Rangers legend Ally McCoist has hit out at the Scottish FA and made a plea for a rethink to allow fans to attend the Scottish Cup final.
This comes after confirmation that the supposed showpiece event is set to go ahead in a few weeks time without any supporters present – as part of an agreement between the Hampden blazers and UEFA, who will assume control of the stadium on May th as part of EURO 2020 preparations.
This is despite the heralded agreement between the relevant authorities which will see around 12,000 fans present at the EURO games.
One rule for one and one for another.
McCoist spoke out, as reported by the Glasgow Times, stating:
“I get that it might be a reason – it could even be an excuse, but, in these times, there’s a case for everyone ripping everything up.”
“We have been making it up as we go along.”
“Rightly or wrongly, that’s what we’ve been doing because we’ve never been in this situation.”
“So I would imagine, if negotiations could take place to let fans into the final, wherever it may be, it can only be a good thing.”
“There has to be a little bit of leeway, a bit of come and go in these times and this situation.”
“It would have been fantastic for St Johnstone to have some of their fans here to see them lift the League Cup.”
Super Ally then pointed to the obvious solution, given the upcoming Old Firm fourth-round clash which he was promoting on behalf of Premier Sports, the Scottish Cup TV rights-holders.
🔵 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘃 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗰 🍀
Two of football's biggest rivals meet again in the fourth round of this year's @ScottishCup 🏆 𝗨𝗻𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.
📺 Live this Sunday on Premier Sports from 1.30pm (Kick-off 3pm). To watch live, visit: https://t.co/cVrQE6yJbZ pic.twitter.com/6VFIsUql6X
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) April 13, 2021
Hopefully, there will be further clamour for a better outcome for all stakeholders – fans, players, broadcasters.
“Nothing is impossible. Exactly. We’ve been through this for well over a year now, it’s great we’ve had football – but let’s take it the next step now.”
“If Celtic get through and the final is at Ibrox or vice-versa, it would be fantastic.”
“It’s happened before, we’ve had cup finals at both stadiums before and they’ve been a success.”
“It’s clearly not the venue that would be a problem. That’s for sure.”
Maybe that is the inconvenient truth for some at the SFA – we haven’t heard the last of this one.