OH
DEAR! Oh Dear! Oh Dear! Football is about to introduce their VAR
(which I think stands for video assistant referee) and the natives,
at least in England, are revolting.
IFAB has passed VAR for use, but the English football media aint happy
We
in Scotland seem unlikely to be bothered about VAR or any form of
video technology, well, neither the SFA nor the SPFL can afford it.
Any way, we cannot allow a system to be introduced which might
demonstrate that a penalty awarded to either one of the Bigot
Brothers, or a disputed goal for either, should not have been given.
I
have just listened to the talking heads on Football Focus ripping VAR
to bits. It works in cricket, it works in tennis, it works in rugby;
sure, there are occasional fuck-ups, but, you will always get that –
it is known as the human element. Why, therefore, should it not work
in football?
The
system will be refined over the coming seasons, as actual examples
flag-up difficulties, mind you, as we are seeing in politics – the
world is out of step apart from England.
I
AM uncertain about the decision to go-ahead with this weekend's
William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-finals, given the recent terrible
weather.
OK,
the pitches will be clear and playable; the clubs will have done
everything possible to make the spectator areas satisfactory, but,
simply getting from home to the four grounds, and, in particular for
my fellow Kilmarnock fans – getting from East Ayrshire to Aberdeen,
across the worst of the areas devastated by “the Beast from the
East” - will not be easy.
But,
too often, Elf N Safety intrudes these days. Battling through
terrible conditions to get to a game is one of these trips you never
forget. For instance, I can still recall leaving East Ayrshire to see
a Hearts v Kilmarnock Scottish Cup tie, at Tynecastle, back in the
early 1960s.
It
wasn't too bad going up the A70 as far as Hyndford Bridge. There we
learned, the Lang Whang, from Carstairs to Currie, was impassable,
so, we had to go via Biggar. The A702 was passable, but, the snow
banks on either side were at least four or five feet high. We got all
the way into Slateford, when we discovered the game was off – this
was about an hour before kick-off, so, we had no option but to turn
around and retrace our steps.
Jackie McInally - his goal made a difficult trip to Edinburgh worth while
Undaunted,
we were back on the Wednesday night to see Jackie McInally score a
late equaliser, and, back at Rugby Park, we won the replay.
That
game, I still remember, more than 50-years on, other, more-recent
matches, have been wiped from the memory banks.
I
hope the Killie caravan to Pittodrie today has a memorable trip, with
a place in the semi-finals a nice wee reward for their commitment to
the club.
AS
I mentioned in my last blog post, change is in the air in Scottish
football – and how.
My
post mentioned plans to scrap the Development League, to be replaced
with the a revamped Reserve League, now, moves are afoot to alter the
landscape of “Real Fitba” - the Scottish Junior FA, who are,
according to the font of all knowledge of that grade of football –
that great unsung journalism hero Scott Campbell of the Scottish Sun
– looking at summer football.
Of
course, cynics amongst us – aye you Chick Young – have long made
fun of the length of the Junior season. “The Junior close season
this year will be on a Thursday,” is one of, if not the oldest of
the jokes in Chick's joke book – which is written in “braid
Scots”, on vellum. (I could have written Latin there, but, who
would believe Charles would have anything to do with Latin?)
Between
poor pitches and getting their myriad cup competitions played off,
the junior season does tend to go on a bit. I still remember, back in
the 1990s, when I was doing a lot of junior games, covering the first
friendly of the new season on a Saturday, before, the following
Tuesday, turning up at Blair Park, Hurlford, to see Auchinleck Talbot
complete their season by winning the Ayrshire Cup.
I
also noted, as the junior season carried on into late June or even
early July, weel-kent faces from Somerset Park or Rugby Park on the
terraces at Beechwood, Loch Park, Newlandsfield or Dunterlie Park.
Tom Johnston - the SJFA High Heid Yin could be presiding over summer football
Might
I offer this wee tip to Tom Johnston, the wonderful Secretary of the
SJFA, should, as I hope they do, his member clubs go with summer
football.
In
North America, the NBA (basketball) and the NHL (ice hockey) support
“summer leagues”, in which players who are looking to get into
the big show in their sports, and free agents looking to stay in the
big time can strut their stuff in front of the scouts from major
league teams.
That
would, I am certain, work with the juniors.
EARLIER
this week, I mentioned the competition to name the streets on the new
housing development on the site of Love Street, St Mirren's former
home ground.
Chick
Young made a cameo appearance on last Saturday's “Off the Ball”,
to highlight the competition, which is being organised by
Renfrewshire Council – so, no prizes going then. The “short list”
contained 15 suggestions, mostly relating to St Mirren legends, and
the public are being asked to pick a “five-a-side team” to name
the five streets in the development.
The
list is:
- Abercromby Avenue – after 1987 Scottish Cup-winning captain Billy
- Bryceland Avenue – after Tommy, one of the stars of the 1959 Scottish Cup-winning side
- Copland Lane – after long-serving club legend Jackie
- Fitzpatrick Way – after Chief Executive and club legend Tony
- Gemmell Gardens – after Tommy, another of the 1959 Scottish Cup winners
- McCrae Crescent – after St Mirren hero of the 1920s Davie
- McGarry Terrace – after Stephen McGarry, from the Millennium Champions side
- McWhirter Street – after long-serving former captain Norrie
- Money Street – after goalkeeping great “Dibble”
- Saints Street – well, why not, it does what it says on the tin
- Somner Street – after goal-scoring cult hero Doug
- Telfer Street – in honour of the great centre-half Willie
- Torfason Terrace – to honour the great Icelandic player Gunni
- Van Zanten View – after David, one of the more-recent St Mirren heroes
- Yardley Avenue – after big Mark, another North Bank hero who scored a lot of goals.
An athlete to his fingertips - Mark Yardley
I am still upset that
the great “Basher” Lavety didn't make the final cut; Bash or
Basher Street would definitely have got my vote. However, I have made
my choice and voted, so hopefully I've got at least one street right.
You too can vote on the
Renfrewshire Council website, in the section “Saints Streets”.
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