Welcome to Issue 3
Sold out
The main event
By Daniel Gray
The Passion of Harry Bingo
Is it possible to have a conversion experience at the age of 43? Can you learn to love football from those who devote their lives to following their club?
By Peter Ross
Why I hate football
Violence, tribalism, machismo, sectarianism . . . there are so many reasons to choose from. The truth, however, is more straightforward.
By Richard Walker
My four tumultuous years at Livi
“We made just about every mistake in the book, and invented a few more.”
Maurice Smith became involved in the rescue of Livingston Football Club in 2004. This is his memoir…
Atlantic League: This time it’s different
The concept of an Atlantic League has been around in various forms since 2000. Every proposal has met a brick wall. Now, however, Uefa are listening.
By Paul Macdonald
Should Scotland follow the American way?
David Longwell, the former head of St Mirren’s youth development and current Orlando City academy director, reveals what he’s learned by crossing the pond. By Euan McTear
Reasons to ‘B’ fearful
Will bringing top clubs’ reserve sides into the lower leagues benefit our game overall?
Scots with experience of America’s ‘B’ teams system have doubts. By Ian Thomson
Local heroes
Could Scottish football survive without its volunteer superheroes? By Andy Harrow
The meaning of Lisbon
Celtic’s European Cup triumph is Scotland’s greatest sporting achievement. On cultural, social and political levels it is much more besides By Kevin McKenna
The great Glens
While legions of Belfast folk head to Glasgow each weekend to pay homage to their football gods, back in their home city Glentoran continue to sway between triumph and tragedy, with a proud history shaped in no small part by a visionary Glaswegian player-manager
Words and photographs by Colin McPherson
A once-a-year love affair with the Pars
How my father’s passion for Dunfermline Athletic has led to a remarkable and lasting bond.
By Robert Westcott
Cheers and tears at McDiarmid Park
How 30 years of following St Johnstone – and revelling in their recent successes – created a special bond between father and son. By Ed Hodge
Things a 10-year-old teaches you about football
In the humble surroundings of Palmerston Park, a kind of emotional gold has been forged out of the most unpromising of ingredients. By Giancarlo Rinaldi
Taking the Thistle out of Partick
The story behind one of the great conundrums of Scottish football. By Gordon Cairns
A light that never goes out
Even now, 45 years later, the 4-1 score line seems like a dream. By Kenny Pieper
‘Gutsy, committed, unflagging’
The community spirit that surrounds Junior football is reflected in the
way the game is played. Photographs by Alan McCredie. Words by Daniel Gray
The truth about Gentleman Jerry
The achievements of Jerry Kerr are such that he deserves to be lauded alongside the likes of Jock Stein and Bill Shankly. But for decades he was not even welcome at the club he helped shape. By Heather McKinlay
National service
I’m no lover of the Tartan Army and I have a phobia of male-bonding. So how the hell did I end up dressed in a skin-tight Mexico ’86 strip playing football for Scotland? By Adrian Searle
Holding the Fort
Life for Fort William FC, in the heart of shinty country, is never easy. Can the Highland League club ‘do a Ross County’? Does it even want to? By Paul Irving
The Cappielow collapse
Christmas 2003/04. Greenock Morton, having won the Third Division the previous season, looked set to repeat the feat one division higher. With what appeared to be an unassailable 12-point lead, the Cappielow side folded. The sports reporter for the Greenock Telegraph at the time revisits a notorious season and talks to some of the key players. By Chris Fitzgerald
Rise of the brown brogue brigade
Scottish football’s experiments with young managers have either hit new heights or plumbed new depths in season 2016-17, depending what side of the divide you’re on in an increasingly fierce debate. By Scott Fleming
The five stages of grief
It starts with denial: no way is your manager going anywhere. And then . . . By Craig Fowler
Thankfully, there’s a wee fitba’ team that still makes its mark
Ann Budge is rightly credited as being the businesswoman who rescued Hearts, but even she admits that it might not have happened without the participation of Robert Wilson. By Stuart MacLennan
Still standing
Hearts’ tumultuous recent history is epitomised by the fluctuating fortunes of the iconic Main Stand at Tynecastle By Joel Sked
Six appeal
There was goals galore, no real tactics and a festive atmosphere throughout – but the Tennent’s Sixes were taken seriously by plenty of clubs. By Chris Marshall
High fives and the magnificent seven
The small-side amateur version of football is so much more than a game. By Jonathan Whitelaw
How to resurrect competition
The real golden age of Scottish football, when the big two did not completely dominate the league, holds the key to restoring competitiveness for the benefit of everyone, including Celtic and Rangers. By Donald Phillips
The Academical Vaults
Forty-plus years of ups and downs with Hamilton Academical, as seen by a Scottish music scene stalwart. By Douglas MacIntyre
It was the fourth time that we met
Barcelona v Dundee United, March 1987: the media billed it provincial hicks v millionaire metropolitan elite. How wrong could they be? By Mike Gibbons
Even better than Quincy on STV
Of all the memorable 1990s Scottish Cup finals, the one featuring the unlikely pairing of Kilmarnock and Falkirk stands out. By Andrew Galloway
The bridesmaid yet again
The mid-1990s was not an easy time to be a Hearts fan. And perhaps the nadir was reached in the 1996 League Cup final. By Craig Cairns
The greatest lower-league team of all time?
All the stars and all the planets were in perfect alignment for
Billy Stark’s promotion-winning Queen’s Park side of 2006/07. By Craig G Telfer
Tactics that gave the Lisbon Lions their bite
The country’s greatest club success was achieved by pitting an individualistic approach against a compact man-on-man system. By Stevie Grieve
Club Mascots – they’re not all escapees from Sesame Street
By Duncan McCoshan
The Russian Premier visited Kilmarnock
By Stuart A. Paterson
Last stand
By Craig Wilkie