Hillonearth

I'm on here far less often than in the past - GN has been a bin fire the last couple of years for starters - but we'd actually been talking about this thread after the game on Saturday down at Largs. And aye, trust me to turn it into Dictionary Corner

The whole thing seems like a bit of a storm in a teacup TBH, and it was put to a vote to fall back under the auspices of the SJFA I'd be surprised if the level of support for it to pass was actually there. I've always said that you could tell where clubs stood on the matter by referring back to the old "Junior football - what is the future?" thread and seeing roughly in what order the dominoes fell...the last 15 or 20 clubs to declare for the WOS clearly only did so reluctantly when it became clear what kind of hellscape they'd be left playing in if they didn't. There's no reason to believe many of them have changed their minds in the interim, as in most cases it'll likely be the same people in charge. On the other side of the coin, there are probably the same number of clubs who were on the other side of the argument at the time and just as anti status quo as the first lot were pro. You can add in another 15 or 20 new clubs who have joined since and thus have no previous history - and it follows no atavistic emotional attachment - to the SJFA. There also no doubt will be a lot of clubs who don't feel that strongly either way, and just want somewhere well-run to play in. By and large, there's been an uptick in the quality of governance since the advent of the WOS - you don't need to look that far back to the days when we got drip-fed on a Monday night who you were playing the next weekend to give an obvious example. In a way you can compare it with the working from home thing over COVID. Once things were getting back to normal there were those who pushed hard to get everybody back in the office five days a week because that what they felt most comfortable with - they thought everyone felt the way they did, only to find the appetite to do so was nowhere near as universal as they thought it would be.

Yeah, it's us - we formed in 1884. We went senior for a few years in the late 1880s and played in the big Scottish back then as well just to muddy the waters!

Chances are it's flown off the shelves in its old heartland, whereas down here almost nobody's familiar with the brand so it's selling a lot slower. TBH I only knew about it through P&B - I'd been up at a Highland League game and we'd stopped off at a petrol station I think near Elgin on the way back when I saw a bunch of 500ml bottles and picked up some because I'd heard folk mention it on here. I'd likely never have heard of it otherwise...it didn't seem to be sold outside of that corner of the country.

I'm assuming it feeds on from that daft video the old yin did a few years back. At the time they were wetting themselves at how well she delivered her lines, but by that stage I'm not entirely convinced she didn't think she was actually talking to a real bear.

I think it's just come out, so you'll likely still be in luck - got it in Valhalla's Goat this afternoon. I was last in there a couple of weeks ago and it defo wasn't there then. Not popped it yet, but I'll post when I do...it'll be interesting to see how they manage a sour version of something I primarily remember for its almost overwhelming sweetness.

Moray Cup flavour sour courtesy of Brewtoon. Couldn't not buy it.

I kind of feel for him...in royal terms that must be like getting the nod to come off the subs' bench with ten minutes to go and popping your hammy a minute after getting on the park.

Quite astonishing they haven't tracked him down yet when you consider half of his coupon now looks like a mince bhuna. Not everybody dressed up like the Phantom of the Opera is really going to the theatre, Met...

Nucular. Leesure. That weird "A" they shoehorn into some words of foreign origin...pawsta washed down with lawger.

On An Undertaker's Night...

Jolly Boy Joey is for real...

Maryhill v Shire off - as above - frozen pitch.

From memory the last time the story reared its head some fairly big player's daft relative was one of the prime non-movers behind it. As soon as I heard they were planning to resurrect Cathkin I knew it was bullshit...pre-COVID there was a Saturday morning ammy team using it and I'd occasionally stop off to catch the first half on my way up to Lochburn. While it's an atmospheric place to watch a game, it's a ruin. There are still a few bits remaining of what could charitably be called terracing, but in terms of bringing the place back into use as an actual stadium they're fifty years too late - it would cost millions, especially when you consider the size of crowd they'd be likely to attract.

I suppose there's an analogy to be made with the fantasists who appear every few years proclaiming the resurrection of Third Lanark, conveniently ignoring the fact that the area they played in has completely changed both in terms of population density and demographic profile since they played there sixty years ago. Worth noting though that a version of Thirds still play, albeit in the ammy leagues - saw them play up at Barlia a couple of months ago. Given that the bar has never been lower in terms of going semi-pro though it's notable that they've made no move, suggesting we can finally treat the "Thirds are back" stories with the contempt they deserve next time they appear.

Yeah, I remember them floating around at Firhill and Hamilton for a good few years, but couldn't recall the timescale - coming up on 40 years since they had a genuine presence in the area then.

Given their current position on the park, they look like candidates for the LL in the next few years, which would make taking on a new stadium which would need substantial work done while simultaneously financially restructuring in accordance with their new reality problematic to say the least. As I'd said earlier, their greater name recognition might swing it for them, but the truth is they've not been a club based in the area for the best part of half a century now - when did they vacate Shawfield - mid-80s? - whereas Finnart are and seem to be a genuine local community enterprise in comparison.

Yeah, I walked through the stadium bit a while back on my way up to Dennistoun and it's in quite a bit of disrepair as well. anyone who takes it over it will have a job on their hands...it's certainly not some spanking new facility. It's difficult in many ways - while I totally get that the days of monolithic stadia like the old Tinto and Petershill are gone forever my worry is that the more sides who go down the 3G cage route, the more that'll be normalised as an acceptable way of operating. It's fine for sides that are just starting out - everybody's got to start somewhere - but for me there has to be some sense of working towards something better than that. Moving from amateur or youth football comes with an expectation that now you're changing to get in, you should also make at least some effort to provide a spectator experience that people might want to repeat...some of the newer sides seem to get that point, Thorn being a good example of a side that seems to be moving in the right direction, but with others the jury's still out.

Yeah, I was there for the first half - it looked like shooty-in and I could only see one winner so I went down to Peasy Park for the second half of Locos/Panmure. I think there's certainly an element of resentment of the new at play; some the people who are most vocal about Springburn not being fit for a junior cup tie would probably be moist with anticipation at the thought of an away tie up at somewhere similarly no-frills like Whitehills or Hall Russell, simply because the distance involved would make it feel more exotic, romantic and...well, juniory. And that's not to say Springburn is a good venue. It's clearly not - the spectator experience provided simply isn't good enough to be charging money for. Finnart are one of the ones who seem to be going about things the right way though and seem to have a plan in place, although I fear that the name recognition Clyde retain might be the deciding factor in the Crownpoint saga.

They normally play at Springburn which is just an astro cage, but they'd switched this one to Shettleston which is grass.

Exactly - it's my constituency and TBH the Ferrier factor meant that the SNP ran the most desultory campaign I can remember in recent years as if they knew it was going into the L column from the get-go. In contrast Labour were never off the doorsteps, but I do question if they retain the activist base to replicate that level of effort throughout the country in a GE...it felt like they threw everything they had at this one almost in overkill fashion. As for the Tories, although I live in one of the areas of the constituency where they must have been hopeful of getting a few votes there was absolutely no sign of them apart from a couple of leaflets where you had to look REALLY carefully to find out who it was from....there was probably a more concerted effort made by nutcases like the Family Party.

The two groups that seem to miss it most are the Brentesque middle managers who relied on in-office working to provide them with a captive audience and the wee groups of middle-aged wifies who have what passes for a social circle built around work. Even the latter have found an MO by co-ordinating their days in, so it's really only the first lot who there was never really any hope for anyway. I remember during one of the lockdowns one of the Brents stridently complaining to me that WFH simply doesn't work because nobody was keeping in touch with each other and thinkling to myself "Aye, nobody's keeping in touch with YOU..." People were just sending him strictly-business emails and avoiding phoning him because they knew they'd be subjected to 45 minutes of his brand of performance art if they did.

Mentioned this to the missus just there - she has her suspicions based on a podcast she watched recently where some female comedians were repeatedly referencing Mr Rapey Wape which seemed to be common knowledge in those circles. Don't think he's big enough to warrant 90 minutes, so I assume tomorrow will probably delve into who knew/covered up etc.

Politics doesn't remotely come into it - if anything we're discussing morality, and we wouldn't even be doing that if one of our clubs wasn't actively considering signing an actual rapist. No level of football exists in a bubble where outside issues and events don't touch it, which seems to be where you're coming from...at an even more extreme end of the scale should it pass without comment if somebody signed Ian Huntley because he'd be worth 30 goals a season to them?

Ooft...this thread. Sticking purely to the football side of it, I'm just glad they got emptied from our division last year and in all likelihood we won't have to play them. I'm sorry for the clubs that will though... Given that the league are essentially powerless to stop a signing like this and Shettleston now seem intent on doubling down, the sides they will be playing are however not completely powerless to show they're not tarred with the same brush as another team in their league. The ones that want to can make the fact incredibly clear TBH...each team in their division could reach out to a local rape charity/crisis centre and offer to display signage at their ground, they can hand out literature before games against Shettleston and blanket coverage of the charities in all their socials on the run up to that game. Likewise, most/many usual sponsors would probably be fine about switching their match programme adverts to some more of the above for one week only. Shit - invite some local women's groups to the game to make it a genuinely uncomfortable experience