A Bad Week But There's Life In Scottish Football Yet

Home defeats by Russia and Belgium last week didn't only end Scotland's automatic qualification hopes for Euro 2020 they also sparked a debate as to whether the game north of the border had reached it's lowest ebb.

The fortunes of the national side will always be one of the main factors in that argument but there was some negative publicity from a BBC survey regarding the cost of watching football in Scotland, although it has led to an interesting discussion about the way forward in this regard.

Even amongst sports administration bodies it seems those in charge of Scottish football have a particularly poor reputation and undoubtedly there have been bad decisions over the years.

But they have also been steamrollered in many ways by the juggernaut that is the English Premier League and the money that is awash at the top clubs across Europe.

For instance I find it hard to comprehend a system that makes Scotland's league champions go through numerous qualifying rounds to reach the Champions League group stage when teams who finish third elsewhere can go straight through.

The structure of the top division, perhaps, makes for a slightly repetitive product because of the number of times that each team plays each other but the tweaks to the play-off system have created an exciting second tier league.

And the opening up of the pyramid has also created a freshness about the lower divisions with the likes of Cove Rangers coming up from the Highland League last season and already looking well set for a second successive promotion.

I've written many times about the Lowland League and the excellent way the league as a whole publicise upcoming matches on Twitter in addition to the individual clubs.

The Highland League, the other potential feeder into the SPFL, is a different, more established league that doesn't tend to go in for anything too flashy but there are some fantastic clubs in beautiful locations that are very rooted in their local community and I've seen at first hand this season how hard volunteers at both Rothes and Strathspey Thistle work to do just that.

All of the Lowland and Highland clubs enter the Scottish Cup this weekend alongside those who have made it through the earlier rounds.

There are 18 ties in total from Fraserburgh down to Gretna, each with a story behind them, some long trips being made and some great games to watch for a tenner or less.