User:Bring back Daz Sampson/Professionalism in Scottish football

Professionalism in Scottish football has existed since 1893. Until the late 1980s, part-time teams and players regularly competed in the top division of Scottish football and they remain common in the second tier and below.

When football in the United Kingdom was cancelled for World War II, the impact on Scottish Football League players was lessened by the fact that most were part-time footballers who had their main employment elsewhere: "a very big number of senior players, indeed, the majority if one takes the Second Division into account, combined civil employment with football, and so far as they are concerned the immediate hardship will hardly be felt."

During League reconstruction talks in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Forfar Athletic chairman Ross Graham rejected a return to a three division structure. He felt it would deny part-time clubs a realistic chance to compete in the second tier, as had been the norm in the existing four division setup: "You'd basically be saying to the part-time clubs that you only have one real chance of winning a title – and that's if you find yourselves in the bottom division."

Airdrieonians
In 1962–63 Airdrieonians played in Scotland's top tier with a squad entirely comprised of part-time players.

Airdrieonians turned full-time under the management of Gordon McQueen (1987–1989), according to their goalkeeper at the time John Martin, who was himself a miner (and alleged "scab"). Martin explicitly confirmed that his income from football was not enough to support himself during the UK miners' strike (1984–85). However McQueen resigned from the manager role in May 1989: "because the majority of the players would not play full-time on the contracts offered". As a part-time outfit Airdrieonians were one of the top teams in the 1988–89 Scottish First Division, just missing out on promotion to the Premier Division after a late season slump. McQueen quit because he wanted full-time training but most players refused and wanted to stay on part-time terms: "If you go full-time it has to be totally. It wouldn't have worked with just a handful of players reporting for training every day".

In the 1989–90 Scottish First Division Airdrieonians challenged for promotion again, but missed out after a decisive defeat by fellow part-timers St. Johnstone.

Ayr United
When Alex Ferguson played for Ayr United in 1973–74 Scottish Division One, the squad were all part-timers. Ferguson himself combined his playing duties with running a pub in his native Govan. The club remained a part-time, semi-professional Scottish Football League First Division setup throughout Steve Nicol's spell from 1979 to 1981, his initial £10-per-week wage less than he had been receiving in unemployment benefits: "Every single player apart from me had a full-time job away from football".

Ayr United's official website reports: "It is a fact that Ayr United engaged solely part time players from 1939 until 1989." In summer 1989 the club began to offer some full-time contracts, although this was scaled back following relegation to the third tier in 1995. The club reverted to completely part-time status in 2005.

In August 2003 Ayr United trained full-time but only paid some of their regular first-team players a £65-per-week Skillseekers allowance, forcing them to take employment outside football. Stuart McGrady worked at KFC, while Craig Conway worked as a crimper at his father's hair salon. Throughout the rest of the First Division there was an increase in part-time contracts being offered to players.

Partick Thistle
Alan Hansen played for Partick Thistle for four seasons from 1973 until 1977. Three of those were in the top league (1973–74 and 1974–75 in the old two division setup, and 1976–77 in the new three division format). The club was predominantly part-time during that period: "The club only went full-time at the start of my second season there but, oddly, reverted to part-time for my fourth, even though they had gained promotion to the Premier Division. By then, the number of part-time players had risen to around three quarters of the staff."

Referring to a dispute over his allocation of complimentary match tickets, Hansen wrote: "The majority of the players accepted stunts like that because, as part-timers, the money they earned from Partick represented a nice bonus on top of what they pulled in from their jobs."(ibid. p.54) The Partick manager of this era, Bertie Auld confirmed their predominantly part-time status and mentioned Thursday-night training sessions: "He [goalkeeper Alan Rough] was one of the rare full-timers at the club and I made sure he trained well. Thursday was one of our biggest nights when we tried out so many things. We were largely part-time, of course, so we majored on dead ball efforts. We would need every advantage when it came to playing full-time clubs on matchday."

Auld signed Kenny Watson (footballer) for £50,000 (2019: £0) from Rangers in 1980. Watson had been a full-time professional at Rangers but was willing to go part-time at Partick and continue his previous career as a joiner.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle
The Inverness Caledonian Thistle website claims that "most of the first team squad went full time [on 1 July 1997]". But Duncan Shearer signed for ICT on a part-time contract in September 1997: "We came together for training at school playing fields on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7pm, with a lot of the players dashing straight from work to make it in time." Shearer reports that the club gradually transitioned to full-time status but other sources indicate ICT remained part-time when they famously beat Celtic in February 2000. The manager Steve Paterson confirmed that the club retained a core of part-time players: "This brought about the unusual situation of having a mixture of full-time and part-time players and resulted in a kind of shift pattern for training sessions as we tried to accommodate everyone [...] It was difficult with the part-timers. We had six of them and around 12 full-time playing staff and half a dozen youngsters on the Skillseekers programme."

St. Mirren
When Alex Ferguson became manager of second tier St. Mirren in October 1974 they were a completely part-time outfit and Ferguson himself ran a pub in his day job. Ferguson led St. Mirren to promotion into the Premier Division and, as a step towards going full-time, devised a scheme which allowed players to work at their other jobs in the morning and then train in the afternoons. As a Premier Division club St Mirren signed Chic Charnley on part-time terms in 1982.

Falkirk
When Jim Duffy (footballer) managed second tier Falkirk to second place in the 1988–89 Scottish First Division, they were a part-time club according to Peter Houston: "Now things were tight, we were a part-time club, and we didn't have a full-time physiotherapist." Duffy himself recalled of that period: "I had full-time and part-time players".

After transferring from Falkirk to Aberdeen in 1976, Stuart Kennedy said: "I have always been a hard trainer, which is why the transition from part-time football at Falkirk to full-time football at Aberdeen didn't bother me."

Celtic
Tommy Docherty signed for Celtic in 1948: "Docherty's only disappointment being that Celtic wanted him to sign as a part-time professional. He would train on Tuesdays and Thursdays, earn £10 a week - reduced to £8 in the summer - and take a job in O'Connoll's Sports Shop to fill the remainder of his hours and supplement his income".

Celtic entered the 1965–66 Scottish Division One season with a mixture of full and part-time professionals:

Interestingly, Celtic kicked off their nine-in-a-row championship-winning surge with their smallest squad of players in years with only nineteen full-timers and nine part-timers with only two groundstaff [youth players] as back-up.

East Fife
At the time of their 1938 Scottish Cup Final win, 1937–38 Scottish Division Two club East Fife only had one full-time footballer, Daniel McKerrell, who was on loan from Falkirk.

When player manager Steve Archibald secured promotion to the 1996–97 Scottish First Division, he wanted the club to become full-time. However, the board of directors refused, the club remained part-time and Archibald was sacked in September 1996.

Hearts
In October 1948 The Sunday Post reported that Heart of Midlothian had a first team pay scale which afforded higher weekly wages to the club's full-time players than the part-timers.

St. Johnstone
In the 1989–90 Scottish First Division, St. Johnstone secured promotion after a decisive 3–1 defeat of fellow part-timers Airdrieonians. This success, allied to improved attendances at their new McDiarmid Park stadium, allowed chairman Geoff Brown to transition St. Johnstone to a full-time club for the following season. Manager Alex Totten declared: "Although full-time football does not guarantee our Premier League place, it will undoubtedly be a great asset throughout the season."

Alex Ferguson had signed for top tier St. Johnstone in 1960 on a one-year amateur contract. He commuted from Glasgow to Perth for training two evenings a week, but complained that he and the club's other part-time players were not paid their correct travelling expenses. In 1961 Ferguson accepted a semi-professional contract with St. Johnstone but continued working at the Remington Rand factory in Hillington. Ferguson scored nine goals as St. Johnstone won 1962–63 Scottish Division Two, his form helped by being allowed to train with clubs nearer to his home and work: Third Lanark, who had a mixture of full and part-time players and Airdrieonians, who were completely part-time.

After finishing bottom of the league with a record and being relegated in the inaugural 1975–76 Scottish Premier Division season, St. Johnstone announced that they were switching to part-time football for the following season in the First Division. They decided to remain part-time after being promoted into the 1983–84 Scottish Premier Division, and were subsequently relegated after one season.

Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock were champions of Scotland in 1964–65 with a squad comprising a blend of full and part-time professionals. They began the season under manager Willie Waddell with 18 full-time players and seven part-timers. Club captain Frank Beattie was a coal miner. The club released the full-time players and reverted to part-time status in 1968. In the 1970s and 1980s Kilmarnock were a yo-yo club, moving between Scotland's top two tiers as a completely part-time outfit. In 1989 the club were relegated to the third tier, but investment from a new board of directors allowed the club to sign Tommy Burns from Celtic as the club's only full-time player in December 1989. Kilmarnock returned to the top tier in 1993–94 and narrowly avoided relegation in their first season. By this stage the club had returned to full-time training, as Burns – by then the player-manager – had warned his players they faced going part-time again if they had not stayed up by drawing on the final day of the season.

Queen of the South
After five seasons in the Scottish Football League First Division as a part-time club, Queen of the South announced a move to full-time training from the start of the 2007–08 Scottish First Division season.

Third Lanark
In October 1948 The Sunday Post reported that Third Lanark had a policy of paying their part-time first team players a maximum of £7-per-week and their full-time players a maximum of £9-per-week. They entered the 1954–55 Scottish Division Two campaign with a team comprised entirely of part-timers.

When manager Bob Shankly left Third Lanark to move to Dundee in September 1959, it was reported that he did so in order to work with a team of purely full-time players. In 1962–63 Third Lanark again had a mixture of full-time and part-time players.

Clydebank
Clydebank were the only part-time club competing in the 1985–86 Scottish Premier Division. Although they finished at the bottom of the League they were spared relegation due to reconstruction of the top division from 10 teams to 12. In the 1986–87 Scottish Premier Division they were one of three part-time outfits, alongside promoted Falkirk and Hamilton Academical.

In 1993 Clydebank signed a shirt sponsorship agreement with local pop group Wet Wet Wet, "as the part-time club tries to gain promotion from the First to the Premier Division".

Clydebank remained a part-time team in the 1996–97 Scottish First Division. Manager Brian Wright (Scottish footballer) commented in September 1996: "And we must remember that we are part-time. We need points just now before winter comes and training at night becomes difficult."

Dunfermline
When Alex Ferguson signed his first full-time contract with Dunfermline Athletic in 1964, he found the £27-per-week basic wage "disappointing". He had earned £27-per-week working as a toolmaker in a factory, alongside his part-time wage of £16-per-week from St. Johnstone. After failing to qualify for the first Scottish Football League Premier Division in 1975, Dunfermline scrapped their full-time setup and asked their existing players to turn part-time.

According to his assistant and successor Jim Leishman, Tom Forsyth left his role as Dunfermline manager in 1983 due to frustration with the club's part-time status: "I think the problem when Tam came to Dunfermline was that he was geared for full-time football at the time, and Dunfermline were part-time. The players would come in and Tam wanted that much on the Tuesday and the Thursday I think he forgot that these guys were part-time."

Dunfermline reintroduced an element of full-time training upon promotion to the Premier Division in 1989, although they only paid £90-per-week (2019: £0). Many players refused the terms and the club was relegated back to the First Division.

Greenock Morton
Andy Ritchie (Scottish footballer) won the Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year award in 1979. In common with the rest of his teammates at Scottish Premier Division club Greenock Morton, he was a part-time footballer. On the day of the award ceremony Ritchie worked a shift in his other job laying tar as a road surfacer.

Clyde
Clyde finished third in the 1966–67 Scottish Division One season, despite being a completely part-time club. They also reached the semi-final of the 1966–67 Scottish Cup and took all-conquering Celtic to a replay before losing 2–0. Their League position qualified them for the 1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup but that competition's "one city, one team" rule meant that Rangers took Glasgow's place and Dundee were selected in place of Clyde, reaching the semi-finals.

Clyde finished second in the 2003–04 Scottish First Division, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Scottish Premier League by one point on the final day of the season. Defender Simon Mensing later said: "At the time we would have bucked the trend in teams going up, because we were a part-time club."

Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers reintroduced some full-time professional players in 1991. Manager Jimmy Nicholl said: "It would be unrealistic to expect those lads who have well-paid jobs to give them up to concentrate on football but we could still make the switch by including youngsters among the full-timers with the others training in the evening." Raith Rovers had previously been full-time for three seasons but reverted to part-time football upon relegation from the 1969–70 Scottish Division One. At that stage the club had released nine full-time players.

Aberdeen
In April 1962 Aberdeen FC's part-time players agreed new contracts to remain at the club for the ensuing 1962–63 Scottish Division One season. This included Ian Burns, Dave Bennett (footballer, born 1938), Andy Cadenhead and Doug Coutts.

Aberdeen's Fred Martin (footballer) was reported as "part-time player, goalkeeper Fred Martin" when he emerged unscathed from a car crash in August 1960.

Rangers
Ahead of the 1951 Scottish League Cup Final, Rangers had a prominent contingent of part-time players, who trained separately from their full-time colleagues: "Bulk of the part-time players, including Cox, Brown, McColl and Thornton, will stick to their Tuesday and Thursday evening training sessions at Ibrox."

Motherwell
A largely part-time Motherwell team reached the semi-final of the 1957–58 Scottish Cup and finished eighth in the 1957–58 Scottish Division One.

Senior
The Scotland national football team which defeated Wales 3–1 at Ninian Park, Cardiff on 23 October 1948 in the 1948–49 British Home Championship contained a number of part-time players. When Johnny Doyle played for Scotland against Romania in December 1975, he was still a part-time player with Ayr United.

In February 1955, the Scotland national under-23 football team played their first match but were beaten 6–0 by England, for whom Duncan Edwards scored a hat-trick. Jack Harkness (footballer)'s match report in the Courier & Advertiser lamented: "Never, surely, was the difference between full-time and part-time footballers made so apparent."

Semi-pro
The Scotland national semi-professional football team was formed for the inaugural edition of the Four Nations Tournament (1979–2008) in 1979. Initially composed of players from the Scottish Football League Second Division and Highland Football League, the team was not competitive in the first tournament and lost their semi-final to England 5–1. In subsequent editions of the tournament, Scotland selected eligible players from both the First and Second Divisions. The team was disbanded after the 1987 edition in Fife.

In May 1981 the Scotland squad – "almost a first division select" – was picked by Jock Stein and his assistant Pat Stanton.

The following 16 players were selected for the final 1987 edition of the Four Nations Tournament (1979–2008) in which Scotland participated. Ross McFarlane (footballer) of Division One Clyde withdrew due to "business commitments" and was replaced by Robert Dawson (footballer):

Head coach: Craig Brown