THE Glasgow Rocks basketball team were left surprised and disappointed when an offer to publicly thank NHS Scotland was turned down.

The British Basketball League team extended the offer of putting the NHS logo on both their home and away shirts for the upcoming season for free as a gesture of gratitude for all the efforts of key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, to the surprise of the club, who play at the Emirates Arena in Dalmarnock, the offer was rejected by the NHS.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We recognise people want to show their support for our NHS.

“However, use of the logo is restricted to NHS Scotland organisations and the services they provide, and it may not be used for commercial or other purposes.

“These are long-standing protocols that exist to protect NHS Scotland’s brand, and its significance to the public, patients and staff.

“We welcome all the goodwill that has been shown to NHS Scotland throughout the Covid-19 pandemic by the public and organisations, and we thank Glasgow Rocks for their kind intent.

READ MORE: Glasgow frontline workers speak of 'devastation' and 'heartbreak' in calls for pay equality

“We would encourage them and others to continue to show their support for our fantastic NHS in other appropriate ways.”

Duncan Smillie, owner of the Glasgow Rocks said: “I’m disappointed. I just thought it was a no-brainer.

“Given everything that has gone on over the last four or five months with the global pandemic we find ourselves in and the love that the NHS has been receiving from everybody it would be a nice gesture to have that on our jerseys over next season.

“I’ve seen football come back in the premiership in England and saw that they had the NHS on their jerseys, along with the Black Lives Matter logo as well.

“It’s just been very, very disappointing, as I would like to have done something through the Rocks to show our appreciation for the NHS.

“It is something that is obviously very close to all of us in the UK and always has been but even more so in the past five months.

“My partner works for the NHS, we all know someone who works for the NHS and they’ve done a sterling job.

“But with respect, it is their branding and I certainly in no way see this as a commercial opportunity, it never even crossed my mind. I would have been quite happy to put it just on our players’ kits, not the replica kit.”

The Rocks were sat top of the league in the middle of a successful season when the league was halted due to the pandemic.

Smillie continued: “We are a community-based organisation. Most seasons we are in front of between five and seven thousand kids in primary schools with our players and coaches and mentoring programmes.

“Working with getting them along to the basketball, trying to get them healthy, trying to get them active.

“We are a professional team but we are, essentially, a community-based organisation. I think our fans would have liked it but, at the end of the day, it’s their decision.

“There is a side conversation going on between our league and the NHS down south and indeed the Black Lives Matter movement as well so I’m still hopeful that we can get something on our jerseys for the NHS.

“But my preference, as the only Scottish team in the league, would have been for it to be the NHS Scotland logo – if it turns out to just be the NHS I’ll be a little bit disappointed.”