For football clubs across the country – including those in the Highland League – the weekend just past is one of the most eagerly anticipated in the entire season as the first round of the Scottish Cup took place.
The dream for the 60 sides in action in recent days – including all 18 Breedon Highland League teams – may not be so much to go all the way to Hampden, but to get to the fourth round and potentially earn a crack at one of the nation’s big hitters.
In recent years, Buckie Thistle have faced Celtic, Fraserburgh have tackled Rangers and Brora Rangers caused one of the greatest shocks in the history of the cup by taking the scalp of Hearts.
What has added even more intrigue to the early rounds of the tournament is BBC Scotland’s live coverage of a fixture from rounds one, two and three.
Numbers don’t lie when it comes to Highland League coverage
Unfortunately, however, clubs from the north and north-east have largely been excluded from the exposure of playing in front of the national broadcaster’s cameras.
Since the BBC started showing a match from the early rounds, no team from the Highlands, Moray or Aberdeenshire has had a home tie selected for live broadcast.
Including Friday’s clash between Dalkeith Thistle and Broxburn Athletic, the BBC have shown 15 ties from round one, two and three since 2019.
The only time the broadcaster has ventured north of Perth was to cover Brechin City v Darvel in round three in November 2021.
Even away from home, clubs from the north have featured just twice in early round ties that have been shown live – Bonnyrigg Rose v Buckie in October 2019 and Clydebank v Elgin City in October 2021.
Whatever the reasons for the lack of airtime for north sides, one would hope it’s not because of geography – given the BBC is a national broadcaster with significant resources.
Balance is important when choosing which games to cover
From personal experience, I can appreciate the challenges when it comes to picking fixtures to show.
This season is the fourth season the Press and Journal has produced Highland League Weekly – a weekly show on our website with highlights from two Highland League fixtures.
When it comes to choosing the games we cover with our cameras, it is impossible to get the perfect balance and keep everyone happy.
However, every season – and this term will be no different – we cover every team and visit every ground over the course of the campaign.
To give credit to the BBC, their decision to screen matches from the early rounds in the last five years has added an extra bit of prestige and excitement to the Scottish Cup.
However, it’s a shame that teams from the north have seldom featured thus far – but maybe it will change in time.
Ultimately the BBC, along with Premier Sports, who only start showing matches from the fourth round onwards, are the Scottish Cup rights holders and they can televise whatever games they like.
But it does feel like viewers and licence fee payers in this part of the world are being short-changed.
Conversation