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Guys, FYI the Sonstrust has just posted the following statement which will be conveyed to the Dumbarton FC Board ahead of any discussion and vote on the proposals to restructure the leagues including the introduction of Colt teams. THE SONSTRUST would like to reaffirm its opposition to the idea of ‘colt teams’ being introduced into the SPFL League system. In a consultation conducted in 2018, 89% of Trust members voted against the idea of having Colt teams play in our lower leagues, and it is also the unanimous position of the Sonstrust Board. We would therefore firmly oppose any league reconstruction proposals which introduced colt teams into the bottom tier. We believe the democratic principle of ‘one club, one team’ should be upheld, and to see the lower tier devalued into little more than a development league for the top two sides in Scotland to test their youth against is something we could not support under any circumstances. This opportunistic attempt to use the crisis in Scottish football to shoehorn their development sides into the lower leagues, with the promises of guaranteed ticket sales and joining fees should be recognised as no more than a bribe – one that compromises the integrity of the competition. We believe that whatever financial benefit can be obtained by admitting colt teams into the league will be outweighed by the loss of revenue and goodwill from our supporters who overwhelmingly oppose the idea. The low attendances and boycotts at Challenge Cup fixtures involving colt teams both at The Rock and at many other grounds across Scotland show that there is little appetite to see the introduction of colt teams into the league. The Sonstrust will therefore be making firm representations to the Club in opposition to any reconstruction proposal involving colt teams being introduced into the league setup. No matter the financial gain, the Club should not sells its soul by voting for such a proposal and risk antagonising its supporters who have been incredibly generous to the club over the past few months, rallying around and contributing financially to help ensure the future of our club.

You just know that you're going to see some of these awful faux-Scots signs at the Glasgow and Edinburgh protests. "Racists haud yer weesht" and all that pish.

I've punted the Tommy Robinson fan. This site is about as lenient as it is possible to be but we don't support racism or racists so EDL supporters can just get fucked. If this makes me part of the terrible MSM conspiracy to keep poor racists down then so be it.

T h e p h o n e r e c o r d s s e c t i o n --o f t h i s i s v e r y o d d .

No. Don't be so fucking stupid.

I honestly don't think anyone who suggests this understands football. They might watch football and support a team, but they don't actually understand the fabric of the game and what makes it tick. Competitive football is about two teams turning up to beat each other. Those clubs each represent a city, town, district, country or cause. People are emotionally involved in that. Those eleven players are representing one of those things. For ninety minutes, you invest everything in it and switch off from reality. It matters. There can be a car load of away fans, but what is representing them on the park matters as much to them as Real Madrid does go their fans. When you introduce reserve teams, you bring in a situation where one team cares. Sure, you'll have fans of the big club club liking to see the youngsters do well, but does it hurt them when they lose? Do they feel elated when they win? No. If you bring forward a situation where a team can win a league and nobody is emotionally invested, nobody is having the party of their lives and, frankly, nobody cares, what's the point?

Guys, FYI the Sonstrust has just posted the following statement which will be conveyed to the Dumbarton FC Board ahead of any discussion and vote on the proposals to restructure the leagues including the introduction of Colt teams. THE SONSTRUST would like to reaffirm its opposition to the idea of ‘colt teams’ being introduced into the SPFL League system. In a consultation conducted in 2018, 89% of Trust members voted against the idea of having Colt teams play in our lower leagues, and it is also the unanimous position of the Sonstrust Board. We would therefore firmly oppose any league reconstruction proposals which introduced colt teams into the bottom tier. We believe the democratic principle of ‘one club, one team’ should be upheld, and to see the lower tier devalued into little more than a development league for the top two sides in Scotland to test their youth against is something we could not support under any circumstances. This opportunistic attempt to use the crisis in Scottish football to shoehorn their development sides into the lower leagues, with the promises of guaranteed ticket sales and joining fees should be recognised as no more than a bribe – one that compromises the integrity of the competition. We believe that whatever financial benefit can be obtained by admitting colt teams into the league will be outweighed by the loss of revenue and goodwill from our supporters who overwhelmingly oppose the idea. The low attendances and boycotts at Challenge Cup fixtures involving colt teams both at The Rock and at many other grounds across Scotland show that there is little appetite to see the introduction of colt teams into the league. The Sonstrust will therefore be making firm representations to the Club in opposition to any reconstruction proposal involving colt teams being introduced into the league setup. No matter the financial gain, the Club should not sells its soul by voting for such a proposal and risk antagonising its supporters who have been incredibly generous to the club over the past few months, rallying around and contributing financially to help ensure the future of our club.

Hi everyone. Hope all well. Get the lockdown to f**k.

Welcome back guys hopefully won’t be too long before we can all go to a game again.

I’d rather we were relegated straight to the Lowland League than saved by the introduction of colts.

It's a very easy thing for SG to hide behind but it is absolutely true that Scotland has its hands tied behind it's back by Westminster. The Tories delayed a response because they instinctly think economy before society, because austerity has gutted public service expertise and because the remaining capacity for crisis planning had eyes only on Brexit. So any assessment of Scotland's response must factor that in. It's convenient for the SNP and an excuse that gets unionist eyes rolling but is absolutely true. We need independence to be able to make our own decisions. This half way house no longer works, especially in crisis.

Did the weekly shop again today. Social distancing is over, except for in the queue outside, from what I can see. Simple as that; not just a few numpties anymore, but the majority of folk completely ignoring distancing, one-way systems, etc. And middle-aged women have gone back to blocking the entire aisle with their trolleys because they've just seen Jean from the PTA and she needs to ken what that bitch Karen has been telling everyone. I swear that, if we had America's gun laws, all the massacres would be in supermarkets rather than schools.

Lady garden? Are we still talking about showering? Alone? Obligatory disgusting shower story; a mate of the wife's was visiting from out of town, and hooked up with another one of her friends while he was staying with us. After a night of (I assume) debauchery on our couch, they sloped off to the shower together, only for him to reappear a few minutes later to ask, "Karen wants me to use your massage sponge on her, is that OK?" That's probably bad enough, but I'd been using this sponge for about six months without changing it; it was almost falling apart, and the rough side had turned from brilliant white into a dingy brownish-grey. I gave him the go-ahead, knowing it was finally going straight in the bin as soon as they were done, but the image of this poor lassie being scrubbed all over with my arse bacteria horror sponge haunts me to this day.

Welcome lads!

These statues of slavers around everywhere are only there because it was a fashionable thing to do in Victorian times and the subjects spent a bit of blood money locally. They're of no historical or artistic significance. The serious crime against our heritage was done by town planners and developers in the sixties and seventies.

Interesting / boring / WGAF? fact about the 2013 kit. I own an original team-worn shirt from the Anglo Scottish Cup winning era. (see photo). That’s my all-time favourite St Mirren shirt. I measured the thickness of the stripes on that shirt, and that measurement determined the thickness of the 2013 shirt. So, there’s actually a direct link between that cup winning shirt, and the 2013 cup winning shirt. I think the moral of the story is that for St Mirren to win cups, the odds are increased if the stripes are 25.4567mm wide. There’s today’s dull as dishwater fact for you. The 2013 stripes are the way they are because I measured the stripes on a 1980 shirt.

#BlackBagsMatter.

I'm all for statues of c***s being thrown in the sea. Hopefully the Duke of Sutherland statue in Golspie is next.

Nail on the head. But they also want to make money out of selling players. They've seen how the likes of Falkirk's Academy produced a conveyer belt of talent that brought in more than it cost and they want a slice of that - or all of it if they can. But they can't risk actually blooding young players in their own team because that might lead to losing a few games and their fans would go nuts, so they want to hoover up the talent in Scotland and play them in the lower leagues where it doesn't affect them. This is about greed, pure and simple. They see youngsters as a cash cow to pay for their foreign imports.

Has he went the same way as the daft Killie supporter who equated racism with slagging him off for being a tory? No, that arsehole is still around unfortunately.

My daughter was going to head to the Edinburgh protest so I gave her a shopping list in case there was any looting. Her pal just got a puppy though so she’s off to see that instead. Hardcore anarchist.

Hearts absolutely were a subsidiary of FBK Kaunas, or at the very least both were subsidiary clubs of the same owner. They were bought over by the Kaunas owner and signed dozens of players on loan from them. Some of those loans were to put Lithuanian players in the shop window, many more were to allow the club to dodge tax. Neither of these seem like things that a supporter should be happy about their club doing. Your managers were forced to play tripe like Linus Pilibaitis, Ricardas Beniusis or Eduardas Kurskis, something which I certainly can't imagine anyone could think was beneficial to Hearts in any way. Hearts didn't have a choice of players, they were given players. Coaches were installed in exactly the same way. I'm not sure how that is any different to Stenhousemuir being chucked six Hibs youngsters and a youth team coach - if anything Stenhousemuir have more agency in that situation. I think this concept of subsidiary clubs and shared ownership is insidious, whether it's what is described here or the City football group enterprise which is essentially setting up franchises across the world. Hearts were involved in one of the very first schemes along these lines, and I think it would be reasonable for you to recognise that rather than throwing your hands up in the air and saying "but how could Stenhousemuir want something like this?".

Yes. Go and calculate the drop off from League to Challenge Cup, then add in the fans of top flight clubs who would also walk. I know from the 8 million previous times Rangers have proposed this that theres St Johnstone fans who would walk away if this goes through. Suspect that's rife throughout most clubs. It's obvious as f**k that it's not to benefit the National Team, as theres zero suggestion it would be Scottish players only. Add in the fact Rangers made the exact same claim when Colts were added to the Challenge Cup, and the proceeded to play folk like Eros Grezda (25yo Albanian) and Umar Sadiq (23yo Nigerian). By the end of the next decade they would be full on B teams like in Spain, where you have players being signed to spite any club who challenges them and dumped into the third tier to rot.

Wait a minute. If we have either half of the arse cheek Colts in the Scottish lower leagues then we will start qualifying for World Cups? Where do I sign up? Clubs at the top will always stockpile the best players with no interest of playing them, halting their progress and to make opponents weaker. There have been countless examples over the years where this has happened. Perhaps if clubs at the top level were made to actually play x amount of homegrown players then we might start to see some real quality players coming through. I’ve read the lazy argument from so called ‘experts’ looking at Spain for example, because they have B sides in their league set up it will automatically make us world beaters. Perhaps, it’s more down to having more qualified coaches, facilities etc. I’d hope that East Fife would reject any proposal for this idea to ever happen.

All these protests are a real slap in the face of the NHS. Any other time fine but to risk spreading Covid in the current climate is utterly irresponsible and I speak as someone who has lost a relative in recent weeks.. If this makes me a gammon then fine.

Bless, we haven't had one of those Hovis-themed lectures on the horrors of the old top flight in about a dozen pages or so. Nobody is suggesting a model in which three teams only go straight up or down because That's The Way It's Done and the rest sit on their hands from January onwards every season. We now have European places to compete for as well as a modern understanding of how promotion and relegation can be kept as live issues until the very end of the campaign. An enlarged league with playoffs at both ends of the table is not even remotely comparable to your straw man. It's also a wonder how the Portugese and Dutch have managed to stick with an 18 team top flight and not have their domestic game sink inevitably into the abyss.

Aye, he should be applauded for drink driving. f**k’s sake.

BBC Scotland should take a good look at themselves. There was a time when the BBC was a world recognised broadcaster with good, professional presenters and guests. No more, it has dumbed down with the, Sun, Record, Radio Clydes and every other commercial broadcaster. Dreadful stuff. No standards, no point.

If the price of surviving is playing in a glorified reserve league, it's not worth surviving. Under no circumstances will it ever be acceptable to admit Colt teams. The day it happens will be a day thousands of fans walk away from Scottish football and never come back.

Will it not go down the stairs anymore?

Guys, FYI the Sonstrust has just posted the following statement which will be conveyed to the Dumbarton FC Board ahead of any discussion and vote on the proposals to restructure the leagues including the introduction of Colt teams. THE SONSTRUST would like to reaffirm its opposition to the idea of ‘colt teams’ being introduced into the SPFL League system. In a consultation conducted in 2018, 89% of Trust members voted against the idea of having Colt teams play in our lower leagues, and it is also the unanimous position of the Sonstrust Board. We would therefore firmly oppose any league reconstruction proposals which introduced colt teams into the bottom tier. We believe the democratic principle of ‘one club, one team’ should be upheld, and to see the lower tier devalued into little more than a development league for the top two sides in Scotland to test their youth against is something we could not support under any circumstances. This opportunistic attempt to use the crisis in Scottish football to shoehorn their development sides into the lower leagues, with the promises of guaranteed ticket sales and joining fees should be recognised as no more than a bribe – one that compromises the integrity of the competition. We believe that whatever financial benefit can be obtained by admitting colt teams into the league will be outweighed by the loss of revenue and goodwill from our supporters who overwhelmingly oppose the idea. The low attendances and boycotts at Challenge Cup fixtures involving colt teams both at The Rock and at many other grounds across Scotland show that there is little appetite to see the introduction of colt teams into the league. The Sonstrust will therefore be making firm representations to the Club in opposition to any reconstruction proposal involving colt teams being introduced into the league setup. No matter the financial gain, the Club should not sells its soul by voting for such a proposal and risk antagonising its supporters who have been incredibly generous to the club over the past few months, rallying around and contributing financially to help ensure the future of our club.

How's Mulgrew rhyming slang for head?

I think it was @virginton earlier that mentioned public support for the lockdown was based on it being short term and the apparant need to protect the NHS. It was never sold as a long term, society changing measure. I agree with him - if the public knew then what they know now it would have been a different outlook. Anyone who claims they would have been happy in March knowing that they wouldn't be able to step foot inside their parents' house for at least 3 months, have to homeschool their children potentially until the end of the year, and risked ending up unemployed to protect, ultimately, a relatively small number of people is, frankly, a liar.

Seeing the scenes from the London protest yesterday, and 10000 expected at the Edinburgh one today, really makes a mockery of “no crowds at football”, certainly at the lower league levels

Reported for being Omo-phobic

It was never entirely a scientific decision - economics were always going to play a part. The cost of lockdown measures is going to be anywhere up to £550 billion for the UK. If we had gone earlier then I don't think they would be able to sustain the economic measures taken. Without the economic powers to do so there was absolutely no point even considering a Scotland only lockdown at that point. Decisions now are different because the economic policies such as furlough are already on place till the end of July (with partial furloughing beyond this) . No - I don't believe in a free ride for the Scottish Government but there's so much nonsense being written. The but look at what X country did argument is misleading - just because a country has a similar population size does not mean that the exact same one-fits-all approach can be used. Demographics will be different from country to country, not to mention that the measures of infections and deaths between countries is like comparing apples with pears. I believe that Sturgeon and the Scottish government were between a rock and a hard place regards this - national emergency planning is a UK responsibility - yes there is a role for the Scottish government but the reality is that that agenda is driven by the UK government. Condemned if she did and condemned if she didn't - as shown by Britnat zoomers like Jackson Carlaw criticising over the extension of the lockdown. I've no problem any government being held to account - but it must be based on facts and no notional what-ifs. There is also a good reason why Scottish deaths are not far off the more urbanised parts of England - we have a higher proportion of people with underlying health issues. I also have doubts that an earlier lockdown would have made that much difference in the Care Sector - lots of crocodile tears and whining from the bosses of Care Home firms who seem to accept very little responsibility for their own actions and their long-running poor treatment of their own staff. It's a complex issue and there isn't a magic bullet solution. Lockdown is also very dependent on cooperation of the populace - in some countries (I'm thinking of the Nordic countries) there is definitely a more cultural tendency to do this - we on the other hand seem to have more of the "I'll do what I want" attitudes and those who try to ignore the rules - wasn't it 600+ parties broken up alone in Manchester in one weekend? Some countries have gone down the more draconian route - something that I perhaps think should have happened - but I also recognise there is a strong tradition in this country of not limiting civil liberties - it is always a fine balancing act. I think it is right once this is all over that there is a proper evaluation - not just to stick the boot in - but also to learn from this and prepare better for the future. One of things that seems to be clear is that the UK was severely under-prepared for any type of pandemic - not just coronavirus. That being said, I'm still not sure even the best of preparations would have readied us for this - this is unlike anything we've faced in a long long time.

As it's all about the development of Scottish football, stop laughing at the back and the front. We all want to see Scotland at the big tournaments, well here is the hard facts. What do both Rangers and Celtic really bring to the squad when we do qualify? Since 1958, Scotlands first major final, Rangers have produced through youth or given them their first ever senior club app, these players from all Scottish major tournament squads. Celtic a little better Overall it pathetic. They can't take the risks as they can't see further than the other end of the city. It's all about hoarding as much youngsters as possible as they might get a wee gem every 10 years. They don't do development!

The big threat here isn't really Colt teams because the highly conservative voting system (that the OF are ironically responsible for) will stymie this steaming turd of an idea on every occasion: the real issue comes in the form of the nefarious partnership arrangements that clubs like Stenhousemuir already seem all too eager to gobble up for the chance of self-advancement. This is a direct and serious challenge to the integrity of the lower leagues as standalone competitions. Club to club loans are already limited in number but this restriction has to remain in place against any effort to relax it; I'd also like to see a specific bar being put in place to prevent both explicit partnerships as well as clubs sending coaches or any other 'advisory' backroom staff to other clubs within the SPFL.

When Graham Tatters was on, making his points - McCann kept talking over him............its like he doesnt understand that sometimes with VOIP internet calls there is a delay - to do it once was excusable, but he kept doing it - he is a fanny. That was enough to annoy me, but his continued assertion that Elgin must be positive for this proposal, that if he was in charge he would be totally gung ho and up for the challenge, and - almost saying - if they were not pro it, then it was some kind of admission of failure. That this club chairman came on, articulated his rationale for the status quo was simply not enough for "Sporting Chance" McCann. Piss off ya wee EBT suckling *** wankpiece.

Hearts fans were happy to be a subsidiary of FBK Kaunas and take a full team of players on loan from them because it brought success on the park.

What happened to Colin Kaepernick is an absolute disgrace. Not just the ridiculous reaction to his perfectly peaceable and restrained protest, but the longer term prejudices he faced because of it. Trump bellowing about these people being booted out of their sports, and a transparently obvious blackballing of him by NFL owners afterwards. It's not the first time it's happened to an athlete in the NFL either. Kerry Rhodes was one of the top five or so players at his position in the league, but inexplicably sat on the free-agent pile for years completely unable to get a try-out, never mind a contract. His crime?... being seen with his arm around a man, leading to all sorts of gossip and innuendo that he might, shock, horror, be less that 100% heterosexual. In the UK we have football clubs willing to completely turn a blind eye to footballers who commit sex crimes, driving offences, get caught taking Class A's etc provided they offer something of worth on the pitch. In the US, you get bombed from the team and blackballed simply for being Black and 'uppity', or gay. No surprise I suppose when the vast majority of NFL ownership represents the old, white, conservative stereotype. Funnily enough, I don't recall conservative white america howling for blood when Adrian Peterson and Tyreek Hill were both revealed to be child-beating scumbags. Hill especially. He broke his infants arm and was recorded threatening to do in the child's mother, yet there he is, happily carrying on his NFL career as before without a care in the world. Bet if he takes a knee he'll be gone in an instant. From Wiki - So this is the sort of thing the NFL regards as perfectly ok, but if you kneel down and refuse to stand for an anthem that venerates a state that persecutes and murders black people, no, f**k you, you're a goner.

I'll be honest, I knew this day would be soon, but I did think it would be a Monday. That it's a Sunday is a very good sign 7 day average is now 7.5

Madness has 7 members, they cannot all meet at the same time.

It could have costa life

Maybe it's just me but if you're ditching Pie and Bovril for such frivolous pursuits as 'working" or "raising a family" then I don't think you should be kept up to date on the psychodrama enveloping this place.

"The offer to purchase 200 tickets for each game Is again extremely generous. You do not need to be especially astute to realise that a Rangers or Celtic B team game would generate very healthy bumper crowds at Dudgeon Park. I’m sure our supporters will welcome the chance to grab sight of a “star of the future” Imagine this was the chairman of your club.