Welcome to Issue 34
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We never walk alone
By Daniel Gray

The Fitbatweets Diaries

The Nutmeg Interview: Punches and punchlines
In his new memoir, Dear Scotland, Ally McCoist recalls the hard jabs of his career, lessons learned, missed opportunities, and the humour and resilience that solidified his status as a sporting icon.
By Teddy Jamieson

A season with Ayr United: Part 2
Ayr’s Uncertain Autumn
After a flying start to the season, Ayr United were stuck by an injury crisis and almost lost their manager. Meanwhile, a rising young talent was quietly making a name for himself at Somerset Park.
By  Scott Fleming

Disappearing acts
In football, the absence of familiar faces
can hurt as much as defeat. But why do once avid supporters drift from our terraces? I went in search of five such individuals to try and find out.
By Donald Walker

When surprise Cruyff turn almost led to Boghead
It is a tale of legend, but how close did one of the world’s greatest ever footballers really come to joining Dumbarton in 1980?
By Martin Greig

Excitement in the Eternal City
When Italy hosted a Scotland team billed as the best in the world by the Azzurri manager in the first-ever clash between the nations… watched by Mussolini
By John Irving

Photo essay: The Nutmeg Match Report
Romance in the gloaming
As clocks readied to fall back, Linlithgow Rose outshone Clachnacuddin in the last 3pm kick-off before winter’s grasp. With community charm and late-day magic, Prestonfield welcomed the cherished floodlit season.
Photographs by Alan McCredie
Words By Daniel Gray

Jack hits the road to find joy in Germany
Australian Jackson Irvine’s professional football career began in his father’s native Scotland with Celtic. After stints elsewhere here and in England, the articulate, principled centre-midfielder has found the perfect club in St Pauli.
By Simone Pierotti

Twist and doubt
Oliver Burke was the next big thing with his blistering pace, Scotland call-up and mega-money move to the Bundesliga. But the jet-heeled forward’s career stalled… and he’s still stuck in a rut. So what’s the missing piece of this puzzle?
By Sean Cole

Fairytale of New York
Lewis Morgan gave up Glasgow to follow his American dream, overcoming early obstacles in Miami before blossoming in the Big Apple and earning a surprise Scotland recall.
By Ryan Baldi

Payne’s world
Dundee United’s Graeme Payne was a Will o’ the wisp footballer whose presence defied his stature. But the demands of a perfectionist manager saw his career fade away.
By Craig Millar

Beith encounter
From a frustrating loan spell at Stirling Albion to becoming a standout talent at Motherwell – via a rejuvenating stint at Beith Juniors – Ewan Wilson’s recent success is testament to those who believed in him.
By Lewis Birrell

Numbers game doesn’t add up
A recent SFA report investigating why so few youth academy players in Scotland make it in top-flight football raises more questions than answers. The solution? More data… and fewer academies.
By Neil Gibson

Keepers of the flame
The matchday magazine may seem a dying art in the digital age but some dogged collectors are busy keeping these precious artefacts alive.
By Paul Forsyth

Be awesome to each other
Over the past decade, Ian Greenhill and Jordan Laird have turned Studio Something from a spontaneous idea into a powerhouse of innovative content, most notably with the cult BBC football show A View from the Terrace.
By Heather McKinlay

Day of the tripods
They don’t have astronomical budgets for high-tech wizardry but these dedicated match recorders shoot for the stars whatever the weather and sometimes produce viral sensations.
By Chris Marshall

A scout’s honour
Legendary talent spotter Bobby Dinnie discovered many a Scottish luminary. His enduring influence and dedication to the game continues to inspire.
By Tom Brogan

A grand day out
The team bus is an unknown entity for most football supporters. I boarded the Spartans express for their big cup tie at Pittodrie to see what happens when a club hits the road.
By Moira Gordon

A feather in the Capp
Morton are celebrating their 150th anniversary and I am privileged to have spent a season playing for them, even if my changing room berth was a foldable chair..
By Liam Grimshaw

Trouble after Paradise
Life after Celtic immediately proved difficult for Jock Stein as the Big Man pitched up in the wrong movie and suffered his own version of the Damned United.
By Harry Pearson

Juggling for the Jags
As he balances scoring goals for the Partick Thistle men’s team and coaching the women’s squad, Brian Graham’s commitment to the club remains unwavering
By Andy Ross

Arthur Numan’s jukebox
My unlikely path into Scottish football journalism in the early 2000s led to moments of personal glory and comic surrealism, from Ceefax headline writing to hiding a dead leg from Paul Lambert.
By Gary Sutherland

Bust coupon
Once part of the nation’s fabric, very few people now play the Pools. Scots can lay claim to their invention, as well as being perpetrators of a grand heist on rival gambling game Spot the Ball.
By David Allan

The teardrop explodes
When the St Mirren away kit cleverly incorporated the iconic Paisley pattern, it proved an instant hit but also weaved an exciting new narrative for a proud old town grappling with its cultural identity.
By Andrew Christie

Multi-coloured swap shop
Alan Rough in an England shirt? The unlikely phenomenon of goalkeepers wearing other teams’ shirts was a very real one for almost two decades.
By Gordon Cairns

The footballer spy
Prior to being imprisoned by the Bolsheviks for his association with plots to kill Lenin, Fifer Robert Bruce Lockhart played for the club who would become Dynamo Moscow.
By Oliver Price

Firhill force for good
The inspiring Jags initiative run by Partick Thistle fans that does vital work in the community, supports local charities and even has its own multi-national football team whose primary goal is to help each other.
By Tom Brogan

How SFA went cuckoo at Swiss World Cup
In 1954 Scotland could have called up a highly impressive team but selectors made a series of infamous omissions, culminating in the 7-0 thrashing by Uruguay.
By Mark Poole

Angus, songs and imperfect jogging
Boozy New Year’s Day derby fixtures between Arbroath, Brechin and Montrose veered from the comical to the feisty. They are a sad miss from the calendar.
By Forbes Inglis

Five at the back
1. International class
From the 1988 Rous Cup to the 2012 World Cup qualifiers, this selection of Scotland strips showcase sophisticated design elements, including the bold return of the collar and elegant tartan accents.
By John Devlin

2. Record appearances
3pm eternalTerrace charms of Palmerston Park bring out romance in KLF chaos-maker. By David Pollock

3. By the way…
They are there among the players, waving to fans and occasionally terrifying us, but what is the life of a furry mascot really like?
By Liam Kirkaldy

4. Dramatic last days
Any one of a quartet of teams could have been relegated after a tumultuous season impacted by financial woes.
By Phil Rodger

5. Poetry
Striker. By Colin McGuire
By Colin McGuire. By Spike Munro
Before the Game. By Alan Gillespie
Admin Error. By Nick Murray Willis