Controversial title - so let me explain.

When I was at school in Edinburgh, which I have to admit wasn’t yesterday, you supported Hibs or Hearts, simple as that. At our school, there were probably slightly more Hearts supporters but not by much. And there were a sprinkling of kids supporting other teams but it was not a significant number.

So it is hardly surprising that my generation grew up with a fairly parochial outlook on footballing matters. All debates, arguments, fights centred around the relative form of the two teams. I grew up praying for Hibs victories and Hearts defeats. I taunted my Jambo mates when we were ascendant and they returned the favour when the roles were reversed.

When you have thought and acted in a certain manner all through your formative years, your actions and reactions are ingrained and hard to change. And yet I find my attitude has changed, slowly but surely over the years, to the point where I feel sure enough to put it in print.

I now do some football coaching with school kids in Edinburgh. And what do you think is the most popular football strip worn by this next generation of supporters. Yes, that famous Edinburgh team, Manchester United. Closely followed by the Old Firm, Newcastle, Barcelona - you name it. And to complete the analogy with my generation described in the first paragraph, there are a sprinkling of kids sporting Hibs and Hearts shirts.

Kids are, of course, very impressionable and you can hardly blame them for wanting to follow the teams they see all the time on the television. They will naturally gravitate towards successful, attractive teams full of stars that are relentlessly pushed at them by the media.

But this state of affairs is extremely worrying for teams like Hibs and Hearts. If you can’t rely on support from your home city, you are in big trouble. ‘Hibs Kids’ is, of course, an established and successful attempt at ensuring the support of the next generation but there is no getting away from the power of television, which will only get greater.

The problem of impressionable people gravitating towards successful teams is, of course, compounded in Scotland by the abhorrent power of the old firm. There is no more depressing sight for me, than the rows of buses leaving the centre of Edinburgh for Ibrox and Parkhead - a sight which is repeated in every town and city centre across the length and breadth of the country.

This is the central problem in Scottish football. Kids wearing Inter Milan and Arsenal strips does not worry me as it is usually a passing phase - I choose these two examples as I had both of these strips myself as a kid. Kids choosing to follow the old firm, who already command a hugely disproportionate number of fans, is different.

The gap between the old firm and the rest in Scottish football has always existed but it has grown to the point now where I believe, if nothing changes, no club outside the Glasgow duopoly will ever be Scottish Champions again. That belief has influenced me to the point that all else pales by comparison.

The only way for the rest of Scottish football supporters to fight back is to show solidarity with each other and to praise one another for spurning the temptation to follow the old firm masses. Without us, Scottish football will die and all that will be left will be the gruesome Glasgow twosome in some phoney European league cobbled together for the advertisers to hit their target armchair audience.

So let’s hear it for the Bairns and the Jags and the Pars ... and the Jam Tarts - why not. After all, we are resisting a monster and we have to stick together.