It's not that I am counting the days, but it won't be long until we are heading to The National Stadium to witness the new World Cup campaign. The first in line are Serbia and the one piece of good news is that it is on a Saturday. We all have our different traditions & meeting places. The Queens Park Cafe, Victoria Rd has long since been a favourite as it is too busy and there came a time when we felt unwanted. To be fair the locals would look askance at the long queues and the lack of staff.
The Iron Horse in West Nile Street became a fans favourite & again too busy. There were however many happy traveling fans who experienced a real Glasgow pub. The Croatians were a rather athletic bunch and for the delight of the ladies I am assured they looked good topless on the dance floor. We will meet again.
Eventually, and we were struggling, I was invited with every other Scotland fan to Shawlands Bowling club. Great, intimate and a warm welcome. Pies & rolls. A veggie? A roll & butter!!
A brisk walk to Hampden and the misery & ecstasy begins. The singing, the optimism the stramashes & that is just the queue for the toilets.
Who knows what the new campaign will bring?
It will not be easy, it hasn't been Easy Easy since 1974 & even then it wasn't particularly easy (easy).
Not long now!
Hamish
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Wembley 2013
I was out for a drink on Saturday & met a pal who had booked his bus seat for Wembley next August. A pre-season friendly which is in truth a warm up to the second phase in our attempt to qualify for Brazil 2014. With a bit of luck and hopefully skill we then will be in a good position for our Belgium / Macedonia double header!
The English Fitba Association have invited their oldest rivals in a re-enactment of the Home International games first played in 1872. The 0-0 draw was the first international in the world ever and the annual game against the Auld Enemy was to dominate our game for the next hundred odd years. There were off course high points both at Hampden and away. The Wembley Wizards in 1928 won 5-1 and set in motion our national obsession with, it should be noted that 2 years later England won 5-2.
Scotland had their hroes with Tommy Walker of Hearts with a great scoring record, Last Minutte Reilly and of course Baxter. The 1967 legendary performance in seeing us briefly assume the mantle of World Champions, lost soon after in a home defeat to Russia by the way. The 1963 2-1 victory was by all accounts a better performance coming 2 years after the 9-3 drubbing.
We also suffered 7-2 and although we had a good Wembley record we also had the Wembley Hoodoo with disastrous goalie mistakes. I myself suffered;
1969 4-1 Herriot
1975 5-1 Kennedy
1979 3-1. Woods
Were these and other setbacks enough to send us homeward to think again? The Wembley clubs and the massive Scottish crowds filling London as well as the stadium give a resounding no.
The 70's saw our invasion reach epidemic proportions and the Londoners must have been mightily confused to see Lion Rampant flags with the brazen message, or was it a threat,?
' Remember Bannockburn , 1314'.
I'm not sure they did and of course their reply may have been 'Remember 1966'
So we return in large numbers to watch a friendly & I am not concvinced it will be treated as seriously as we Scots will imagine. Team England will be fullof players who will not have a Scot in their dressing room to rub it in as surely Denis Law & Billy Bremner did in '67.
Wembley is now a magnicent stadium , light years away from our dismal Hampden rebuild. It will be a great sight to see our flags return & we may raise our game to add to past victories.
Stein was not forgiven easily for sacrificing the 1982 game, we lost 2-0 to save players for the World Cup. We went out in the first round.
The target is Brazil, nothing else counts & win lose or draw in London I want to be celebrating qualification on Tuesday 15th October next year with a victory over Croatia.
Now that matters.
Hamish
The English Fitba Association have invited their oldest rivals in a re-enactment of the Home International games first played in 1872. The 0-0 draw was the first international in the world ever and the annual game against the Auld Enemy was to dominate our game for the next hundred odd years. There were off course high points both at Hampden and away. The Wembley Wizards in 1928 won 5-1 and set in motion our national obsession with, it should be noted that 2 years later England won 5-2.
Scotland had their hroes with Tommy Walker of Hearts with a great scoring record, Last Minutte Reilly and of course Baxter. The 1967 legendary performance in seeing us briefly assume the mantle of World Champions, lost soon after in a home defeat to Russia by the way. The 1963 2-1 victory was by all accounts a better performance coming 2 years after the 9-3 drubbing.
We also suffered 7-2 and although we had a good Wembley record we also had the Wembley Hoodoo with disastrous goalie mistakes. I myself suffered;
1969 4-1 Herriot
1975 5-1 Kennedy
1979 3-1. Woods
Were these and other setbacks enough to send us homeward to think again? The Wembley clubs and the massive Scottish crowds filling London as well as the stadium give a resounding no.
The 70's saw our invasion reach epidemic proportions and the Londoners must have been mightily confused to see Lion Rampant flags with the brazen message, or was it a threat,?
' Remember Bannockburn , 1314'.
I'm not sure they did and of course their reply may have been 'Remember 1966'
So we return in large numbers to watch a friendly & I am not concvinced it will be treated as seriously as we Scots will imagine. Team England will be fullof players who will not have a Scot in their dressing room to rub it in as surely Denis Law & Billy Bremner did in '67.
Wembley is now a magnicent stadium , light years away from our dismal Hampden rebuild. It will be a great sight to see our flags return & we may raise our game to add to past victories.
Stein was not forgiven easily for sacrificing the 1982 game, we lost 2-0 to save players for the World Cup. We went out in the first round.
The target is Brazil, nothing else counts & win lose or draw in London I want to be celebrating qualification on Tuesday 15th October next year with a victory over Croatia.
Now that matters.
Hamish
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Monday, 16 April 2012
The National Stadium
We eagerly await an all Edinburgh Scottish Cup Final with a meeting of the green & white of Hibs and the boys in maroon from down Georgie Road.
The venue of the game will be the National Stadium, Hampden Park, until 1950 the largest stadium in the world with a European record crowd set in 1937 of 149,547 and 2 years later 149,269 for the visits of England. 147,000 witnessed the Celtic – Aberdeen 1937 Cup Final, quite an occasion and still more than Wembley ever held.
Various stages of downright neglect and subsequent reconstruction has seen the capacity final settled at 52,000 in the new 5 star EUFA venue, 2000 less if segregation is implemented. The Champions League and Europa League Finals were held in Glasgow with a combined crowd less than the 127,000 at the famous Real Madrid – Eintracht Frankfurt 1960 legendary final.
There is a clamour for Murrayfield with a capacity of 67,000, a bigger venue and not too far to travel for the fans. And why not?
Hampden is no longer the biggest ground in Glasgow and only ties with St James park as the 5th biggest in the UK! Compare it the The Emirates!
It is the home of Scottish football and resounds to the noise of the Tartan Army Boys, but is it a good ground? I contend that it not always the best.
The designers of the new stadium were hindered by budget constraints and a lack of vision. In retaining the bowl it marginalised the atmosphere, the terraces complete with seats are far to shallow, any seat near the front offers a poor view of the game.
52,000 is a strange figure and why was this chosen? Celtic have to play the cup finals in a stadium smaller than their own. Ranger’s fans will complain that the smaller teams get too big an allocation for the finals. Hibs & Hearts fans want Murrayfield. The question is where were the representatives of these clubs when the new Hampden was being planned?
Rangers offered the new Ibrox as a possible home for Scotland Internationals in 1980 with their stadium at the time sized at only 45,000 and were seen by many to be partly responsible for the then governments refusal to cough up with the promised millions for a new ground fit for Scotland.
Prior to the planning and rebuild in the 1990's Scotland's national team and cup finals regularly had crowds exceeding 60,000. The present stadium makes little sense until the fans grab the atmosphere and even then only in big games.
I am a lover of Hampden, the history is remarkable, however 3 sides of the ground are below sub-standard. I cringe and despair when I land up with ticket behind the goals.
Watch and marvel at the new German stadiums, they did not cost a fortune.
This year’s final will be played at Hampden and there will be a great atmosphere and with luck there will be an exciting finale to the season, however we all know that the ground is not fit for purpose, it pales in comparison to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, and the Arriva Stadium in Dublin may be strange it is however quite stunning. Hampden is not.
Hamish
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Burma
In my time as a media tart I have had some crazy interviews, however a few years ago I was privileged, nay mystified to have contributed a small part to world peace.
Amnesty International contacted me through ATAC as they have a strategy of highlighting individual prisoners of conscience, publicising their plight. It turns out that their focus of attention was a prisoner in Burma who was a football fan. The Tartan Army would be a worthy vehicle in which to help tell the world. Our worl-wide reputation for diplomacy really is that big.
I spent the day in Edinburgh, a photo shoot with a former political prisoner who put my life of ordinariness well & truly into the shade. This chap , now working for the BBC related being held captive in a container, a dissident with a cause & here's me a rebel without a clue! His stories of torture put my slightly amusing anecdotes of long tedious bus journey's to Europe to watch Scotland get walloped into perspective. Although a 13 hour return bus trip from Sofia to Macedonia, 1- 0 defeat and red hot tins of beer was a form of masochism not seen since The Marquis de Sade requested another pointed stick to be inserted side-ways up.... anyway I digress.
The highlight for me was a guest appearance on Burmese Free Radio. The extremely bemused presenter was introduced to a Scotland fan who had empathy for the poor guy in Burma.
It was only after my starring role that I realised that any future Scotland game in Burma would be without me! I would surely get a life ban, and sometimes I reflect that a life ban from watching Scotland, anywhere that is, might not be that bad an idea!!
It is good to see Burmese democracy taking giant steps forward & I do feel that I have contributed.
Amnesty International contacted me through ATAC as they have a strategy of highlighting individual prisoners of conscience, publicising their plight. It turns out that their focus of attention was a prisoner in Burma who was a football fan. The Tartan Army would be a worthy vehicle in which to help tell the world. Our worl-wide reputation for diplomacy really is that big.
I spent the day in Edinburgh, a photo shoot with a former political prisoner who put my life of ordinariness well & truly into the shade. This chap , now working for the BBC related being held captive in a container, a dissident with a cause & here's me a rebel without a clue! His stories of torture put my slightly amusing anecdotes of long tedious bus journey's to Europe to watch Scotland get walloped into perspective. Although a 13 hour return bus trip from Sofia to Macedonia, 1- 0 defeat and red hot tins of beer was a form of masochism not seen since The Marquis de Sade requested another pointed stick to be inserted side-ways up.... anyway I digress.
The highlight for me was a guest appearance on Burmese Free Radio. The extremely bemused presenter was introduced to a Scotland fan who had empathy for the poor guy in Burma.
It was only after my starring role that I realised that any future Scotland game in Burma would be without me! I would surely get a life ban, and sometimes I reflect that a life ban from watching Scotland, anywhere that is, might not be that bad an idea!!
It is good to see Burmese democracy taking giant steps forward & I do feel that I have contributed.
Monday, 2 April 2012
Red Boots
My first boots were a pair of Puma 300 size 5. I was 7 ish and either Puma started at a size 5 or my Father insisted on a pair I would grow into, they were beautiful & had green rubber soles. Black with the distinctive Puma band, the mark of Pele & later Dalglish amongst others. The Germans tended to favour Adidas, certainly Beckenbauer, The Kaiser was a man of 3 stripes.
I had a particularly good pair of Adidas Santiago, bought when I was 12 and played in the Glasgow Cup Final, we lost 3-2 to Lourdes.
That great sports shop Chivers, Carlisle persuaded me that the pro's were all wearing boots slightly too small as they would stretch & fit like a glove. That piece of 1970's advice persuaded me to buy & painfully wear a pair of Puma Meister boots for a long long season. The pain was slightly alleviated when we played at home as Hammond's Pond was adjacent to the pitch and an immersion in water allowed for a certain temporary stretch. Next pair, Adidas 2000 bought in Luke Sports, Battlefield Rd, Glasgow. Slightly too big at 9. 1/2s.
great until it rained and they were suddenly 10. 1/2s.
Recently I was offered a game of 7's in Kendal, I went to the nearest so called Sports Shop and bought the cheapest on show.
All my other football boots, those bought since I was 7ish, many many boots, mostly Puma or Adidas had one glorious thing in common. They were black, and if they were adorned with 3 stripes or a Puma flash then these were white in colour.
But now, me, a grown man in his earlyish 50's now wears Red Pumas. A saving of £3.00 persuaded me to buy red. Do I play well in them? Yes of course, I certainly continue to show flashes of brilliance. For any passing spectator they will instantly recognise an oldish player who has certainly watched and learned from Barcelona & Athletico Bilbao. Style, yes in an athletic, technical way.
Style, not in any sartorial way. Cascades of laughter greeted their 1st appearance and this mirth has never ceased.
There is a rumour that the town of Ayr is going to run special tourist buses on a Friday night to witness the ludicrous sight. A fellow player has nominated me for the Turner Prize. the same wit has suggested that on a summers evening my boots may be a hazard with a late sun causing a glare strong enough to blind passing airline pilots.
They may be boots worthy of Hot-Shot Hamish himself, next time I however I am going black.
I long for the days when the kids buying football boots agree that 'Black is the new Black'.
I had a particularly good pair of Adidas Santiago, bought when I was 12 and played in the Glasgow Cup Final, we lost 3-2 to Lourdes.
That great sports shop Chivers, Carlisle persuaded me that the pro's were all wearing boots slightly too small as they would stretch & fit like a glove. That piece of 1970's advice persuaded me to buy & painfully wear a pair of Puma Meister boots for a long long season. The pain was slightly alleviated when we played at home as Hammond's Pond was adjacent to the pitch and an immersion in water allowed for a certain temporary stretch. Next pair, Adidas 2000 bought in Luke Sports, Battlefield Rd, Glasgow. Slightly too big at 9. 1/2s.
great until it rained and they were suddenly 10. 1/2s.
Recently I was offered a game of 7's in Kendal, I went to the nearest so called Sports Shop and bought the cheapest on show.
All my other football boots, those bought since I was 7ish, many many boots, mostly Puma or Adidas had one glorious thing in common. They were black, and if they were adorned with 3 stripes or a Puma flash then these were white in colour.
But now, me, a grown man in his earlyish 50's now wears Red Pumas. A saving of £3.00 persuaded me to buy red. Do I play well in them? Yes of course, I certainly continue to show flashes of brilliance. For any passing spectator they will instantly recognise an oldish player who has certainly watched and learned from Barcelona & Athletico Bilbao. Style, yes in an athletic, technical way.
Style, not in any sartorial way. Cascades of laughter greeted their 1st appearance and this mirth has never ceased.
There is a rumour that the town of Ayr is going to run special tourist buses on a Friday night to witness the ludicrous sight. A fellow player has nominated me for the Turner Prize. the same wit has suggested that on a summers evening my boots may be a hazard with a late sun causing a glare strong enough to blind passing airline pilots.
They may be boots worthy of Hot-Shot Hamish himself, next time I however I am going black.
I long for the days when the kids buying football boots agree that 'Black is the new Black'.
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