As Norway advance, is Wright correct about Scottish football’s ills?

July 6, 2026 No Comments

As Norway advance, is Wright correct about Scottish football’s ills?Image source, Reuters/PA MediaImage caption, Ian Wright (left) reported he felt sorry for the Tartan Army and compared Scotland with NorwayByNick McPheatBBC Sport ScotlandPublished26 June 2026Updated 1 hour agoAs the post-mortem continues into another botched attempt by Scotland to progress from the group stage at a major tournament, has a former England striker managed to hit the nail on the head regarding the reasons for Scottish football’s ills?Rather than pointing the finger at PlayStations, ‘no ball games’ signage or deep-fried food, Ian Wright called for a “bolder, braver vision” and suggested “somebody is letting down Scotland on a massive scale”.His reasoning stemmed from comparisons with Norway, undervalued broadcasting deals and unfulfilled potential, but how much weight does his theory hold?With Scotland’s World Cup long over and the Norwegians heading for the last eight, BBC Scotland has taken a look.Pampered, protected & primed – so why didn’t Scotland players perform?

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Arsenal great Wright leaned on comparisons with Norway, a country with a similar population to Scotland’s five million.

Like Scotland, Norway failed to feature in any World Cup between 1998 and this summer. They have played in the Euros once – in 2000 – while the Scots have reached the past two after being absent from the tournament since 1996.

Spearheaded by world-class Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, with elite-level Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard pulling the strings, Norway’s current crop have progressed to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup, where they will face England, after stunning Brazil.

Scotland suffered an early exit, picking up three points from their three group matches and losing 3-0 to the Brazilians in what turned out to be their final game. Head coach Steve Clarke resigned thereafter.

But former Celtic forward Wright looked at the domestic game in both countries, suggesting Norwegian clubs attract average attendances of between 6,000 and 7,000 per week, while in Scotland that figure rises to 16,000.

Those comments are backed up by Transfermarkt’s attendance data, with an average of just over 7,000 fans attending top-flight games in Norway each week across the 2025 season.

It was just about 16,000 for Scottish Premiership matches last season, a number heavily inflated by the crowds Celtic and Rangers attract.

A Uefa report published in September last year revealed that, for the third year in a row, Scottish top-flight attendances per capita were significantly higher than those of any other league in Europe.

Is Scottish football undervalued?

Ian Wright — Image caption,

Former Arsenal and England striker Wright suggested Scottish football should be benefitting from a better broadcast deal

Wright suggested that those attendance figures, plus the talent and storylines Scottish football has to offer, should attract a more lucrative TV deal when compared with Norway.

The Premiership attracted huge interest last term as a gripping title fight went down to a final-day decider between eventual champions Celtic and Hearts.

“Norway have managed to get a broadcast deal that was £25m a year more than Scotland’s,” Wright reported on ITV.

The SPFL committed to a £150m broadcast deal in 2022, which started in 2024 and runs until 2029. Premiership clubs earn about £30m a season from the current agreement.

The aim is for Scottish top-flight clubs to be earning £50m a year by 2029.

That is already happening in Norway, according to Norwegian media, which report that the current domestic rights package in the country is worth more than £50m per season. From 2029 it is unveiled to rise to more than £60m.

So how does that impact the national team? More revenue for clubs would provide additional money to improve infrastructure, facilities and academies across the country.

And at a time when Scottish sides are continually losing youth talent to clubs with greater resources – often south of the border – more cash should, in theory, mean bigger playing budgets to encourage talent to stay.

There would still have to be a clear path to first-team football, however – something Scottish clubs have been encouraged to improve significantly following a Scottish FA report that detailed how clubs in Scotland are failing to bring through enough young players.

Despite a recent return to major tournaments, Wright sympathises with Scotland and their fans after a generation of missed opportunities.

And judging by the social media reaction to his passionate comments, which came before Scotland had even kicked off their final group game against Brazil, he does not seem to be the only one.

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