Showing the type of judgement that they are famous for BBC Scotland have chosen to screen live coverage of the Sevco v Raith Rovers match on February 8.
With Sky Sports having first choice and picking up the Dundee v Celtic and Stranraer v Dundee United the state broadcaster opted for their favourite venue and possibly the least appealing of the six remaining ties.
Already this season BBC Scotland have shown live coverage of Sevco cup-ties against St Johnstone and Kilmarnock from a stadium less than a third full.
With their meagre rationing of live Scottish football it would seem sensible for the state broadcaster to show a match in which they are able to interview players and management from both side’s but two years after being shown the red card from Ibrox, ironically for an incident during a live cup-tie, the BBC are still providing the club and their advertisers with a valuable cash boost.
If BBC Scotland need an example of providing imaginative coverage of football and an insight into the game they need only look at how their Manchester based colleagues cover the FA Cup.
Last Friday Alan Shearer delivered a pre-match team talk to Blyth Spartans before their FA Cup victory over Hartlepool. How good would it be if Scotland’s own version of Spartans, from Edinburgh, allowed Craig Paterson or Pat Nevin to speak to their players before the Scottish Cup tie with Berwick Rangers.
Following on from the Blyth experience BBC One will show AFC Wimbledon v Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup with the big match treatment already underway.
“The quirk of the fixture list has presented a unique opportunity to have an extended three days of FA Cup coverage on BBC One,” Mark Cole, lead executive of football on BBC Sport, said.
“Saturday is a chance for any of the 32 teams in action to grab the spotlight on Match of the Day, while we’ve got six hours of coverage on Sunday to chart the progress of the 14 games.
“Add in Monday’s big game at AFC Wimbledon, preceded by the draw for the fourth round, and it’s a great way to kick of our FA Cup month, where there’s content every day across the BBC.”
Thankfully the old saying of ‘except for viewers in Scotland’ no longer applies with licence payers north of the border able to enjoy properly presented football from the state broadcaster.