Fitba’ mad
It looks very much as though Scottish Labour are pinning their hopes of recovery on “Glasgow Man”, and they’ve plainly decided he’s an Old Firm fan.
Today’s press release in the Scotsman – which oddly relegates Jim Murphy to second billing halfway down the page – goes under the unlikely headline of “Miliband will keep Scotland games on terrestial [sic] TV”, and claims that the Scottish national football team’s tournament qualifiers will be added to the “crown jewels” list of games which are only allowed to be shown on free-to-air terrestrial TV, not satellite pay channels.
But readers might be wise to be sceptical.
Labour last looked at the issue back in 2008, when Gordon Brown commissioned a report into which sporting events should be on the restricted list. The resulting paper was published the following year and recommended (among other things) that qualifiers for all four home nations should be included, at which point Labour hoofed it into Row Z in the form of a public “consultation” and it was never heard of again before the party was kicked out of office in the 2010 election.
It’s not much of an issue in the UK, because England’s qualifying matches are of course already on terrestrial TV for the forseeable future, with ITV having snapped up exclusive rights to home and away games for both the 2016 European Championships and 2018 World Cup. (The matches are shown on STV, so Scottish viewers get England games but not Scotland ones.)
The announcement is therefore clearly a gambit aimed at the three Celtic nations, but most particularly Scotland where Labour is in trouble, so it’s odd that it’s been credited to Miliband rather than Murphy.
The Scottish branch manager has been diligent in going after the football vote, with the teetotal MP promising to let fans get boozed-up at games again for the first time in 35 years (to the horror of domestic abuse charities, who fear alcohol can only amplify the existing spike in wife-beating that invariably accompanies Old Firm games, which may return as regular fixtures later this year).
And he’s also pledged to bring back cheery ditties about religious wars and terrorist murderers to Scottish football grounds.
Speaking of which, Murphy also recently demanded knighthoods for veteran Rangers and Celtic captains John Greig and Billy McNeill – though he curiously overlooked the only other player to captain a Scottish club to a European trophy, Glasgow-born Willie Miller of Aberdeen, until prompted by a local radio presenter into a hasty addition.
(It was a particularly ungrateful omission, as Miller came out for “Better Together” last year alongside McNeill and a bunch of other mostly Old Firm players.)
Perhaps even Labour have started to find Murphy’s transparent chasing of the bigot vote a little too crude and shoved Miliband to the front to defuse it slightly. A couple of weeks ago The Sun revealed that the UK Labour leader had promised a cricket journalist he’d knight convicted wife-beater Geoffrey Boycott if he became PM, so he’s clearly not too repulsed by a bit of sport-related domestic abuse either.
We can only speculate on the reasons. But what’s evident beyond dispute is that Scottish Labour hunger for the votes of those Scottish football fans who want to get blootered, sing their songs of hatred, then go home and belt the missus one.
With the vast majority of Scots NOT being Old Firm supporters, and overwhelmingly backing the anti-sectarianism laws, however, it’ll be interesting to see if that desperate pursuit yields Murphy and Miliband more votes than it loses.
Has Jim Murphy ever been to any Scotland games?
The Tartan Army might be able to enlighten us on that one.
Even among the british nationalist unionists I know who support Celtic and Sevco, Murphy is not liked, nor rated.
Even the worst and most bitter among Celtic and Sevco fans on the Internet cannot seem to take to Murphy. They are totally unmoved by Murphy’s pronouncements about booze and songs, even though they agree with him.
Thus the complete and utter absence of any kind of Murphy bounce.
This will be the same Jim Murphy who is seen most home games sharing a hospitality unit at Parkhead with the likes of Dr Reid, Gordon Matheson and others of Labour’s Mafia in Glasgow ….
Anything for a vote.
They should be renamed ‘Windolene’, they’re so sparklingly transparent.
Well blue as the Smurph may be (more of which later), he was also all over Twitter this morning, courtesy of his Lapdug, in an AFC strip, inventing headers and saving the league. He may also save humanity by being revealed as the real Christ before the end of the month….
The Scottish Catholic Observer had a line on Facebook on the Smurph – despite his going blue and more worringly despite his not condemning Abortion (now others may not take the same stance as me on that); interesting was that despite that fact being open and out there on the SCO feed, they were, if not endorsing him, certainly not condoning the Smurph and giving him columns inches. They may not have said, “Vote for him” but it was between the lines; what they did not say quite patently was, “this avowed Catholic is a candidate for election who is coming out against Church teaching – be advised, and we do not endorse him”. Their mention of his stance was concilliatory.
Very bizarre.
Jim Murphy wholeheartedly supported a Team GB football team for the London Olympics, saying he had received assurances from FIFA over Scotland’s continuing status as a football nation.
If I remember no one believed Murphy or FIFA. Now there is a surprise.
Surely these BritNats want a BFA and not a SFA.
If you agree Scotland is a region why would you support a national team in a region?
So, vote for Murphy, get Milliband and on top of that have to watch Scotland’s football team in yet another qualifying campaign “glorious failure” on TV. Nah, even voting Tory increasingly looks more palatable than that!
We’ll only ever become free when football stops becoming the national obsession.
Yup, I wondered the same about why Milliband released this rather than Murphy.
Is there a schism between Murphy and Ed that has resulted in them not talking?
Is Ed still upset at the headline, ‘The first Ed Milliband will hear about it, is when he reads it in the papers’?
this made Ed look really weak, and it was not picked up by the right wing press, which suggests that perhaps they are saving this for nearer the election date.
What’s McDougal, McTernan, and the other nasty piece of work who’s name escapes me, relationship with the present Labour Leadership?
It would be interesting if Murphy is lining up a Blairite cabal, especially one that’s members have all been slighted by Ed or Balls.
It may be that Patriotic Jim and his Sewage pipe staff, are not so much interested in standing up for Scotland as using Scotland, as a silver bullet, with which to seek revenge on Ed & Co.
So the play would be simple:
The usual meaningless sound-bites, that flatter to deceive, ala, vote SNP get David Cameron etc.
Build Creepy Jims reputation up as someone who is strong and able to stand up for what he believes in and who rejects Ed and Balls weaknesses.
Lose the vote in Scotland, so finish Ed and balls off, as leadership material.
Jim is seen as the new Scottish ‘clunking fist’ and someone who is able to make or break a Labour leader.
Jim makes a bid for Labour leadership, with the selling point that although the SNP won the 2015 election, they did so only because Ed, ruined Jims campaign, but that Jim will get the ‘Scottish Block’ back for Labour as he is the clunking fist.
Failing this Jim will be better able to negotiate with the SNP, to build a coalition for government.
No other Labour MP can challenge this so Jims Narcissist, personality gets the revenge on Ed that it must have to protect his internal delusion of grandeur, and he ends up being the top dog.
Then again maybe I’m waffling lol.
At this rate of offers he will be guaranteeing every bigot, alcoholic and old firm fan a place in the Scottish cabinet, if they just vote SLAB.LOL
Devorgilla – Couldn’t agree more Murphy is so last century!LOL
What’s the diffence beteen Paris Bun bigot and Jungle Jim Bigot? Wan’s a Kafflick and the other’s a Prodistent. I forget which is which. Cannae tell twins apart when they are in the buff.
Brainless Wilson, Sellick Unionist, is still paid for spewing his anti SNP bile, and Labour Weakly column every Friday in the Hootsman, byraway.
Interesting to note that Miliband is now handing out the knighthoods, rather than the Queen.
Boy, those “focus groups” are going into overtime, aren’t they?
Ah, sectarian songs. The one thing as a Celtic fan I’ve missed least of all from the death of Rangers, and with it the Old Firm game. I can understand peoples’ issues with the methods employed in enforcing the OBAF act, but I really don’t have an issue with it in itself. Like in all walks of life, just “don’t be a dick” and you’ll be fine.
Interesting to see the daily record claiming that follow follow is an anthem of hate. It’s not. It’s a family friendly Rangers song that some elements change certain words to, to cause offence. Should we ban all songs on earth in case someone changes the words to cause offence? I think not.
The billy boys is completely unacceptable though.
Also interesting to see that you mention a spike in wife beating and going home to belt the missus. I’ve only ever heard of a spike in domestic violence. Which as we all know can work both ways but it is always the male who is blamed. This sounds like a pathetic attempt to paint all old firm fans as wife beaters fuelled by your own bigotry and hatred.
Whilst we have people like you spreading this bile around Scotland we will never be free from it.
You don’t happen to support a Scottish team do you?
The reason I ask is because you usually find it’s actually the years of humpings that is the real issue.
“Also interesting to see that you mention a spike in wife beating and going home to belt the missus. I’ve only ever heard of a spike in domestic violence. Which as we all know can work both ways but it is always the male who is blamed.”
That’s true, but I think it’s fairly reasonable to assume that in the specific case of Rangers v Celtic matches it was overwhelmingly women who were the victims, particularly as the linked article cites “hegemonic masculinity” as one of the key factors.
Absolutely nobody suggested ALL Old Firm fans were wife-beaters. That you falsely infer that accusation speaks volumes about your defensiveness on the subject.
It seems that there’s nothing more to Murphy than soundbites and photo op’s. A complete chancer who’s now in the spotlight and is being found out.
I think with the clampdown in offensive behaviour co-inciding with the slow death of Rangers. Scotland has become a much better place without the old firm. Unfortunately we have the cup clash coming up.Good God we haven’t missed that at all!
It will be good for us all if Rangers and Celtic are kept apart for another few years. We might then have a whole generation growing up supporting their local teams!
Kenny G- I pity you! Grow up!
OOOOH,doffs cloth cap ” thank ee kindly dear sirs, free fitbaw! tis such an honour thee bestows on us wreaches. Now if you could just throw in a couple quarts of ale each day I will certainly give thee my soul.”
What do you expect, the man is an Ambulance Chaser, in all possible interpretations.
Looking for an accident, looking for a photo-op, looking for a camera and looking for a microphone.
He is the bloody accident; Damian of Drop the Dead Donkey.
did Murphy not claim to be a Celtic season ticket holder?
is him in a old rangers top just him showing another one of his many lying faces?
“did Murphy not claim to be a Celtic season ticket holder?”
As the caption notes, he does indeed claim to be a Celtic fan. The shirt is from some charity game or similar.
You have to wonder if Murphys ‘I am not a unionist’ stance is more to do with the connotations of that word in the west of Scotland. Labours catholic supporters, and the smurph, are well aware of its association with the more unsavoury elements of the tribal divide so being tagged as such isn’t going to help his cause. It therefore falls on us to call him Unionist Jim Murphy at every opportunity.
Then again, maybe he genuinely doesn’t see himself on any side except his own.
@ Patrick Roden
“that it must have to protect his internal delusion of adequacy”
There, fixed that for you.
Macart,
As the main ingredient in window cleaners is ammonia, I assume that that is your polite way of saying pish?
He’d sell his own granny to try and grab a couple of votes
Let me see.He is a self admitted Celtic fan, posing in a Rangers top, and caught jogging along the Clydeside in a Scotland top.What next,? a harlequin ensemble of thistle socks,celtic shorts,rangers top,clyde tracksuit top. Where will it end?
I fail to see how allowing alcohol to be drunk in a stadium (on a widespread basis, as it’s currently available for corporates) will result in a spike in domestic violence?
I doubt it’s escaped your attention, but alcohol is widely available in society…..drinking in a stadium will make no difference to domestic violence levels.
Alcohol is already widely available, back in the days of the Old Firm riot, people were taking in suitcases full of booze, getting pished on the terrace, now people get pished in the pub but it’s nowhere the levels it was in the past AND if there is drinking in the stadium, then it’ll be plastic bottles or plastic glasses.
Personally I think allowing normal fans a drink in the stadium is the right thing to do and only then will clubs be able to improve the overall matchday experience, there is also the fact it’s time Scotland grew up and stopped living in fear of people getting pished.
@Patrick Roden,
I like your deduction Patrick. While reading it I found myself able to accept the scenario, and recognised that it depicted, in a plausible way, the infighting that, no doubt, prevails within the Labour Party at present. The Blairites are still thickly spread within it.
Jim Murphy:
One vote and he’s anybody’s. Just keep him at the trough and he will say anything. It does come with a warning, however. He is very much a man of words, not action.
Jim Murphy: a different football top for every face.
“You don’t happen to support a Scottish team do you?
The reason I ask is because you usually find it’s actually the years of humpings that is the real issue.”
Only in Scotland. My team humps your team, so that makes my political case over yours.
Thousands of enraged violent piss artists swilling around Scottish cities and towns every Saturday afternoon once again anyone?
@RevSC 2.32pm
I’m willing to accept that the majority of domestic violence reports may have been violence against women. I’m not willing to accept that the majority of actual domestic violence incidents are violence against women. I also believe that where there is doubt, the male is often considered guilty.
If your comments around wife beating and belting the missus relating to old firm fans was not intended to paint old firm fans as wife beaters then I stand corrected.
Jim Murphy the 90 minute bigot.
Is one permitted to describe ones self as Teetotal even if one has a dreadful windolene problem?
Slightly o/t. Did Murphy vote for the development of a super casino and 16 other casinos in March 2007?
I think it’s pretty clear that labour in Scotland stand for everything, with their long game logic enabling them to be for and against nuclear weapons, for and against Scotland, presumably for and against abortion. Compliant media leaving it for ordinary punters to do the critical thinking on the policies themselves. I imagine the labour strategy is as follows: be right wing to get the unionist/Brit voters who can do critical thinking, assume core labour voters are too dumb to get past the smoke screen in the media, get a majority! Remember, for example, that Murphy has a Unionist, and quite right wing potential large vote in Williamwood, Giffnock, Whitecraigs, Newton Mearns etc. Nuclear weapons, low taxes, hard on the low waged and unemployed will be fine, if core votes in parts of Barrhead, for example, don’t see through the ‘get the right wing Tories out, we’re left wing we are’ B.S.
BTW, who is Mike Burns? He was on GMS this morning ranting away about the Scottish Gov – A9 speed cameras. I ask because I’m 95% sure he was on the blower when Alex Salmond was doing Call Kaye about 8 months ago shouting down the First Minister in a way that would never be allowed if it was a member of the Westminster government. Is he a jilted lover?
@cearc
I couldn’t possibly comment. 🙂
@BigJock 2.37pm
This is the most mindless, brainless and least unimaginative rhetoric pish known to man. Get a thesaurus!
I think “Bugger” summed it up best – An Ambulance Chaser
@ Arabs for Independence
Yes, he did :
link to publications.parliament.uk
The favoured Labour Formation
1
1,1,1,1
1,1,1,1
1,1
On the football front, what connections does Jim Murphy have with Man City? I notice he received tickets and corporate hospitality for the Man City v Spurs game at the end of last year. No doubt he was wearing a Man City top!
Murphy is a prefect who believes that he is the ‘heedie’.
The favoured Labour Formation
1
1,1,1,1
1,1,1,1
1,1
Don’t they favour teams of 1011 players?
I’m a huge admirer of this site, but this is not your best post. Speaking as a “Glasgow Man” I think you perhaps need a more sophisticated approach regarding Glasgow’s big two.
I’m of Irish decent,a Celtic fan & all my adult life have supported Scottish Independence. I know at least….30 fellow Celtic fans, a split of say 50/50 Catholic & non Catholic – (Protestant, Muslim etc) & to a man & woman all supported YES. Lets not also forget that a significant number of bluenose voted Yes to make Glasgow an zIndepenfent city….unlike many other parts of our nation that are not infected with sectarianism.
Travelling to other football grounds around Scotland The Only ground where I’ve not been called a Fenian b****** is Easter Road, so forgive me if I’m not convinced that it’s only Glasgow Man who indulges his irrational prejudice.
As for Murphy, Brian Wilson & Michael Kelly, I’d rather, entertain a Rabid, incontinent Rottweiler in my front room than any of that venal shower of Labour apparatchiks…..
[…] Fitba’ mad […]
The biggest difference between domestic violence after old firm games and any other sporting event is the reference points are negligable i.e. doesnt matter what expectations were before the game, the same violence spike ensues:
link to ideas.repec.org
While blaming the clubs or the game itself is a completely symplistic way of looking at it, I still think its great that there hasnt been an old firm game for years and if you dont like me saying that you can go ahead and fucking sue me in England for all I care.
What was Miliband thinking appointing Murphy as branch manager? Then serial achiever McTernan as sincerity guru? Not wise moves from the Slabbers even with the support of their political wing at the BBC.
The picture confirms what I was beginning to suspect oor jim is a mighty murphin ranger. The whole murphy media thing is starting to get more surreal by the day. Wonder what costume he will be wearing tomorrow.
As a Celtic fan I am not looking forward to the derby game, not only because of the cr*p it brings but the way the unionist press will portray it.
‘heedtracker says:
26 January, 2015 at 3:09 pm“You don’t happen to support a Scottish team do you?
The reason I ask is because you usually find it’s actually the years of humpings that is the real issue.”
Only in Scotland. My team humps your team, so that makes my political case over yours.
Thousands of enraged violent piss artists swilling around Scottish cities and towns every Saturday afternoon once again anyone?’
Heedtracker, clearly you don’t realise that football fans drink, whether that is inside a stadium or not, doesn’t really matter, surely you’d rather have their money going towards their clubs….
The days of thousands of football fans on the warpath are over, the vast majority would quite like to enjoy a beer in the stadium, it might actually help to improve the atmosphere at games and provide some more money for their teams rather than some chain pub picking up the dough.
Like I’ve said above, it’s time for Scotland to join the 21st century and act accordingly.
Germany and a whole host of other european countries can operate with beer in the stadium, yet we are too stupid to do it?
So wait…are we all supposed to be opposed to Scotland games being on cooncil telly now just because the Labour Party says they should be? Isn’t the perverse way terrestrial TV pays for “British” football one of the myriad reasons we have a problem with the BBC. i.e. why should Scotland pay over the odds for Gary Lineker when our domestic game is facing ARMAGEDDON?
@ CHALKS
“Germany and a whole host of other european countries can operate with beer in the stadium, yet we are too stupid to do it?
Evidentially so, I think?
macnakamura says:
“Murphy is a prefect”
Well, if he was ever a prefect, he must have shown promise at school which never came to fruition later on in life! 🙂
Murphy is a unionist slabbercabbage 😀
Sometimes I think I’m back reading the Scotsman comments whenever football is mentioned in this anti old firm infested blog.poor show canny wait till the the gers are back giving you bad losers a right humping on a regular
basis. I cant find a team called Sevco in any town in Scotland bye the way.You sound like a labour voting no man to me Martin
I was in the chess club at Perth College when I did my highers.
One guy appeared one evening saying he had sussed out this chess thing and had devised an infallible strategy.
Curious, I asked him to show me.
Very soon into the game, it became obvious what this ‘strategy’ was, however, for my own amusement I simply moved some pieces aimlessly back and forth.
Eventually he had managed to get all his pieces moved forward one row with the king on its own on the back row. He gave out a triumphant “Now what are you going to do?” and proceeded to just move the king left and right a space at a time.
I cruelly feigned despair before check-mating him in 3 or 4 moves (which anyone else in the club would have been able to do as well).
Bugger (the Panda) says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
26 January, 2015 at 4:05 pm
@
Charles Edward says:
26 January, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Is one permitted to describe ones self as Teetotal even if one has a dreadful windolene problem?
Windolene yes, (Anusol) no.
@Bugger (the Panda)
I dinna mean to rant, but no drinking in the stadium and no safe standing sections in Scottish stadiums really get my goat.
It would be nice if those who follow football were a bit smarter where enjoying the game and enjoying a drink is concerned, unfortunately as it is war by another means getting completely pie eyed seems to be the order of the day. Indeed Chalks, alcohol is everywhere in society, what we do not need is a return to the day when you cannot travel on either the bus or the train without many drunken or about to be drunken supporters terrorising people. Then of course you have the enervating sight as per Missy M’s blog where as a very young woman she was pissed on by a middle aged man as she stood on the terraces. She does not care much for football either.
I tend to endorse Dervorgilla’s view, we will be free when we have got rid of this obsession, we are particularly bad at it any way.
If they screened Scotland fit baw games on BBC Scotland i would nae believe the results.
Football = votes for Labour?Are they not getting a bit desperate now?
@ chalks “Germany and a whole host of other european countries can operate with beer in the stadium, yet we are too stupid to do it?”
Yes we are too stupid, end of. Public disorder is an issue affecting more than just the few thousand football fans Jim Murphy/BBC/Slab etc are trying to con. Might pick up a few votes though. “I can’t watch a 90 minute match without a drink and I want chant the most offensive songs my piss drenched heed can mind, SO I VOTE SLAB AND MURPHY”
Kenny G- A lot of hostility from you today. Calm down man!
Yes, let’s not forget that yes supporting city of Glasgow. And shame on all those areas that voted no. You and we all know who you are and we will never forget.
Sectarianism in Glasgow is nowhere near as vile as it is in the rest of the country.
Also interesting to note that the hatred towards us (a yes voting city) is coming from all the areas that voted no and are full of unionists. Surprise surprise.
Not sure how much longer there will be any Scotland games to put on TV, when England FA oppose Blatter’s reelection and he wins anyway…
O/T anyone notice how SRU no longer talk about their representatives playing international rugby, they now play Test rugby? Have a look at the website. But they still play in the ‘Six Nations’ (two nations, three territories and an island, more like).
Celtic park was immense for YES during the referendum (if you want further info with regard to the experience of the Provan YES campaign I can giver it to you), we would have had plenty votes from the non-loyalist Rangers fans too. Please, please calm doon yer ranting pish against the old firm and target your criticism more carefully. It looks spiteful, it is spiteful and it is chauvinistic. I could go on for a while about this as it’s wrong on a few levels but it’s beginning to give me the hump about this otherwise excellent site
@ Chalks
I would wish is were possible for that to happen but the evidence is that it is not safe to do so.
I suppose that a parallel of the old aphormism, that Scotland will be free when we genuinely support England, when they are not playing Scotland, and that football will be a grown up game in Scotland when we can all be be safe and have beer on sale at stadia.
I think many people are being a bit too sensitive. The article is not accusing everyone and it is focused on Glasgow because that is the point of the article – that is where Murphy is focused.
I grew up in the West coast and anyone claiming that we don’t have a male drink problem associated with football is kidding themselves (especially if his team loses).
We have a drink problem. We have bigots and we have chauvinists.
Violence is not only phyical it can be psychological. I seen many womany cowed in my youth.
No it is not everyone but do we want to ignore it?
Will Murphy’s promotion of booze and bigotry make the situation worse?
Accept that we have a problem and need to consign booze dependancy and engrained bigotry to the dustbin of history.
Chic McGregor says:
…I cruelly feigned despair before check-mating him in 3 or 4 moves (which anyone else in the club would have been able to do as well).
Apparently Jim Murphy invented chess, so it must have been him.
@ chalks says 3:07
I fail to see how allowing alcohol to be drunk in a stadium (on a widespread basis, as it’s currently available for corporates) will result in a spike in domestic violence?
Watching football raises testosterone and cortisol levels.
link to sciencedaily.com
O/T but maybe not.
This is true.
I purchased items at Aldi’s and the total was 16.90.
I said to the checkout lad “1690. The Battle of the Boyne”
He replied, “i’m not good at history but is that the one the Rangers supporters go on about?”
I’ve had a belly full of Jim Murphy. I’m totally fed up with seeing his name and reading about his dubious antics.
Apologies for just adding to it all.
@ Capella,
Mrs Panda (of the week) has been suggesting I go more often to football matches.
I was wondering why so, thank you.
Grim Murphy did advocate Team GB. Better Together after all, surely? Only setback with his dream is that the FA (note any English organisation needs no “E” prefix, as it will be the only one in the world anyone cares about) knocked back Scottish teams on the grounds that the league was for English teams only. When Swansea and Cardiff were promoted to their Premier League, it was the for English and Welsh teams only.
To the many Scots who place so much importance on football; when will this message sink in? THEY DON’T WANT US!
@Robert Kerr
Until a few years ago, the peak return ScotRail ticket from Edinburgh to Glasgow was £16.90. I doubt that amount was arrived at accidentally.
@ BtP
Welks!
However, here’s more on the Social Psychology of Aggression in case you are tempted to drink red wine at the same time!
link to tinyurl.com
Alcohol consumption at football matches is not a matter of intelligence, as some here have suggested, but an issue of deep-seated psychological and cultural attitudes to drink that are endemic in Scotland, aong with another handful of European countries. As a nation we do not have a healthy relationship with alcohol – it is in our interests to recognise this and take appropriate measures (no pun intended).
And the spike in domestic violence after Old Firm games was first suggested by Women’s Aid helplines and refuges in the 90s; it was only after several years of lobbying that more thorough research was commissioned to encompass police and social work records. All the data points to women as by far the main victims. This does not deny the reality of men as victims of domestic violence, simply that it does not appear to have any close correlation to Old Firm matches.
There are, of course, plenty of male victims of violence outwith the home, mainly young men aged between 16-30 violently assaulted and murdered as a direct result of their association with one particular side of the Old Firm.
Domestic violence against women and street violence against men does happen in Edinburgh and Dundee after their respective derbies but, frankly, there’s no comparison either in total numbers or even if taken proportionate to attendances.
Basically, I’m saying let’s face up to the facts.
And here’s a final bit of analysis to chew on: The Labour / Murphy attempts to cynically exploit these situations for a few paltry and mindless votes speaks of desperation of course, but in fact says much, much more about their contempt not just for the electorate, but for Scotland and possibly humanity in general. Who would be them?
Hi Bugger. I’m reminded of one of the few times Scotland qualified for the World Cup in the latter half of the 20th century. We were playing Germany and they started chanting “We hate England more than you”.
The reply, soon taken up was “You only fought the bastards twice”
@ Conan
I did really laugh out loud, honestly.
thanks.
It all follows a wider pattern where Murphy and pals have absolutely no idea what to offer Scottish voters.
Previous WM GE’s were easy, just call out the usual Tory threat and the votes were in the bag. Too many see them as the Red Tories now!
They can’t offer Scotland anything extra, then English voters will be up in arms.
They can’t offer enhanced devolution because they have just been tested on that score and failed miserably.
They really are desperate for ideas! Fitba on the telly!? For heavens sakes.
Meanwhile, the SNP are going into the GE actively seeking DevoMax, Trident cancelation, NHS protection, curbing the austerity drive, a living wage!
It would hilarious, if not deadly serious!
Has big jim not been at every scottish football disaster ever?
@ Capella
I have two choices, a short and ecstatic life or a long and barren one?
Let me think?!
Bugger
@ Tattie-boggle
He was only there, on speed dial, to offer succour.
the Blessed Jim.
In effect, some commentators here appear to be asking Stu to be quiet about something he believes in (and which is relevant here, given its political nature). If he did that, that would not be very principled. I am not sure I’d want Stu to make like Jim Murphy MP and say whatever he thought would retain favour. I admire that Stu won’t.
@ BtP short and ecstatic obviously!
There’s an interesting comment on the following page of the one I linked to above. Scottish fans at matches in France are not violent in order to show up the English fans!
link to tinyurl.com
Could this be a way forward?
Capella
I am doing my best here.
Hearing more and more that the british left want an anti-austerity
party in their country(presumably uk) well we have had one for a while now and its the SNP.
@ Capella
think Easy Rider.
If we can just cut to the A9 for a second, the new cameras appear to be a great success. There has veen vociferous opposition from a self-appointed sweetie-wife named Burns who had ad-lib TV time. Burns was backed by the opportunistic Danny Alexander desperately clutching at straws to save his seat.
Danny Alexander should apologise forthwith for talking shite.
I think Jim is trying to hard to be all things to all people..
Funny things is, I’m sensing that the response of “all people’ to Jim is “Jog On!” It’s certainly the one of the things that pops into my head when I see him (amongst all the other sweary words..)
“and claims that the Scottish national football team’s tournament qualifiers will be added to the “crown jewels” list of games which are only allowed to be shown on free-to-air terrestrial TV, not satellite pay channels.”
Even that is spin unless Murphy the Eggman and Miliband are planning on abolishing the TV Tax.
You simply cannot legally watch live terrestrial TV, be it the unionist BBC, ITV or C4, without paying the TV Tax.
For those who wish to end their taxpayer subsidy of BBC unionist propaganda here is one of the more helpful links which informs you of all your rights.
It tells you precisely how to stop paying for the TV Tax and get a large refund by stopping watching live TV and watching the various catch up services instead.
link to moneysavingexpert.com
(I know Rev Stu did an excellent feature too but this is a handy and quick guide that’s still worth a look)
I really, really dislike playing political football with… er… football. Or any sport, for that matter.
The fact is that sporting success is important to national pride. Hannes Kolehmainen’s and Paavo Nurmi’s Olympic successes were important to Finland and Finns, the Flying Finns and all that (Hannes Kolehmainen actually competed in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics in our separate Finnish team even though Finland wasn’t independent until 1917). Or think of the Scottish success at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last year. I bet you all felt a welling of pride and patriotism. But there’s a fine line between supporting your team and nasty jingoism.
The first time Finland won the ice-hockey World Championship (1995) was pure joy, we were on the streets, laughing and singing and hugging strangers. The next time (2011) it was somehow angrier and more macho and, yes, jingoistic and a bit ugly.
Today the Finnish public bradcaster YLE announced with big headlines that they’d acquired back the broadcasting rights to all Lions’ (=national ice-hockey teams: men, women, juniors) games… erm… except men’s World Championships. Which is the one everybody wants to see. It’s been on the main commercial channel for a few years. They tried to put it on their pay-channel but the public outcry and PR disaster was such that it’s back on freeview.
Talking about sport. It’s Andy Murray vs. Nick Kyrgious Australian Open quarter final tomorrow! ‘mon Andy!
Is Jim Murphy off-side or is he right back behind the goal?
o/t
Seems Slab have abstained in the moratorium on fracking vote.
Murphy again shown to be all mouth and nae trousers.
Murphy you really are a joke.
… according to SNP twitter
The abstaining red tories have abstained on the fracking moratorium at WM.
Religious sectarianism (mostly in the guise of the Old Firm) is one of the main obstacles to a free Scotland. Simply put, it is a game of Us and Them with no real rationale other than what school you went to, and thereafter the team you should automatically ‘support’. The implications of these two factors cascade in many directions and are often due to social reproduction.
My parents were ‘Catholic’ so they sent me to a Catholic school. They never went to chapel. Ever. But my dad took me to Parkhead for years. My first Old Firm game was when I was 11. Celtic won 5-1 ushering in the Stein years. Thing was, my dad was a committed nationalist. Once for a Euro trip in the 70s he had a flag made up of green and white horizontal stripes with a Lion Rampant dead centre. A lot of Celtic supporters looked at it sceptically. In the middle of Milan, one Lion Rampant surrounded by hundreds of Irish Tricolores, to support a Scottish team.
Just as Union Jacks dominate Ibrox (symbolising the Union, the Queen and the protestant ascendency, the No Surrenderism of NI, and the team’s ‘colours’) at Parkhead the Irish flag predominates (symbolising Republicanism, the Pope and the adherence to Catholicism, recognition of the armed struggle in both the north and south, and, of course, the teams ‘colours’). A perfectly wicked polarisation.
Sectatianism of this kind is an obstacle because it divides loyalties across many fronts. It is an obstacle because much of its discourse belongs to the past and in a political landscape foreign to Scotland.
People like Murphy know full well how this dark little game works.
Is this site under attack again? Postings and refreshing are delayed.
I wonder if any “Scottish” Labour MPs voted?
The Bain lack-of-principle in action again!
OT but Derek Bateman’s in fine form over at Newsnet.
Well worth a read.
link to newsnet.scot
cynicalHighlander says:
26 January, 2015 at 6:43 pm
The abstaining red tories have abstained on the fracking moratorium at WM.
Impossible – there is no way that Jim Murphy would abstain on such an important issue as fracking, not after everything he said on the matter a few days ago. There is no way he would bow down to his imperial master.
“Scottish Labour have proven themselves to be a complete sham on fracking. After a weekend of posturing Jim Murphy’s MPs failed to back a fracking moratorium. Clearly they are now just announcing policies, any policies for publicity and political gain yet doing nothing to follow them through.”
Mike Weir stating the obvious truth of the matter.
I can’t fucking believe it!
SLAB (and UKLAB?) are so desperate to hang on to any voters and corporate backers that they will not take a stand on ANYTHING!
Aaaaargh! [goes off to bang head agaist a brick wall]
The one show opening sequence ( football supporters )with their team colours.
BBC at the bias again DimJims no been invited Email your complaints, isnofair tae dimjim.
Just want to fully endorse what Clootie said at 4:43pm.
I saw something about Labour abstaining on a fracking moratorium too. What the hell is going on? I thought hey were talking this moratorium up because they wanted to show their Green credentials.
OT Had to laugh just now as a Channel 4 reporter in Greece applauded Syriza’s achievement in getting 36% of the vote even when the Greek media, television and newspapers, were almost unanimous in their opposition to Syriza.
Fred says: “If we can just cut to the A9 for a second, the new cameras appear to be a great success. There has veen vociferous opposition from a self-appointed sweetie-wife named Burns who had ad-lib TV time. Burns was backed by the opportunistic Danny Alexander desperately clutching at straws to save his seat.
Danny Alexander should apologise forthwith for talking shite.”
Methinks Danny may well have had a ticket on this particular road. He was spouting forth when asked, before the referendum, if devolution of APD would not be a good thing for Scottish Tourism. He replied that the average speed cameras on the A9 were a deterrent to tourism in Scotland. It’s my understanding that tourists are more likely to go home without having paid any speeding tickets (perhaps car hire companies can supply the figures). Don’t think Danny’s going to stop talking shite any day soon. Roll on May.
The football related articles, I have to say are my least favourite reading on Wings. Maybe though thedogphilosopher gets it right on this subject.
There are many things that divide us, wealth, religion and even football. All are methods of keeping us divided. Uniting in a common cause has to be shown to be BAD.
Just for a change, let’s be really BAD this coming May.
They won’t like it, but you will. Discard your Yokes!
Labour in a shambles over cracking. A big NO show by Scottish Labour MPs. Utterly embarrassing for Jim Murphy.
A number of posters have suggested that the labour Scottish branch have abstained on the fracking vote. You must surely be mistaken as Jim was in the papers just yesterday insisting there be a moratorium.
Jim promised to halt fracking until his 3 conditions were met so he must have voted for the amendment. I would advise you all to check your information before posting comments that insinuate Mr Murphy has gone back on something he said just a day or so earlier to great media fanfare.
Do the words ‘Right Honourable’ mean nothing anymore?
“cearc says:
26 January, 2015 at 3:00 pm
Macart,
As the main ingredient in window cleaners is ammonia, I assume that that is your polite way of saying pish?”
What’s malign? I’m only cleaning windows
(Jim Murphy sings Van Morrison)
In an ideal world, every Scotland game would be on “free-to-air” television, however, it is not that simple.
Selling the rights to air Scotland games is one of the few ways in which the SFA can raise money, given there is no real big-money demand to televise domestic matches in Scotland, other than an “Old Firm” game.
Therefore, I do not see the SFA being too-willing to back a move which would cost them money.
I get the impression Murph the Smurf would attend the opening of a refrigerator, if it shone some light on him and got his name in the papers and face on TV.
He risks, come late April, the good people of Scotland being absolutely fed-up seeing and hearing him. Particularly if, as he is currently doing, he makes-up policy on the hoof and changes his views according to where he is.
Give Murph enough rope and he will hang himself.
No matter what school you went to denominational or otherwise you are force fed the history/culture of the British Empire little or nothing of our own history/culture,our language destroyed our heritage washed over,almost complete sub-jugation.
OT again, but, is it me or has the Scotland section disappeared from the Telegraph website?
The smurph didn’t bother to turn up at WM for the vote on fracking, but more importantly, managed to find time for a photo op with a football. Watch the MSM tomorrow:”Jim Murphy with his eye on the ball”.
Rugby players punch and kick each other with regularity on the pitch week in week out and this seems to go a way in satisfying the hormone driven response in the supporter to do the same when they leave the ground, but in football there are more strict rules of contact which is less satisfying to the tribalist and warlike mood, which when alcohol is introduced the inhibitors are much lowered lending the would be supporter more vulnerable to more base instincts.
This in no way follows on that all football supporters behave in this way, they don’t, so why do some, and not others, and the answer has been statistically proven time after time from many respected sources not the least of which we should remember the Police and our Heath Professionals who are put in the unenviable position of having to deal with the very often human tragedy of this.
This particular section of society, from all walks of life and social standing who are susceptable to this behaviour fall into the category of…Big Bullying Effing Numpties who do it because they can, so Murphy wants to give them another can, to put a thief in their mouth to steal whatever brains they have so they will all become Daily Record readers like they used to be.
And you thought i was going to be really clever there and have the answer..Boom Boom!!!
Many sincerely held views no doubt expressed, however Man of the Match must be Chitterinlicht – “If they screened Scotland fitba matches on BBC Scotland I widnae believe the result”.
Graeme Doig says:
“Seems Slab have abstained in the moratorium on fracking vote”.
A vote for Labour is a wasted vote,
because they simply do not get involved in any issues that may be unpopular with any sizeable section of the electorate, while at the same time, they are shit scared to vote on anything that might be unpopular with big businesses, because they are frightened of a few bad head-lines in the right wing press.
They abandoned their core values and allowed themselves to be infested with Blairites, so now they are like ‘rabbits in the headlights’ whenever a controversial discussion comes up for a vote, in the HOC.
They are so scared of loosing even more voters that they are losing even more voters.
Lovely to see the cowards squirming, every time they are asked a question that requires an honest answer.
See when it comes tae a’ this fitba’ stuff. I lose the will to live.
I despair at the tribal instincts that are aroused by “the beautiful game” When you fuel these tribal instincts with alcohol it’s not a pretty sight.
@Conan
PMSL 😀 😀 😀
galamcennalath says:
26 January, 2015 at 4:03 pm
macnakamura says:
“Murphy is a prefect”
Well, if he was ever a prefect, he must have shown promise at school which never came to fruition later on in life!
=========
Most of the prefects I experienced were not especially promising or bright but they knew how to sook up to those in charge.
I have followed Jim Murphy on Twitter for about 3 years. Often tweeted about Celtic in the past rarely Scotland. First tweet on Scotland I was aware off was one saying England were the better team when they beat Scotland at Wembley in 2013.
Scotland won away in Croatia and Serbia. Twitter silence. Suspect we might get a few encouraging Scotland tweets in the run up to the Election to tie in with the new “patriotic” image.
@ macnakamura noo your uasin broad strokes wie that prefect brush,ah wiz ah prefect hud the braid oan ma blazer an a gold badge wan day,nae braid nae badge the next day ,ma mither gave up sewing the braid oan, an ah tossed the badge.
It wiz like the hokey kokey, only oan aff oan aff.
Another day, another Murphy stunt. Football is the opiate of the people.
I feel that having a ‘national’ team is an extremely poor substitute to having our own government.
Most of these Scotland ‘legends’ would never have got within a mile of a British national team, in whatever sport.
@KennyG says: 26 January, 2015 at 2:25 pm:
“Interesting to see the daily record claiming that follow follow is an anthem of hate. blah! Blah! Blah!
Overly defensive claptrap, KennyG, you wouldn’t be an Old Rangers FC supporter who now supports the newco would you?
Glasgow Rangers FC went bust and no longer exist. The only thing the two have in common is the old support and some of the bought over assets from the old Rangers., (and before you ask I am not a Celtic fan and wish them out of Scottish football too.
I am at a loss to understand why the inability to consume alcohol for a couple of hours at any time is a problem worth any remark.
In all my younger life when I went to hundreds of Old Firm games the pubs closed long before the games started and there was no alcohol available at games. I don’t think it had any effect whatsoever on the enjoyment of the proceedings and I suspect a lot of supporters who had a too much at lunch time had well sobered up by the end of the match.
Now,if they were to try to ban Bovril and pies…..
Having run a social club and had pubs I would hugely lower the alcohol content in all retailed drink. If being at the pub or having a drink is a social event why should it only be considered desirable if the drinks are affecting your mental condition (which, of course, is the major effect of alcohol and why many people actually imbibe).
Count me out of any canvas which says drinking alcohol is a useful or desirable activity. It is marginally safe if done in very modest measure. It is of course a poison
“terrestial [sic]”
Yes, in vulgar usage it is ‘terrestrial’, well done you for noticing. Except nobody ever says that. Anybody who ever uses the word says ‘terrestial’ and if they’ve any courage they’ll write it the same way. I don’t know where that intrusive third ‘r’ comes from (it is intrusive, I’m from the generation that did Latin at school) but we should get rid of it.
Then we can all say and write ‘terrestial’ and not need those [sic]s anymore. If we’re going to use Latin stems, let’s at least get them right.
Vronsky says:
26 January, 2015 at 9:07 pm
“terrestial [sic]”
Que?
It may well be that the numbers involved are small but keeping the bigots on board secures a number of well motivated supporters. The Orange Lodge were quite active in Ayrshire during the referendum and I am sure that help from the “less cerebral” may be used to nudge people quite forcefully during the general election too.
“Terrestrial”? what’s the beef, never called it anything else. Have you cut your mouth on a bottle perhaps. 🙂
Smurph is a team player!
Every team in the league is his favourite.
Give him a few weeks and he will turn up in a Third Lanark strip.
(For non football fans, they went bust in the mid-sixties)
The man has more faces than a watch factory!
He was reportly sign a song during the above photo shoot-
“The Stash My Expenses Bore”!
or
“Shallow, Shallow,
but sure make lots of noise,
we are up to our brass necks in deceit and lies,
pretenders who will Lie,
for we are elitist Tory Toys”.
Fuck you’re football.You are all so depressing.Grow up.
KennyG,
“Yes, let’s not forget that yes supporting city of Glasgow. And shame on all those areas that voted no. You and we all know who you are and we will never forget.”
I want Glasgow to be the capital of an independent Scotland.
As someone who has supported the New Firm since the 1980s, partly as a stance against the bigoted views of some Old Firm fans and the actual clubs in question I think it is time to wind down the anti-old firm rhetoric.
Scotland needs to bring everyone on board the Independence train, regardless of footballing allegiance and the unfortunate views of a very small minority. Football really does not deserve to be mentioned on this site at all.
PS I was scunnered to know W Miller of the Gothenburg Dons came out for better together – then I remembered he draws a wage from the BBC!
PPS Come on the ‘Binos!
@Robert Peffers 8.54pm
If Scotland was independent, and the economy went tits up and we had to start from scratch. Would you then only ever refer to Scotland as new Scotland? Would you impose a will on all the people of Scotland to only refer to it as such?
Of course not, because the entity that is Scotland will always remain because of us, the people. And only our detractors would talk of new Scotland.
Terrestrial or terrestial… More please.
I’ve just seen Sincerity Jim and another person modelling football costumes, so that’s convinced me to vote for them.
@ Paula Rose, Anent shiboleths, our southern cousins often display difficulty with the word “deteriorated”, using “deteriated” instead of. Just sayin!