Michael Kelly: 2014 could shape Scotland’s future

Published on 02/08/2012 00:00

THE Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will give the nation an opportunity to show what it can achieve, writes Michael Kelly

AS Glasgow nears the end of its annual wet Fair fortnight, its sports fans are enjoying the steadily improving results for Team GB at the London Olympics. Thoughts, and not just those of sports fans, are now turning to the staging of the 2014 Commonwealth Games which will finish in the city two years tomorrow.

This week saw the announcement that the latest piece of Glasgow’s visitor attraction complex at the SECC, The Hydro, will be open for business next September in plenty of time to rehearse its role for staging the netball and gymnastics events. Not that it was built specifically for that. The £125 million investment was made in this 12,000 capacity hall – the biggest in Scotland – because Glasgow has created a demand for pop and other large concerts. This expansion of the city’s leisure infrastructure is an even more significant sign of progress than the willingness and ability to stage the Games. The Games will come and go, but Glasgow will continue its transition to a service-based city. That transition looked impossible for decades after the war. It was slow and erratic for years. But since the 1980s it has become a smoother and permanent trend.

Will the hosting of the Commonwealth Games help or hinder that progress? Clearly it was planned to help. However, worldwide experience provides evidence that staging large, expensive sporting events is rarely a profitable enterprise. Many host cities are landed with a millstone of debt and a decaying inheritance of under-used venues. Montreal and Athens spring immediately to mind.

The staging of such an event is so complicated that it is inevitable that problems arise, and with such problems come guaranteed bad publicity. Delhi’s lack of preparation of the athletes’ village produced footage that could have been an off-cut from Slumdog Millionaire. And we saw in the run up to the London Games how the failure of G4S led to fierce condemnation of the Home Secretary and how empty seats at popular events caused the sainted Lord Coe to have to dodge the flack. Predicted problems like the collapse of inner London transport system and the creation of congestion chaos didn’t materialise. But instead of praise this has led to the counter complaint that there is a dearth of buyers in Oxford Street and a lack of visitors to traditional attractions.

It’s all about the long-term, claim the proponents of Games. And this will pan out more effectively for Glasgow than in many other host cities. Despite its increasing popularity as a place to visit, few potential tourists are likely to feel that the city will be overcrowded in 2014 and postpone their trip. And given that Glasgow has to continue its fight to preserve its hard-won new image as an exciting, stylish place, the international coverage it will receive can only help increase its credibility as a visitor destination.

All of this, of course, depends on delivering a trouble-free Games. As far as preparations go, it all appears to be running to schedule. The funding package between the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council has been agreed and adhered to. Seven commercial sponsors are already in place – and none of them sells fast foods. All the construction works are said to be on time and on budget. There will be no waiting until 2014 to open them. As soon as they are ready they will be put to public use. So Glaswegians should be able to enjoy the Commonwealth Arena and the Velodrome from October along with other venues, such as Tollcross International Swimming Centre and Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre. Sporting events have already been booked for these venues for before and after the Games. So none of that legacy looks likely to be a white elephant and the targeted increase in exercise leading to improved health in a sick city is already being achieved.

As far as the human legacy is concerned, the council claims that it is already fulfilling it. It is claimed that with the various apprenticeship schemes in place, no Glasgow person between the ages of 16 and 24 should be without a job or training.

However, having heard Stella McCartney saying that she was appointed to design the GB sportswear three and a half years ago, it is slightly disturbing to find out that a designers for Scotland’s kit for 2014 is not yet in place. Nor has the Danny Boyle of the opening ceremony been appointed. There is no hitch here. It is simply that the jobs are much smaller for the much smaller games. We hope. London again raised the bar on opening ceremonies. Glasgow won’t match that. Avoiding the cringingly embarrassing should be the modest goal. The sooner we know that the White Heather Club is not involved, the better.

Much more interesting will be the political fallout. Add Alex Salmond’s personality to the fact that the Scottish government is putting in the bulk of the money and it is certain that he will be hogging all the good publicity going. There is no doubt that the Golden Jubilee and the way the London Games have been presented has strengthened feeling for the Union. Equally if things go well the First Minister will be able to ‘prove’ that Scotland can do big things on its own. However, if things go wrong he will then find it difficult to pass the buck, one of his favourite tactics. But it is going to be hard to pin the blame for any failure on Westminster.

Sporting success will have a psychological impact, too. It has been very pleasant this week to see Scots helping Team GB to its medal goal, especially now that a Scot shared equally in the winning of the first gold medal. In Glasgow, Scotland will be competing directly against England and the disparity between the performances of the two teams will bring despair to many a nationalist heart. Even trying to dress up the respective medal hauls with calculations about per capita will not fool anyone. Success in sport not only raises a nation’s morale, it is often used as a proxy for performances in other fields. If Scotland comes out of the Games with its usual miserable failure in the international arena, the SNP will lose their one question referendum by more than is already projected. ‘Better Together’ will have the ring of truth to it.