Paul Hartley has called for more vocal leadership from Scottish football’s governing bodies to push for a return of fans.
Supporters have been locked out of stadia in Scotland since March and Hartley, who played in the English Championship with Bristol City, has grown increasingly frustrated at seeing clubs south of the border able to open their doors.
A financial rescue package was announced by the Scottish Government this week, allocating £55 million of funding towards sport. Of that total £20 million will be given in loans to Scottish Premiership clubs and a further £10 million in grants for all other levels – including non-league and women’s football – to compensate for lost ticket revenue.
Fans of clubs in level one areas, such as Caley Thistle, Ross County, Elgin and Highland League teams, have been able to return in small numbers, capped at 300.
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has been vocal in his criticism of the Scottish Government and national clinical director Jason Leitch, for not producing a plan for the return of supporters and not explaining why it has been deemed safer for indoor shopping centres to reopen at full capacity.
Hartley, the Cove Rangers manager, wants more voices from within the Scottish game to speak up about supporters returning to grounds.
He said: “What gets me is you see shopping malls and supermarkets mobbed, but we can’t get people outside to watch a game of football, where you’re much safer. I don’t get the logic in it.
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“I see games in England where fans have been back and they’ve been affected worse than us. It’s really frustrating and it must be for owners of clubs, because it can’t keep going on like this.
“Teams are going to be really tight with finances and while every bit helps, we need to look at a plan. I don’t see too many people speaking out about it.
“Dave Cormack has been very vocal and I think what he’s saying is totally correct. I think we need more people to speak out to get supporters back, within the game in Scotland.
“Even the people running the game – I think they’ve gone very quiet on it. It’s not helping anybody. What’s the plan? We need more from the top, the SPFL, the SFA, to make sure they’re doing their best to get supporters back.
“I’m watching English games and seeing crowds back – what’s the difference? They don’t see it as much of a risk. If it’s going to continue the whole season without fans there’s going to be a lot of clubs in a dire situation.”
Sports minister Joe FitzPatrick said yesterday he had not received a request for a meeting with Cormack, who said this week football fans had been treated unfairly.
Hartley’s Peterhead counterpart Jim McInally has previously suggested football in Scotland would be better off stopping, rather than the “charade” of playing without supporters.
Clubs across the country have had to adhere to a wide-ranging set of safety protocols to allow play to resume, with track-and-trace in place, temperature checks, sanitisation points and social-distancing becoming the norm.
Hartley added: “Everything has been put in place (at grounds). If we could get 500-600 fans in, we could easily cope with that. Aberdeen could get 5,000 and easily cope with that. Stadiums are big enough and supporters are not stupid. They must be missing the game.
“I feel for the clubs that are definitely suffering, because we thought we might have had fans back by now. Will it be February or March? Then you’ve only got two months left of the season.”
Cove are due to face Dumbarton today, with injury doubts over Harry Milne (back), Mitch Megginson (hamstring) and Rory McAllister (knock).
Cove Rangers boss Paul Hartley presses case for fans return in Scotland