Stephen Halliday: Triviality of football already being missed in Scotland

On my first day as a football writer with a national newspaper 30 years ago, I was quickly reminded of my place in the grand scheme of things.

Legendary newsman Stuart McCartney. Picture: Stephen Mansfield

“So, you’re the latest recruit for the Toy Department, are you?,” was the booming greeting I received across the editorial floor from Stuart McCartney, a legendary figure in Scottish journalism.

The epitome of a hard-bitten news reporter, the man they called “Bullet” covered many of the biggest and some of the most harrowing events in the country during his career. His words of welcome to me were made playfully, but not without the clear implication that those of us who chronicle Scotland’s national sport are engaged in a sphere of the business which isn’t to be taken as seriously as the front pages.

As we come to terms with the rapidly unfolding consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, that characterisation of football’s wider relevance has perhaps never felt more accurate. And yet who can honestly say that the glorious diversion from bleaker realities which football provides for so many people isn’t already being badly missed in the new way of life to which our society is now trying to adjust?

There will still be an important role for football writers in the coming weeks and months in covering the financial and sporting fall-out of the sport being suspended. But we will all be counting the days until we can return to the sweet triviality of sitting in a press box.