Wright: Scotland 'Let Down' Despite Outdrawing Norway
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Ian Wright rejected the usual culprits (PlayStations, 'no ball games' signs, pitch costs) and said "somebody is letting down Scotland on a massive scale," pointing to undervalued broadcasting deals and unfulfilled potential
- Scotland's Premiership averaged roughly 16,000 fans per game last season — more than double Norway's ~7,000 — and recorded the highest top-flight attendance per capita in Europe for a third straight year, per a Uefa report
- Norway, with a comparable population of 5 million, secured a domestic broadcast package worth £50m+ per year (rising to £60m+ from 2029), while the SPFL's £150m deal running 2024-2029 yields Premiership clubs about £30m annually
- Steve Clarke's Scotland took three points from three group games at the 2026 World Cup; Norway — powered by Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard — reached the knockout phase for the third time in the competition's history
- A Scottish FA report found clubs are failing to bring through enough young players, compounding the steady drain of Scottish youth talent to clubs with greater resources south of the border
Why it matters: Scotland's clubs earn roughly £20m per year less from broadcasting than Norway's despite pulling in more than double the domestic crowds per game, starving academies and infrastructure of reinvestment at exactly the moment the Scottish FA's own report flags a youth-development failure that funnels talent to England.
