Why EVERY Scottish football fan should be praying that Hibs and Dundee United keep the feelgood factor going in Europe

Daily Mail​

3 days ago

Far too often in the past decade, the qualifying rounds of European club competitions have been a barren landscape of embarrassment and sometimes downright humiliation for Scottish football.
Thursday night's eagerly anticipated fixtures at a packed-out Easter Road and Tannadice offer a welcome opportunity to buck that depressing trend.
If Hibernian and Dundee United can both complete the job in their respective Conference League third qualifying round ties against Partizan Belgrade and Rapid Vienna, it would represent the most encouraging and memorable evening for provincial Scottish clubs in Europe in recent memory.
Regardless of the fact it is UEFA's third-tier tournament, the incentive for Hibs and United could hardly be higher.
Both are in line for testing but eminently winnable ties in the play-off round. David Gray's side, 2-0 up after a superb performance in Belgrade last week, would face the loser of the Europa League tie in which Cypriot outfit AEK Larnaca are 4-1 up on Legia Warsaw of Poland after the first leg.
Jim Goodwin's men, intriguingly poised at 2-2 with Rapid after their admirable first-leg display in Austria, would take on either AIK Stockholm or Hungarian side Gyor ETO, with the Swedish team leading 2-1.
The pathway to the league phase of the tournament, with both the prestige and financial rewards it brings, has opened up invitingly.
With Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen already guaranteed involvement beyond the qualifying rounds, the unprecedented scenario of five Scottish clubs playing European league phase football through the autumn and winter months is tantalisingly close.
The feelgood factor it could engender would be in sharp contrast to some of the damage done to Scottish football's reputation by the miseries endured in European qualifiers within the past 10 years.
Our clubs have been left red-faced by defeats at the hands of a veritable 'Who's That?' of continental opponents.
Hearts fans still shudder at the memory of losing to Maltese minnows Birkirkara in 2016. The following year, there were a trio of traumatic exits as Rangers, Aberdeen and St Johnstone were eliminated by Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg, Apollon Limassol of Cyprus and Lithuanian outfit Trakai respectively.
In 2019, Kilmarnock were knocked out by Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads before Motherwell added to the roll of dishonour three years later when they were beaten by Sligo Rovers of the Republic of Ireland.
Not only do Hibs and United have the chance to change that narrative and improve the wider perception of Scottish club football, they can achieve it by beating opposition of established credibility.
While neither Partizan Belgrade nor Rapid Vienna can count themselves among European football's elite any longer, they are both storied clubs with proud histories who have reached continental finals in the past. They would be notable scalps.
For Hibs, the timing of a sustained European campaign could hardly be better as they celebrate their 150th anniversary season and also the 70th anniversary of their pioneering exploits in the inaugural European Cup when they reached the semi-finals in 1955-56.
Older generations of their support can still recall the heady days of the 1960s and early 1970s when heavyweights such as Barcelona, Porto, Napoli and Sporting Lisbon were seen off under the Easter Road floodlights.
European nights in Leith have been rarer and generally underwhelming in the more modern era. Hibs reached the play-off round of the Conference League two years ago but were unfortunate to be paired with an Aston Villa side who were simply too powerful and cruised to an 8-0 aggregate win.
United are hoping to rekindle memories of their own European glory days in the 1980s when Jim McLean's remarkable team consistently punched above their weight.
Their only previous meeting with Rapid Vienna came in 1983-84 when they defeated the Austrians in a run which took them to the semi-finals of the European Cup.
Beyond that glorious era, United have not won two knockout European ties in the same season since 1986-87 when they went all the way to the UEFA Cup final and lost to IFK Gothenburg.
In their last appearance in the Conference League three years ago, they were crushed 7-1 on aggregate by AZ Alkmaar. If Jim Goodwin and his players can find a way past Rapid tonight, it would undoubtedly be the club's finest European result of the post-McLean era.
Fans of both Hibs and United will understandably be solely wrapped up in what it means for their own clubs, but there is a wider significance for Scottish football as a whole on the line.
The United team who made their fans so proud in Vienna and now hope to make progress in second leg at Tannadice on Thursday night
Scotland's UEFA coefficient ranking, which was as high as ninth just three years ago, has slipped to 17th. Calculated over a five-year period, with total points achieved by a country's clubs divided by the number participating each season, it determines how many teams Scotland has in Europe and at which stage of the tournaments they enter.
Put simply, unless Scotland's ranking improves to at least 14th, the number of representatives would drop from five to four in two years' time and the amount of qualifying rounds they need to negotiate would increase.
The Premiership title winners, for instance, would have to get through three qualifying rounds to reach the league phase of the Champions League.
For too long, the onus has been on the Old Firm to bolster Scotland's coefficient, with Rangers especially effective in doing so with their consistent runs to the latter stages of the Europa League in recent seasons.
Other clubs need to step up to the plate, which is why success for Hibs and United on Thursday evening could be so momentous.
Of course, European league-phase football can be a mixed blessing. As Hearts discovered last season, when they finished a miserable 25th in the Conference League, it can also have a negative effect on a domestic campaign.
Nonetheless, there won't be a Hibs or United fan who doesn't want to see their team make progress. After so much ignominy in Europe for Scottish football, it is a prospect to be warmly embraced.