(Reuters) – The lack of fully professional clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has handcuffed the sport in the country, former Scotland manager Gordon Strachan said.

Almost half of Scotland’s 42 professional clubs utilise players on a part-time basis, according to the BBC, and Strachan, who is the technical director at Championship side Dundee, believes this is holding the sport back.

“If you want to be a professional club, show it,” Strachan, 63, told the BBC.

“Don’t tell me you’re a professional club when you’re paying people part-time 80 quid a week and nobody turns up to your football matches.”

Strachan, who previously coached English Premier League side Southampton, bemoaned the poor quality of football in Scotland and said several SPFL clubs would struggle to stay afloat even in the lower tiers of English soccer.