The Mantis

I wonder if people are happy just paying what they’re used to. At an ICT match I never even think about the admission price, but occasionally I go with my mate who supports Liverpool and I can’t imagine paying £50 other than an occasional treat. But you do hear the price thing raised all the time by Juniors fans.

Twice people have mentioned playing 4 times a season. That’s unfortunate but it isn’t a defining characteristic of the senior game, auld c***s like me can remember when it was different

If you read it again, I never actually said that. But nevertheless I wouldn’t compare Lithgae to a SPFL1 side, even in light of their cup run last season or Hearts v Talbot. I supported Caley and they had a better Cup record than either of them, but Caley Thistle struggled in their first season in the leagues, even after strengthening the squad. There’s a massive difference between getting yourself up for a Cup game which probably means little to the opposition, and playing 36 games in the league.

I'm sure you posted all this stuff before about going home for a poo etc but you were an ex-Celtic fan I'm sure there's merit in your view that supporting a bigger Junior team is great crack (never mind the other 150 or so) but who are you to say it's far, far better than supporting Arbroath or Alloa. That's like a Goudieism Personally I saw Junior games when I was a wee boy, before I saw any seniors, so I don't share all this born again stuff I like the odd Junior game in a season where I see maybe 20 Junior out of 80 games but don't ask me to watch it every week. You might get entertained but sometimes you just want to see a higher standard.

Yes as a WW supporter I'm on record as saying much the same myself. Cowden going down would be sad for all involved but would strengthen the LL's hand and make it 2 years out of 4 there has been change. For the time being we're stuck with half a place shared between the HFL and SLFL.

Ryan McCann’s a player-coach for them - might have been him at 5. Also Bryn Halliwell was in goals earlier in the season at WW but it was a younger lad in the return.

Never doubted that, but March has been a good month. I feel Cowden are showing better form coming up to the playoffs than they did last year. I can see Cove struggling over the line against the LL Champions then being completely knackered by the Saturday.

Maybe you're right. I was told by somebody at Whitehill that the Juniors weren't prepared to stagger kick off times and rearrange fixtures to Sunday.

A West or East Superleague weekend would have been more interesting imo than the last couple of years mopping up stray LL and EOS grounds, but complete leagues is what these beer-bellied, SLR-toting anoraks seem to want. Mind you the organiser said he approached the Juniors and... wait for it... they weren't interested.

Any half decent monopod will cope with the Sport lens tbh. I only really use my tripod for the occasional landscape.

I don’t think Isa wants to answer this You keep saying this but how have they been relaxed? Whitehill reached the standard for the LL soon after it began but the standards haven’t changed since. Also people keep talking about grounds. It’s not the ground that gets the licence, it’s the club. Fair enough you need a first aid room, disabled toilets etc, but you also have to produce proper accounts going back about 3 years for starters. You have to have qualified coaches, physio, etc. Look it up.

Now I wonder where that image came from

Isa, I asked you this already. Can you give examples of what you mean by ‘dumbing down?’ What’s wrong with licensing being achievable? How do you square this with all the Juniors and TJ complaining about £100k toilets etc? How would you dumb it back up again

Hmm that’s interesting This raises more questions than answers for me. As a Jags fan you probably know the locality better than I do, so are we definitely looking at the right end? The aerial shot is inconclusive when you try and match up the buildings behind the goals. Or is it even a league game at Muirton? It’s absolutely rammed which raises doubts as the Cup was never that popular, e.g. the final v Aberdeen only attracted 25000. Just a thought. As a young boy you tend to remember your early experiences and that was my first visit to Firhill for sure. I checked the last time they played Rangers and it was 2 years earlier, with a relegation in between, and I hadn’t started going then. In my mind’s eye I know I never invented the cover behind the goal. However I did learn a few things about the Drybrough Cup when I looked it up. Stein’s Celtic never won it till the 4th year, 1974, although granted they were half-hearted about the competition. Also I didn’t remember the semis being on a neutral ground but they were in 1971 as you say. Celtic’s penalty win over Rangers in 1974 after a 2-2 draw was an absolute classic.

Not only that, the LL, HL, SOSL and EOSL are already separate bodies, each with their own board, sponsors etc. That’s why promotion/relegation are issues that are negotiated between different leagues and voted on at AGMs. An amazing number of posters on here still haven’t grasped this.

It was still there in Sep 71 the first time I went, Thistle 3 Rangers 2. Looked in need of a bit of TLC though. I’m sure it was gone by 73.

Just off the top of my head, they did the Copland, then the Broomloan, then the Govan over about 4 years up to 1981. The costs went up from about £6m to £10m so the club was skint till 1986 when the Souness revolution started with Davie Holmes as chairman.

I found when I went online at 10am on the Monday there were very few tickets and I couldn’t get 2 together. Got them anyway as the missus wasn’t bothered. Later in the week there were loads more as the season ticket holders had returned plenty. at the game there were 2 empty seats next to me but the missus wouldn’t come down as there were heaters in the roof above her 6-3 to Real, 4 for CR7 and 1 for Bale.

This is between 66-67 (the Copland Road End was covered during the season) and 1973 when the seats were put in at the near side which became the Centenary Stand. This photo clears up a load of questions from younger posters about the infamous Stairway 13. Unlike Hampden, you could only exit the end terraces at 2 places which you can clearly see at the Broomloan End. So the whole crowd from behind the goals was funnelled into 2 stairways and the crush could be terrifying. Stairway 13 can be seen sticking out on the extreme left. A way of avoiding the crush can be seen - the sloping path leading from the Cowshed. There was no segregation then, you could move round the terrace. Also something I never realised before, the land must have been higher at the Broomloan End as the stairways there are shorter.

I'm guessing this is near Silicon Glen...

Uncommon Freudian slip there HJ

Can't really remember that. I missed most of the first half because I turned up at the official Club Orientale building down by the coast. The actual stadium is about a mile uphill. All because I had no roaming data on my phone. (Phone thread for this pish) It took ages to sort this and I was blaming BT all the time. It turned out Vodafone had left a profile buried in my settings and once I trashed this everything worked.

I was in Lisbon with the missus last January (2017) and I must say we were spoiled for choice with the fixtures. Considered Belenenses but went to Belem for the tourist stuff and it was a bit of a trek so didn't fancy going back at night time. Also heard that somebody got refused entry there because he had a small camera. Went over on the ferry to Cova de Piede for a Saturday morning game v Benfica B, then met up with the missus for Benfica v Boavista. Didn't regret glory-hunting, fantastic stadium, great atmosphere as the Benfica fans kept it going, Benfica eagle in the stadium etc. Sunday, went to Orientale v Loures, a crumbling lower league ground.

He’s still the only one who thinks Celtic’s French striker is called Edward.

Yeah I would normally do something like that but we've only got Sat/Sun in Madrid after arriving late on Friday so won't be pushing my luck with the missus . Monday morning we're off to Extremadura, over 3 hrs by train.