THE Scottish football renaming game got another contestant last week as Partick Thistle became the latest club to sell off the sponsorship rights to their home.

The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but the six-figure sum that the Jags received for the three-year deal made all the right noises.

On the face of it, the agreement makes sense for Thistle. The investment is certainly welcome as the club look to grow and build on the foundations they have laid in the Premiership in the last few years.

And the reaction from supporters seemed fairly positive on the whole, with many seeing it as a no-brainer to take the money and stick a new sign above the door. To them, it always has been and always will be Firhill.

But it still doesn’t feel right when a club changes the name of their home. It is not exactly selling your soul, but some things should remain sacrosanct.

That field of green and the stands that surround it is a special place for supporters, their place of worship every fortnight, and it should be as integral a part of a club as the badge or the colours on the strip.

It is a different matter when a new ground is built and the naming rights are sold from the off, like Arsenal did with the Emirates. And it would be no surprise if a deal was done for Aberdeen’s stadium at Kingsford, if it ever gets the green light.

Once a stadium has been christened, that should be that. Some venues, like the Tony Macaroni Arena or the The YOUR Radio 103FM Stadium, have been rebranded that often that fans across the country will have lost track.

The prospect of Ibrox being renamed by Mike Ashley and having even more Sports Direct signage plastered around it infuriated many Rangers fans a couple of years ago. Thankfully, the Light Blues survived that threat and Ibrox remains Ibrox.

It would be interesting to see the reaction of Hearts and Hibernian supporters if Tynecastle or Easter Road was ever up for grabs, or what would happen if an offer was made for Celtic Park.

In the modern world, money talks. Tradition should not be forgotten, though.

AND ANOTHER THING

OH to be a fly on the wall in the SPFL boardroom on Thursday as the League power brokers reconvene once again. Whatever will they talk about?

Chief executive Neil Doncaster has become a master at playing things with a straight bat during his time at Hampden but he could face a few googlies from around the top table.

Having been snubbed by the Scottish FA following his calls for an independent review into the Rangers EBT saga and the way those in the corridors of power dealt with the events, Doncaster finds himself in the spotlight once again.

Just along the corridor, his SFA counterpart Stewart Regan is also under pressure, both politically and publicly, as a section of fans take encouragement from Peter Lawwell firing a few ultimately futile shot across the city from Parkhead.

After verdicts from the Courts, the SPFL and the SFA, this chapter should be closed and Scottish football should move on. The key protagonists keep getting dragged back in.

ONE FINAL THING

Around this time last year I described Celtic as a Champions League club but a Europa League team and said that that Scottish sides shouldn’t be involved at the highest level of the European game because they don’t bring enough to the party.

As the Euro heavyweights eased to wins once again this week, pundits and punters lamented the spending power of a select few of the superclubs. The gulf between the haves and the have nots is only getting bigger.

Celtic can’t, and shouldn’t be expected to, compete with the likes of PSG or Bayern Munich over any longer than 90 minutes and are only in the group stages to earn a shot at the Europa League, a competition in which they could fare well.

In the world of pound signs, the penny is finally dropping it seems. I don’t like to say I told you so…