USF Issue One

SCOTTISHFOOTBALL

ULTIMATE

ISSUE ONE

AN INTERVIEWWITH BRIAN GRAHAM

+MORE INSIDE

www.ultimatescottishfootball.com01

EDITOR’S NOTES

“The Scottish Football League has shown in theearly stages of the 2012/13 campaign that the threerespective divisions are as competitive as ever.”

Welcome to Ultimate Scottish Football Issue One. After some excel-lent feedback and over 4,000 views of our debut (Issue Zero) we hope this magazine provides Scottish football lovers with relevant and in-sightful Scottish football content with some extra fun features.

In Issue One we have features including Dunfermline, as manager Jim Jefferies tells us what it will take for the Pars to attain automatic pro-motion. We take an in-depth look at Rangers continuing struggle to stamp their authority in the third division. We have interviews with Stenhousemuir assistant manager Kevin McGoldrick, Partick Thistle midfielder Steven Lawless and Raith Rovers striker of the moment Bri-an Graham.

We countdown our top ten greatest football computer games and have an exclusive interview with journalist Iain Macintosh who is the co-au-thor of the highly acclaimed book ‘Football Manager Stole My Life’.

The Scottish Football League has shown in the early stages of the 2012/13 campaign that the three respective divisions are as competi-tive as ever and we hope that there is something in this issue for foot-ball fans in general.

At USF we encourage our readers to actively engage with us. If there is a story you think we should be covering or anything we can improve on then you can contact us through our Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages. You can also get in contact with us at our email address, [email protected]. In the next few months we hope make our new and improved website a place where you can find an array of Scottish football content.

So all that is left to say is thank you for taking time to read our mag-azine and we hope you enjoy this issue as much as we have putting it together.

Happy reading,

Graeme Young

Editor

EDITORIALEDITOR

Graeme Young

DEPUTY EDITORSAndrew Jenkin

Stuart Kenny

HEAD OF DESIGNDavid Chalmers

ADVERTISINGMarie Knight

CONTRIBUTORSMichael Wood, Sam Robert-

son, Graham Swann,Scott Binnie, Peter

McCormickPHOTOGRAPHY

Daily Record, Partick Thistle FC, Raith Rovers FC, Google

Images, Dave Murty Photog-raphy

THANKS TOKevin McGoldrick, Iain

Macintosh, Jack Ross, Brian Graham, Jim Jefferies, SFL

CONTACTwww.ultimatescottishfoot-

ball.com

Inquiries: info@ultimatescottishfoot-

ball.co.uk

Editor: graeme@ultimatescottish-

football.co.uk

Design: design@ultimatescottish-

football.co.uk

SOCIAL MEDIATwitter: @UScotFoot

Facebook:Facebook.com/Ultimate-

ScottishFootball.com

Editor Graeme Young talks about the new analysis movement that Gary Neville has helped create after

his introduction to Monday Night Football.


CONTENTS

P.23

With the opening of St. George’s Park in England,Michael Wood discusses whether it would be wise

for Scotland to follow suit.

P.47

USF Writers create their list of the Top Ten football video games to have ever existed, featuring the likes

of Championship Manager and Sensible Soccer...

P.09

03. COACHES CHAT04. AFRICA ON THE BALL05. TEN THINGS WE’VE LEARNED07. SHOULD SFL PLAYERS BE GIVEN A CHANCE IN THE SCOTLAND SQUAD09. TOP 10 FOOTBALL VIDEO GAMES21. INTERVIEW WITH IAIN MACINTOSH23. FANS WANT MORE THAN CLICHES27. DUMBARTON FEATURE31. DUNFERMLINE FEATURE35. HAMILTON FEATURE37. ‘FANS PARLIAMENT’39. GOAL-DEN GRAHAM41. ARMAGEDDON44. PARTICK THISTLE FEATURE45. AWAY DAY BLUES CONTINUE47. REVERSION TO REALITY CRUCIAL TO LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT OFSCOTTISH FOOTBALL51. USF QUIZ52. SFL LEAGUE TABLES53. JACK ROSS TALKS TO USF


USF catches up with Stenhousemuir assistant man-ager Kevin McGoldrick to talk about his side’s de-cent start to the season. Kevin also shares his views on the work the club has done in the community as well as what the future holds for the future of game at a national level.

USF - How do you think the season has gone so far for Stenhousemuir?

Kevin McGoldrick - I think we’ve played pret-ty well but the problem has been we have drawn to many games to start the season. That is ok for sides whose aim is to stay in the division but we are looking to be one of the sides who are in the mix for promotion at the end of the season so wins are vital.

There are a lot of positive signs though; we played very well against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the league cup. You always want more but realis-tically I think we have done well so far this season.

How are you enjoying your role as assistant man-ager at the club?

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I am very am-bitious. Last season when I was with Davie Irons, at times I took charge of the first team due to his work commitments so that has given me a hunger to one day move on and be my own man.

So far with Martyn Corrigan things have gone well. With my experience at the club I have tried to help him as much as I can. Martyn is an absolutely fan-tastic guy and I am enjoying this season immense-ly.

Stenhousemuir recently won the best community club side in Scotland at the SFA grassroots awards, what does an accolade like that mean for the club?

I think it shows that the area in general takes a real interest in their club and the role they have in the community. The club must be right up there with any other part-time club in the country. We have all the facilities that you need to be successful. It enables us to provide a good foundation for our youth teams and our local community is a big part of the club.

I think the club has everything in place to run on a conveyer belt. We have been a club which had become accustomed to fighting relegation in the second division and during most of that time we would have probably been a side fighting for pro-motion at the top of the third division. I think there is a clear indication that the club is moving in the right direction over the last couple of years.

You began your coaching career working at youth level, what do you think about some of the young talented players in the SFL?

I watched the Scotland Under-19’s recently and I think we are very critical as a nation. At youth lev-el there are certainly things being implemented. Marc Wotte has added certain new things such as elite performance al over Scotland. I think we are getting football back. Football was all we had but nowadays there are so many other distractions which get in the way. I think that had a big influ-ence in the drop of standard. I think at youth level there definitely seems to have been improvements in recent years. I think talented young players have every opportunity to do well in the game with all the recent developments in the game such as the emphasis on sports science.

The Under-21 side have shown big improvements under Billy Stark at national level and the emer-gence of players such as Jordan Rhodes can only help the national side moving forward.

With the opening of the FA’s national academy St Georges Park in England recently, how vital is it for Scotland to get something of a similar ilk?

From what I have seen the centre looks unbeliev-able, the facilities look fantastic. I think we have something similar in Inverclyde but probably not on the same scale, we also have the facilities at Grangemouth and Toryglen. It is smaller steps in the right direction. If we cannot get one main cen-tre for football then it is important to continue de-veloping these smaller academies throughout the country. I think more football facilities are needed; these fa-cilities will always get used. I think it is a natural re-action to look at the facilities in England and want to have something similar.

What do you think is the realistic aim for the club and yourself for the rest of the season?

I want to be successful and I think this season the club has a realistic chance of pushing for promo-tion to the first division. I think between myself and the manager we both feel we have a squad that’s good enough to do just that. Last season we made great strides and we feel we can push on even fur-ther this campaign. We just missed out on the play-offs last year, so that is an obvious goal this season. Queen of the South have looked very strong so far but it is early days and we will do everything we can to push up the table as the season progresses.

COACHES CHAT:Kevin McGoldrick


Africa on the Ball is more than just a football team. It is a revitalising attitude and mentality. Most importantly, it is a belief that football can facilitate improvement and the achievement of goals, not only for individuals and teams, but also in underdeveloped and deprived communities. Africa On Thew Ball operates in Lusaka, the heart of Zambia. Zambia is the eleventh poorest coun-try in the world. About 68% of Zambians live below the recognised national poverty line. So-cial indicators continue to decline, particularly in measurements of life expectancy at birth and maternal mortality. The country’s rate of eco-nomic growth cannot support rapid population growth or the hiv/aids-related issues straining the economy. Despite Africa being a continent extremely pas-sionate about football, finding organised leagues and competitive fixtures for many young Africans is difficult. Financial restraints hinder the ability of communities to construct all the necessary de-tails. Beneath all the deprivation and obstacles, a group of boys in Kalingalinga, a compound in Lusaka, posses a sense of hope. They believe that with the right attitude, discipline and leadership, they can improve the community which they were born into. They can make a difference.

Danielle King, fundraising officer for Africa on the Ball, believes the power of sport can assist in the strengthening of communities like Kalingalinga. “We wanted to use football as a tool to help many of these unfortunate young African children, so we’re funding and supporting teams in communi-ties where we feel we can make a difference” says King. “We’re using our teams as a platform for the chil-

dren to learn about communication, leadership, discipline and the values of life such as working hard”. The Kalingalinga branch of Africa on the Ball is only the first of many proposed, and the signs of community development are already clear. Elena Sarra, fellow trustee of Africa on the Ball says, “Simply being part of the team teaches the boys the importance of leadership, commitment, team work, focus, determination and gives them confidence in their power to achieve their goals on the pitch as well as in life” Africa on the Ball’s Kalingalinga Under 17s team won promotion from their division in their first full season as a team, an impressive feat for any team in the world. Although results on the pitch are im-portant to the organisation, it is what happens off the pitch in the community that lies at the heart of Africa on the Ball’s purpose and mission.Whilst the league is a great chance for our young players to play other local teams and be competitive, the children also learn important things about HIV/AIDs” says coach James Banda Africa on the Ball is making plans to grow in the future. “We have started with the boys in Kalingal-inga because this is where we had the contacts and support on the ground” says Elena. “How-ever, our aim is to expand well beyond Lusaka and Zambia to other communities all over Africa. Sport is an incredible tool to break down any bar-riers linked to race, culture, religion, background, age or gender. We are already looking around for potential girls teams to support”. Sports like football speak to youth in a way no other form of discipline can. It is through organ-isations like Africa on the Ball that we will see a substantial amount of advancement and develop-ment toward a brighter future.

AFRICAONTHEBALL


Improvement isn’t always instant as Partick This-tle have shown

You would have been hard pressed to have found anyone outside of Maryhill who would have backed the Jags to be one of the early season pacesetters in division one. Jackie McNamara’s side have been impressive in securing six victories in their opening eight fixtures with only one de-feat. After a mid table finish in the 2011/12 season where they failed to register two league wins on the spin, the Glasgow side began this campaign with six straight victories.

After losing one of their key players in Paul Cair-ney to Hibs in the summer, the Jags have shown plenty of promise and have been lauded for their exciting passing style which has caught many by surprise this season. The goals have been spread out around the side with Steven Craig, winger Steven Lawless and midfielder Chris Erskine all with at least five strikes in the league. Time will tell if this young team can keep up their early season form but their improvement on last sea-son is very encouraging for the future.

Jim Jefferies is still one of Scotland’s best man-agers

It is easy to forget that less than two years ago Jim Jefferies had his then Hearts side in real contention of splitting the Old Firm for the first time since the Tynecastle side had managed it in 2006. Jefferies arrived too late in the day to save the Pars from relegation last season but he has got his side in an excellent position for an instant return to the SPL next season.

Andrew Barrowman’s excellent start to the sea-son has been rewarded with eight league goals and he has been duly back up by the two Ryan’s, Wallace and Thomson respectively. Dunfermline has looked a class above in several league en-counters so far, most notably against Cowden-beath, Livingston and Hamilton. They have had

to show fight on occasions as well, coming back from a two goal deficit against Falkirk to go top of the table. If Dunfermline get a comfortable lead in the title race then it would be hard to imagine that anyone will be able to catch them.

Falkirk’s talented youngsters are still a year away from a promotion push

Outside of Ross County, Falkirk was the pick of the bunch for most of the year in the first division last season. Manager Steven Pressley talks about progression at his club and the Bairns seemed to be well on their way to a second placed finish be-fore a late season slump beset his young charges. The club secured the Ramsdens cup last year and were hoping to build on that success this season.

It has been a slow start so far in 2012/13 for Falkirk and promotion already looks like a step too far. It would be easy to get disheartened but Falkirk still have a team packed with exciting young talent whose only downside is a lack of experience. Lyle Taylor looks like a good sign-ing but they seem to badly miss Farid El Alagui’s presence up front. Talented teens Jay Fulton and Craig Sibbald still excite but it may be another year before we this team’s full potential but they are clearly on the right track long term.

Queen of the South look like a first division side

As Ross County and Alloa proved last season, sometimes a side just looks comfortably better than the rest of the opposition in their league. Queen of the South look every inch a first divi-sion side as they have made light work of their second division counterparts this season.

The Doonhamers took apart potential title rivals Arbroath at the beginning of September and have followed that up with a coupe of impressive away showings against Ayr (4-2) and Brechin (3-0). New manager Allan Johnston has made a great start to his managerial career and he has Nicky

THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED SO FAR IN THE 2012/13 SCOTTISHFOOTBALL LEAGUESEASON


Clark and Gavin Reilly to thank for their fine goal scoring exploits so far this season. They will be hoping the goals continue as the season pro-gresses.

The second division has been the most exciting in Scotland

If exciting is defined by goals then the second division has been the place to be. Two eight goal thrillers have been backed up with many oth-er exciting encounters in the division so far this season.

The game of the season so far surely has been the 4-4 draw between Albion Rovers and Sten-housemuir but other corkers have been East Fife’s 6-2 away win against Stranraer and Ar-broath’s 4-2 home victory over Ayr United.

Queen of the South look a good bet for the title but if the standard of games remain this high then it will be a must watch for the rest of the season.

Arbroath and Paul Sheerin have demonstrated resilience

Paul Sheerin has experienced a lot in his two years as a manager. After guiding the Smokies to the third division title in 2011, his side looked in contention for much of last season of securing back to back promotions. After missing out on the title to Cowdenbeath they were knocked out of the playoffs in the semi final stage to Dumbar-ton. Things went from bad to worse after they were humiliated by Queen of the South 6-0 at the start of this season.

It takes a lot of bottle to get things back on track and Arbroath have responded with three league wins and two draws in the five league fixtures since. Their only defeat came in a narrow chal-lenge cup defeat to Queen of the South again. Arbroath will hope their mental fortitude will aid them in their fight for promotion this time around.

Stirling Albion are still struggling to stop the rot

Stirling Albion for many years has been affec-tionately dubbed the Yo-Yo’s for their ability to bounce up and down divisions during a relatively short period of time. Over the past three seasons there hasn’t been a lot of bouncing back as they have slide down the leagues. After relegation from division one in 2011, they followed that up with a bottom placed finish in the second division last season.

Greig McDonald took charge just before Christ-mas after the dismissal of Jocky Scott and John Blackley. McDonald had a positive impact and was competitive in every home fixture through-out the 11/12 season but he could not prevent relegation. After an opening day drubbing of An-nan Athletic, Albion lost five on the bounce be-fore a shock win against Rangers. The Binos need

consistency, if they are to avoid a third straight season as the bottom team in their division.

Rangers will not have everything their own way in division three

Rangers have found out the hard way that the third division will be a difficult challenge to over-come. Bookies were quoting odds of 28/1 in the preseason for Rangers to go throughout the 36 game seasons with a perfect record, which was proven to be sheer folly as they dropped two points in their opening fixture away to Peterhead. They have failed to win in any of their three away league fixtures since, drawing with Berwick and Annan as well as losing at Stirling.

Rangers have looked dominant at home in the league and have been impressive in cup games against Motherwell and Falkirk. Rangers will be confident of improving as the season progress-es but without the opportunity of adding to his playing squad and cold winter trips away from home, manager Ally McCoist will be under pres-sure to get his side out the division with a mini-mum of fuss.

Queen’s Park and Elgin City will not go quietly

Many expected Rangers to steamroll their way through all before them in the third division but two sides are putting up a fight against the stut-tering Glasgow giants. Both Queen’s Park and Elgin suffered playoff heartbreak last season at the hands of Stranraer and Albion Rovers respec-tively but they have responded admirably at the beginning of the 2012 season.

Many will expect Rangers to secure the title but both Queens Park and Elgin will look to try and match each other in results against other sides in the division. Even if the automatic promotion place is unavailable both sides will be looking to write some wrong come playoff time this season.

The Scottish Football League is as competitive as ever

Whatever rightful grievances fans have with league structure and the absurd lack of playoffs in the first division, few can argue that the Scot-tish Football League is predictable. Each season certain teams surprise you in both a positive and negative manner. It is those intricate details that can make the difference between mid table ob-scurity and a promotion push. When money is at a premium, every signing counts and every bar-gain or diamond in the rough which can be found is treasured, the margins between sides are much smaller and that lends itself to close competitive encounters.


With the success of the Scottish national team becoming increasingly limited, is it time for Scot-tish Football League players to be given a chance to represent their country? Scotland have not qualified for a major tournament since 1998 and are continuously falling down the FIFA World Rankings, much to the frustration and disappointment of the faithful Tartan Army. Qualifica-tion campaign after qualification campaign with a couple of play-off appearances to show for it, surely it’s time to try something different in the hope that we can reach a major tournament and be back where we belong.

The standard of football in the SFL is becoming more impressive and there is no reason why Scottish players in these leagues shouldn’t be given a chance in the senior Scotland Squad, even if it’s just for a friendly or an appearance as a late substitute. Scotland need to try something new because it’s becoming a slight repetition each time we go through a qualification campaign. Each campaign seems to be a story of ‘what if’ or ‘so far and yet so near’ and who knows, an SFL player could be the difference between qualifying and narrowly missing out.

There have been a number of players capped for Scotland whilst playing in league lower than the top division over the past forty years. The most recognisable player would be Stevie Crawford who was capped for Scotland on 24th May 1995 in a game against Ecuador whilst he was play-ing for Raith Rovers. The most recent were also in 1995 when Dundee United’s William McKin-lay was selected for games against Sweden and Finland in September and October respectively. Funnily enough, McKinlay was signed by Blackburn Rovers just two days after the Sweden game which just goes to show that playing in even one or two Scotland games can boost your repu-tation and take your career to new heights. Also, is it a coincidence that the last time Scotland qualified for a major tournament was at a similar period of time Crawford and McKinlay mad ap-pearances for the national side? The player who has been capped most whilst playing for a lower league Scottish team is Thomas Ring of Clyde who, in 1957, made five appearances for Scotland including matches against West Germany, England and Spain. Alan Roderick of Partick Thistle made four appearances for Scotland during his time at the Jags, all coming in the year of 1976.

There are players in the SFL who are playing to a very high standard this season and should pos-sibly be considered for a Scotland call up. In terms of strikers, Airdrie’s John Boyle and Morton’s Archie Campbell have scored 7 goals in 8 league appearances which is very impressive and are both players worth the Scotland selectors taking a look at. Dunfermline have conceded the least number of goals in the league this season, letting in 5 goals in 8 games, so defender Andy Dowie or goalkeeper Paul Gallagher could also be considered. Dunfermline have also brought in some impressive youth players who could be worthy of doing a job for Scotland as Ryan Wallace and Josh Faulkingham have made impressive starts to the season. Faulkingham spent 11 years at En-glish club Leeds United so he could be a player who has what it takes to become a good player for Scotland and is worth keeping an eye on in the future. Obviously, Rangers who are playing

SHOULD SFL PLAYERS BE GIVEN A CHANCE IN THE SCOTLAND SQUAD? by SAM ROBERTSON


in the Scottish third division have got quality running through their team and have a squad full of already capped Scotland players. Ian Black, Lee Wallace and Lee McCulloch have already won a number of caps for the National team and will most likely keep on doing so. The 54-time league champions also have some young talent coming through. David Templeton has had an impressive career so far in Scottish football and will most likely be involved with the senior squad in the years to come.

It is very clear that the SFL is full of talent and it’s surely only a matter of time before these players are noticed by the SFA and are given a chance to play for Scotland. It’s been a number of years since an SFL player has been capped for Scotland which is fairly worrying as in those days Scot-land had a lot more success than they are having now. Is it time to return to those days? Is it time for Scotland to begin capping lower league players again and possibly return to where we belong – qualifying for major tournaments and matching the higher ranked nations, which I am 100% sure is where the whole nation wants Scotland to be and this country has the capability to do so but are our best players being deprived of the chance to make a name for themselves at Interna-tional level?


It is never easy to do a top ten list of anything, never mind something so fiercely contested as a top ten football computer games countdown. Ev-eryone has their favourite, the game which they played far too much and told all their friends about. If you like management games or even if you are a FIFA or PES guy or girl, we believe we have something here for everyone. The list is subjective but we tried to come up with a fair scoring system. Graeme Young, Andrew Jenkin and Stuart Kenny lead you on the count-down from games ten to one. So get ready for a bit of nostalgia as we look at some of the finest football titles to grace the virtual world.

THETOP10FOOTBALL VIDEO GAMES(ACCORDING TO...WELL, US, REALLY.)



Sega’s Virtua Striker would easily find a top ten place in the worst football games if we included any of the versions which made it on to console format. Virtua Striker 2 Version 2000.1 was a particular lowlight on Dreamcast but in its original arcade format VS was a giant in the football computer game arena. We aren’t going to worry ourselves with the shoddy reincarnations; our focus is solely on the original arcade behemoth

Virtua Striker, much like Virtua Tennis was a game which fitted the arcade system to a tee. Quick and easy to play with a limited number of buttons, once you played it you were as much an expert as you were ever going to be. It was quick and easy to play, a joystick and a few simple buttons. The variety of goals you could score were limited but as any dedicated player would know, the more often you got it out on the wing the more chance of goals. Like some other titles on this countdown there was a lack of teams on offer but you could take your pick from some of the best international sides of that era. Looking back the graphics were highly impressive for a game which was released in 1994. Out-side of your players looking like puppies swimming to shore when in possession it was almost fault-less from a graphical perspective.

The enjoyment went further than the game itself; it was how you played the game. The bright lights and familiar noises of the arcade machine would call you in and you could easily spend your Saturday pocket money very quickly as you were taken over by the game itself. Playing with friends was op-tional but highly rewarding if you outlasted them.

Playing VS was fun but finding somewhere to play VS was the best bit. Whether you were at an air-port, service station or you local video rental store, if there was a functional arcade machine in oper-ation it would have been folly not to at least have a look to see if Virtua Striker was available to play.

You could argue that VS was enhanced by its surroundings and that even the arcade version wasn’t up to much but no other football title has been so profoundly affected by how it was consumed. It is vital you ignore the abominations which were available in console format and cherish the memories which were made available through the arcade version.

Graphics and Design - 9/10Gameplay - 7/10Fun Factor - 9/10Staying Power - 6/10Game Changer - 6/10Arcade gaming was an integral part of any self-respecting youngsters recreational activity in the 1990’s. Like many things before it was part of a time and a place and Virtua Soccer is remembered fondly for its impact on football computer games.

Overall Score - 37/50

SCORE CARD

VIRTUA STRIKER


LMA Manager 2001 followed up nicely where the original 1999 title left off. The code masters series ran all the way until 2007 on the Xbox but it was the early Playstation titles which are remembered more fondly.

The game itself was a fun managerial title which was solid from top to bottom with flashes of bril-liance on display. Like any football games where you don’t actually play football, a lot rests on the details and depth of the game. LMA 2001 allowed players (or managers) to heavily involve themselves in tactics, training methods and the ability to alter things at your chosen club way beyond the players on the pitch.

Almost no area of the football club was beyond restriction. Outside of bringing in the tea lady for a chat about her milk pouring and sugar sprinkling you were allowed a say in all aspects of the football club. Ticket sales, commercial contracts and stadium restructure were all areas in which you could talk to your chairman about.

The game was so easy to pick up and play the quicker loading times and the simplicity of playing it on a console allowed you to charge through games at breakneck speed. As was previously mentioned outside of the ISS strip editor, the stadium reconstruction option was probably the coolest individual feature in a football game until that point. One of the other perks was the ability to see your side be-ing drawn in cup competitions. Nothing was more exciting than seeing the David Davies clone pulling your side out for a tasty away day in the UEFA Cup against Utrecht. The sequence was also aided with blissful addition of the rummaging balls in the pot sound.

The game wasn’t without its faults however, many times when you were after that one player who might just make the difference; your sneaky chairmen would block a potential transfer. Even though you had full details of the clubs accounts, you were still encouraged to move on one of your better players.

The star of the show in LMA Manager 2001 is Alan Hansen. The Scottish Match of the Day pundit purred delightfully as he overseen the commentary on the excellent highlight package segments. The highlights were a real treat but by the fifth season you had been worn out with seeing the only seven possible goals your side could have scored over and over again.

LMA Manager 2001 wasn’t a perfect title but it was a well-executed and mostly enjoyable game with some genuinely excellent innovations. In the end didn’t lead the way for the series to be an all-time great but enough to earn itself in the top 10 on this list, which is all that really matters.

Graphics and Design - 8/10Gameplay - 8/10Fun Factor - 8/10Staying Power - 7/10Game Changer - 7/10 LMA Manager 2001 didn’t quite re-in-vent the wheel but allowed gamers to access an excellent management title on their console, when up until that point all the good management titles were mostly PC-based.


SCORE CARD

LMA MANAGER2001


FIFA 98, or FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 to give it its full name, is seen to this day as the founding father for all modern day football games, the classic game that automatically provokes nostalgia, a beacon of light in a time when all other games of its kind were, well, a bit rubbish.

Before you had even engaged in the gameplay of FIFA 98, you were met with an unforgettable soundtrack that let you know you were in for a treat. Fans will remember Blur tune Song 2 in par-ticular as the sound of their gaming session, with the upbeat rock tune giving each new customer a passing inspiration that makes them determined to see their nation to World Cup glory.

The reason this game was such a leap forward in the football gaming industry however, was its bold determination to introduce groundbreaking features all round. Aside from the ‘Road to the World Cup’ mode that allowed you to play as any of the 173 national teams registered with FIFA – a feat never again attempted by producers EA, new graphical improvements and team rosters were intro-duced to brilliant effect. The ability to edit these team rosters and edit individual player stats was also now available.

The graphical improvements were the real game changer though; as this was the first football plat-form game to give actually give each individual player a face. Granted, these faces were largely oc-tagonal, and were permanently stuck on the same expression – meaning you would regularly have a mix of players in your side showing delight, anguish, and occasionally a strange concern that can only be put down to that particular player desperately needing the toilet – but overall, this was a huge move in the direction of realistic gaming for football.

The introduction of the proper offside rule would also improve the playing experience, solving sev-eral problems from past games to allow free-kicks for offside to only be awarded when a player was actually offside. Madness yes, but it worked.

The option to play five-a-side matches was another favourite with gamers. The indoor arena proved the perfect venue for a quick exhibition match, and many an hour was spent by addicts racking up countless goals with the likes of Bergkamp or Owen on the wooden surface. No tactics were needed, and there were no throw-ins either, just walls, ensuring a fast tempo of play. This was of course, also absolutely ideal for going on goalkeeper runs.

Other quirky glitches would further add to the absolutely beauty of FIFA 98 too. For example, the fact that if you slid in on a goalkeeper as he was half way through the process of kicking the ball out of his hands, you could steal the ball away for yourself and tap it into an empty net. A cruel trick this may be, but a lifesaver all the same when you are 1-0 down in the 90th minute of the World Cup final. Overall, a classic, entertaining game that developers will be hard worked to beat for groundbreaking features. If every game was as good as FIFA 98 was at the time, the world would be a much brighter place.

Graphics - 5/10Gameplay - 7/10Fun Factor - 10/10Staying Power - 7/10Game Changer: 10/10

“Introduced a funny thing called realism to football games. It’s a bit of an essential these days.”


SCORE CARD

FIFA 98: ROAD TO WORLD CUP


There is a sub-section of supporters in the footballing world who set off with their season ticket on a Saturday with a little bit more insight into the frustrating life of a football manager than those around them.

These are the loyal fans who have been known to drink litres of coffee every day, rarely leave the room where their computer is based, and are regularly caught in unusually overblown emotional mood swings.

These, of course, are the fans who play football manager, and what game better to get overexcited by than arguably Sport Interactive’s finest release; Football Manager 2006.

The exhilaration of the game was as strapping as ever, with the dots running around on screen bring-ing out the best and worst of every human being that would watch them miss shockingly easy chanc-es. Win, and your friends would see a remarkable uptake in your spirits, with work ethics and your life improving in general. Lose, and they would witness an upsetting turn for the worse; the suit worn in the cup final the night before lying shredded on the ground, and a once healthy friend who has now eaten nothing but dry frosties for four days looking a little too slim for his own good.

Whilst in 2005, the game was solid and enjoyable, the next edition of the addiction saw improve-ments, as they drew on their previous, premier effort to smooth out the cracks that were lurking in their first breakaway from Championship Manager. Furthermore, there were several new ideas added to the game.

The introduction of the half-time team talk was a stroke of genius. It may just be a little list of short over enthusiastic or outrageously negative phrases, but it gave the role playing enthusiast a whole new level of commitment to the game; allowing the managing addict to yell instructions at the com-puter screen for a bit and then click a comment in the list to match his rantings. In short, you could tell Emile Heskey in person that he’s an absolute donkey for missing that shot from three yards out. Another new feature was the introduction of board interaction; allowing you to negotiate new con-tracts, training facilities, transfer budgets or wage allocations. Whilst in all honesty, nobody could care less about their own contract in the world of Football Manager – I would happily have my av-atar work for free if it meant a couple extra coins in the transfer market – the ability to ask for an increased wage bills and even training grounds meant you could bring a whole new level of player to your project.

Football Manager 2006 became the second fastest selling PC game of all time in the UK, and you can see why. The thrills are there, the excitement, action and ability to keep you from parting with your computer for an extended period of time. Before you reboot it though, make sure you have a large supply of coffee and cereal bars. You could be there a while.

Graphics - 6/10Gameplay - 8/10Fun Factor - 8/10Staying Power - 10/10Game Changer - 7/10

The 2005 edition began to lure the market away from Champ Man over to the Football Manager gaming zone. In 2006, this transition was complete.


SCORE CARD

FOOTBALLMANAGER 2006


When you think about football management simulations, which game comes to mind first? Champi-onship Manager.

The fact that you are still able to download up-to-date squads for Championship Manager 01/02 speaks volumes of how truly iconic a game it is.

Whilst Mile Jacobsen and his former Championship Manager releases had reached notable populari-ty, it was really the 01/02 instalment of the game that saw the franchise burst into the wider domain.

01/02 saw the start of an emphasis placed upon the realism of actually being a manager with the introduction of a masking system whereby you’d only be able to see information about footballers you’d realistically know. Other new additions included the ability to send players away for surgery, player notes, player comparisons, and improved media and board interaction.

01/02 is widely considered the best of the Championship Manager series with some even preferring it to the game’s series successor Football Manager.

Its popularity lies in its simplicity and ability to navigate easily which just assists that temptation to ‘play one more game’.

Everyone can remember trying to judge your team’s dominance of a match just by how often your team’s colours frantically flashed up on the screen whilst the game was played out.

Its this simplicity which after years of building on, FM is now trying to recapture with ‘Classic Mode’. Even going back to review the game, I got sucked into a new career with West Ham and after helping them to their best ever start in an EPL campaign, struggled to get back to the review, just illustrating the addictive nature of the game.

You can download Championship Manager 01/02 for free from http://www.champman0102.co.uk/

Graphics and Design - 4/10Gameplay – 9/10Fun Factor - 9/10 Staying Power - 10/10Game Changer – 7/10

Championship Manager has become synominous with the management simulation genre and 01/02 was cer-tainly the zenith of the Champ Man seriesOverall Score - 42/50

SCORE CARD

CHAMPIONSHIPMANAGER 01/02


International Superstar Soccer 64 was the most lifelike, playable and responsive football game of its time upon its 1996 arrival.

Available on the beautiful black slab known as the Nintendo 64, the premier in ISS games saw the introduction of basics such as extra time and injury time, allowed you to play four-player in a variety of game modes, and even debuted game strategy techniques such as the offside trap and the count-er attack. Some clubs in the Scottish Premier League haven’t even developed that kind of strategic knowledge yet.

FIFA was still lagging behind at this point in time, and when I saw lagging, I mean it in the most literal sense. A match of the now top notch footballing game would see you waiting on players to respond for a frustratingly, and crucially an unrealistically, long period of time. This problem was not present in ISS 64.

Rather, the responsiveness was at a very high level, and so this added a realistic dimension to the soc-cer game that budding enthusiasts had never seen before. There was all the graphical talent of FIFA, with a response level that let the game flow in a quick and pleasing manner. Granted, the graphics will still a little square and animated, and the camera rather jerky, but for the time, they were the best thing that had arisen from plugging in a game console and purchasing a new football addiction.

Several other features made this game a brilliant play. Simple things that other consoles and design-ers were yet to think of or take on. For example, fans would wave flags and celebrate when a goal was scored, pitches had different cuts of grass depending on which continent you were playing in, and there were several different conditions available in which to play your trade: night time, snow, rain, sun. This was also the first game to include the much coveted through-ball, which has set up many a winning goal since its arrival in FIFA.

The attention to detail from Konami was unprecedented. Play in a stadium with full floodlighting, and your players cast four shadows, whilst play in a ground with only two sides floodlit, and just the duo of shadows will appear. Players were doing pre match stretches and arguing with the referee for the first time. Things that are for taking for granted now – imagine football without arguing with the ref – were new, and exciting in 96.

International Superstar Soccer brought us a whole new level of detail in the footballing game. Not life changing ideas, but ideas that created a proper sense of reality, and when it comes to leaving a lega-cy, ISS gave the world an irreplaceable template that is still used to this day.

Graphics - 6/10Gameplay - 9/10Fun Factor - 9/10Staying Power - 7/10Game Changer - 10/10

Entirely altered the look of the foot-ball game, and gave the platform a template from which it has grown and grown towards a lifelike reality.


SCORE CARD

ISS64


FIFA 10 symbolised a turning of the tide for EA Sports in their battle with PES for football gaming su-premacy. Whilst FIFA 09 received a highly respectable rating of 8.5 (out of 10), FIFA 10 received huge ratings of 9.3. It has sold over 10 million units since launch and at the time of release was the fastest selling sports game ever in Europe.

The major changes to the game play lied in the shift of emphasis from arcade to reality. Suddenly the 7-6 epic you’d been playing out wasn’t as satisfying as keeping a clean sheet away to table topping Plymouth. 09 started this process which was executed much more efficiently in the 10 instalment.

Perhaps the most notable addition was the implementation of the 360-degree-control which gave the game a fluidity it’d previously lacked. You suddenly possessed the ability to weave in-between players and off the ball movement became more pivotal to unlocking a defence.

Previously, players had only been able to move in one of eight directions. 10 allowed you ultimate control.

But it was not only on the pitch where the game improved. New features were added and old fea-tures improved. Whilst the likes of Be a Pro mode were fun for a while in 09, it quickly grew tiresome only being able to control your future star. 10 swiftly rectified this with the introduction of the Virtual Pro mode which allowed you to build your star across multiple game modes.

Generally, FIFA 10 was just much better than FIFA 09; however, its wider significance is there for ev-eryone to see. Games have started becoming more tactical with a greater emphasis on realism rather than entertainment which it might be fair to say has since pegged the PES franchise back.

Overall, 10 was a thoroughly enjoyable game and deserved the critical acclaim and commercial suc-cess it enjoyed.

Graphics and Design - 8/10Gameplay - 9/10Fun Factor - 8/10Staying Power - 8/10Game Changer - 9/10FIFA 10 certainly saw a shift in empha-sis captured beautifully. The integra-tion of 360 control worked wonder-fully and games have benefitted from being more realistic every year since.


SCORE CARD

FIFA10


When you talk about trailblazers of the football computer game genre it would be almost impossible not to include the Sensible Soccer series. Perhaps the pick of the bunch was the 1994 release of Sen-sible World of Soccer. After making its debut in 1992, Sensible Soccer is probably best remembered for this 1994 edition which was lauded at the time for its mixture of gameplay, strategy and a quite unbelievable amount of teams to choose from.

Sensible Soccer or Sensi as it is more commonly referred to by its fanatical brethren of supporters was the definition of being ahead of its time. Sensi was allowing players to do things which wouldn’t be seen until years later with the ability to score from different distances and different types of shots. One of the real legacies of the game was the ability to score with a diving header which any respect-ed gamer will tell you, is a necessity.

The game was the star product of the Amiga platform and was an immensely popular series. EA Sports FIFA series wasn’t able to mount a serious challenge before it was made available for the play station and the other main title at the time, Konami’s ISS soccer wasn’t as anywhere as fun as Sensi.

It wasn’t all about the envious gameplay; World of Soccer featured the first real taste of managerial concepts in computer games. You could manage your team without playing or combine both playing and managing. You were also able to design your tactics accordingly and sit back and hope for the best. While your players never aged and didn’t have statistical information besides their transfer fee, the mere fact that in 1994 you were allowed access to these options is a great tribute to creators Jon Hare and Stoo Cambridge.

The Sensi series has a huge cult following even today and the game is still enjoyed online by many fanatical supporters who partake in tournaments. Sensible Days is where Sensi fanatics meet up and take part in tournaments entitled Sensible Days.

Whatever you thought of World of Soccer as game, you cannot deny its cultural significance on the landscape of football computer games and how it paved the way for future titles which would allow players to take control of more than just what was going on the field. Sensi was such an impressive title you can even forgive the grim commentary on show from Jonathan Pearce.

Graphics and Design - 7/10Gameplay - 8/10Fun Factor - 9/10Staying Power - 8/10Game Changer - 10/10

Sensible Soccer was ahead of its time in many ways, with its ability to combine gameplay and managerial control, a game which set the tone for others which would come after.


SCORE CARD

SENSIBLESOCCER


The ultimate game for the ultimate early to mid 2000’s football fan. PES4 had the lot. Konami’s much loved series had been churning out excellent football titles before the series reached its zenith with the 2004 release of Pro Evolution Soccer 4.

The game provided a level of nuanced gameplay which was unrivalled up until that point. PES 4 was an ode to the beautiful game. In the previous PES titles the gameplay was a highlight but in this title it was taken to a whole new level. Excellent movement from players off the ball, frenetic pace and tricks aplenty made it unique gaming experience were the hallmarks of this game and fans couldn’t get enough of it.

Many jokes were had about the lack of licensed teams, players and stadiums but that was a mere insignificance because of the game itself. Its main rival Fifa floundered because despite their official licences it couldn’t compete in terms of being a real football experience. PES4 was the real football experience where goals from another world seemed highly plausible. Everything about the gameplay was on point, difficult enough to score, a variety of ways to create and score goals and successful set-pieces were an art form.

The thing which set PES apart from other football titles before online took over was its master league, a detailed game mode which rewarded players after building your team up from a default side, whose stats would improve each season. You could also add players to your side as you climbed through the divisions, the ultimate challenge had always been playing the computer on the five star setting but those pesky creators at Konami turned it up a notch with a six star setting, which would lead many players prone to breaking out in a cold sweat as they tried to combat a crack team of soccer super-stars.

PES4 was a game for friends. Many a school night was spent locked in battle with your peers as you either played tournaments or operated the winner stays on system. Cries of ‘You’ve edited their stats’ rang hollow as you went on a winning run over envious friends, PES4 had the power to make or break friendships.

The working theory is that PES creator Seabass and his team lost their touch as the game moved on to the next generation consoles Playstation 3 and Xbox360 but between 1999-2006 PES was the pound for pound best yearly title in all of computer land. The series seems to be regaining credibility but it would be hard to imagine it will ever return to the days of being the undisputed top dog.


It was the game that made EA Sports stand up and take notice. Nowadays Fifa may be superior in almost every way but for a couple of years PES was the title for football fanatics and casual players alike.


SCORE CARD

PRO EVOLUTIONSOCCER 4


All hail the king, at number one is the daddy of all football computer games. A game which was im-proved in the years which passed but at the time nothing had and nothing probably will ever make such a long lasting contribution to the football game landscape on its arrival.

CM 97/98 looked almost identical to its predecessor Championship Manager 2 but that is where the similarities end. CM 97/98 was the first game with the database you come to expect from manager ti-tles today. The filter search which would become part and parcel of today’s criteria was implemented to full effect in this game. It allowed you to search for players through wide ranging criteria.

CM 97/98 quite simply was a fun game to play. At the time of release there was no manager title on the market which could rival it in terms of depth and scope. After you took charge of your side you were immediately scouring the free transfer market looking to bulk up your squad. Erik Nevland was always someone you looked to get your hands on if you were in charge at a relatively big club.

Other star turns included English goalkeepers Tony Warner and Richard Wright, Robert Pires while he was still at Metz, Montpellier’s Ibrahima Bakayoko and French players Florian Maurice and Peter Luc-cin. CM 97/98 also had an array of Scandinavian talent which would make a big impact for your side, Martin Knudsen, Stian Neset, Jesper Ljung and Tommy Svindal Larsen. Established star such as Gabri-el Batistuta and Andrei Shevchenko were also great buys if you could get a hold of them.

Like any manager title the ultimate reward is leading your side to victory in leagues and cups. CM 97/98 was no different, whether you were in charge of teams who were expected to win trophies or if you led a fledging side to the top, that feeling when a trophy was secured felt as good if you were in charge at Barcelona or Queen of the South.

CM 01/02 was a fantastic title and quite rightly is regarded by many as one of the real great manage-ment games of all time but you have to pay homage to the forefathers and the work which was done by makers Sports Interactive and Eidos in 97/98 changed how management games would be played and what would be expected of them in future years.


The game which showed how all management sims should operate.


SCORE CARD

CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 97/98

So there you have it, our top ten list of football computer games, we welcome feedback on the list. So if you think we have ranked a game too high or too low or we have missed an obvious title for inclusion please share your thoughts with us at [email protected] and we will put the best replies on our website.

Benjamin Ellis - Evasion et la Serenite

http://open.spotify.com/track/1IIIviGQizOKIvLchjvIuF

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/evasion-et-la-serenite/id537515141

Available from iTunes, Spotify and www.ac-re.co.uk now

"Stunning, intricate guitar work, tortured vocals combined with mature and intelligent songwriting"

- Drewsy, iTunes Review

What’s the book about?

It is an exhaustive account of the cult of Football Manager. The people that make it, the people that star in it and the people who play it. It won't make you feel any better about yourself, but it will make you realise that you are not alone.

Who has contributed to the book?

We've had dozens of contributors to this book. Neil White is the midfield engine room, with Kenny Millar and myself providing 'width' on the flanks, but we've spoken to people like Jonathan Wilson, Rory Smith and Andy Burton about their experiences, former CM stars like Cherno Samba and Tonton Zola Moukoko, as well as taking sto-ries from loads of grizzled veterans of the game. Can you explain to us exactly what inspired you to write this book? What was the conversation with your friends and fellow professionals like when you told them about your idea for the book?

The game has had a profound effect on all of our lives and I think there was a certain element of disbelief that no-one had ever written about it before. I mean, can you imagine a pop star bringing out an album every year that sells over a million units, for 20 years and no-one writing a book about them? There was a story that needed to be told here and hopefully that's exactly what we've done

What do you consider to be your greatest Foot-ball Manager experience or achievement?

I once took Southend United to the Premier League and UEFA Cup glory in CM97/98. I had Zamarano up front and everything. That took AGES.

What’s the best signing you’ve ever made?

Mike Duff on CM01/02. He's £9k and he's the best right back in the world. Consistently gets you 8s at all levels. I loved that man. How long is your longest career within the game?

I'm terrible for starting new games and I don't think I've got past five seasons in any of the re-cent ones. I got to double figures on CM92/93 though. That's why it took me so long to kiss any girls.

Some players love the tactics, some love the signings, some love developing the youth system - whats your favourite part about Football Man-ager?

Just the involvement. There are very few games in this world that can provide the escapism of Football Manager. It's a huge sandbox world full of football and you can get lost in there for months. What's not to like?

Any words of wisdom for any budding Football Manager prodigies out there?

Yes, take a screen break every 45 minutes and go and get some fresh air. I once played for nine straight hours and at the end I couldn't blink or move my neck.

In your opinion, is Football Manager the greatest game ever made?

Tough one. It is certainly the greatest football manager game ever made, but honourable men-tions must go to JetSet Willy (Spectrum 48k), Carrier Command (Atari ST), Sensible Soccer (Atari ST) Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2), and Red Dead Redemption (PS3)


ANINTERVIEW WITHIAINMACINTOSHWORDS: ANDREW JENKIN

Benjamin Ellis - Evasion et la Serenite

http://open.spotify.com/track/1IIIviGQizOKIvLchjvIuF

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/evasion-et-la-serenite/id537515141


"Stunning, intricate guitar work, tortured vocals combined with mature and intelligent songwriting"

- Drewsy, iTunes Review


Fans now more than ever are spoiled for choice with the amount of football which is available to them on television. Sky Sports, ESPN, ITV and BBC provide a plethora of live football in the UK and match highlight programmes, followers of the beautiful game have never had it so good.

Few can argue with the coverage provided from a visual standpoint. Games are now broadcast in high definition and many are available in 3-D. One thing which has been an annoyance for many football fans is the level of punditry on offer.

Analysis of games has long been the source of much derision from football fans. From believing that certain pundits favour teams to those who are loaded with tired clichés but fail to offer any real insight in to what is happening on the pitch.

The discontent probably reached its zenith during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. BBC cov-ered the event live from Cape Town and some of the particular lowlights of the coverage includ-ed then Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor’s phone going off live on air and Lee Dixon being openly mocked by fellow pundit Alan Hansen for being able to identify Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik. These are some of the more extreme examples but the general malaise was visi-ble for all to see.

One article which summed up the feelings of many with pinpoint accuracy was Scotsman jour-nalist Tom English’s review of the coverage on offer. English cited a general apathy from pundits and what seemed to be a general apathy to the coverage in general.

So now in 2012 has the level of analysis from pundits improved? Overall, probably not but there is cause for optimism. Gary Neville continues to impress in his role as Sky’s main football pundit. The former Manchester United defender impressed many with his performance during his debut season.

Neville took over the reins for the 2011/12 season after Sky had tested out a myriad of differ-ent of football experts in the role of main analyst after the departure of Andy Gray alongside long serving anchor Richard Keys in January 2011. Neville was universally lauded for his role on

NEVILLE'SANALYSIS SHOWS FANS ARELOOKING FOR MORE THAN JUST CLICHES by GRAEME YOUNG



Monday Night Football alongside likeable presenter Ed Chamberlain. His ability to critically anal-yse what is happening during games from a tactical standpoint has been a breath of fresh air. His ability to give honest feedback on former rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool has earned him begrudging respect from even his harshest of critics during his football career.

Neville, now in his second season stole the show on his return to Monday Night Football. Before the Everton-Manchester Utd fixture, Chamberlain queried Neville’s claim from previous day that the Premier League is changing in the way teams attack. Neville explained how the typical 4-4-2 formation which relied heavily on wide men providing crosses was being replaced by a more con-tinental approach where attacking players look to find gaps between the midfield and defence. He highlighted how teams like Manchester City and Arsenal were masters of it and how new arrivals Santi Cazorla, Eden Hazard, Oscar and Shinji Kagawa are examples of the change in style.

While the debate was immensely engaging, it wasn’t the topic itself that was so remarkable. Sky has given Neville a lot of opportunities to display his tactical knowledge in the last 12 months, what made this particular ‘master class’ so different was the length of it. Neville made his case in the segment which lasted 14 minutes; there was no rush as he calmly made his points before con-cluding it with statistical information which backed up what he was saying. Sky obviously believes in Neville’s ability but this kind of nuanced look at football is almost impossible to find on televi-sion. Tactical aficionados such as the Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson and Zonal Marking’s Michael Cox have long been proponents of dissecting football tactics but to see it being discussed in such a public forum is encouraging for the future.

Most importantly, the public seemed to enjoy the segment judging by the mostly positive com-ments accrued through the use of the #MNF hash tag on twitter. Many prominent journalists and broadcasters have been full of praise for Neville’s work also.

Tactical discussions are not a new thing for televised football. The aforementioned Gray was al-lowed a platform on his ‘Last Word’ show which followed Super Sunday, although Gray’s favourite phrase during the programme seemed to be “we need to hurry up here, Richard”, as he frantically raced through each key match of the weekend in his half hour timeslot. Pat Nevin is also given plenty of scope on Channel 5’s football coverage, similarly Andy Townsend and his ill-fated ‘tac-tics truck’ were a hallmark of ITV’s football output for a long time, however none of these were are as self assured and rewarding as Neville’s recent exploits.

So what does this mean moving forward? ITV made one of the signings of the summer when they managed to get Lee Dixon over from the BBC. Dixon was one of the highlights of BBC’s coverage in recent times and knew he never had a chance of being a Match of the Day regular while the unholy trinity of Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson and Alan Shearer loomed large. Hopefully Dixon will be allowed to carve out his own niche on his new channel. ESPN have some excellent contrib-utors such as journalists Gabrielle Marcotti, Raphael Honigstein and expert presenters in Rebecca Lowe and James Richardson but probably lack a true number one analyst for their premier league coverage.

Many would argue that supporters are looking for a simple breakdown of the game but in today’s world of technology, fans are seeking out in-depth analysis through a variety of journalists, blog-gers and statisticians, you feel that television has to move with the times.

Neville has shown if you’re good enough then there is a demand for a more detailed look in to football on television. Let’s hope other broadcasters follow suit and allow their incumbent football experts to stretch themselves further than the usual football catchphrases.


Season 2012/13 is a significant one for Dumbarton Football Club. They are playing in the Irn Bru Scottish Football League first division for the first time in 16 years, Dumbarton’s first return to the top division of the SFL since season 1995/96.

Formed in 1872, Dumbarton were Scotland’s first ever national champions, sharing the first ever league title with Rangers in season 1890/91 (though Dumbarton were ahead on goal difference, this was not taken into consideration in those days) and being crowned outright champions of Scotland the following season. It is said that the club’s reluctance to embrace professionalism in those early years of organised football are the reason that they never went on to fully exploit their position as one of Scotland’s big guns in domestic football at that time. Over the years Dumbarton have seen their fair share of ups and downs, with various promotions, relegations, financial crises and cup near misses, in particular the 4-3 extra time defeat against Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup in October 1970 and the 3-0 replay defeat to Heart of Midlothian in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup in 1976.

Since the dawn of the modern game and the advent of all-seated stadia, Dumbarton have mostly occupied the lower tiers of the Scottish Football League, spending time variously in the second and third divisions for the most part. However, the unlikely play-off success of last season has seen the club rise to first division for the first time in 16 years and with that comes a new set of challenges.

Dumbarton are a part-time club in that their manager and players have day jobs and train only two evenings per week. This is a common position amongst football clubs in Scotland outwith the top two tiers of the professional game; however, it is somewhat unusual at the level which Dumbarton now find themselves operating at. The Scottish First Division is typically occupied by all or mostly full-time football clubs and this season is no exception as all but two of this season’s first division teams are full-time or, in the cases of Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath, a mixture of full-time and part-time playing staff. Only Dumbarton and Airdrie United are truly part-time in their operation, Airdrie only having dropped to part-time after being relegated from division one two years ago.

Dumbarton’s play-off success and promotion had given the club, the town and the groundswell of public support a welcome boost and season ticket sales had increased accordingly, topping 450 prior to the beginning of the season. Matchday hospitality packages were similarly commercially successful, both of which bode well in these times of financial austerity and coming immediately

DUMBARTON HOPING THAT A CHANGE WILLDO THEM A WORLD OF GOOD by PETER MCCORMICK


after a summer when many pundits had predicted doom for provincial clubs in Scotland following the demise of Glasgow Rangers.

It is to this backdrop that Dumbarton began their season, having retained the majority of the play-ers who had achieved an unlikely play-off promotion last season and adding a number of new fac-es to their squad in order to help them compete against their full-time rivals. The season’s league business did not begin with a bang however, as Dumbarton were humbled 0 – 3 at Airdrie United on matchday one, oddly enough an identical scoreline and venue to the first game of the previous season, and a defeat which was felt all the more as it had come at the hands of the league’s only other fully part-time club, a club which Dumbarton had overcome with ease in their play-off final success only two months earlier.

From there, results continued to follow a similar pattern and, though the Sons had achieved two draws in their two most recent fixtures prior to the international break (a 3-3 draw at home to Ham-ilton Academical and a 2-2 away to Raith Rovers), the club were beaten by two goals to nil at home to Falkirk when the league action resumed and the board took the decision to cancel the manager’s contract.

The decision to replace a manager is one that is taken with increasing frequency in modern foot-ball and has become commonplace that fans can now place bets with major bookmakers on which


managers will be first to lose their jobs during the football season. However, it is the decision to replace Dumbarton manager Alan Adamson after only nine league games which has raised eye-brows.

Dumbarton’s unbeaten run in the early months of 2012 saw the club competing with eventual second division title winners Cowdenbeath and big spending title hopefuls Arbroath in the top three of the second division, when in the first third of season 2011/12 Dumbarton had looked likely candidates for relegation to the bottom tier. It was that run of exceptional form which eventually saw Dumbarton win the second division play-offs and take their place amongst the elite clubs of the Scottish Football League. But yet, for all of Adamson’s success as both manager and assistant manager of Dumbarton, his tenure as manager of the club has been brought to an abrupt end after relatively few matches at first division level.

Adamson was originally brought to the club as assis-tant manager to Jim Chap-man in December 2007, hav-ing worked with Chapman previously at Albion Rovers, and the pair were tasked with firstly ensuring Dumbar-ton avoided finishing last in Scottish Division Three that season (a feat they achieved with an eighth placed fin-ish) and then taking the club out of the bottom tier, which the pair achieved in season 2008/09 when they won the third division title. Ironical-ly, Adamson’s opportunity to become manager of the club came in October 2010 when Chapman was moved upstairs to be-come director of football and head of community development as the club were at the bottom of the second division. Adamson kept the team in the league that season and won promotion to first division via the following season’s play-offs after a third placed finish. Adamson has therefore been involved in keeping Dumbarton off of the foot of the third division, winning the third division title, avoiding relegation from the second division and achieving an unlikely promotion to first division, not to mention the two Stirlingshire Cup successes in that time, all within five seasons at the club as coach and manager. For a part-time club with home gates regularly under 1,000 it would ap-pear to be nothing short of miraculous that such a glut of achievements have been secured in this short time, and yet for all of his success with the club, losing seven of his first nine league matches has cost him his job. Adamson’s assistant, former Falkirk, St Mirren and Dunfermline defender Jack Ross, has been given temporary control of first team affairs whilst a permanent replacement is sought, however, the question must now surely be, who can Dumbarton possibly hire to replace someone who has brought so much success to a provincial club?

Having achieved so much in so little time, it may be that those in charge at Dumbarton have be-come spoiled by success. Only time will tell if this is a decision which the club, and its fans, will come to regret.

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"Love and compassion is the main theme of the album, with sincerity in

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I love Gilligans voice as it can reach many octaves and can evoke multiple

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The Scottish First Division is widely regarded as one of the most competitive leagues in Scotland. For Dunfermline Athletic, this is something that the club is very familiar with.

Having suffered relegation from the SPL last season, the Pars started this campaign back in the sec-ond tier of Scottish football with hope that under the leadership of the experienced Jim Jefferies, they could bounce straight back up to the top flight. So far, that hope is still present.

The season has reached the quarter mark with every team having played each other once. It has been a promising start for the men in black in white who have shown good form since things kicked off back in August. For those connected with the club, the stats make pleasant reading.

Dunfermline hold a record of: won six, drawn two and lost one out of the first set of fixtures. As a re-sult, this form currently sees them sitting in second place and just two points off the top of the league. It is only for the equally impressive Partick Thistle that sees the Pars being denied that top spot. The Jags are currently the only side to take maximum points off Jefferies’ team after a narrow 1-0 victory at East End Park on the second weekend of the season.

With games against local rivals Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath as well as encounters with arguably their fiercest rivals Falkirk, this season has already proven to be highly entertaining with some crack-ing matches.

Dunfermline have had it easy but have also had some tough battles so far this season. Even when the Pars made the short trip to Central Park to face Cowdenbeath on the opening day of the season, there was a sense of uncertainty as to how things would pan out. In the end it was last year’s Second Division champions who suffered a heavy 4-0 home defeat.

That defeat by Partick would appear to be the only major blip of an otherwise impressive start for the Pars. The side has certainly put the fans’ hearts to the test on a couple of occasions. Dunfermline eventually won 2-1 against Airdrie United at the Excelsior stadium on 25th August but it took two goals in the final ten minutes to earn the three points.

More recently, in their first meeting of the season, Falkirk and Dunfermline served up a highly enter-taining 2-2 draw at the Falkirk stadium. Yet again it took two goals in the final ten minutes to salvage something from the game to take back to East End Park. One point gained that sent the 1600 travel-ling fans home happy.

OUT OF THE BLOCKS!PARS LOOK TO BOUNCE STRAIGHT BACK by GRAHAM SWANN


Of course, based on early season form, Morton are another team who appear to be ones to watch. Al-lan Moore brought his side to East End Park in the last of the opening round of fixture on 20th October hoping to get a victory that would see his side leapfrog the Pars. And they came very close to achieving it. However, it was another late rally from Dunfermline to earn another 2-2 draw.

On the basis of these games, every point gained may prove crucial in determining who is promoted to the SPL. This is a fact Jim Jefferies knows too well.

Speaking to USF, he explained that whoever finds themselves top of the league at the end of the sea-son will have to have earned it.

He said, “We have consistently said that we want to be up there challenging however we have never shouted that we are going to win the league. We have a lot of new players in the squad, some of who have moved up a division.

“Nobody has a right to get promoted. You have to earn it. There are a lot of good teams in the league with Partick and Morton being prime examples.”

Jefferies noted that with a new and younger squad from that of last season, he has been pleasantly surprised by how the team has gelled quicker than expected.


He added, “We have played some terrific stuff and are good to watch. Our confidence is high and just because we are sitting towards the top of the league I don’t think our attitude has to change. We have got to adapt and be ready for the challenges ahead for the rest of the season.”

Jefferies was keen to point out that as well as those players who have started regularly he has good options to choose from including proven goal scorer Andy Kirk and Ryan Thompson.

Regarding the latter, Jefferies said, “Ryan Thompson has come off the bench several times and scored goals for us. He’s ready to go in whenever the occasions raises. It’s also good having guys like Kirk and Dargo who can come in if needed because they have lots of experience. The youngsters like Shaun Byrne have also shown promise so can be called upon if needed. All these players are waiting in the wings for their opportunity.”

Having reflected on the first quarter of the season, the Pars manager highlighted the games at Airdrie and Falkirk as crucial moments so far. He knows that there are plenty more tough games to come in what is a tough league.

Joe Cardle was once one of Dunfermline’s younger stars and although 25 years old, he now finds himself being one of the more experienced play-ers within the squad.He told USF of the difference that now exists within the squad compared to last sea-son.

He said, “The players the manager has brought in have impressed so far and it is a case of so far so good for the team as a whole. If we keep working hard and scoring goals we will definitely be up there challenging.”

Cardle continued, “I think the work ethic of the boys so far has been tremendous. That’s been the difference from last year – we had the quality but we didn’t have enough work ethic and I think that is what has pushed us on this season. Even though there have been a couple of games where we ha-ven’t produced we have still been working hard.

“In the Falkirk game, it didn’t really happen for us but the team worked hard and we got the draw despite not playing the style of football we wanted to play.”

It has been shown in previous seasons that the team who has won promotion has had to find a good run of form as well as grinding out crucial results. For all those challenging this year it would certainly seem that this will still have to be the case.

And for Dunfermline, the belief within the squad is that under the guidance of Jim Jefferies, the Pars can do enough come May to make an instant return to the top tier of Scottish football.



Hamilton Academical have had a frustrating start to their 2012/13 campaign in the Irn-Bru First Divi-sion.

With only six points on the board with a quarter of the season gone, the men in red and white sit second bottom of the league, saved from the foot of the table only by a concerning Dumbarton side who have picked up just two draws so far.

The stats do not lie however, and they do not read kindly for the side who play their home games at New Douglas Park. Twenty league wins from their last 83 attempts. One game won from their first nine league matches this season. No home victory in any league competition in over half a year.

Their latest fixture, a 2-1 loss to Livingstone, was a particularly antagonizing experience for Billy Re-id’s struggling Hamilton. After taking the lead within one minute through Stevie May, Reid watched his side fall 2-1 to Livingstone in front of a home crowd, as Accies captain Alex Neil was controver-sially dismissed along with Livi man Kevin McCann.

The post-match interview with Reid seemed to tell the story, not just of the match passed, but also of a First Division season for Hamilton that is still to get out of first gear.

“We don’t seem to get much, let’s be honest about it,” he said. “One or two key moments went against us.

“Alex Neil seemed to get punished for every tackle he went in for today. I wasn’t happy with that. Then we’ve had two penalty claims. Stevie May says he was pulled down, and their centre back said the same. Right after that there was an even more stone wall penalty; the boy had two arms around Stevie May in the box.

“We had some players that hadn’t even kicked the ball in the first 20 minutes of the game, and you can’t do that at this level. I know some of them are young as well but we ended up 2-1 down and it had been coming, we had a wee shake before it and at that stage we were all over the place.

“We’ve come up short but in terms of effort I don’t think we could’ve given any more. You can be good at playing football but you need to win matches.

“We’ve had the best chance too, when Grant Gillespie is one on one, but he’s put it round the post. That’s the difference on the day. The big decisions have gone against us, and we’ve lost the game.”

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD FOR REID AND HAMILTON by STUART KENNY


Indeed, Accies effort throughout the season has been admirable, yet the side have been unable to translate it into the much needed points that will satisfy supporters.

Possibly the Hamilton manager should spend more time looking at the tactics board and at the op-tions in hand than complaining about the referee decisions, although several times in his side’s defeat to Livingstone it did appear that the whistle blower was watching a different game to the fans support-ing either side of the fixture.

The possessive style implemented by Reid this year seems to be more miss than hit so far, often re-sulting in giving possession lightly away to opponents. While the club have created good chances in almost every game they have played through the tactic, if they are unable to take these opportunities then a change in style will almost certainly be needed.

A 4-0 triumph away at Airdrie United a fortnight ago seemed to have given Reid’s men the kick-start they required to reboot their season. It was a fine performance, a clean sheet, and most importantly a match in which Hamilton took their chances and managed to finally click in attack.

The manager must now concentrate on recapturing the spirit from this commendable victory, and in the process rejuvenate a Hamilton side the who were a Scottish Premier League side just a couple of seasons ago.

The Accies support will not accept this poor transition from top flight club to Division One strugglers, and so it’s back to the drawing board for Billy Reid with the aim of quickly securing his team’s place in the second tier of Scottish football, and ensuring he keeps a job in the process.


A new initiative to gain a wider view of Scottish football fans’ opinions, which has been endorsed by the Scottish Government, has been launched by Supporters Direct Scotland.

Supporters Direct Scotland has already had talks with the Scottish Football Association, The Scottish Football League and The Scottish Premier League about working with them in the coming months and years.

The ‘Fans Parliament’ initiative will allow a two way communication with all fans of all clubs, from senior to amateur and in every community in the country, to help Supporters Direct Scotland gather fans’ views which will, for the first time, be collected and reported directly to the Scottish Govern-ment and to the football authorities.

Included in the ‘Fans Parliament’ initiative will be the new ‘scottishfans.org’ website, a series of road-shows across the country, increased engagement at matches and social media channels and a series of surveys on specific topics concerning the game.

The roadshow events will begin in Edinburgh on the 28th of October with Hibs and Hearts legends Pat Stanton and Gary Mackay taking part in the debate.

Henry McLeish said, “It has been a unique year for football fans in Scotland, on a local as well as na-tional basis, with ordinary fans’ voices being heard loud and clear in a way they’ve never been heard, or listened to, before. Now there is a drive and determination to ensure that the momentum that was gained isn’t lost.

“The new ‘Fans Parliament’ initiative will provide a platform for fans to continue the debate in the knowledge that it will be reported back to the Scottish Government and to the organisations running football in Scotland.”

Paul Goodwin, Head of Supporters Direct in Scotland said: “Fans voices are being listened to more than ever before and we know that in recent months there has been an unprecedented debate about the game in Scotland. Through Supporters Direct Scotland fans have a direct route into government and policy makers and we want the new ‘Fans Parliament’ initiative to be the conduit for the debate and discussion between fans across the country and, in effect, be the voice of Scottish football fans.

“We want to facilitate discussion on key issues affecting our game through online discussions and debate and regularly present those findings to Government and the game’s governing bodies as the very latest in supporters’ opinions and views in the game. As an organisation funded by the Scottish Government we have the ability to present supporters views directly to them as well as to the SPL, SFL and the SFA. Talks have already started at Hampden Park looking at how we formalise this relation-ship with the governing bodies.

“The roadshows will begin in Edinburgh on the 28th of October where we’ll be joined by two Hibs and Hearts legends – Pat Stanton and Gary Mackay. We are keen that supporters from across Edin-burgh and surrounding areas will join us for that.

“We are also planning to visit eight of other districts in Scotland and while can’t get to every locale this time around but we’re aiming to make these first events as close to as many fans as we can.”Henry McLeish added: “My original report recommended that the fans, as key stakeholders in the game, deserve to have more input to it and I believe that this initiative is a really positive way of doing that. I would encourage all fans of all teams to visit the website, to attend the roadshow events and to take part in the discussions and let Supporters Direct Scotland know what they think.”

The Edinburgh roadshow at The Corn Exchange begins at 6.30pm and fans registering beforehand will be entered into a prize draw to win a signed Scotland shirt.

Registration is by email to ‘[email protected]’ with a note of the person attending’s name and date of birth. Full details of all events can be found at www.scottishfans.org.

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Raith Rovers striker Brian Graham talks to Scott Binnie about his rich vein of goalscoring form which shows no signs of slowing down.

Last month, Raith hosted league leaders Partick Thistle who had won their all six of their previous league games. While many suspected that fixture to yield yet another win for Jackie McNamara’s Jags, Rovers were the better side and deservedly went 1-0 up. However, they conceded a very late equaliser and the points were shared, leaving the Rovers management and players deflated after a performance that probably deserved all three points. Speaking after that game, Brian said that he be-lieved that Raith’s performance proved that they were a force in the league.

He said: “We’ve started the season well and we believe anybody that comes to Stark’s Park, we can beat them, and that was the same today.”

“I think we’re more than capable of competing in this league, we’ve got a great squad. We haven’t got a big squad but I think we’re up there in the table on merit. Partick Thistle are flying but we more than matched them for the full game. We’re disappointed we only got a point from the game, it actually feels like a defeat.”

Raith finished seventh last season after flirting with a relegation battle for a a large part of the season: four wins in their last six games were more than enough to secure their First Division status. Rovers’ poor form was even more confusing given that they were so close to winning the title in the previous

season, when they were finally pipped to the league by Fife rivals Dunfermline.

Ex-Morton striker Graham, 24, was recruited at the end of that season by then-Raith boss John Mc-Glynn. Graham believes that many of his team mates struggled to regain their form during the following season because of that frustrating second-placed finish.

Brian said: “There was probably a bit of a hangover season based on what some of them have said; may-be a few had their heads down because they thought they should have been playing in the Premier League. We showed great resilience in the end to stay in the league. At times it wasn’t pretty playing in games but at the end we ground out results and showed great character, which is why I believe we stayed up.”

It took Brian a while to find his scoring boots, but a season-long loan at East Stirlingshire whilst with Morton yielded 18 goals in all competitions, and nine goals in his last season with the Cappielow side, strongly suggested that the big striker had plenty of goals in him. Graham was injured for the majority of the season with a hernia problem, but he played on at the behest of the manager. As the season

GOAL-DENGRAHAM


wore on and he continued to toil, Brian was eventually given leave to have his injury dealt with and he then endured a two-month lay-off.

Graham returned in early February at full fitness and scored a terrific nine goals in the last eight games of the season, including a hat-trick against Falkirk in the penultimate game of the season. That em-phatic scoring form has continued this season and Brian has netted 12 goals in 13 appearances up until the Thistle fixture, giving him a stunning total of 21 goals in his last 21 games.

Speaking about his rich vein of goalscoring form, Brian said: “I was struggling with a hernia injury and I was just playing because the gaffer asked me to keep playing, but when you’re injured eventually you need to put hands up and say I can’t keep going. When I got it fixed I came back really fit and worked my socks off, and I couldn’t stop scoring.”

“To have this record is great. You always set targets in your head, hopefully I can keep going and get a few more goals. I’ve got a target in mind but I’ll keep that to myself in case I don’t get it.”

Raith Rovers started this season without John McGlynn at the helm, the popular boss taking the posi-tion at Hearts, but club captain Grant Murray stepped into the dugout as McGlynn’s replacement and is enjoying a very successful start to his managerial career.

Brian believes that Murray’s presence at the club before becoming manager, and the respect his pres-ence commanded, has made for a smooth transition for boss and players alike:

“Obviously everybody knew Grant, Grant was the captain of this club so everybody looked up to him anyway. I don’t think he’s had a problem stepping into this role. Everybody respects and likes the man and he’s a great coach as well, he’s done all his badges and he’s more than capable of doing this job. Hopefully the players can help him do well.”


Remember during the summer? Remember how we were facing ‘Armageddon’? Well, what actually has happened…how has the season compared with what we expected? Some of the Scottish Comedy FC team give us their thoughts, serious and funny, club-specific and in general.

Kicking off with the only Rangers supporter to contribute…Teddy (@ComedyTeddy): Nobody knew what to expect. Which division would Rangers be in…would there still be a TV deal…would Ibrox be half-empty etc. So far, things have gone about as well as they could have for Scottish football. A £17m hit on the TV deal wasn’t great, but being about 80% of the original offer it wasn’t ‘Armageddon’ either.

Likewise, last season Rangers averaged around 46,000 for SPL games at Ibrox…and this season are pulling in 46,000 for SFL3 games at Ibrox. The SPL? Celtic will win it, but their success in Eu-rope may benefit the league two-fold. Firstly in boosting Scotland’s coefficient… and secondly as resting players for big Euro games may help keep the SPL closer for longer than might otherwise have been the case.

For good or bad…this is the most interesting season Scottish football’s had for years. Especially if you’re a Stirling Albion fan, but let’s move on!

Iain M Todd (@iainmacivertodd): In the film Armageddon an asteroid is on a collision course with the planet Earth. The only thing that can save them is some oil rig workers and Aerosmith. Disaster is only averted when Bruce Willis (playing a wise-cracking surly Bruce Willis type character) sacrifices himself for the good of everyone else.

Rangers are Bruce Willis. They had to sacrifice themselves for the good of everyone else. Disas-ter was averted and the world has carried on but I now find myself sitting at SPL games singing to myself

“I don’t wanna close my eyes.I don’t wanna fall asleep.‘Cause I miss you, rangers....”

Andy Todd (@toddandy): And, lo, the Messiah returneth to earth and defeated Satan the Devil (who should not be mis-taken for Satan the Plumber, who was a good man, though not one to turn up when he said he would) in the Battle of Armageddon.

And, yay, did Satan gather the peoples of Gog and Magog (but not the peoples of Dundee for they were already damned) and waged war on Jerusalem. But God did strike them asunder with FLAME and IRE and some CUTTING REMARKS ABOUT THEIR BIRTH HERITAGE before casting them down into Gehenna, the Lake of Fire.

And, verily dids’t I think, you know what - this could be Stranraer v Brechin on a dreich Saturday afternoon.

And then I did regainest mine senses - there was no armageddon! - and I rememberest to looketh in a dictionary. I sought with mine eyes the definitions of the word ‘prick’ and its com-panion ‘dunderheid’ and there did I see a miracle! Beside those words the text had warped and changed - for there beside ‘prick’ and there beside ‘dunderheid’ was none other than the images of Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster.

ARMAGEDDON


It was a miracle! And I fell to mine knees and gave thanks to the Lord for granting me this vision. And then I beseeched the Lord for one final favour. Despite all the threats, despite all the fears, could He taketh away mine sight because no one wants to see Stranraer v Brechin on a dreich Saturday afternoon?

Richard Hunter (@tricky308): The 2012/13 season was one, as a Hibs fan, I was both dreading and looking forward to. The cup final last year was my lowest point as a Hibee and I could only hope it would get better, but based on what I saw I couldn’t imagine it would. “The Summer of Change” that is what Pat Fenlon an-nounced a change in personnel, a change in attitude and a change in fortune. Well, with 9 players in and Leigh Griffiths staying on as well as an astonishing 15 players out, you can hardly argue about the personnel changes.

The change of attitude, well I don’t know what other Easter Road spectators think, but I’d agree with this. Last season 1-0 down inside 20 minutes may as well have been 6-0 down with 85 min-utes on the clock the way some of the players reacted. Now, with Deegan and Cairney Hibs have added grit (although the recent jaw injury to the former may be an issue) and Griffiths seems to be flourishing. As for the change of fortune, well its October, and already more points have been won at Easter Road this season than the whole of last season. I think that may speak for it.

Personally, I’ve very much enjoyed the start of this season, Even the league cup exit hasn’t damp-ened my spirits, as someone said to me on that night “well, no excuses now not to concentrate on the league” which at this stage of re-development is probably where the focus needs to lie. The squad is very bare, and another few injuries could see a return to the dark days of last season, but overall I think the “summer of change” has been a success. Now lets move on to the “winter of wonderment”

Eddie (@cassidy_eddie): We were told by the SPL and SFA that Rangers in the 3rd would lead to Armageddon. No TV deal, no sponsorship or fans, and major sporting consequences. Unfortunately they were correct. No SPL games have been televised this season, & all advertising boards have been removed from grounds and burned to help directors keep warm. The empty seats at the Olympics and the CL games across Europe last week showed how no Rangers has affected all sports, both foreign and domestic. Even Benicassim, the Spanish music festival, has gone bust. Celtic’s performance in Moscow was also, simply, unrecognisable.

Daniel Downie (freeforapound.blogspot.com)Armageddon would imply, fire, brimstone, death, destruction and power ballads. Scottish Foot-ball..?? I’d say it’s more like a film in the 80’s; you know like when you watch ‘Uncle Buck’ and say to yourself “is that boy no deid...?” We’re more John Candy than Bruce Willis. We’ve been dying for a while and folk have either stopped noticing or assumed it has happened already. Setanta was probably the closest we have come to Armageddon and the way they used to bill their SPL fixtures you would have expected Steve Buscemi, scenes of a sexual nature, and some mild peril.

Being from the North East, Aberdeen are best placed as heroes in this apocalyptic piece, the oil workers are poised to save the world while our football club continues to wheel and deal in free transfers and loan deals. We may not have enough to save Scottish football but the team is im-proved and we have the real hero - Russell Anderson - back, and with young maverick Ryan Fraser terrorising defences we’re not quite ready to sacrifice ourselves.

PS is John Goodman dead...?”...............................................................................................................................................................................

You can keep up to date with Scottish Comedy FC by checking out the site ScottishComedyFC.com, following them on Twitter (@ScotComFC) and checking out iTunes for their latest podcast episode.

So who are we? We are ‘The Away End’, the latest attempt at a Scottish Football magazine.Not since the heady days of SFT has the game north of the border had a regular maga-zine devoted to it (that’s Scottish Football Today for those of you too young to remem-ber, come in and take a seat, you are all very welcome here).

Up until now, we have produced six online issues in early 2009. We then took a break from producing magazines to instead launch the website, which we did in November 2009. Since then, we’ve had over half a million visitors to the website, as well as pro-ducing a weekly podcast (http://theawayend.libsyn.com).

In May 2011, we went into partnership with the BA (Hons) Sports Journalism degree at the University of the West of Scotland, the only degree of its kind in Scotland. This now allows us access to the state of the art facilities, as well as also using ‘The Away End’ as a teaching tool for the students.

However, this does not mean non-UWS students can’t get involved, and we regularly produce articles on football and our new sports website (www.theawayend.org) from freelance writers, bloggers and students from other institutions.

In August 2011, we released our brand new magazine - which gives a glimpse of what you can expect in future from a vibrant, innovative, new media publication like our-selves (try trying that when you’re drunk).

We also have plans for a monthly TV show virtue of the university’s brand new studios at the Hamilton and Ayr campuses.

To keep up to date with whats happening, either check this website regularly, follow us at www.twitter.com/theawayend or www.facebook.com/theawayend, and check out our podcast at http://theawayend.libsyn.com.

In addition, we’re always on the lookout for more bud-ding writers, so get involved by e-mailing us at [email protected].


After just a few games had been played in the Scottish First Division it was clear that Partick Thistle would be the team dominating the headlines.

McNamara’s men cruised to six straight victories in their opening league ties, and just when it seemed as though they had been brought back to earth with a defeat away to Morton, they proved that despite this impressive winning start, their best was still yet to come.

After battling to a narrow victory at Cowdenbeath, the Firhill crowd were treated to a glorious display against Airdrie United last Saturday. Thistle stuck seven goals past the Diamonds with no reply from the travelling side, providing their supporters with a welcome scoreline that is more commonly seen after the opening score in a rugby tie.

This triumph was made all the sweeter by the fact that it saw the Jags return to summit of the table - two points clear of second placed Dunfermline – as the league closed out the first quarter of the 12/13 cam-paign.

The Partick striking ranks have been a vital part in this success, with former Motherwell winger Steven Law-less bagging seven goals, Chris Erksine netting eight, and even second choice striker Kris Doolan racking up a tally of six goals so far. With Steven Craig, who has banged in five goals in as many games, returning to fitness as well, the attacking force of the Jags is one certain to cause trouble for even the strongest defence.

The 21 year-old Lawless has been a particular breakthrough act since joining McNamara’s men. After failing to break into the Motherwell first team, the player has played his football on loan at Albion Rovers for the past two seasons, but Lawless has shown an outstanding talent since arriving at Firhill.

The midfield man is confident that Partick can continue their prolific form from the Airdrie tie into this weekend’s match with a Falkirk side who are gradually now recovering from a slow league start.

He said: “The place is buzzing after a result like that, so hopefully we can take it into the Falkirk game this week.

“In the games we have had this year there have been a couple of times where we could have run riot, but it never quite happened.

“Everything clicked for us on Saturday and we knew that when it did click we could do that to somebody. It was just unfortunate for Airdrie that it was them.”

Lawless was among the scorers once more in his side’s recent seven goal haul, but it would be leading goal scorer Erskene that would grab a brace of goals. The winger was quick to heap praise on his teammate post-match.

“Squiddy [Erskene] is unplayable at times,” continued Lawless. “I don’t know how you defend against him. He is so tricky and he has got that clumsy look about him that helps him a lot. He knows it himself and he says it.

“He has got a technique and a run that works out perfectly for him. He got two goals on Saturday so that is him one ahead of me for the season, but I will need to try and claw that back against Falkirk.

“We have got goals in us, and so as long as we can keep showing that as a team we will be happy.”

Lawless finished off with a statement outlining what is now the obvious aim of his side for the end of the season.

“As long as we are winning, that is the most important thing. We will get chances and we want to score as many as we can personally, but, if the team is winning, the goal tally is secondary.

“To be top of the league after the first quarter is great, and what we wanted at the start of the season. The challenge for us now is to stay there.”

After nine games in the second tier of Scottish football, this certainly seems like a challenge that Thistle are more than capable of fulfilling.

MAGICMCNAMARA HAS THISTLEWHISTLINGby STUART KENNY


The Scottish Football Leagues are now beginning to close out the first quarter of the 2012/13 season, and as everyone in the United Kingdom, Europe, and pretty much anywhere else would have predicted, Rangers are sitting on top of the Third Division table.

It may only be the citizens of Scotland and the loyal followers of Ally McCoist’s men however, who know that this statement does not even come close to telling the true tale of the club’s first stretch of matches in the bottom tier of Scottish football.

The away form of the former SPL giants has come as a shock to many, as the narrow pitches and ultimate bus parking of fellow Division Three clubs has denied Rangers a single victory on the road yet. Indeed, these conditions even led to the side’s first defeat of the season; a 1-0 loss to the bottom placed Stirling Albion, who came into the tie on the back of a five game losing streak in the division.

The Binos knew how to play against Rangers. No nonsense dribbling or silly passes out of de-fence, simply inject the rough, tumble and physical nature of the game that many of the young-sters in McCoist’s league are yet to become accustomed too, and then counter, counter, count-er.

This is a method of dealing with the Ibrox men laid down by Peterhead on the opening day of this season, and one adopted by Berwick Rangers, Annan Athletic and, indeed, Stirling Albion since.

Rangers came away victorious away to Falkirk in the Ramsden Cup, and this shows the nature of the team. They are a passing entity set up by McCoist to play football to a standard higher than that of the league in which they swell, but - as is becoming brutally clear - this is often not a tac-tic that works in the Third Division, and many fans are turning on the inexperienced starting line up as the cause of this failure.

The star man for the Light Blue Legions this season has undoubtedly been Captain Lee McCull-och; an experienced man, a decent finisher and a forward who makes the most of his height and power. This is the type of player that will make an impact in this league, whilst skilful players such as Fraser Aird or Lewis McLeod may find it harder to shine during physical away days.A 2-0 win over Queen’s Park saw the Ibrox outlet return to the top of the league on goal differ-ence, with a game in hand remaining over second placed Elgin City, and McCulloch is insistent that with experience now returning to the Ibrox club, they can now ensure they stay at the sum-mit of the league.

“Having gone top we now have to stay there and for that reason this weekend’s match [against Clyde] is massive for us,” he said.

“We are well aware that our performances and results on the road so far have been nowhere near good enough. I think if we can get a result against Clyde we can kick on.“We have got experience in the team now with myself, Andy [Little], Neil Alexander, Lee Wallace,

THE AWAY DAYBLUES CONTINUE FOR RANGERS by STUART KENNY


Ross Perry, Ian Black and Dean Shiels.

“It was good to see Andy return at the weekend. He has been prolific for us in the games he has played this season. He can also be used in a variety of positions.

“Hopefully, we can get a good week of training under our belts and be well prepared and in good shape when we come to play the Clyde match this weekend.”

From a critical point of view, it is still hard to deny that Rangers will win the title this season. They do have the best squad in the league, and they do play the best football. However, they are not the dominant giant they once were, and if they do earn promotion, it will not be in the manner that many expected when the news of their demotion was announced earlier this year.

The team will not be able to pass their way to the title. Rather, promotion will be won with hard graft, sweat, and the physical battles that take place in Scottish bottom tier arenas that are enjoy-ing their first sell-out crowd situations for a long, long time.


The opening of St. George’s Park, the Football Association’s new National Football Centre, has in-evitably and justifiably reignited the debate on long-term football development and the future of the game in England. A project that was first suggested in the 1970s took until 2001 to become a tangible possibility under the guidance of then FA Technical Director, Howard Wilkinson. Based on Le Centre Technique National Fernand Sastre – commonly known as Clairefontaine – in France, St. George’s Park is designed to provide a centre of excellence for English football that can help devel-op players and coaches of the highest quality for years to come. Clairefontaine, opened in January 1988, has been seen as widely influential in developing France’s most successful generation of players, spawning a talented group that included Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and William Gallas amongst others. France’s national team success in winning the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro-pean Championships has passed without mention of Clairefontaine and the long-term strategy implemented and executed by the French Football Federation. The FA have been slow to the table in this regard, falling way behind not just France, but Spain, Netherlands and especially Germany in acknowledging the need for long-term investment in national youth development and making the necessary sacrifices in order to benefit the England national team in the future.

North of the border, a similar examination has been developing for a period of time with regards to Scotland’s national team and the development of young players as part of a large-scale debate on the future and general health of Scottish football. Failure to qualify for a major international tournament since France 1998, the continual decline in the domestic game’s quality and UEFA co-efficient ranking and the greatly publicised downfall of Rangers Football Club have been issues plaguing the game for years now. Defeat to Wales in Cardiff and to Belgium in Brussels this month has left the Scotland team with a mere two points from their opening four matches in Group A of their 2014 World Cup Qualifying campaign, already eight points adrift of early pace-setters Belgium and Croatia. Considering only group winners are guaranteed a place in the 2014 finals in Brazil, the scale of the task facing Craig Levein has already become daunting. The group itself is certainly one of the toughest in the UEFA qualifying schedule, with teams ranking 11th (Croatia), 30th (Belgium) and 33rd (Serbia) all above Scotland, with Wales just one place below in 57th.

Criticism has been in plentiful supply for Craig Levein for his handling of a relatively talented squad. This is arguably the country’s deepest pool of talent since the last tournament outing in France and the majority of the player’s in the current squad ply their trade for either current Scottish cham-pions Celtic FC, or in the Barclays Premier League in England. Experience is certainly not an issue and this has been complimented over the last season or two with a growing group of young play-ers forcing their way into both their club sides and the national squads. Matt Phillips (21), James

REVERSION TO REALITY CRUCIAL TO LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT OFSCOTTISH FOOTBALLby MICHAEL WOOD


Forrest (21), Barry Bannan (22), Jordan Rhodes (22) and David Goodwillie (23) have all earned their first cap for the national team in recent months and are regulars for their respective club sides. Slowly but surely the talent is emerging. Young Scottish players are being given the opportunity at clubs competing in one of the highest quality leagues in Europe – Barclays Premier League – or are experiencing European football in the Champions League, undoubtedly the best quality football competition in the world today.

Modern football is an instant gratification phenomenon; results are demanded immediately, players must fulfil their promise at the earliest possible opportunity and the excruciatingly-named ‘golden generations’ must vindicate their hype through precocious and mercurial displays leading to tro-phies and sustained success. Scotland’s Group A opponents, Belgium, are beginning to experience such pressures, with their incredibly talented young squad widely tipped as dark horses to win the 2014 World Cup. Failure to do themselves justice will inevitably lead to comparisons with other un-derwhelming national team generations, such as the Portuguese side built around Luis Figo and Rui Costa in the late 90s, early 00s, and perennial underachievers England who time and again failed to capitalise on a group containing the likes of Steven Gerrard, David Beckham and Frank Lampard. Clearly current Scottish talent is nowhere near the level of the aforementioned world superstars and it would be folly to suggest that players of that level are around the corner; but an opportunity to build upon an ear of Premier League educated players is not one to be missed. Does this require something akin to St. George’s Park, to Clairefontaine; a St. Andrew’s Park if you will? The answer is, or at least should be, a resounding no. One of the great afflictions of the present prevailing attitude within Scottish football is a sense of nostalgic entitlement, a hope that the ever developing cycle of footballing talent is due to benefit Scotland again in the near future, providing players capable of matching the talent of past legends such as Denis Law, Kenny Dalglish and Billy Bremner.

Such an attitude is both outdated and ignorant. The reason that the FA and the FFF before them had the chance to develop dedicated centres of excellence is that they had the strength in in-frastructure within the domestic game to build upon. The Premier League is the most watched domestic league in the world and from a commercial angle is without peer. Naturally the focus of development has fallen on the struggles of the England national team. The SFA doesn’t have such



a luxury – the Scottish Premier League has well-documented problems to deal with and the future of the league both in terms of its structure and commercial appeal is uncertain in the extreme. Therefore, the next logical step in terms of Scottish football’s governance should be to safeguard the opportunities afforded to its players; to ensure that young Scottish talent is being given the chance to develop their game in the best and most appropriate environment possible. There must be an acceptance that the national side can no longer compete not just with Europe’s best teams, but also with the secondary level of nations, such as Croatia, Serbia and Belgium. That is not to sug-gest we set our sights as low as the decreed ‘minnows’ of international football, but an acceptance that in order to achieve qualification on as regular a basis as before, long-term planning must be put into effect so as to establish a credible national side. In order to do this, expectations must be scaled back and the focus must fall on the Scottish Premier League, the currently disproportionate financial distribution within the league, the high number of foreign players flooding club’s squads and the poor quality, technically-deficient football that is played.

The opening of St. George’s Park should not be viewed a blueprint for Scottish football to adopt. It is foolish to think that our game is near to the level of England’s Premier League or that we are immune from the problems that face other smaller nations throughout Europe. One of Scotland’s biggest and most famous club’s has just suffered the ignominy of liquidation and this should be the focus of the SFA’s development strategy. Providing a sustainable and successful domestic game should dwarf the issue of the national team for the time being. Players will not develop to the level required for Scotland to succeed in tournament qualification if they are not presented with a high quality environment in which to develop their game. Providing an environment of high compet-itiveness and financial equality allied with a coaching emphasis on technical skills should be the emphasis of Scottish football’s development in the long-term. Only once a strong domestic foun-dation has been established can an attempt be made to bridge the gap to further developed foot-ball nations


Round 1 - Guess the player by career history

1. Braga, Benfica, Chelsea, Lyon, Juventus, Atletico Madrid

2. Brescia, Inter Milan, Reggina, Brescia, Milan, Ju-ventus

3. Metz, Marseille, Arsenal, Villareal, Aston Villa

4. Independiente, Man Utd, Villareal, Atletico Ma-drid, Inter Milan, Internacional

5. Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur

Round 2 - Champions League goal scorers

6. Who scored the winning goal in the 1995 Cham-pions League final between Ajax and AC Milan?

7. Who is the only player to score in six consecutive Champions League matches?

8. Who is the only player to score four Champions League goals for a British side?

9. Who has the best goals to game ratio in Cham-pions League games with a minimum of 30 goals?

10. Teddy Sheringham, Frank Lampard, Sol Camp-bell, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard have all scored in Champions League finals; name the only other Englishman to do so?

Round 3 - Match the team to the stadium

11. Who plays their home games at the Vicente Calderon?

12. Which team calls the Keepmoat stadium home?

13. If you were in the home section of the Stadio-nul Dinamo, who would you be supporting?

14. Which team are the occupants at the Stadio Fri-uli?

15. Who plays their home games at BC Place?

Round 4 - Choose the odd one out

16. Dick Advocaat, Bert Konterman, Arthur Numan, Ronald Waterreus

17. Radamel Falcao, Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan, Fernando Torres

18. Gothenburg, Manchester, Poznan, Glasgow

19. Seattle Sounders, FC Toronto, Chivas USA, Green Bay Goal Getters

20. Mark Viduka, Nikica Jelavic, Ulyses De La Cruz, Mauricio Pinilla

Round 5 - Count the caps, which player has more caps?

21. Wayne Rooney or Michael Owen?

22. Andrea Pirlo or Rino Gattuso?

23. David Silva or Cesc Fabregas?

24. Ronaldinho or Kaka?

25. Robbie Keane or Shay Given?

Round 6 - True or False?

26. Everton are the side who Man Utd have taken most points against during the history of the Pre-mier League?

27. What is believed to be the world’s oldest foot-ball was discovered at Stirling Castle?

28. Robinho said “He was happy to have signed for Manchester United” after he joined Manchester City in 2008?

29. Marcello Lippi was once severely fined by the Italian FA for catching a ballboy in the eye with a still lit cigarette?

30. In 2006, Martin O’Neill described Arjen Robben as the “most overrated player on the planet”?

USF'S ULTIMATE WORLD FOOTBALL QUIZANOTHER CHALLENGING USF QUIZ AWAITS, SIX ROUNDS OF A VARIETY OF BRAIN TEASERS ABOUT THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL AWAITS.

THE WINNER WILL RECEIVE A NATIONAL TEAM FOOTBALL TOP OF THEIR CHOOSING. SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO [email protected]. THE CORRECT ANSWERS AND THE LUCKY WINNER WILL BE REVEALED ON OUR WEBSITE ON THE 15TH OF NOVEMEBER. BEST OF LUCK TO ALL THOSE WHO ENTER!


DIVISION ONEPOS. TEAM PLD W D L GF GA GD PTS1. PARTICK THISTLE 9 7 1 1 24 7 17 222. DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC 9 6 2 1 22 7 15 203. GREENOCK MORTON 9 5 3 1 20 8 7 184. RAITH ROVERS 9 3 4 2 14 11 3 135. COWDENBEATH 9 3 3 3 17 16 1 126. LIVINGSTON 9 3 3 3 13 13 0 127. FALKIRK 9 2 4 3 11 13 -2 108. AIRDRIE UNITED 9 2 1 6 10 23 -13 79. HAMLTION ACADEMICAL 9 1 3 5 10 17 -7 610. DUMBARTON 9 0 2 7 6 27 -21 2

DIVISION TWOPOS. TEAM PLD W D L GF GA GD PTS1. QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 9 7 2 0 21 4 17 232. FORFAR ATHLETIC 9 5 1 3 19 13 6 163. ALLOA ATHLETIC 9 5 1 3 16 10 6 164. ARBORATH 9 4 3 2 16 19 -3 155. STENHOUSEMUIR 9 3 5 1 18 15 3 146. ALBION ROVERS 9 3 1 5 15 17 -2 107. AYR UNITED 9 3 1 5 15 18 -3 108. BRECHIN CITY 9 3 0 6 9 17 -8 99. EAST FIFE 9 2 2 5 14 15 -1 810. STRANRAER 9 1 2 6 7 22 -15 5

DIVISION THREEPOS. TEAM PLD W D L GF GA GD PTS1. RANGERS 8 4 3 1 19 7 12 152. ELGIN CITY 9 4 3 2 20 16 4 153. QUEEN’S PARK 8 4 2 2 13 8 5 144. PETERHEAD 8 4 1 3 10 8 2 135. BERWICK RANGERS 8 3 2 3 13 10 3 116. MONTROSE 9 3 2 4 15 20 -5 117. ANNAN ATHLETIC 8 2 4 2 11 14 -3 108. CLYDE 8 3 1 4 9 13 -4 109. EAST STIRLINGSHIRE 8 3 0 5 11 19 -8 910. STIRLING ALBION 8 2 0 6 11 17 -6 6

> TABLES CORRECT AS OF 26/10/2012

SFL LEAGUE TABLES

Nelson Mandela once claimed sport has the power to change the world. Whilst many might claim that sport is the cause of more problems in Scotland than a preventer, few would argue with its’ po-tential for positive change.

Former Clyde and St Mirren defender Jack Ross is one of those who see’s the game’s popularity as an opportunity to reach the country’s next generation and has taken to a career in writing children’s books to promote positive messages through the nation’s game.

Ross has written a series books about members of a kid’s team that all go to the same school using their stories and the topic of football as a vehicle for social development. “Football can play a huge role in communicating positive messages to children” Ross said. “Despite criticism from some, players and the game can be positive role models and no matter your opinion on football, you cannot deny that it has the ability to focus children and deliver important messages to them”.

Ross, who accumulated over 300 league appearances with five clubs, has always been a keen writer and is familiar with writing having attained an MA Honours degree in Economics from Heriot-Watt University whilst still a player. He is currently responsible for Communications at the PFA Scotland and formerly wrote a blog for the BBC but claims he always wanted to write a children’s book.

“I have always harboured ambitions to write a book of some sort and the children’s books are the result of this ambition and hopefully a platform to more future writing opportunities”.

His series kicks off with ‘Alife and the Adventurous Winger’ which Ross claims is about trying new things.“Alfie is always trying things on the park, that’s his strength.“But then he encounters a problem at school when the lunch menu changes from his favourite burg-er and chips to healthy food. He’s miserable at home but then his parents tell Alfie the reason he’s such a good winger at football is because he will try new things”.Each book in the series carries a different message which children can relate to which Ross feels is important for children.“In terms of the message from the books, it is trying to make it clear that the attributes that make you good at football (or indeed) another sport are transferrable and if applied in other areas of a child’s life can help them overcome any problems at school or at home”.

He claims the idea for the books came from the community aspect of his responsibilities as a pro-fessional.

“I witnessed the impact that football can have upon a child’s attention and interest. I therefore be-lieved that there was an opportunity to use football to help children learn”.

He believes that now is an important time to highlight the positive aspects of the game to young people.

“Given some of the recent events surrounding Scottish football and subsequent negative publicity it is vital that we take the chance to promote not only the positive aspects of the game but also en-courage children to fall in love with it. There is a great deal of good that football can provide, and the challenge is to direct attention to these elements and not the stories that some newspapers devote front page headlines to”.

Ross has high hopes for his books with the second in the series ‘Calum the Courageous Keeper’ available to buy within the next two months. The books are available to buy at his website www.top-classkids.co.uk

JACK THE LAD by ANDREW JENKIN


Review for Anna Sweeney - Oh Gosh Darnit

"Anna has charm and it pervades the four songs on her EP and, whilst she wears her heart on her sleeve, she does so with an emotional dignity" -

Bluesbunny

http://open.spotify.com/track/3Fk9VNFn0mu1ktq9ICwwaQ

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/oh-gosh-darnit-ep/id563262342


Documents

USF Issue One