Posts Tagged ‘Football’
They Might Be Giants: The Old Firm’s Great Escape to England
Gerry Hassan
The Scotsman, September 4th 2010
Scottish football sells newspapers, fills the airwaves and carries a resonance way beyond the football field. It contributes economic benefits, social capital, the occasional feel good factor, and raises Scotland’s profile and reputation globally.
Scotland per head is the third most fanatical football nation in Europe after Iceland and Cyprus. It is also since the advent of the European Champions League the joint most uncompetitive senior football league anywhere in the continent – along with the Ukraine.
The two nations – Scotland and Ukraine – are the only two national leagues which have been won by just two clubs during the duration of the Champions League: the last eighteen sessions. It is 25 years since anyone other than Celtic or Rangers have won the league; that being Alex Ferguson’s classic Aberdeen side in 1985; even more horrifyingly only four times in the last 45 years have teams other than ‘the Old Firm’ won the league!
With all this it is not surprising that Celtic and Rangers are again dreaming of pastures new and the rich pickings of the English Premiership. Dermot Desmond, Celtic’s majority shareholder, has brought up the perennial issue of ‘Old Firm’ membership of the Premiership, musing that some day it will happen, driven by the potential pulling power of ‘the Old Firm’ and TV revenues. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s More than a Ball Game: Scottish Football and Culture
Gerry Hassan
February 14th 2010
The state and importance of Scottish football both fascinates and repels large parts of Scotland – but there can be little doubt that the condition of the game and how we see it throws light on Scottish culture and society.
In the last week, I have watched Motherwell v Rangers and Aberdeen v Celtic live on TV, and went to the St. Johnstone v Dundee United cup tie. Taking all three of these together gives a number of pointers about the health of the game.
First, the quality of football in the first two matches was of a high standard. Motherwell and Aberdeen played intricate, intense, intelligent football which reflected well on the state of the SPL. These two teams are middle ranking in the league, Aberdeen in particular, struggling to find any consistency, and yet they both showed ability and finesse. Read the rest of this entry »
Against all the Odds: The World of the Small Scottish Football Team
Gerry Hassan
February 11th 2010
It is week three and sadly the final week of Jonathan Meades strange, fascinating and somewhat magical series on Scotland, ‘Off Kilter’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mwqvq/Jonathan_Meades_Off_Kilter_Episode_3/ This week his theme is the inviting subject of ‘The Football Pool Towns’, addressing small towns, hopes and Scotland through the world of football.
This short series has illustrated how it is possible to tell stories of Scotland, and address supposedly familiar subjects in new, imaginative ways. In so doing it has exposed the chasm of aspiration at the heart of much of the mainstream media in Scotland, where budgets seem to be in inverse proportion to originality and boldness. There are so many parts of Scottish life and society crying out for exploration left unexamined at a point when our nation and democracy is at a huge crossroads in how it sees itself.
Anyway back to this episode which begins with Meades reminiscing about the days of the Mini and Hillman Imp, before citing Jackie Stewart, supposed Scottish icon, ‘ambassador’ for the Royal Bank of Scotland and resident of Switzerland, who once said the immortal words, ‘A car is like a woman and cornering is like bringing a woman to climax’. Oh, er, missus, what a lad that Jackie! Read the rest of this entry »
Football Creep and the Dumbing Down of Media
Gerry Hassan
February 6th 2010
It has been an historic day across a range of huge political issues: the resolution of the Northern Ireland impasse between Sinn Fein and the DUP, the public shame of criminal charges against MPs and a peer, BAE Systems paying back millions after the kickbacks it paid for contracts, and of course, John Terry standing down as England captain.
On a day I spent the afternoon interviewing fellow blogger Tom Harris, Labour MP for Cathcart, in the Queen’s Park FC boardroom, I know that football matters. The boardroom in question, set in a collection of permanent portacabins opposite Hampden, is filled with history and triumphs from another era. Queen’s Park won a spectacular ten Scottish Cups – all in the 19th century – before professionalism kicked in and established the dominance of ‘the Old Firm’.
The room was filled with silverware large and small, and staring at a large impressive cup, hoping it to be the Scottish Cup, I was a little disappointed to find it was some local trophy. In a place of such emotions and memories, including a framed Rod Stewart Queen’s Park strip, I could tangibly feel the power and pull of football, yet the conformity and vice-like grip of the game on our imagination grows alarmingly by the day. Read the rest of this entry »
The Glorious World of Scottish Football Commentary
Gerry Hassan
February 1st 2010
I am still recovering from the amazing experience of being at Rugby Park and the crazy world of last Saturday’s Kilmarnock v. Dundee United match. A gorgeous Scots winter day for a start; it has taken me thirty years of football-watching to see a 4-4 draw and honestly it could have been much higher. United were 3-1 up after 35 minutes and looked like they would score a barrowload, and then when Killie fought back, aided by United kamikaze defending, and went 4-3 ahead in the second half it looked briefly like they were going to storm ahead.
My recent posting on the future of Scottish football has been picked up and prompted even more thoughtful musings from James Hamilton http://mtmg.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/the-scottish-and-scottish-football/ – whose original thoughts inspired my piece and Rob Marrs -http://leftbackinthechangingroom.blogspot.com/2010/01/we-need-to-talk-about-scotland.html
It is refreshing to see the quality of writing that Hamilton and Marrs display about the Scottish game which is a world apart from the narrow mainstream media diet in the BBC, STV and most of the print press (Graham Spiers honourably exempted). Read the rest of this entry »
