AFTER years of being left with less money than a Greek thermal knicker salesman, Scottish football is by all accounts on the verge of becoming that little bit more flush.

It may even mean the ladies’ lavvy in the Dens Park main stand finally gets a new loo brush.

News emerged earlier this week that BT Sport, one of two broadcasters who cover Scottish football live, are poised to try and wrestle the rights for the other half of the matches away from Sky Sports in an exclusive deal.

With the current pot sitting at around £21million per year, there is talk the new offer to give BT exclusive rights would smash the previous record amount of £31m signed with Setanta back in 2008. Even if the latest hike just equals that amount, it could be a vital injection of cash for our clubs.

Currently, the 20 clubs in the English top flight share a whopping £10.4b, that’s just a shade over £500m each.

That’s around 23 times more than the whole of Scottish football currently gets.

Of course, we have been in this position before. Promises of increased cash windfalls from broadcasters have come and gone as quickly as Sarah O and the now defunct Scotsport fan terracing.

Given that BBC Scotland’s pledge to up their coverage in the summer has stretched to buying Jonathan Sutherland a new jumper, we’ll be waiting a while on the Beeb sticking their hands in their extremely deep pocket.

Instead, it looks like it falls to BT to offer something close to respectable for Scottish football.

It should come as no surprise that it is the newest kid on the block who is leading this charge, and Scottish football should be grateful for it.

Ever since they first hit our screens in 2013, they have been by far and away the most innovative of all companies to flash their knickers in the direction of our national game.

Presenting from touch side as opposed to a studio – a portakabin built on top of scaffolding next to the Morrisons Car Park in Hamilton - this has offered a difference vantage point pre and post-match. The regular panellists of Chris Sutton and Stephen Craigan even defy convention by offering an opinion now and then. And never the same one, it should be said.

They also took exclusive rights to the Scottish League Cup and embraced its new format when others may have mocked. Hearing the informed tones of SportTimes’ very own Derek Rae is also a rare treat.

Away from Scotland, their coverage of English football and especially the Champions League has been pioneering including the use of smart apps taking users into a world of replays and stats at their very finger tips.

Understandably, though, there is a certain fixture missing from their current portfolio. As we are told time and again, Scottish football is sold on the basis of Celtic and Rangers, and, most importantly, when the two meet.

With the current agreement, it is Sky who hold that very trump card and it is of no surprise this is one of the key drivers for BT trying to haul the Old Firm derby away.

However, as much as these two teams are the main reason for any increase in cash, they really are the two who should be last in the queue for an extra hand out.

Boasting the biggest supports, biggest budgets and biggest turnovers in Scottish football, for years the Glasgow two have stated their wish of wanting to move down to England and ditch the tags of being massive fish in a big pond.

There is no doubt the pair are on a level the likes of Aberdeen, Hearts and Motherwell can only dream of, but with increased money there is a real chance to improve the product on the park to make our top flight more competitive.

While an extra £1m is loose change to the likes of Celtic, that could see the likes of the three teams above splash out on four or five new, better quality signings and pay their wages for a campaign.

Why don’t we give the clubs who need the money the most a bigger wedge on a sliding scale, in order to make our league more competitive? Give the newly-promoted club £2m extra of ring-fenced money which must be spent on players, the team that finished 11th £1.9m and so on.

We are currently in an environment not just in Scotland but across Europe where the rich clubs get richer and the rest stagnate.

Scottish football is always going to be about Celtic and Rangers as far as broadcasters are concerned. But for the sake of everyone else, let’s give the rest of our clubs the hand they deserve and so desperately need.