How is soccer doing outside the USA? For insight on the patient's health, I quote from
an Andy Dougan article in England's "FourFourTwo" Magazine (August '02, p. 111-112),
arguably the #1 -- but undoubtedly the most humorous and most beautifully photographed --
soccer publication in the world:
"The writing has been on the wall for Scottish football for anyone who cared to
look beyond the surface. Scottish kids just aren't playing football any more...And
that's not just a gut feeling either. The latest figures available from the Scottish
Executive show that only around 20 percent of males in Scotland play football at
any kind of level--only just ahead of the numbers who swim or play golf."
Let me restate this. Playing soccer is on the decline in a British country where other
primary choices include golf and SWIMMING!
For those who ask exactly what I mean by a "mono-sport" culture, this obviously isn't
one, as Scottish youth do have alternatives to soccer, such as rugby. But we Yanks will
note that absent from this list are basketball, baseball, football, hockey, volleyball, softball,
and yes...even bowling.
Quoting from further down page 112 of Mr Dougan's article:
"Scots aren't even going to watch games any more...There are a number of
reasons for declining attendances in Scotland's top division. The contentious
Sky television deal, for one, means that fans no longer have to venture out,
resulting in a pitiful crowd of just over 2,000 for the end of season game
between St Johnstone and Kilmarnock which was being televised live on
Sky--and most were school kids who had been allowed in free."
Stat Study #239: Celtic and Rangers comprise "The Old Firm" of Scottish Soccer.
Look to the goals for and against columns to appreciate the talent advantage
they must enjoy over the rest of the league. Now look further down the
graphic for the score of the "Old Firm Championship". Celtic 1 - Rangers 0.
That's further support of Kimbro's Fundamental Theorem of Soccer Scoring:
"The more important the match, the lower the score, and by extension...the more likely a shutout."
But sadly, the most pertinent section of Mr Dougan's article (as it relates to American
soccer) is found later in the article, on page 117:
"People just won't come if the quality isn't on the pitch...There are too many
distractions now for fair-weathered fans; it's too easy to stay in and watch a
game on Sky or a Champions League match."
Unless Mr Dougan has crossed the Atlantic for a lengthy visit, he doesn't even know
what a "fair weathered fan" really is. When faced with more than 15 seconds of shear
TV boredom, the American index finger instinctively begins striking out at the buttons
of the remote control with cobra like speed and precision. The grass is always greener
on the other channel.
Just as an aging preacher might assume that Old Lucifer is at the root cause of his
congregation's steady slide in attendance, I noted with little surprise that the idea that
Scotland's soccer slide might be following soccer's scoring slide had never even occurred
to Mr Dougan. Once one assumes that soccer is perfect in it's present form, such a
question would be heresy. But then again (and this is where the sociology comes into
play), what if the Scottish soccer slide is instead following the rise in the number of cards
thrown in soccer matches? I don't know much about the Scots (other than what I've
learned from excessive viewing of "Highlander", "Braveheart", "Rob Roy"), but it seems
to me that the Scottish people are NOT what an old buddy would have called "pussyfied."
"There can be only one...FIFA, that is."
Ramirez councils MacLeod on the consequences
of trifling with the sacred laws of the game.
Photo Courtesy of the Official Highlander Web Site
Understand that this isn't something you're likely to learn about
during the telecast of some "friendly" match, and I can assure you
that no mention of it will ever arise during the spectacle which IS
the FIFA World Cup. These are truths which must be sought
out. But frankly, it does help that I've got a Barnes & Nobles
bookstore located about a mile down the road which keeps both
of the monthly oracles of soccer:
"FourFourTwo" Magazine and "World Soccer" Magazine
in stock at all times, just for those of us who hunger for true soccer enlightenment.
Before I close out here, I'm told that the cause for soccer's decline in Scotland is
that rugby is encouraged over soccer in the schools of Scotland. I can't argue with
this, but if it is true...how is soccer ever going to make it in the USA? While the
the advocates of soccer promote it here as a year round activity, the seasonal
skill sports are promoted in the American elementary and middle schools (ie. football
& volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter, then baseball and softball and tennis
and track & field in the spring.) If the support of the schools is needed early on to
insure the growth of soccer in America, then soccer doesn't stand a chance here.
Mike "MacMoregoals" Kimbro
I'm in no way 'Anti-Scot', so chick here to sample "Highland Farewell", my favorite Song of Scotland
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Likely Future of MLS & WUSA or
Visualize High Scoring Soccer or
Now this is a funny movie, bringing to mind the one hit wonder of the late 1960's entitled "Big Bad Bruce." Check out the official "The Big Tease" web site.
News Flash October 2006
Playing away, France looses to Scotland 0-1
"And the home side's endeavour pays off when Gary Caldwell turns in Paul Hartley's corner to put Scotland ahead"