OH FFS!!! They're After OBFA Again

HERE we go again, fresh from their “triumph” in trebling their number of Westminster MPs the British Labour Party in Scotland – the political wing of The Greatest Fans In The World – are flexing their muscles, their target now is that terrible affront to democracy – the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware, I hae ma doots about OBFA; of course, you do not have to have the forensic legal training of Donald Findlay QC to know, it is not a good piece of legislation, it is flawed, but, it is better than nothing.

You don't need the wit and wisdom of Donald Findlay QC to know: OBFA is bad law

There always has been, perhaps always (until the football authorities decide to do something about it) will be, offensive behaviour at football. You can see it at Lugar Boswell Thistle v Muirkirk Juniors (the bottom two teams in the Ayrshire League), just as you will see it at an Old Firm game.

As I have said before: one of the most-vicious fights I ever saw at a football match involved two pensioners, at an Arthurlie v Pollok game. But, while some (most?) clubs will accept, they have a handful of followers they would rather went elsewhere for their fun of a Saturday afternoon, the big two can count their lunatic fringe” in hundreds, maybe thousands.

Well, not quite, the self-anointed GFITW don't make a lot of noise at games – far too busy polishing their haloes – on their planet Self-Denial, it is all the fault of that other lot, you know, the knuckle-dragging True Brits from the ground down Edmiston Drive.

That's the GFITW's view, and, when some of their less-disciplined members began to be caught-up in the web of OBFA, well, this wasn't in the script. Ever since, they have, with the help of their placemen such as James Kelly in the ranks of the People's Party, been hell-bent on having OBFA repealed.

The quickest way for this act to be abandoned is, quite simply, for Football to get its act together. For the clubs to accept, we have a minor problem here, let's sort it out. But, this will never happen. For Football to sort itself out, would require a force of will and an intelligence which is sadly absent from the sixth floor corridor at Hampden.

And, until the game comes to its senses, we will need laws, even flawed laws, forced on the game by lawmakers who, by and large, don't give a toss about the game.

OVER the weekend, I down-loaded a copy of the International Football Board's (IFAB's) policy document, outlining their suggested amendments to the Laws of the Game.

I was somewhat surprised – the document makes a lot of sense and contains several what I feel are genuinely innovative and welcome suggestions. However, how many of these survive the horse-trading during the document's evaluation process, is anyone's guess. I would have gone further, but, it's a start.

Here is the link to the document: http://www.play-fair.com/

I hope you read through it and enjoy it.

AH TELT YE that peace would quickly break-out between the SFA and the Scotland Women's team. Good sense at last from Hampden, the Scots Lassies, plus their new midfield enforcer: The Sturgeonator, were always going to be too-thrawn for the “Blazers” to oppose them for long.

MIND YOU, according to “The Stenographers”, the HUGE news over the weekend was the Glib and Shameless Liar's latest press briefing for the gullible, at which GASL came up with the cracker, that Celtic had only actually won two-in-a-row.

 As glib and shameless lies go, his weekend effort was worthy of an Oscar

Well, I needed a laugh after Scotland losing to Fiji at rugby. This guy is a total embarrassment, but, not as big an embarrassment as the so-called journalists who dutifully took-down his dictation as if on tablets of stone.

Please remember: Rangers is a club without a credit line at a bank, surviving on soft loans and donations from well-heeled fans and directors. For as long as there are Real Rangers Men willing to keep the lights on at Ibrox, the club will survive, but, the future does not look bright.

How best to sum-up Rangers' situation – I give you this lady: