Glasgow Scooped Issue 1

Bryan Adams: Inside Out: An

Interview with the great rocker.

The Game That Never Was: A look at a great Glasgow

urban legend

Any city has its stories. We’re not just any city.

Issue 1 - April 2015

THIS IS ISSUE ONE OF GLASGOW’S FREE TABLOID

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE .... The Last Days of the Red Road FlatsBetty Cunnignham: Working On A DreamThe Battle For Glasgow ......... and a whole lot more .....

WAS ULTRA SICK BRADY A MASS MURDERER FAR IN EXCESS OF WHAT THE PUBLIC IS AWARE? DID HE HAVE MANY MORE VICTIMS THAN ARE IN THE OFFICIAL RECORD?

GLASGOW’SSECRETHITMAN?

http://www.glasgowscooped.com/

2 I n T h i s I s s u e

A n y C i t y H a s I t s S t o r i e s

» p.32

» p.28

» p.6

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» p.24

» p.36

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3I n T h i s I s s u e

W e ’ r e N o t J u s t A n y C i t y

» p.40

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5: Editorial

6: Glasgow’s Secret Hitman

10: The Battle for Glasgow

16: Betty Cunningham: Working On A Dream

20: The Last Days Of The Red Road

24: The Game That Never Was

28: A Life Of Crime

32: Bryan Adams: Inside Out

36: Terry Boyd’s Glasgow Nights

40: The Full Malky

42: In Praise Of ... Total War

48: In Praise Of ... Tommy Flanagan

52: Still Worth Winning?

All articles are © Feart Street Publishing 2015 and © LBM Publishing 2015. All rights reserved.

C O N T E N T S

KA RADIO IS PROUD TO WORK WITH LBM PUBLISHING

TO BRING YOU AMPED UP SCOTLAND MAGAZINE

"We started a whisper that roared around the world. "

www. ka-radio.co.uk

http://ka-radio.co.uk/

5E D I TO R I A L


Friends and fellow Glasgwegians, welcome to the first issue of Scooped, a brand new free publication for the City of Glasgow.

This magazine was born out of frustration; frustration that this city, like other cities, has any number of free publications dotted around it, but none are any good.

It also emerged from frustration about the state of our media, which embarrassed itself during the independence referendum by dumping any pretence at all of being unbiased and impartial, far less informative, and embraced one side of the campaign only, not caring whether what it was writing was fact or fiction, or a bizarre hybrid of both.

Whilst not a partisan

publication, Scooped will be fiercely protective of this city and its growing reputation as a central hub of the emerging new wave of political activism and we will be harsh on those who distort facts at this most important time.

This publication belongs to the people of this city, now and forever, and it is to them that it is dedicated and for them that it was founded.

We will strive to educate and inform, but also to entertain, which is why we chose a tabloid format and designed its initial look on that of a famous US publication which we see as a spiritual ancestor!

We will aim to write real news, hard hitting articles covering many subjects. But because that gets heavy on the reader, we’ll throw in some pop

culture and entertainment stuff as well, and ground it as much in this city’s experience as we can.

Scooped is run by two people; James Forrest, a writer and blogger and Brian Anderson, a photojournalist with years of experience snapping the most dangerous men in this city and beyond. Regular contributors include Sean Thomas Graham, who has written for more publications than he can keep track of and Terry Boyd, a photographer and blogger on the cultural scene. We’ll also feature other writers, like football blogger Matthew Marr, who appears in this issue.

The first issue of any publication is an important one, and I hope we’ve got the balance right. You will be the ultimate judge of how well we have done it.

KA RADIO IS PROUD TO WORK WITH LBM PUBLISHING

TO BRING YOU AMPED UP SCOTLAND MAGAZINE

"We started a whisper that roared around the world. "

www. ka-radio.co.uk


6 T h e B i g S c o o p


Saddleworth Moor

Ian Brady

GLASGOW’SSECRETHITMAN? A GLASGOW SCOOPED EXCLUSIVE!

7T h e B i g S c o o p


In the first ever issue of Scooped, we look at the rumours that suggest sick child-killer Ian Brady was responsible for more awful crimes than most people are aware ... that he was, in fact, Glasgow’s Secret Hit Man, working for big city criminals right here at home ....Gangland sources have told Glasgow Scooped that notorious criminal names such as Sammy Dandy McKay, Frank Wilson, Victor Russo and, of course, the Godfather himself Arthur Thompson, sometimes used Ian Brady as a hit man and enforcer in the city’s bloody underworld.

Maniac Brady was born Ian Duncan Stewart on 2 January 1938.

His mother Maggie Stewart, an unmarried waitress came from Glasgow’s notorious Gorbals.

Maggie Stewart was well known among Glasgow’s criminal underworld. She worked nights in local illegal drinking dens on Cumberland Street.

His father was a Glasgow

newspaper reporter who died months before his son Ian was born.

Maggie Stewart could not look after her young son so he was taken into care and fostered out to a family from the Pollok area of Glasgow.

Ian Stewart took the foster family’s name and became Ian Sloan. As a teenager he twice appeared before a juvenile court for housebreaking. When he was 15 young Ian Sloan took a job as a tea boy at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Govan.

While there he struck up a friendship with a young man named Frank Wilson.

Frank Wilson was a known member of the Govan Team and an extremely violent man. Ian Sloan liked being around Wilson

and his friends.

He liked the gangland connections. Through these connections Sloan left Govan shipbuilders and went to work for a local butcher as a delivery boy.

While doing this job he would place bets with a Govan bookmaker, for neighbours in Pollok.

Ian Sloan’s fascination with the Glasgow underworld led to him carrying a knife. He was arrested at the age of 17 after threatening his girlfriend, Evelyn Grant, with a one because she visited a dance hall with another boy.

He appeared before Glasgow Sherriff court with nine charges against him, and he was placed on probation, on condition

Arthyr Thompson Sammy McKay Harland & Wolf



that he live with his birth mother.

By then Maggie Stewart had moved to Manchester and married an Irish fruit merchant named Patrick Brady. Ian Sloan left Glasgow and became Ian Brady.

That name would one day become notorious … what isn’t so well known is that Ian Sloan remained notorious in his own right, on the streets of his home town.

Ian Brady kept his connection to Glasgow and would travel up to the city on a regular basis, to visit his old friends, including crime figures.

It is believed that it was through these dangerous men that Brady himself became literally lethal.He often boasted about his links to Glasgow’s feared godfather Arthur Thompson.

He has admitted being one of his enforcers and his own writings clearly state that he and his psychotic accomplices built up an arsenal of guns and weapons to sort out problems for Glasgow’s underworld.

We can reveal for the first time that other names regularly used Brady’s horrific services during the 1950s and 60s. As well as Thompson and Frank Wilson, gangland heavies

such as Sammy ‘Dandy’ McKay, once Glasgow’s most feared gangster, and Victor Russo did too.

Brady is known to have killed five people for sure; Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, Edward Evans, Pauline Reide and John Kilbride. The youngest was 10, the eldest 17.

Sources from that time have spoken to this magazine, and we now believe there were many more victims, possibly as many as 25.

In a series of chilling letters written around 2008, and published in the national press, the state of Brady’s twisted mind is revealed, along with his obession to be respected as a gangland killer. He implies that he may have murdered many more people than the world is aware, burying bodies at the Campsie Fells near Glasgow, in a malefic foreshadowing of his later, notorious, crimes.

According to underworld sources Fenwick Moor was often used to bury victims of Glasgow’s gangland wars.

Sammy ‘Dandy’ McKay was one of the most notorious figures in Glasgow’s underworld. He was an impeccable dresser but a genuine hard bastard, and was highly intelligent. He attracted worldwide media attention for staging an

incredible jailbreak from Barlinnie prison in 1959. Whilst awaiting trial for a £40,000 raid on a bank in Shettleston, in Glasgow’s east end, he sawed through the bars of his prison cell with a hacksaw blade.

He then used knotted bed sheets to drop down the wall of the prison, then ran off to a waiting car to secure his escape. He was caught, tried and finally sent back to jail, where he died in 1984 from heart disease.

Victor Russo, a notorious hard man, also known as Scarface from the number of slashings he received during his street clashes in Glasgow and London, was connected to all the big names of the time including London Godfather Jack Spot and kingpin Billy Hill.

These and other members of Glasgow’s underworld at the time would have known him as Ian Sloan, but they did know him, and he killed for them.

However, they never did get to know the full sickness that lay at the core of Ian Brady, and where that would one day lead; into the history books as one of the most detested men in the history of our city. If they had, he would have been buried in the same moors where he allegedly put their gangland rivals.

C

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: REMEMBERING JUNIOR: THE JASON ALLDAY STORY / BULLER WARD: THE LAST OF THE OLD SCHOOL / WALTER NORVAL: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A GODFATHER / CRIME AND FASHION: JIMMY TIPPET JNR ON GANGLAND'S FASHION ICONS / CRIME INK: MICHAEL MASON

Chopper: A RETROSPECTIVE

ISSUE TWO: SEPTEMBER 2014

www.goodfellasandfaces.com

So Good It's A Crime ...

FIRST KING OF THE VOLCANOJAMES FORREST LOOKS BACK AT THE AMAZING LIFE AND CRIMES OF DON CARLO GAMBINO.

KING OF THE UNDERCOVERSLORRAINE MONAGHAN LOOKS AT THE AMAZING CAREER OF FAMED FBI AND CIA UNDERCOVER RONALD M. FINO.

SCOTT DIXON: FIGHTING BACKBRIAN ANDERSON INTERVIEWS TOP BOXER AND SURVIVOR OF NUMEROUS GANGLAND HITS SCOTT DIXON.

World Exclusive

G DFELLAS & FACES >

IT'S A CRIME TO MISS IT.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Goodfellas-Faces-Issue-magazine-Magazine-ebook/dp/B00M2BTZBA

C

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: REMEMBERING JUNIOR: THE JASON ALLDAY STORY / BULLER WARD: THE LAST OF THE OLD SCHOOL / WALTER NORVAL: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A GODFATHER / CRIME AND FASHION: JIMMY TIPPET JNR ON GANGLAND'S FASHION ICONS / CRIME INK: MICHAEL MASON

Chopper: A RETROSPECTIVE

ISSUE TWO: SEPTEMBER 2014

www.goodfellasandfaces.com

So Good It's A Crime ...

FIRST KING OF THE VOLCANOJAMES FORREST LOOKS BACK AT THE AMAZING LIFE AND CRIMES OF DON CARLO GAMBINO.

KING OF THE UNDERCOVERSLORRAINE MONAGHAN LOOKS AT THE AMAZING CAREER OF FAMED FBI AND CIA UNDERCOVER RONALD M. FINO.

SCOTT DIXON: FIGHTING BACKBRIAN ANDERSON INTERVIEWS TOP BOXER AND SURVIVOR OF NUMEROUS GANGLAND HITS SCOTT DIXON.

World Exclusive

G DFELLAS & FACES >

IT'S A CRIME TO MISS IT.




The General Election is next month, and what happens in one city will, quite literally, hold the future of this country in its hands. It’s this one.

Don’t believe me? The pollsters are saying it. The pundits are saying it. Even some of the politicians are saying it, and although we take what those swine say with a pinch of salt most of the time, on this occasion they’re on to something.

There are 7 seats here out of 650 in total. With the Dissolution of Parliament now done, all those hundreds of seats are empty for the time being. The campaign to fill them again is underway, and

it’s going to be tighter than any election in living memory. Neither of the “big two” parties is going to secure enough of them for a Commons majority, and so some form of coalition is going to be necessary for whoever forms a government.

The SNP are projected to win dozens of new seats – perhaps as many as 40 – and that could be crucial in tipping the balance one way or the other.

They are targeting all 7 of the seats in this city – every one of them held by Labour, the closest with a majority of over 3000. They are amongst the safest seats in Scotland, which is why it is so

incredible that Nicola Sturgeon’s party looks to be well on course to win some of them.

And if the SNP can take Glasgow seats, with their supermajorities, needing swings of over 20%, then no Labour seat in the whole of Scotland can truly be regarded as safe, and that changes the political map of the UK.

According to the polls, that is what might just be about to happen.

The last really detailed polls we have come from February, and the Tory pollster Lord Ashcroft, and they paint a troubling picture for Labour in the city. 6 of the 7 seats are

The General Election of 2015 will most probably be decided in Scotland, and if it is then what happens in this city will be crucial. Scooped looks now at the Battle for Glasgow, the one that may well decide it all ....

By James Forrest

The BattleFor Glasgow

The City That Will Decide It All



all set to fall, with only one – Glasgow North East, held by Willie Bain – showing a clear Labour lead, in spite of a staggering Labour – SNP swing of 23%.

That swing, the sheer size of it, is why every other seat in the city could be on the verge of changing hands.

If it is repeated in those other constituencies then history will be made and the SNP will sweep Labour aside in its stronghold city … and then anything could happen.

It means that on the night, the battle for every seat is going to be fascinating to watch.

This won’t be a traditional election evening when, as someone once put it, “they

don’t count the Labour vote, they just weigh it.” This is going to be a real ding-dong and every declaration is going to change the political map of the UK a wee bit.

Some of the individual battles are shaping up to be absolutely fascinating.

According to Ashcroft’s poll, SNP activist Natalie McGarry is on course to take the Glasgow East seat belonging to Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran, a veteran of many frontline battles with the SNP. She has won them all up to now, but in this case she may simply be over-matched.

The SNP surge has given them the numbers to put more boots on the ground

Nicola Sturgeon

Jim Murphy

Patrick Harvie

Ruth Davidson

Present Commons MajoritiesAll seats are held by Labour

10551

11840

3898

15942

13611

12658

14671



than Labour may be able to muster, and although Curran has strong community links and the all-important “name recognition” and a large dose of media support, this is not a traditional election and she is not going up against a traditional just-for-show candidate in a seat Labour expects to win.

The independence referendum changed the landscape, and the SNP means business here and they have selected their local candidate accordingly.

McGarry hails from Fife, and has a standing amongst Yes campaigners and SNP activists which is every bit as high as

that which Curran enjoys within Labour’s ranks.

She is young to be contesting such a closely fought seat – 33 on her last birthday (some of her SNP colleagues are even younger; Mhairi Black, who might well defeat Douglas Alexander in Paisley is only 20, and according to Ashcroft has the lead right now in that seat) – but McGarry has an impressive CV nonetheless.

She is convenor of the SNP Glasgow Region Association, she has already run as a candidate in a by-election (polling 28% in the final tally), she works as a policy advisor and was a co-founder of Women For Independence, one of the Yes campaign’s

most high profile organisations.

She frequently appears on TV and in the press, and is highly impressive and focussed.

Curran is sitting on a majority of 11,840. She ought to be as safe as houses, but Ashcroft’s polls indicate a swing of 25.5% from Labour to the SNP in the seat – giving McGarry a healthy lead, at least in early terms.

With a month still to go, no-one will be popping champagne corks at SNP HQ, far less the candidate, who told us that she’s “taking nothing for granted and fighting for every vote” but she appears to be in a commanding position at

Glasgow City Chambers



the moment.

So, too, is the SNP Glasgow councillor Alison Thewliss, who is going head to head for the Glasgow Central seat with the former deputy leader of the party in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, who’s father formerly held the seat.

Sarwar has a majority of 10551 … but Ashcroft has him on course to lose that one to Thewliss on a swing of 22%.

She has a healthy 10% lead, but like McGarry, she was at pains to tell us that she’s taking nothing for granted and carrying on as before, almost revelling in her status as the plucky underdog going up against the Labour dynasty.

Similar trends have been noted in the other seats, where only Willie Bain, on a monster majority of 15,492, looks to have put him out of sight, even accounting for the SNP poll numbers and their monumental swing.

Yet the swing in that seat looks equally terrifying for Labour - 23.5% according to the Ashcroft poll.

The portents are horrible for those defending these once redoubtable positions.

In none of the Glasgow seats does the drift from Labour to the SNP look to be under 22%, a truly unbelievable figure which would have blown every fuse on Peter Snow’s

“Curran is sitting on a majority of 11,840. She ought to be as safe as houses, but Ashcroft’s polls indicate a swing of 25.5% from Labour to the SNP in the seat – giving McGarry a healthy lead, at least in early terms.”

Margaret Curran



traditional election swingometer.

The national figure is around 17%, which means that Glasgow is what Americans call a bell-wether city, one that tells you about the overall picture of the country.

The results right here in Glasgow will tell us how big the SNP surge around Scotland is likely to be.

Frankly, if they can win seats here they can win them anywhere.

With neither Labour nor the Tories looking like they’ll win an overall majority, the SNP’s announcement that they will “lock out” David Cameron by voting to put

Ed Miliband in Downing Street means that we will have a crucial role in deciding what the electoral map will look like, and a big say in the shape of government. In no scenario is that good for the Conservative leader.

If Labour wins enough seats in Scotland that’s the ball game and he’s done for.

Yet big wins for the SNP, in light of their pledge, don’t work out so well for him either, and this is equally true whether or not the Tories finish the largest party overall.

With a strong block of Scottish MP’s determined to keep them out, it

hardly matters which rosettes they are wearing.Without being able to secure a Commons mandate, Cameron and the Conservatives are doomed.

Glasgow remains crucial nonetheless, with the results here potentially giving Ed Miliband the choice of ruling on his own, or with the help of the Liberal Democrats, as opposed to depending on the SNP for their “confidence and supply.”

For the first time in living memory, we hold the future of politics on these islands firmly in our hands.

I don’t want power going to our heads, but frankly it feels pretty good at the moment doesn’t it?

Polling Place



Media commentators seem to have identified Glasgow East as a bellwether constituency, but it is much more important than that.

We have been told on doorstep after doorstep that people are sick of their votes being taken for granted by the Labour Party; neglected until the media spotlight shines on the constituency for all the wrong reasons.

People are fed up of the East End being talked down, instead of talked up.

For all the extremely challenging problems - the unemployment, the health inequalities, poverty, disability and addiction - there is untapped talent in abundance, and huge divergence in resources even between different areas within the constituency.

The East End has suffered from a real lack of focus on attracting inward investment, and ensuring that traineeships and

skilled jobs are available for our school, college and university leavers.

It is time to talk the area up, and to ensure that we attract the types of jobs that the area needs.

This area has had over half a century of almost interrupted Labour representation at every level, including 13 years of Labour government at Westminster under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, yet, for many people, there has been little evidence that the party has listened to voters or has demonstrated any ideas how to tackle some deep rooted problems.

Increasingly we are being told that lifelong Labour voters, even those self identifying as “Labour man” are voting SNP.

They are willing to lend us their support at this election, and then the work continues to ensure their trust is not misplaced, keeping promises as we have done

in the Scottish parliament.

For many this is an emotional decision, breaking family traditions of many generations, but it is a necessary decision if real change is to be achieved.

People know that Labour’s line of “Vote Labour or you’ll get a Tory Government” is a busted flush.

It was in 2010, as it is now. And the legacy of the referendum is an educated electorate who are aware when they are being spun a line and are no longer willing to accept it.

The very prospect of a big group of SNP MPs at Westminster has got the establishment at Westminster in a fankle, and proves that we are the best prospect to ensure a distinct and strong Scottish voice at Westminster.

If we are to have a Labour government, its time to put some girders in it.

THE CAMPAIGNSCOOP WITH GLASGOW EAST CANDIDATE NATALIE MCGARRY Natalie McGarry



If you’ve never heard of Betty Cunningham or her charitable foundation, you won’t know about the incredible work they are doing over in Malawi, or about the people who’ve supported them along the way. Scooped is proud to introduce you to an amazing woman doing amazing work in an impoverished part of the world ... and we hope you can do your bit to help.

Malawian Children

BETTY CUNNINGHAMWORKING ON A DREAM WORK PLACE

By Sean Thomas Graham



For most of us, seeing the poverty in this city in this day and age is heavy on the heart and when you see people in Glasgow having to set up food banks to aid the poor and needy, it is a lot to comprehend.

Just imagine if you will, what it is like in parts of Africa.

Actually, there is no need to imagine.

We see it all the time in the news and we have all watched those horrific videos of young kids dying in their mother’s arm.

But in Africa and places like Kaponda, this doesn’t just happen at Christmas.

It happens all year round

and when you have experienced the poverty and conditions first hand, those images never leave you.

In 2007, an elderly lady named Betty Cunningham visited Malawi, and the district called Kaponda.

There, she went to a school called Dambo.

What she witnessed there were scenes of absolute poverty the likes of which she’d never seen.

It did not sit well with Betty. She sat in her room that night shedding tears, feeling as if she’d walked into another world.

This was not a world that Betty wanted to see kids live in. She had to

do something. What she has done so far is nothing short of remarkable.

To date, the Betty Cunningham Trust have built a health clinic staffed by a full-time nurse; dug a well to provide the villagers with fresh water; constructed two pre-schools staffed with two full time teachers, educating and feeding 400 kids from the age from 2-7 and most of these kids were orphans; constructed a workshop with three sewing machines so that the villagers can make clothes for the kids.

They have also supplied a vegetable area were the villagers can grow tomatoes, cabbages and lettuce and they have employed two full time

Betty In Malawi



cooks.

In addition, they’ve given them 100’s of bicycles as they are the only form of transport besides walking and on top of all this there is also a village manager who keeps an eye on things there.

In Betty’s time of need, a good friend was only too glad to help.

Joe McDonagh, who is part of the St. Mirren Youth Football Club, themselves a registered charity, decided to lend a hand.

Joe and the boys put out a rallying call on their own website asking the kids from all ages in the club to donate any of their old kits for the kids in Malawi and the boys were not slow in

coming forward to do their bit ... and it wasn’t a little bit either.

Soon Joe had bags full of kits and training gear for Betty and they are continuing to pour in right up to the present day.

Betty spoke to us about the situation over there, and the criticism she sometimes faces, from those who don’t understand what it is she’s involved in.

“In the Kaponda district there are still more than 1,290 children over the age of seven who have nothing whatsoever; no education, no food. It is unimaginable.

“The aim is to raise sufficient funds to enable the construction of five

new buildings there. These will house ten classrooms in which we will educate, and feed, all of the remaining children.

“When you go to Malawi, people think ‘there she goes on a wee holiday again.’ They haven’t a clue.

“From the moment you arrive there you cannot believe the things that you have to witness.

“It is heart-breaking and I am not ashamed to say I have shed more than a tear on my visits there.

“You see how poor these people are, and I just kept thinking, ‘this cannot be a place where people live, not in this day and age.’

“Since my first visit there

Betty & Joe



in 2007 some things have changed but one thing hasn’t, and that is the warm reception I get from these kids every time I visit them.

“As soon as they see or hear you are coming, their little eyes light up and you can hear them shouting from the fields as you arrive, “It’s my Betty, it’s my Betty!”

“It is getting easier with the building and the feeding but harder for me knowing that before long I am going to be 70 years old, and I am going to run out of time.

“I want to complete what has been started, not for Betty Cunningham’s sake, not for anyone’s sake but for the sake of those kids.

“The SFA came out last December and gave us a football hub and netball stands for the girls.

“They did football training, refereeing and various other things which were great because we needed that and the kids needed that.

“Things have really moved on from when I first saw it but we still need to do a lot more.

“One of the next things we need to do is paint this secondary school so I can look those kids in the face and say, ‘there is another part completed’ and know

that it is.

“I must say the football clubs have been brilliant. The youth team with Joe and the boys from St. Mirren Youth Football Club have been fantastic and I don’t know where I would be without them.

“When Joseph came to me and said that the club wanted to help, it was fantastic as not many people have come forward to offer their service.

“The boys from the club who donated their old kits to help get clothing to the kids and some of the adults, so that they have things to wear, have been magnificent in lending a hand especially when you think that these guys are a charity too, with their own constant battles to fight.”

One of those fights, sadly, is against ignorance in their own community.

Recently, a collection of kits destined for Betty, as well as the club’s own jerseys, were torched when vandals targeted their storage container at Jenny’s Well playing field, costing £5,000 in damage and leaving not only the boys in shock but Betty and Joe devastated.

That is why the club are having a Sportsman Dinner at the Normandy Hotel on 8 May 2015, to raise money for themselves and for continuing

the work of The Betty Cunningham Trust. For anyone interested, it will be a fantastic night of entertainment, with guys like Frank McAvennie and Alan Rough, but it will also be emotional, as you will see just how much these kids need your help.

Betty Cunningham will be there and she will be able to tell you, first hand, just how bad the situation is, but also how much work they have done to improve it already.

Single tickets to this event £30 or £300 per table.

Full details for anyone interested can be found at www.stmirrenyfc.org.uk

“In the Kaponda district there are still more than 1,290 children over the age of seven who have nothing whatsoever; no education, no food. It is unimaginable.”

20 T h e C i t y S c o o p e d


The Red Road flats were iconic Glasgow landmarks, and few photo journalists have ever captured them better than our own Brian Anderson. Here we share with you some of his pictures of their last days .....

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

LAST DAYS OFTHE RED ROAD INTERDDVIEW

GLASGOW EYES WITH BRIAN ANDERSON

http://glasgoweyes.webs.com/

21T h e C i t y S c o o p e d


Not many places can boast being the subject of numerous books, Oscar winning films and having many photographers coming from all over to document it. Red Road can.

Brian has been documenting Glasgow for over 25 years and the Red Road Flats were an important symbol of what this city was and what it came to be. Their demolition closed one chapter of our history and started another.

Glasgow Eyes is Brian’s photographic tribute to this city. Scooped will feature a collection of his work every month.





In the first of our examinations of great Glasgow urban myths we look at a pervasive one, which, as a man once said, “if it ain’t true it ought to be”. It is the story of a football game that fooled the Germans in World War II and made a famed commentator a legend ... but did it really happen and what was the story behind it?

THE GAME THAT NEVER WAS? INTERDDVIEW

According to a wonderful little urban myth, a big football match was due to be played one Saturday during the Second World War. It was a match that would eventually spark interest well outside of Scotland.

This particular game was a Celtic v Rangers match, a fixture that always draws an audience, and guarantees a capacity crowd.

On the morning of the game, a number of planes from the German Luftwaffe took off from their bases in Europe, to conduct a raid on the city’s docklands. They would have been prowling overhead, somewhere over the Clyde, where numerous high value targets were to be found, as the match was in progress.

The game was to have been broadcast on the radio, and the commentator at the time was to be none other than the then-legend, RE Kingsley.

To give him a modern equivalent, you could say he was the Rob McLean of his

day. Or maybe Jim Spence, to do him more credit!

On the morning of the match, a large blanket of fog had descended on the Clyde. As a consequence, the match had to be abandoned.

However, when the authorities found out that a bombing raid was underway they decided it would be good to lure the Luftwaffe towards the city anyway, and thus keep them away from areas where their deadly cargo might otherwise be used.

As a consequence, British intelligence spoke to Rex Kingsley, and gave him the outlines of a truly bizarre plan; to provide a commentary for a game that never was, so that the German’s would pick up the radio signals and think the skies were clear.

And so the commentator actually did a complete broadcast on a non-existent match, and friends and people in the surrounding area chipped in and provided

By James Forrest



the background noise of the crowd, just to keep the illusion whole.

According to legend, it was so life-like that it actually fooled old Adolf and the German Luftwaffe. Kingsley is said to have been able to hear the planes flying overhead, even as he spoke into the microphone.

According to this wonderful tale, all the Germans did was waste time and petrol flying over the Old Kilpatrick Hills.

And according to some, the deception didn’t even stop there. The strategy worked so well that the British ordered that the story never get out, presumably so they could try it again.

In order to complete the cover, the newspapers even ran wholly fabricated accounts of the game … and for decades after the war, the secret held until Kingsley himself decided to reveal it all in his autobiography.

I’ve been hearing this story for years. I think it first bleeped on my radar in 2003 or something, and I was even told who won the match; Celtic, by a single goal. For an urban myth, one thing about it always bugged me … the detail in it. I thought it had so much detail there was at least an outside chance that it was true.

When we decided to investigate these urban legends as part of the magazine, I wanted to

cover this story right away. I set about looking into it with a lot of optimism. I went online and started to search for proof. I started with the available details of Celtic – Rangers matches played during the war. There weren’t many, and those there were … well, I never found one that I could pin down as the game in question.

I didn’t have a date to work with, so I was forced to tediously go through records of each of them. Nothing. I wondered if the Mitchell Library might have the details, but when I mentioned it to one of their staff on the phone they had never heard of it. I went back online, and I did a little more digging.

I actually found a

RE Kingsley



reference to the story on an old version of a BBC website, commemorating the war. I thought “this is it!”, but when I dug for further info what I found was dispiriting … and yet oddly exhilarating too.

Because the story is, as I suspected, partially true, but it didn’t happen in Glasgow. Tragic that, because I’d hoped that it was a little part of our culture and history here, because it’s just too perfect, isn’t it?

Actually, it happened in Edinburgh. The match was not between Celtic and Rangers, but between the Edinburgh rivals Hibs and Hearts. The story has gotten garbled over the years, but it’s mostly factual. Let me give you

the details, as I’ve found them.

It was New Years Day 1940, and there were 12,000 people packed into Easter Road for the local derby. So, yes, the game actually started, and it was being covered on Armed Forces Radio, so the BBC and the military were already on hand and providing support.

Their people immediately saw the possibilities when the thick fog rolled in.

The Forth Railway Bridge and Leith Docks were prime targets - but to keep the bombers from going elsewhere they needed a realistic portrayal of the match. So Leon Hunter, the BBC’s head of outside broadcasting,

was contacted and he told Rex Kingsley to keep on talking.

The commentator could not see much; one touchline and two players, but he got a team of runners to sprint down to the pitch and bring him back details of key events.

When that system started to break down, he simply made it up as he went along.

Fortunately, the game itself lived up to his imagination; it was an eleven goal thriller, which ended in a 6-5 win for Hearts, with a goal in the 85th minute giving the away team the win after they’d squandered a two goal lead at 5-3 to let Hibs back into it. By

The Luftwaffe ....



“As a consequence, British intelligence spoke to Kingsley, and gave him the outlines of a truly bizarre plan; to provide a commen-tary for a game that never was, so that the German’s would think the skies above the city were clear.”

the time that one hit the back of the net the fog was so thick much of the crowd had dispersed and Kingsley was unable to see anything at all.

He could hear the crowd, and based on how loud the cheers were he had a fair idea of when goals were scored and who had scored them … but he sent those runners to make sure, just in case!

His commentary continued, even after the full time whistle had gone.

One of the runners finally told him to close the show … in fog so thick there was still a Hearts player on the field, looking for teammates, fifteen minutes after the game was done.

Incredible, but true.

The published match reports were real enough, but although some of them referenced “unusual weather conditions” none mentioned the thickness of the fog or the barmy, fake, live report.

In fact, based on the fact that no-one could really see much they are nearly as creative as Kingsley’s commentary!

The details of that stayed a secret for years, until Kingsley recounted it in his autobiography “I Saw Stars” in 1947. The story became something of a legend amongst commentators and broadcasters, most of whom were in awe of the great man both then

and now because of this extraordinary feat.

In fact, the BBC, who had initially published the rumour on their website rather than the facts, were so taken by the idea that when the Edinburgh playwright Andrew Dallmeyer penned a 30 minute show on it they aired it, on New Year’s Day 2002. It was called “Playing A Blinder.”

So, this one is neither a Glasgow story nor simply an urban myth.

It’s a simple case of the facts getting confused, and distorted by time and circumstances.

Still, we’re offering it here as it’s one Hell of a tale, as I’m sure you’ll agree.



IN ASSOCIATION WITHGlasgow has always had a reputation for being a city steeped in blood. Here, in a stunning 12 part interview, a notorious street player tells his chilling life story, about how he became part of this city’s awful secret history ...

A LIFE OF CRIMEPART ONE: WELCOME TO THE FAMILY. WELCOME TO THE LIFE.

INTERDDVIEW

I was born in Glasgow on 23 February, into a very bitter Catholic and Protestant family.

Let me explain what that means.

My mother’s family were bitterly Protestant and my dad’s family were all bitter Catholics.

I still wonder how they managed to get together, knowing what each was capable of.

We lived in Drumchapel, which was a terrible place for crime, just like any other run down housing estate in Glasgow at the time.

My first few years were filled with images of being in big rooms filled with men in long black jackets and what I know now were

big guns on the table.

I had no idea, at that age, what was happening or going on, but as the years passed, I made sense of it all.

My mother’s family ran a huge part of Glasgow, and they did many things to earn money, 99% of it illegally.

I was born into a life of crime, and I was slowly being brain washed too, and from a very early age, in a way warped even by this city’s standards.

My dads family would have me singing IRA rebel songs, and my mothers family would have me singing The Sash and the Billy Boys.

I was conflicted and confused, because I knew

that the sides hated each other (religion wise) and it’s hard enough being on one side of that.

I was on both … and on none, stuck in the middle and pulled between them.

My first real introduction to the criminal life was when I was asked to do a job when I was only six.

My job was to smash the windows of another family members car, and for that I would get a present from my uncle.

I was given a claw hammer, and he drove me to the next street, where he would wait for me.

I remember getting out of the car and feeling scared, but the scared part subsided and I was more looking forward to this




mystery present I would receive.

I didn’t really have any idea why I was to smash this car up. I didn’t ask.

The way I saw it was, if I was given a task to do, I would do it without question.

It was dark as I approached the car. I started to hit it almost immediately, smashing in the windows.

I was cautious while I was doing all this, keeping my eyes open. I saw someone looking out of the window of the house, and I started running as fast as I could to the next street, and back into my uncles car.

On the way back, we sat

in silence, and as we approached my house, I was given a pat on the head and told “well done.”

I had successfully completed my first job. A few weeks later, I was given my first hand gun.

My mum and dad didn’t seem to bother too much that I had a hand gun in my room. They were more interested that I keep the place clean.

It had no bullets with it, of course, but I was told that for every wee job I would do, I`d get one. As you can imagine, I was really up for more jobs as I knew even then that a gun was useless without bullets. I could aim and fire it as much as I`d liked, but it would just keep clicking

clicking clicking.

I remember that I started to collect some money for the family at around seven years old.

I would be taken to certain addresses and handed a note, which I would take to the front door.

People would answer, I`d hand the note over, and they would read it and go and fetch the money or sometimes they wouldn`t have it and they would tell me to tell my people they couldn’t pay this week.

Occasionally they’d look at me, a kid, and tell me to piss off.

I hated that part, as I knew I`d be returning to the car empty handed and



that usually involved my uncle or whoever getting out the car, opening the boot, taking out a weapon, telling me to sit in the back and going to the door themselves.

They normally returned with the money, but sometimes they would come back to the car with bits of blood on their clothes. I knew then (I wasn`t stupid) that it was a non-payer who had to be made an example of.

I recall that sometimes when I was at the door and they told me they didn’t have the money, I`d say “You borrowed it, fucking pay it!”

That must have been unsettling for them, to hear those words coming out of a child’s mouth, and looking back now I feel sorry for what I said to those people, and I often wondered why I was asked to go along and pick up debts at that age.

It’s only when you get older that you realise the family knew you had something in you, and they were training you up, to see if you could cope with that way of life or if you would crack.

I didn’t crack. I did my best for the family.

The first guy I stabbed, I was just seven years old. The story goes that my auntie had spread lies

about my dad; she had told one of the hard men that my dad threatened to petrol bomb his house with his kids inside.

I know for a fact my dad would never have made that threat. I know I was only a kid, but I knew my own dad better than that.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was playing on my Commodore 64 in my bedroom and I heard this big commotion in the hallway, lots of shouting and swearing.

I ran out to see what it was and this guy had my dad by the throat, pushing him against the wall. I ran into my bedroom and grabbed a knife from under my pillow, and rushed back into the hallway.

I stuck it right into this strange guys side. It was a surreal moment to be honest.

Everything seemed to stop.

Time itself stood still. There was quiet for a moment, and then the guy groaned. He took his hands from around my dad’s throat and put them to his side.

I pulled the knife out, and the blood started to spurt and trickle from his t shirt.

My blade was covered in blood. The guy looked at me, looked at my dad, he

composed himself and walked out of our house, clutching the wound.

I looked at my dad with a big smile on my face.

I felt like I was ready to be praised and cuddled.

Instead I was taken into the bedroom and got a good hiding from him.

The knife was taken away and disposed of, and so were my clothes, and I was left alone to think about things. I accepted that beating, although it confused me. What had I done wrong?

Violence, followed by a lot of self-analysis … It was to become a familiar thing, until I stopped asking myself those kind of questions.

32 T h e C u l t u r a l S c o o p


Late last year, Bryan Adams was in town celebrating 30 years of his first hit album Reckless and although he had a busy schedule, he took time out to talk to Scooped’s Sean Thomas Graham.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

BRYAN ADAMS:INSIDE OUT INTERDDVIEW

The Big Interview: With Sean Thomas Graham

http://en.calameo.com/subscriptions/2658019

33


T h e C u l t u r a l S c o o p

Bryan, can you believe it was 30 years ago that Reckless first hit our shelves?

I can, there have been many, many white lines down the road.

This was your fourth album and the one many people feel put you on the road. What was the inspiration behind it?

At the time, I just wanted to get out of the club scene and get into doing proper shows, so the songs were sort of geared around my live gigs.

How big an influence has Jim Vallance been on your career?

If it wasn’t for Jim, I’d probably still be working in a kitchen somewhere. He was the most incred-ible person to have casu-ally bumped into. We wrote a song at our first meeting, and we’re still at it today.

Is it true that you wrote four of the songs on the album in just a week?

Well, not quite! I was speaking metaphorically when I said Monday was this song Tuesday was that song …

It took far longer than that, but the point I was making was that in a reasonable period of time we wrote some of the most signifi-cant songs of our careers, without realising what the

heck we were doing.

You clearly have a gift not only for singing and writing but for playing the guitar.

When did you first realise that you could write songs that would actually make you a damn good living?

I’d been getting work as a singer in lots of places, was getting accepted in the local scene as a singer, and that grew into session work.

I sang with all of the singers in Vancouver that were doing sessions at that time (late 70’s), it’s what paid my rent, as working in bands was not paying a penny.

Who were the inspirations or artists that perhaps you looked up to in the early years?

The Beatles of course, and from there it was all 70’s hard rock. Humble Pie,

Stones, Bowie, The Who, Zeppelin, Deep Purple…the list is endless

You have had so many iconic anthems over the years and such a huge back catalogue.

If you could pick one to say, “I am so glad I wrote this and proud it’s mine” would it be Summer of 69?

I’m very glad I wrote that one for sure, but there have been many. I love ‘em all.

Reckless has been re-released as a special deluxe edition for the fans but I’ve heard the release was not as easy or straightforward as many would think. Can you tell me what happened?

Yes, all of the parts of the release were missing, the tapes, the artwork and any of the films were all gone.

Luckily I kept a copy of



the Master tapes, and I personally went into the Universal archive to find the artwork and could only find one thing, which was a copy of the cover that was made for a video box! The original prints were gone, it was so depress-ing. It took ages to find everything.

Everything did go ok in the end right?

Yes, I eventually went into my own archive and found all the photos I’d taken at the time, they are all on the special deluxe edition.

How did you get Tina Turner involved on Its Only Love?

I sent the song to both her producer and her manager

Roger Davies and coinci-dentally they were coming to Vancouver where we were recording. Tina was the opening act for Lionel Richie and it was just before Private Dancer came out. If I think about it now, I still can’t quite believe the timing of it.

I don’t think even she and her manager could have imagined how big that album was about to become.

I toured with Tina in Europe after that, I attri-bute my success in Europe to her, because the album had already come and gone. That tour put it at the top of the charts.

Were there any songs that didn’t make it off the

album you wished you released as singles?

I can’t imagine it would have been possible, we had 5 I think, that is more than most albums could dream of.

Any little gems on the deluxe version that the fans will like?

All of the bonus tracks are great. I wish I’d put this album out as a double package now that I see everything together.

What was it like when you found out you made it to the top of the charts with the album?

Really tremendous, and I was enormously grateful to the team of people that worked so hard to make it what it is.

However, the worker bee in me set sights on the next thing. I sometimes found the success daunting, and Reckless was a hard record to make recording wise; I cut and recut songs until I had what I wanted and changed drummers on a few songs until it rocked the right way.

In contrast, the song writing, seemed so easy, the songs just flowed. I wondered if it would be that easy again, and it wasn’t. Things changed and writing became harder, and we pushed our-selves really hard to the point where we took years

35



“I hardly re-member the 90’s, I’m only reminded by photos and even then sometimes I’ve no idea where I was.”

apart from writing.

You have had so many achievements in your career including a song which has been played at many weddings up and down the country and around the world, includ-ing mine, with Everything I Do (I Do It For You). How was it spending 16 weeks at the top of the charts?

I can hardly remember it, because I wasn’t in the UK to enjoy it much.

I was on tour everywhere else, it was the beginning of a four year tour and by the end of it, everything was a blur. I hardly remem-ber the 90’s, I’m only reminded by photos and even then sometimes I’ve no idea where I was.

You have played all over the world and in so many

special places. Do you have a favourite place or tour memory?

So many it’s hard to remember all of them. There were special ones at Madison Square Gardens, Wembley Stadium and so forth, and odd places like we recently played in Nepal.

And the funny story there is the cars that came to get us at the gig turned out to be regular taxis. We arrived at the place at what we thought was the door to the Cricket Stadium, only to realise it was the main door where all 30,000 people were already waiting.

So the taxis, instead of backing up and taking us backstage, took us right through the centre of the grounds through all the

people.

After a glittering career spanning so many decades, have you seen many changes good and bad in the music world over the years?

Yes, but I’d never complain about it now, because things are so bad now for artists and songwriters, I wouldn’t be surprised if most kids these days are probably more inter-ested in who designed the iPhone.

Would you do anything dif-ferently now?

I would have released all of the songs from Reckless way earlier.

You can read the full inter-view and a host of other great articles in Issue 10 of Amped Up Scotland.



G L A S G O W N I G H T SW I T H T E R R Y B O Y D CALENDAR

37





39



For more excellent pictures from Terry


40 M a l k y


See that Russell Brand, by the way? What a pure fandango that man is.

Ah saw him oan the telly the other week, talking one right load ay pish, telling young people no tae bother voting. Ah nearly pissed maself laughing at first, thinking “this guy’s havin’ us on.”

Then ah realised he wiz serious. Ah mean, Christ … is this no the boy who wiz pumpin’ everything that moved no that long ago? Whit’s he up tae, trying tae invent himself as some kind ay political commentator? Ah mean, since when?

Normally, ah don’t bother much wae celebrities, aw except for thae wans who are always, forever, talkin’ Scotland doon.

Yeh know the sort, like that daft sod who’s always in the papers, yeh know who ah mean, the wan whose claim tae fame is

making a better bra.

Well ah don’t know what she’s done for other people’s tits, but she fair gets oan mine …

Anyway, Brand … so this is a guy who’s made his living as a comedian, although some people don’t find him funny. Aye that and being a crap actor in rank rotten films where he gets tae basically play himself … a bad comic that likes firing it up the good looking burds …

All of a sudden he’s touring the country, talking about political issues, as if he’s got some special insight!

You know where I get ma special insight?

Special Brew. Ah’ve had some ay ma best ideas whilst out ma nut oan that stuff, like the night ah wiz inspired tae pish up the wallpaper in ma ex-burd’s new living room, and blame it oan her man who

was lying sparkled in the next room … Daft sod!

Probably the Best Lager In the World, as they say … although they’re watering it doon later this year … fandangos just cannae leave anything alone …

But aye, like ah wiz saying … Brand. Telling young folk no tae bother voting. Pish.

Ah mean, whit good will that dae anybody?

Can you see how scary that must look tae some greedy MP, pockets bulging wae taxpayer cash after cheating oan his expenses – and nowadays yeh don’t even need tae cheat tae coin it in. Think he’s scared voters’ll punish him … by not voting at all?

Ah’ll tell yeh why he’s scared; he might pish himself laughing.

Yeh know what would really terrify these swines? If people had tae vote.

THE FULLMALKYEW

41M a l k y


If every single person in this country had nae choice but tae get interested in the subject, and forced oot ay their bed on Election Day and made tae make the effort.

If it wiz something they were making yeh dae, would people really treat aw political issues as some kinda joke?

Or would it make them think a wee bit?

Fur me, ah’ve voted steadily aw my adult life, ever since ah wiz first 18. Ah’ve always voted the same way; fur maself and ma weans and fur whoever wiz giving me and mine the better deal.

When that’s been Labour, ah’ve voted Labour. When it’s been SNP that’s where ma vote has gone … although I’ll tell yeh, whoever’s first tae say they’ll bring the cost ay a packet ah fags doon a quid will be ever in ma debt …

Tories, yer asking? Tories? Sake mate, there’s mair

chance ay me being voted World’s Most Sexiest Man than there is ay me voting Tory … and no bugger’s yet won that wae a 38 waist, a beer gut, piles and as many baldy bits as a Glasgow back-court garden.Whit wiz a saying there, but?

Aye … Brand! Voting!

Ah think making it compulsory would be a grand wee idea, and would put these fandangos on their toes.

Imagine all the wee corner wide-boys suddenly getting smart about this stuff and voting tae keep their giros intact.

Imagine aw the wee single mums trooping intae the community centres and fighting fur their child support benefits.

Aw the boys who’re headed fur the army deciding they might no fancy voting for a party who’ll keep them busy …

It’d be something tae see,

right? Ah mean, these people only get away wae running things like how they dae because no enough ay us are interested.

How does Brand think encouraging that will make things any better for themselves or other folk?

Politicians love it when we don’t gie a toss.

It’s what keeps them fae havin’ tae face up tae the consequences ay aw the crap decisions they make. So not voting at all?

Hell, yeh might as well gie these fandangos a license to beast us right intae the next millennium.

Anyway, that’s ma thinking oan it.

If Brand wants tae spend time trying tae convince young folk ay that stuff he’s welcome tae dae it … but he should stick tae shagging aboot instead. If he tries that roon here he’ll be getting Malkied fur talking such pish.

A Fandango ....

42 T h e I c e C r e a m S c o o p


IN PRAISE ...OF TOTAL WAR WORK PLACE

By James Forrest

The Frozen north ....

43


T h e I c e C r e a m S c o o p

It’s 425 AD, and Europe is burning.

Everywhere you look on the map, war rages. Once great cities are gone, replaced by scarred desolate lands.

Those that remain are fought over like bones amidst a pack of hungry dogs. Some are aflame. Others are under siege, ready to fall.

The armies of Attila the Hun are looting Greece. The Saxons and the Germanic Langobards are fighting a brutal war around what is now modern day Austria.

The Ostrogoth’s are locked in a deadly tussle with the Gaul’s and separatists from what was once the Western Roman Army

are trying to claw out an existence in Southern Spain.

The mighty empire of which they were once a part is gone.I know that because I just completed my conquest of Italy, and they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, I came across a couple of smaller factions – Italia, Septimania – who had carved out a piece of those fertile lands, and one faded superpower – Macedonia – desperately clinging on.

I achieved this through a combination of guile and sheer brute force.

As a Viking lord, representing the Geats, my ancestral home is in Scandinavia, which I took over early, wiping out my Jute and Danish cousins

as quickly as time and my growing economy would allow me to.

Once their territories and resources were in my hands, I signed alliances with my southern neighbours, to protect myself whilst I turned my attention to Caledonia et Hibernia – now Scotland and Ireland – and the Celtic tribes.

I quickly overcame them, and headed south.

Having crossed Hadrian’s Wall (where I fought an almighty battle with the Caledonians) I found myself in a ten year quagmire spending blood and treasure on a seemingly unwinnable series of wars against local rebels who, at first, were impossible to pacify

The Frozen north ....

“Burn it all ....”



or fully conquer.

But I prevailed … and once I had, I turned my attention to mainland Europe … and then to dreaming of Rome.

This is Attila Total War, the latest in the Total War series from Creative Assembly. It may well be their most ambitious title to date. It will almost certainly prove to be their best, once a few little kinks are ironed out and the AI is improved some.

As it stands right now though, it is fantastically playable, magnificently dark and complex enough to keep the most avid strategy fan hooked, although not so tough that it will scare away the newcomer.

The aim of a Total War

title seems clear enough; conquest. Bloody, ruthless conquest, and no other game series lets you play at Armchair General with this much detail and in such gory glory.

But before you ever see a battlefield, you are faced with the daunting (at first) task of maintaining your lands and your economy. Your forces (and your people) need to be housed, and fed, and catered to. You have to provide entertainment, culture and even religion.

Keeping them happy is easy in the early stages, but eventually you have to think about every new building that goes up; some increase the squalor, which makes disease a possibility.

Others involve a too

great consumption of resources like food. That, too, becomes a worry later. Researching new technology helps, but it takes time to develop anything really hard-hitting.

But all of it is worth it when you put one of your kitted out armies onto the field. That’s when you know you’re involved in something special.

The campaign takes place on a glorious 3D map of towns and cities and mountains and plains and forests and rivers. You move your armies around this map until they reach the enemy, and then you enter a battlefield reflecting your surroundings.

If you are in a mountain pass, that’s where you will fight. If you are on the edge

The scope of the game ....

45



of a town, you will see it in the distance. If you are sacking a city, you will have to scale or destroy the walls to capture the key points in it, and thus claim new lands.

With thousands of troops at your command and the enemy in your sights, you feel part of something big. Really big. Everything about the battles is, frankly, incredible; the sights of war, the sounds of it and (especially with the Blood and Gore downloadable content pack) the brutality of it really comes to life.

Weather rushes in, bringing driving rain, snow or even sand. It effects weapons too; using flaming arrows and fire projectiles is a no-no in a downpour.

I’ve been playing Total War games for years, having bought every one of them since I was convinced enough by a review of Rome to give it a try. It was, and remains, a phenomenal game, with a richness no other strategy game I’d ever played had.

Since then, like every other player, I have been entranced by Medieval II and its spectacular add-on Kingdoms, been frustrated by the occasional brilliance but well documented faults of the staggeringly ambitious Empire (and it’s far more polished sequel-expansion

Napoleon) and been delighted by the genius and design of Shogun 2 and its own add on pack Fall of The Samurai.

Rome 2 … well, Rome 2 we endured for the first year. We endured it although it was a difficult experience, being launched badly flawed and in need of a lot of TLC.

A dozen patches and three campaign add-on’s later they released a massive free expansion involving the Roman Civil War between Caesar Octavian and his rivals, and with The Emperors Edition gave us a version of the game that we could finally really enjoy, if not outright love.

Indeed, Attila shipped with a number of those features fans thought Rome 2 was lacking, including the Family Tree, which puts you at the heart of a dynasty and makes the generals and statesman feel somehow more real.

Its absence from Rome 2 was one of the premier causes of complaint about that game, along with its hard to grasp politics system.

The Family Tree in Attila just makes your generals and main characters feel more substantial, and you get attached to them quite easily, and often with shocking results.

When my family lost its

eldest son in a bloody battle with the Danes, early in my current campaign, I put aside my economic expansion plans and built an army to hunt down every relative of their king and I massacred them all before sacking their capital city and taking their land for my own.

This is what Total War does to you, and Attila does it better than any other title in the series. Everything just looks and feels better, as if the lessons of 15 years of these games have all been learned and folded into this one.

And not only all the great features we came to know and love, but a host of brand new ones, such as the ability to play as a

“The aim of a Total War title seems clear enough; conquest. Bloody, ruthless conquest, and no other game series lets you play at Armchair General with this much detail and in such gory glory.”



Maggie In Malawi

horde; literally a traveling circus of soldiers and citizens which doesn’t settle in one area with cities and towns like a traditional Total War game. In this one you can uproot the whole empire and take it on the road, looting and burning and killing as you go, settling once you find somewhere warm and safe from the cold that creeps south with every passing year of gameplay. (Each turn is 3 months.)

Are there negatives? Sure.

The game is graphics intensive to a fare-thee-well and you need a pretty decent rig to run it with all the eye candy maxed out, and to play through one of the campaigns takes dedication and time and effort; sometimes weeks

of three and four hour sessions to complete the major objectives.

The AI can be decidedly dumb at times too; more than once it has sacked cities rather than capture them, even when doing so would have exposed me to great danger.

Some fans complain that it also tends to raze settlements too much, leaving much of the map desolate … but that’s a matter of taste.

More pressing is the downloadable content gripe, one that’s frequently aired on the forums.

The game itself cost me £30 and I’ve already spent more than half that again on additional factions and

the must-have “blood and gore” add-on.

The system, which was first used as far back as Empire, has become typical to the series (and I own every single piece of it), but this is the first time that several packs have been released so close to the game’s official launch … and that’s made people question whether or not the base game provided value for money.

To me, the additional factions are always welcome, and if Rome 2 was anything to go by we’re probably looking at three or more additional campaigns as time marches on. That’ll suit me, because I love this game. War has never been so much fun.

Britain at war ....

Maggie In Malawi



At some point last month I got into Sons of Anarchy in a big way, and I was delighted when a familiar face popped up in the first episode. It was Tommy Flanagan, whose journey from Glasgow’s back streets to the Hollywood film sets where he’s become well known is as amazing as anything that’s appeared in any of the shows or movies he’s done.

In Sons, which is his biggest role yet, one that, hopefully, will launch him into the stratosphere as a real A-List performer, he plays a character named Chibs, and as the screen industry seems to want everyone to play a nationality different from their own it was almost a sublime pleasure to hear him speaking in the broad accent of our home town.

His role in the show is as a gangster, part of a gang of motorcycle outlaws who are more like an

extended family. They are involved in a variety of illegal and borderline activities that bring no end of trouble. Chibs is the steady hand, one of the gang’s most committed soldiers, eventually rising up through its ranks due to a mixture of loyalty, dependability and smarts.

Yet there’s a depth to Chibs that maybe isn’t there with some of the other characters.

He’s funny and engaging, but they all are. Yet he’s also got a heart, and is compassionate and caring, in spite of his obvious ruthless streak.

He usually puts others first, often at great risk to himself, but he has tremendous self-belief.

There is a moment in the final season that sums him up almost perfectly.

He has just bedded the

new town sheriff, played by the gorgeous Annabeth Gish and now he’s in a hurry to get out of her way and back to his life as the VP and the right hand man for the chater and its under-fire President, his closest friend, Jax.

“Thanks,” he says to her as he pulls on his coat.

“For the heads up, or for the sex?” she asks, having just warned him that his gang is being looked at for a series of crimes.

“For the heads up,” he tells her, in an off-hand way. “You should be thanking me for the sex.”

I laughed at that moment, and I laughed at a lot of Chibs’ scenes. Tommy Flanagan brings such style and wit to the part that it’s impossible not to enjoy every second of his performance.

He is one of the finest

IN PRAISE ...OF TOMMY FLANAGAND D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

By James Forrest

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Chibs plotting his next conquest ....

actors to hail from these lands since Connery.

I first saw Tommy Flanagan in an episode of Taggart, in the early 90’s. He popped up on TV every now and again during that time, appearing in shows like Rab C. Nesbit and the occasional made-for-telly movie.

In 1996 though, he landed a role in Braveheart, where he played Morrison, a vengeful member of Wallace’s army who we see murdering the local magistrate who exorcised his right to prima nocta, and slept with Tommy’s wife. As you can imagine, that was a Bad Move.

This role brought him to

the attention of Tinsel Town’s directors, and it wasn’t long before he was cast in a number of small roles as colourful characters like the laughing, sneering taxi driver who steers Michael Douglas into the river in The Game.

Tommy certainly looks the part; he is famous for the twin scars on his face, which are the results of a vicious knife attack right here in this city, where he used to be a DJ (and where his brother still is.)

They are striking, and add a sense of history to every role he’s been in, although I’m sure he’d prefer it if makeup handled that for him instead.

Nevertheless, they somehow make his roles more real, such as that which he played in Gladiator, that of Cicero, the right hand man to another leader, Maximus.

Looking at Flanagan, you never doubt that this is a man who’s been in the wars.

In Sons he explains his nickname to the aforementioned sheriff with a lesson on the origins of the word and a potted version of the true story. If this was scripted for him then it was wonderfully done. If he improvised it then it was a moment of genius.

Tommy’s interaction with



the other stars in the show is often electrifying. His loyalty to Jax, who he treats throughout as a brother, is one of the glues that binds the show together.

Chibs also forms a crucial bond with a younger member of the gang, Juice, who he mentors in the early seasons.

It is Chibs Juice turns to when he experiences a life crisis that makes him consider suicide.

Flanagan is so believable in the role; this is a guy you would want on your side in a crisis.

It is hard to believe that this is his biggest role; before it, he had made some films and starred in

the odd TV episode, but it was in Sons that he got to bite down on something really substantial, and to say he nails the part is an understatement.

Imagining anyone else in the role is as near impossible as you’ll find.

His mixture of hard aggression and kindness, even love, is brilliantly realised.

Tommy was really at the top of his game in his six years on the series.

Since Son’s ended a year ago, Tommy has been working mainly on films, although he has most recently appeared on our screens in three episodes of the TV show Revenge, where he played Malcolm

Black, an illegal arms dealer, in an echo of his Sons of Anarchy role.

At the moment he has no fewer than six projects either completed or in the pipe, with one in planning, one bagged and tagged, one in pre-production and three more in post-production and ready for release.

He has evidently been busy, with life after Sons having been more hectic than anything he’s known in his career before.

He deserves it. The man who was born in Easterhouse and made it all the way to Hollywood has had one Hell of a journey … and everyone at Scooped hope’s that it’s only just started for him.

“I believe you know my good lady ....”

52 T h e S p o r t s S c o o p


STILL WORTHWINNING? WORK PLACE

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

By Matthew Marr

The Scottish League Cup

53


T h e S p o r t s S c o o p

Winning an Olympic silver medal must be a strange experience.

On the one hand, it’s a phenomenal achievement, the culmination of a lifetime’s dedication which places the winner second in the world out of a population of seven billion.

However it must be a slightly bittersweet experience, coming so close to the most desired medal of all and seeing it disappear from before your eyes, especially as you glance left at the successful athlete when standing on the medal podium.

It’s worth asking if these mixed feelings – delight at victory, tempered

by a realisation of not quite being the top performer – may be evident in footballing cup competitions too.

For numerous years now there has been a debate in England and Scotland about the value of their respective League Cups.

In addition, the Europa League struggles to compete with the more illustrious Champions version.

The split between the two main European competitions is perhaps the most stark.

The excitement which is generated by the Champions League anthem is matched only

by the apathy and indeed confusion that can be greeted on hearing the Europa League’s less famous version.

UEFA and the public’s attitude to the two events is clearly demonstrated through money.

Champions League winners are paid Euro 10.5 million whilst the Europa League winners get less than half of that (Euro 5 million).

This financial gulf is reflected through all previous rounds too.

Similarly, attendances in the two competitions are entirely different, with significantly more people attending the Tuesday and Wednesday games than

The English League Cup



those held on a Thursday in the second competition.

This fan opinion is well demonstrated when comparing Celtic’s recent European adventures: in season 2011-12, over the course of three home Europa League group stage games, Celtic attracted an average of 32,945 fans; for the three Champions League games the following the season that figure was 58,589.

It is not only in Europe that an at times ambivalent attitude can be seen towards the second cup competition.

The League Cups in both Scotland and England regularly attract lower average crowds than the Scottish and FA Cups.

In the past three seasons the combined total of attendances at the Scottish Cup finals and semi-finals has been 321,975, giving an average across those nine games of 35,775.

The equivalent figure for the League Cup has been 270,072, an average of 30,008 per game.

This amounts to a reduction of 16% in attendances between the two competitions.

It is tempting to consider that perhaps these reduced attendances might be due to the success of non-Old Firm teams, and that these figures could be based on the absence of Celtic or Rangers during this period, but that would not be accurate.

In this time period, Celtic or Rangers were involved in four out of the nine games played in the Scottish Cup and three out of nine in the League Cup.

To even this up (eight games each, with Celtic or Rangers involved three times), the figures can be recalculated by taking away the highest attended Old Firm game in the Scottish Cup and the lowest attended non-Old Firm game in the League Cup.

The figures here show a smaller gap, but still a large one nevertheless.

The average attendance over the eight Scottish Cup games is 35,114 and the average attendance in the League Cup is 32,163,

The Europa League Trophy

55



still around 10% of a difference between the two.

So given these facts, does that mean that second cup competitions have outrun their usefulness?

Would it create more interest and competition if the Scottish and English League Cups were abolished, leaving teams to focus on the league and remaining cup competition?

Scrapping these competitions would in reality be a huge mistake, and one that could only undermine the success of domestic and continental football, as well as the hopes of smaller clubs especially.

Although that does not mean that there should not be changes to the current cup format and possibly even prizes available in them.

In simple financial terms, ending these competitions would cost many teams a lot of money.

Whether in England, Scotland or Europe as a whole, having less games to play – and thus fewer prizes to aim for – can only result in less general interest in a team and the money they raise.

Indeed it’s actually the reason that English League Cup was created

in the first place.

Celtic fans may have less interest in the Europa League when compared to the excitement of Tuesday and Wednesday European football.

However without the Europa League’s ticket, advertising, TV and prize money, the missing millions from the Champions League would be even more keenly felt.

Equally Manchester City fans may have their eyes on bigger achievements that winning the League Cup, but it did not stop them celebrating their win last year.

And it certainly was still a worthwhile and momentous event for Swansea City and Birmingham.

In Scotland the same is absolutely true for Kilmarnock and St Mirren, both of whom having had League Cup triumphs in recent years.

It may be the case that teams really want to win the Scottish League or Scottish Cup, the English Premiership or FA Cup, or the Champions League.

But that does not mean the other competitions they play for are without value.

Indeed it’s worth noting that when it comes to

respective leagues or the Champions League there are only a small number of teams that can realistically ever hope to triumph.

Instead of considering whether or not to kill a competition perhaps thought should instead be given to the different ways that fan, sponsor and TV interest can be generated for these events.

Indeed this is clearly something that UEFA are already looking at, given the change to allow the winners of this year’s Europa League direct entry to the Champions League Group Stages.

UEFA in part have to take the blame for the rise of the Champions League

“Scrapping these competitions would in reality be a huge mistake, and one that could only undermine the success of domestic and continental football, as well as the hopes of smaller clubs especially.”



and decline of the Europa League (and previously the UEFA Cup), in terms of public interest.

The constant growing of the Champions League to the extent where fourth place sides from selected leagues gain access has two problems.

Firstly it undermines the title ‘Champions’ League and secondly it reduces the number of big teams available for the Europa.

Reducing the number of teams from each country – and guaranteeing a group stage place for every country’s national champions – would ensure a different mix of teams each year but would also create a higher profile for the Europa League.

This in turn could lead to an overall increase in attendances as teams (and fans) from across Europe gained the chance to play and see some of the biggest names in sport.

This idea of reform could also be used in terms of the League Cups in England and Scotland.

On the one hand there is a suggestion that the two competitions be merged to create a British Cup.

In Scotland at least this would certainly create excitement at some of the teams that could soon be visiting.

However it would also render almost impossible the chances of Kilmarnock or St Mirren ever again

holding their own victory parade.

Instead of merging the two competitions, a joint final between the winners of each national cup might have some value, although it largely depends who the teams are.

In the past few years this would have involved Manchester City playing Aberdeen, St Mirren against Swansea and Liverpool versus Kilmarnock.

In most cases it is not hard to see why the Scottish clubs would be attracted to this, but harder to envisage the English (and Welsh) clubs being especially excited.

Some people in those

The Scottish Cup

57



countries already feel their clubs play too many games in the course of a season.

There is also the question of where the final would be played because there is a chance that this game could take place in front of a less than full stadium if Hampden or Wembley were used.

There are other options to increase interest in the Scottish League Cup at least. This could include a fixed ticket price (say £10 for adults, children £5) for all games, thus encouraging attendance.

It could also be a chance to encourage young Scottish players by insisting on a set number of under-21s. The option of giving a Europa League

place for winning teams may help too.

Or we could just accept – given the variety of winners in recent years – that the competition works, albeit with a smaller audience than the Scottish Cup.

The origin of each second cup competition is different in each country or continent.

The Scottish League Cup was introduced as a regional competition in 1940 due to the difficulties of continuing national football in a country fighting a war.

The English League Cup was originally created as a consolation for defeated FA Cup teams.

The Europa League began life as the Fairs Cup, promoting trade between different European cities.

Whatever the history of each competition, a key question to ask is this: if the second cups did not already exist, would there be any desire to invent them?

The honest answer is probably not.

However that does not mean they don’t have a valuable role to play, especially for clubs and fans whose teams will otherwise never reach the pinnacle but still want to aim for the very best they can.

A bit like winning a silver medal really.

The Champions League Trophy

The Scottish Cup

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Glasgow Scooped Issue 1