Furious Brechin City manager Jim Weir yesterday slammed both BBC and Sky for overlooking their Scottish Cup quarter-final clash with St Johnstone for live television coverage.
Three of the four last-eight ties are going out live next month Dundee United versus Motherwell (kick-off 1.15pm) and Inverness Caley Thistle versus Rangers or Celtic on Sky on Sunday, March 13 (kick-off 3.30pm), and St Mirren versus Aberdeen on the BBC the previous day (kick-off 12.15pm).
The decision-makers responsible should be “ashamed of themselves” according to Weir, who believes a blatant and predictable SPL bias has been shown.
The snub means the second division club will miss out on around £80,000 money that would have been invaluable as they struggle to balance the books like every lower league outfit.
Weir, who will be facing his old club in the quarter final, said, “We’ve not had a home game since November 13, so money has been tight over the last few months. A television match would have made a massive difference to our finances.
“It’s very hard for smaller clubs to make ends meet, and when a club like ours gets to a Scottish Cup quarter-final for the first time in its 105-year history and the decision is made to televise the other three all-SPL matches it’s a hard one to take.
“When we sat and watched the draw at the weekend we were full of excitement and I thought that ours would surely be one of the games to be televised, especially with us being at home and the chance of us causing an upset being even greater.Hard to take”To be honest, I’ve watched a couple of SPL matches recently and they’ve been so boring. It’s hard for me to accept especially from the BBC because it should be about spreading the TV revenue about a bit.
“There are seven SPL teams and one SFL team in the quarter-finals, and for us to be ignored like this, the guys who made that decision should be ashamed of themselves. It’s as simple as that.”
Saints boss Derek McInnes sympathised with Weir’s disappointment.
He said, “It was a strange decision. I have to say I am surprised a tie like this wasn’t chosen for live coverage. It is something a bit different and I thought that would appeal to fans and I’m sure the companies would have got a lot out of it.
“I can understand why Brechin are frustrated by the decision.”
A BBC Scotland spokesperson said, “We chose the St Mirren versus Aberdeen match after Sky, who had the first two picks, chose their matches.
“Our decision was based on the fact that St Mirren and Aberdeen have a history of close encounters.
“The Brechin versus St Johnstone match will be covered live on Radio Scotland and will also be on our highlights programme on the Sunday night.”