the centrality of football as part of the lived experience of many of us in Scotland. For my part, I very much enjoyed being at Firhill on Saturday, watching Partick Thistle beat Airdrie 1-0—I always enjoy watching Airdrie lose against Partick Thistle, it has to be said.
I am looking forward to being at St Mirren in a couple of weeks’ time, where I will watch my team defeat Mr Adam’s team in the Scottish cup quarter final. As an aside, I commend to all members my motion recognising the 150th anniversary of Partick Thistle Football Club—if colleagues have not yet signed it, I would urge them to do so. I declare an interest as a member of the Jags Foundation, which is part of the fan-owned nature of the club.
I will focus most of my remarks on what is given back by football fans. It is important to reflect on that because, all too often, we hear negative reporting in that context, but an awful lot of good does happen. The Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy and Sport will be able to testify to that, given her role; I am sure that she will have engaged with many of the trusts and foundations out there. I did similar when I was Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, in the dim and distant past, and I was very heartened to see what was being done.
The sum total of the activity of those foundations and trusts—I am sure that someone has quantified it; I might have been able to testify to that back in the day—is significant. The figures in relation to Motherwell alone, which Gillian Mackay talked about, show that the impact on Lanarkshire is significant, and we should reflect on that. I see that with my own team through the efforts of the Partick Thistle Charitable Trust and the activity that it undertakes in north Glasgow, and through jags for good, which is an informal organisation in which supporters have been raising funds for local food banks and initiatives to welcome refugees to the city.
In my own area, which is part of the Central Scotland region, we see that as part of the core activity of grass-roots football clubs, and that core activity is, in and of itself, a social good. There is a commitment to ensuring that people have an outlet for leisure and sporting activity, and those who volunteer their time are drawing good from it. I see that with the various amateur and youth teams in my area, and with the four teams in the area that are part of the Scottish football pyramid and some of the activities that they undertake. Cumbernauld United play Cumbernauld Colts in a Cumbernauld cup game every year, which raises funds for local charities. I have seen those clubs taking part in food bank collections and in safety awareness campaigns with Network Rail for their young players.
I see that I do not have much time, but I will touch briefly on ticket costs. Something needs to be done about that, although I recognise that it is not within the gift of this Parliament to legislate in that area. The figures that were cited for the upcoming old firm Scottish cup quarter final are, to be frank, staggering. I have to tread carefully, as a west of Scotland MSP, speaking in such a vein rather than as a Partick Thistle fan per se, but I would recommend other Glasgow football teams to people who want to be able to go and watch a game. Nevertheless, that amount of money is ridiculous, and something should be done.
The football authorities should be considering the notion of a price cap—it seems to me that £25 is still a little bit too much, but there certainly should be a cap. That should be looked at, and I thank Gillian Mackay for bringing the debate to the chamber.