The first article in the £4 glossy souvenir that went on sale before Thursday’s match was entitled ‘a welcome from the chairman’. The first two paragraphs paid credit to the staff for progress to date and made fulsome mention of the friendly welcome the team received in Norway and that that opened the door for the familiar themes.
He felt that Scottish football would benefit by adopting many of the practices which were evident in Aalesund. For us, restructuring the SPL and SFL would amount to tinkering at the edge of a greater problem.
The adoption of summer football was the first element in the transition. He compared our attendance on a warm August evening to that which might be expected on a freezing, wet December.
Next up is the playing surface. He argued that a modern Astroturf pitch would satisfy UEFA, FIFA and the players but that there would be a financial boost because of the meagre maintenance cost. The community benefit to such a change is obvious.
But there was more. He was impressed that the Color Line Stadion permitted the consumption of beer in places, had a safe standing zone and even an area under the stand where smoking was permitted.
His frustration was clear as the article ended. He pointed out, correctly, that ‘we struggle to have a reasonable and sensible adult debate about these issues’.
Maybe there is a chance that some progress can be made as we now have a voice in the corridors of power. By happy coincidence Motherwell's Stewart Robertson was elected to the SPL board in July. Surely we can have these issues debated now?