Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell believes now is not the right time to discuss the future of Scotland head coach Steve Clarke, whose contract will expire in 2026.
However, Maxwell admitted that he is “keeping an eye on” potential successors with the national team set to begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in September.
Furthermore, he insisted that VAR is “absolutely working” in Scotland and that the Scottish FA is “more transparent than ever”.
The association has also approved a rule change at Thursday’s AGM, which will grant them more powers to tackle fan behaviour, by aligning cup competition relegations with those of the SPFL.
Here are the key points from his interview with Sky Sports News…
What is the latest on Steve Clarke’s future?
Steve Clarke (L) handed Lennon Miller (R) his Scotland debut vs Iceland
“That’s a conversation for the time. We’ve been very clear throughout this that we’ll have those discussions when the time is right.
“Steve is absolutely desperate to get us to the World Cup. We’ve got a squad that, when fully fit and firing, are very much capable of getting us to the World Cup. We saw that in the way we started the Euro 2024 qualification.
“It’s the final piece in the jigsaw for Steve and the players. When you look back at his tenure, the missing link is a World Cup qualification.
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Clarke reflects on Scotland’s 2026 World Cup qualifying draw
“We’re all desperate to get there and we all need to get behind the manager and the team to make sure we get to USA.
“There’s always an eye on who’s available because managers come and go for a variety of different reasons.
“Someone could come and take Steve from us, that could have happened at any point over the last five years.
“There’s always an eye on who’s available, but the focus at the moment is on Steve and the team, and making sure we get to USA, Mexico and Canada next year.”
What is the Scottish FA doing to tackle issues with fan behaviour?
Celtic, Rangers and Motherwell were sanctioned by the SPFL for use of pyros at League Cup semi finals
“We approved a rule change at our AGM, which brings our cup regulations more in line with the SPFL from a crowd behaviour perspective.
“Obviously in league matches it sits within the SPFL, in cup ties it sits with the Scottish FA, and both football authorities need to be joined up in how we deal with them.
“We’re part of a government roundtable that’s happening next week to look at this; it’s a collaborative approach.
“The football authorities need to do as much as we can, the clubs need to do as much as they can, the police, the stewarding teams on matchdays need to do as much as possible, as well as the coordinated judicial system once individuals are identified.
Objects have been thrown at players this season
“We have the most watched league in Europe per capita. There are hundreds of thousands of football fans who go and watch their team and do so in absolutely the right manner. It’s about making sure that we’re looking after them.
“We see when there’s a significant pyro usage at the stadium, we see a number of kids, for example, having to leave the stadium because of breathing difficulties, if they’re asthmatic or because they’re scared.
“That can be right, we need to look after the hundreds of thousands that want to watch the game in the right way, and that will only happen if we can take the right action against those who are involved.”
Is VAR working well in Scotland?
Has the use of VAR improved in the Scottish Premiership?
“We’re getting more decisions right, which has to be the fundamental objective of VAR.
“There will always be subjective decisions, there will always be the ones that we’re going to disagree on because we read our law and we interpret it slightly differently or we see something that happens on a pitch slightly differently.
“I think Willie Colum has come in and been a breath of fresh air. We have the VAR show, the KMI panel, we’re being more transparent than we’ve ever been.
Maxwell believes head of refereeing Willie Collum is “a breath of fresh air”
“We’re talking about decisions and trying to educate and let people understand when decisions are made, why they are made and why that’s the outcome.
“So is it working? It’s absolutely working, but you’ll never stop discussions about referees and VAR decisions, that’s just the nature of football.”
What about goal line technology?
“Ultimately, it’s a cost decision, it comes down to the clubs. The next stage in goal line technology stands with them.
“We’re more than happy to implement it. It’s going to come down to the cost-benefit analysis and if they think it’s worth it given the amount of time over the season that it might be used.”
Is enough being done to help young players with the transition into senior football?
Kieron Bowie (L) and Connor Barron (C) came on to make their Scotland debuts against Liechtenstein
“We launched a transition report through 2024, which looked at opportunities, looked at other countries, looked at best practice abroad and what we can do, because we want to get as many young players as we can playing as much competitive football from as early as possible.
“We’re introducing co-operation agreements from the start of next season and giving clubs an opportunity higher up the pyramid to loan out players.
“It will make it easier for smaller clubs to get those players on loan and that should lead to more minutes on the pitch.
Lennon Miller made his Motherwell first-team debut at 17
“It’s not a one-stop solution. There are going to have to be other measures. Andy Gould, who leads our football department, is conducting a youth review at the moment to look at our performance school system, to look at Club Academy Scotland, to look at how we make sure we’re developing the players as best we possibly can.
“Clubs are obviously going to have a part to play in that and that’s something that we’ll continue to engage with them on.”
Will Hampden Park be improved for Euro 2028?
Maxwell says there will be improvement at Hampden, not redevelopment
“There will be improvements. I don’t think for a minute there’s going to be redevelopment at that level or anything like that.
“There’s going to be improvements that will happen as part of the UEFA requirements to get the stadium ready for hosting what is the third biggest sporting event in the world and we’re really looking forward to doing that.
“It’s a massive achievement for us to be part of that bid and I’m looking forward to it. In three years’ time, the tournament is already going to have kicked off, so it’ll be here before we know it.
“We need to make sure the stadium is in as good shape as possible.”
