Mr A. Trialist

Why it is time for equal pay in the international game to encourage changes within club football and wider society.  In recent weeks the Brazilian and English football associations have announced their women’s teams will be paid the same amount as their men’s teams, following the precedent set by Norway, Australia and New Zealand. Many applauded this long overdue change which will hopefully encourage other countries to follow.  The US Women’s National Team (USWNT) brought the problem of equal pay into a greater light during their winning World Cup run in 2019. The tournament coincided with the USWNT court case against US Soccer over gender-based pay discrimination. Chants of equal pay rained down from the stands during their games in a clear show of support to the players against the authorities. However, the Californian federal court sided with the football authority in May 2020. The pay gap between the US men and the US women’s players is indefensible. On average for every ...

In Kieran Tierney and Andrew Robertson, Scotland for once have two players that can genuinely be considered among the world’s best in their position. This has created a generational selection headache, how do you fit your two top talents into the same team. This problem has been further emphasised by Scotland’s unbalanced player pool, with excellent left backs and great depth in central midfield, yet having an alarming dearth of international quality players at centre back, right back and up front.  Gordon Strachan nor Alex McLeish were able to find a solution to the Tierney/Robertson conundrum within Scotland’s unbalanced squad and eventually paid for it with their jobs. In the upcoming Nations League matches, Steve Clarke will attempt to find a solution for the first time, after injuries prevented Tierney from being involved within his first eight games. Naturally, there is no clear easy solution with both three and four man offering potential to include both within the team....