Scots football ‘under threat of extinction’ says Lawwell

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has painted a doomsday scenario for Scottish football and raised the possibility of the top-class game becoming extinct in Scotland.

Lawwell revealed his fears for the future after the club’s AGM at Celtic Park, where outgoing chairman John Reid told shareholders that he questioned the sustainability of the game and claimed “radical thinking” was needed to address the problem.

Lawwell spoke about being unable to compete with the “ridiculous” fees bandied around in England and further afield for players and highlighted the age-old issue of the lack of finance north of the border, due mostly to poor television revenues.

“It’s not Celtic and Rangers here, it’s the nation,” he said. “This social phenomenon of football in Scotland is under threat of extinction and it needs, as John [Reid] says, radical thinking. A lot of good work is going on at the SFA, a lot of good work is going on at the SPL, but is it enough?

“The challenges are obvious to everyone. The product in Scotland isn’t the best. There’s a chronic lack of investment in the game. The reason is that people don’t see the worth of the payback, and until that’s sorted we’re going to have real problems.”

Lawwell added: “Man Utd have 300 million supporters around the world, while 1.4 billion watch the EPL. The English Premier League now gets £1.4 billion a year through TV. The new SPL deal, including international rights, will be worth £15 million, 1 per cent of the EPL deal.