Scottish football's hidden secret - shining a light on the work that goes unnoticed on Hampden's 3rd floor
Little Ellis was confused. She was at a football match and small fires were lighting up one end of the ground. “Mummy, why are they doing that? Are they fireworks?”
People think they add to the atmosphere, she was told. “Aren’t they really burny? What if they make those flags catch fire?” Well, they might. “Doesn’t that hurt people?” Well, it would, yes. “So why do people do it?”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOut of the mouths of babes and all that. Nicky Reid was the mother involved in this currently pertinent exchange. The SPFL Trust chief executive was reminded of the discussion with her eldest daughter, who is now nine, while taking in the scenes from her seat in the main stand before the League Cup final at Hampden last weekend.
“I was watching (the pyros) and watching the partial pitch incursion,” she says, with reference to the swarming Celtic fans at the end of their side’s controversial victory over Rangers. “You are holding your breath. It is going to take someone to get seriously hurt before people actually listen. The truth is, I find it unsettling.”


Reid, 39, is also mum to Lottie, four. “If my kids were at the game and in the crowd, how would I feel? It doesn’t matter whether you are in the section or not, even if you are on the other side, it is an unnerving experience. And it is getting worse. Let’s not ignore that either.”
Let’s not indeed. But then let’s not also ignore all the positive work going on in Scottish football, which is what we are here to talk about. It might not be the obvious time to do so in the aftermath of Rangers and Celtic fans terrifying Christmas shoppers by running amok in Glasgow city centre. But such incidents underline why it’s incumbent to recognise what is worth celebrating about the Scottish game on the 15th anniversary of the SPFL Trust, which was set up in December 2009 (as the SPL Trust initially).
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“It's a bit of a hidden secret,” says Reid. “If you're a fan of a club you'll probably know about their charity, but you probably won't be aware the extent of what goes on. People might hear the odd thing…. but they probably don't know that Aberdeen are helping move people out of homeless accommodation or that Kilmarnock are supporting cancer patients and a lady to lose weight so she can get IVF treatment.”


These are the alternative SPFL results that ought to be read out each week. The SPFL Trust is a registered charity working in partnership with nearly all the SPFL’s 42 clubs to help them develop community activities across Scotland. Key is taking advantage of the tingle nearly everyone, young and old, feels when entering a football stadium. “It's one of the few places people feel comfortable going because there's a lot of stigma attached to mainstream interventions,” explains Reid. “Actually going over the threshold of your football club, regardless of what club it is, is exciting and it's a bit different. It's not got a big sign across it that says you're coming for help with benefits or your mental health's poor.”
Football clubs are increasingly becoming dispensers of health and social care, which makes the scenes surrounding the League Cup final doubly frustrating. Amid coverage of the non-awarding of penalties and potential life bans for pyro smuggling, it’s understandable if depressing that no one is talking about the Celtic fan being catered for at Ibrox having enrolled for a prostate FFIT (Football Fans In Training) class offered by Rangers in partnership with the SPFL Trust and Prostate Scotland.
“Often times people think a Celtic fan wouldn't go to something at Ibrox and a Rangers fan wouldn't go to something at Parkhead,” says Reid. “Actually, it happens all the time.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“It's great. There's a bit of banter. They can chin each other a bit about scores at the weekend. But in that moment, that's not the thing that connects them. What connects them is something far bigger and more significant, and that's the fact they're dealing with either the end of prostate cancer or the middle of it.”


Again, it puts penalties, given or not given, into perspective. Such initiatives are also being delivered further down the league ladder, where teams like Montrose are lifting metaphorical trophies every week in terms of their engagement with the local community. The Links Park club accessed the SPFL Trust’s winter support fund to buy a food truck and have partnered with the local fire service – due to recent incidents of fire raising - to offer free football in the fire station grounds. “Families come along when they cannot afford meals, be fed, and it costs them nothing, It's also building a proactive relationship with the fire service,” says Reid.
It’s a topical initiative, with pyrotechnics one of Scottish football's topics du jour. “Education is key,” says Reid. “We are hoping to do a lot of work around education about pyros particularly so people understand the damage. The solution is far wider and more complex than how to stop flares getting into the stadium.” She cites an episode in the Welcome to Wrexham series linking a rise in football hooliganism in the 1980s to pit closures.
“Amid shared frustration, tribalism happens,” she says. “We are living in harder times than anyone recognises for a generation. The SPFL are taking a firm stance (on pyros), which is great. But they can only take it so far. The real issue is people are hurting and angry and life is hard. The way society works now, there are fewer places where people get together now on a weekly basis, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a shared frustration.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIt’s a thoughtful response from someone whose colourful Christmas jumper jars with the seriousness of this particular subject. She’s en route to a Festive Friends event hosted by Stenhousemuir FC and created and funded by the SPFL Trust. Elderly and socially isolated people are encouraged to attend. Conceived in 2016, Reid proudly notes that over 26,000 Christmas meals will have been delivered by the end of this year.


She was named CEO in 2017. It’s worthwhile recalling the waves caused by her promotion from general manager since it was welcomed as a breakthrough. She was the first woman to be appointed to a top job at Hampden. It’s heartening that it doesn’t seem quite so earth-shattering now. Shelley Kerr, for example, was recently appointed Technical Development manager at Hearts.
Nevertheless, Reid remains the sole female in such a lofty position at Hampden, where she leads a small but dedicated team. The SPFL Trust remain on the same page as the SPFL – indeed, SPFL CEO Neil Doncaster jokingly describes them as the “acceptable face” of an organisation that routinely comes under such heavy fire. However, they no longer share the same floor, with the SPFL Trust having moved down to the third level for space reasons. A little distance might be welcome sometimes.
“It is a double-edged sword for us,” Reid admits. “It means that when things happen like at the weekend, it can set our work back. If we wanted to talk to Police Scotland about a programme and they have spent all weekend dealing with the behaviour of a few, that sets us back. That can be frustrating. But (the football connection) also means we get a voice in rooms that a charity our size might not otherwise have.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.