’Mon the Scotland!

As a man now well into his 50s, I’m old enough to remember the days when Scotland qualified for every football tournament going. As a boy growing up, it was just what happened. You never gave it a second thought. Mind you, that was back in the days when Scotland managers had a wealth of unbelievable talent to call upon. Changed days, these days.

So it’s a fine sight to see Steve Clark’s boys in blue back on the big stage and hopefully uniting the country around the one thing we can all agree on: let’s hope Scotland don’t get pumped every game.

Win, lose or draw however, there’s nothing surer than the fact that the Scottish nation will grind to a halt on Friday 14 June as we gather around our tellies to watch Scotland open the tournament against hosts Germany. Let’s be honest, our chances don’t look great – but if you’re going to have to face Germany, you might as well do it on the opening match with millions watching and the weight of expectation on German shoulders. We could catch them cold and sneak a draw. Stranger things have happened. Or, of course, we could get pumped.

Anyway, what happens on the pitch will be what it will be, but what happens off the pitch is an opportunity of epic proportions for retailers to go to town and drive an almighty sales spike that week as Scotland cram three games into just 10 days. Sales could rocket in pretty much every category as the 50% of the Scottish population that isn’t in Germany bites its fingernails to the quick as they watch the matches from behind the sofa.

And if it’s all over inside a week, there’s still plenty of eye-catching matches to drive those Big Night In sales, as well as the inevitable interest around England matches.

This could be a month to remember in so many ways and could serve as the ideal launch platform for a spectacular summer for our sector.

Antony Begley, Publishing Director, SLR