One of Fergus McCann’s first objectives after buying Celtic was to double the number of season ticket holders. Which was what prompted a surprise call to a small marketing agency in Edinburgh.
Preston North End’s mission in the 1880s was simple: to become the greatest team of the age. They couldn’t have achieved it without a remarkable group of Scots.
Chelsea FC began life with a stadium – and nothing else. The person who built an almost-immediately successful squad from scratch was a 28-year-old midfielder from Dumbarton.
Summer 2017 sees two football clubs situated less than a mile apart mark very different anniversaries. At Hampden, Queen’s Park’s 150th anniversary will be celebrated with the honour due to a club acknowledged to have invented the ‘passing game’ that ushered in modern football.
On a darker note, 2017 is the 50th anniversary of the death of Third Lanark, among Scotland’s leading clubs during the late 19th century, which collapsed amidst fraud allegations and bitter acrimony in 1967.
We talked to some of the modern-day heroes at Hampden, and the man leading the campaign to restore Third Lanark to senior football.
Tommy Docherty’s brief reign as Scotland manager transformed the fortunes of an under-achieving squad, instilled optimism among the Tartan Army and laid the foundations for two decades of comparative success.
Montrose have been resident in Scotland’s lowest division for 21 seasons. What is it that keeps the fans coming, still dreaming of life in the lofty heights of League One?
An illuminating peek into the inner world – and the knitwear – of the man who bestrode the Clackmannanshire Association Football League like a colossus.
No other country has anything like as poor a record as Scotland when it comes to clubs going out of Europe on away goals. Is it just bad luck, or is there something deeper going on here?
