FORMER SFA president George Peat fears Scotland will never be able to qualify for the finals of a major tournament ever again if they come up short in their bid to reach Euro 2020 next summer.
The national team are currently bidding to make it through to their first competition since France ’98 – but an opening Group I defeat to Kazakhstan away last month has made their job difficult.
No fewer than 24 teams – an increase of eight countries on before – now progress to the finals via either the qualifying competition or the play-offs following a recommendation made by the SFA back in 2008.
READ MORE: George Peat: The SFA made a mess of Alex McLeish’s appointment
And Peat believes there will be no hope for the country in future if they once again fail in their efforts in the coming months. “If we can’t qualify under the current system, and we get two attempts at it, we are in trouble,” he said.
“The fact that Scotland were the ones who proposed an increased number of countries in UEFA competitions is ironic. We wanted it increased from 16 to 24. We thought: ‘If we get it up to 24 then we’ll surely qualify’.
“Then they introduced the Nations League. So as well as having more countries able to qualify they then made it easier for us to get in. If we can’t qualify this time then I can’t see us ever qualifying.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here