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Diminishing football crowds is no surprise

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What would the late Jim Farry have made of it all?

With fans increasingly treated as second-class citizens, is it any wonder crowds continue to diminish?

Wednesday night provided two glaring examples of the total lack of consideration for fans.

Firstly, our TV companies refused to deal with the Polish FA, meaning Scotland’s friendly in Warsaw was left unseen at home save for those patient enough to endure the match being streamed online.

These same TV companies think nothing of messing fans around to suit their own scheduling when they do buy broadcasting rights.

So surely Wednesday was a perfect opportunity for TV to give something back to the long-suffering fans, even if it meant paying over the odds to the football authorities in Poland?

Secondly, it’s almost beyond belief that the SFA and Dundee United couldn’t arrange to have enough turnstiles open at Tannadice for Scotland’s Under-21 friendly against Hungary.

With three United kids in the original squad, local interest was high, even though Ryan Gauld and John Souttar were forced to pull out.

But the authorities were overwhelmed by the numbers that turned up, and the official attendance of 4,537 didn’t count those who walked away in their droves after being unable to gain entry due to so few gates being open.

Former SFA Chief Executive, the late Jim Farry was a stickler for organisation, and what games could and couldn’t be shown live on TV.

What would he have made of a shambolic night off the park for our football teams?

Already the Tartan Army is being messed around by UEFA’s decision to stagger dates and kick-off times for the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Scotland can still fill Hampden for a traditional 3pm Saturday fixture. But how many will turn up at 5pm on Sunday, March 29, 2015 for the home tie against Gibraltar?

Spain may be World and European champions, but already their fans have been sickened.

Their friendly against Italy in Madrid could only attract a crowd of 19,000. That was the knock-on effect of the fact that every La Liga fixture is now broadcast live between Friday and Monday, with various kick-off times.

Crowds are alarmingly low, with only 5,600 at last week-end’s Getafe-Espanyol fixture.

So if fans in Scotland think things can’t get any worse, think again while the game is riddled with selfish TV companies and bungling officials.