Football

The Beautiful Game No More Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, November 27th 2010 I love Scotland. I love football. With all its imperfections and limitations I am fascinated by football in Scotland: its passions, history, traditions and why it matters so much. The emotional spasm which has gripped Scottish football would be comic, were it not so serious, revealing some of the sore wounds and faultlines of Scottish society. This whole affair, like ‘the tartan tax’ stushie shows part of Scotland loves getting things completely out of proportion. And an even larger section cannot engage in a

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They Might Be Giants: The Old Firm’s Great Escape to England Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, September 4th 2010 Scottish football sells newspapers, fills the airwaves and carries a resonance way beyond the football field. It contributes economic benefits, social capital, the occasional feel good factor, and raises Scotland’s profile and reputation globally. Scotland per head is the third most fanatical football nation in Europe after Iceland and Cyprus. It is also since the advent of the European Champions League the joint most uncompetitive senior football league anywhere in the continent – along with the Ukraine. The two nations – Scotland

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It’s More than a Ball Game: Scottish Football and Culture Gerry Hassan February 14^th 2010 The state and importance of Scottish football both fascinates and repels large parts of Scotland – but there can be little doubt that the condition of the game and how we see it throws light on Scottish culture and society. In the last week, I have watched Motherwell v Rangers and Aberdeen v Celtic live on TV, and went to the St. Johnstone v Dundee United cup tie. Taking all three of these together gives a number of pointers about the health of the game.

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Against all the Odds: The World of the Small Scottish Football Team Gerry Hassan February 11^th 2010 It is week three and sadly the final week of Jonathan Meades strange, fascinating and somewhat magical series on Scotland, ‘Off Kilter’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mwqvq/Jonathan_Meades_Off_Kilter_Episode_3/ This week his theme is the inviting subject of ‘The Football Pool Towns’, addressing small towns, hopes and Scotland through the world of football. This short series has illustrated how it is possible to tell stories of Scotland, and address supposedly familiar subjects in new, imaginative ways. In so doing it has exposed the chasm of aspiration at the

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Football Creep and the Dumbing Down of Media Gerry Hassan February 6^th 2010 It has been an historic day across a range of huge political issues: the resolution of the Northern Ireland impasse between Sinn Fein and the DUP, the public shame of criminal charges against MPs and a peer, BAE Systems paying back millions after the kickbacks it paid for contracts, and of course, John Terry standing down as England captain. On a day I spent the afternoon interviewing fellow blogger Tom Harris, Labour MP for Cathcart, in the Queen’s Park FC boardroom, I know that football matters. The

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The Glorious World of Scottish Football Commentary Gerry Hassan February 1st 2010 I am still recovering from the amazing experience of being at Rugby Park and the crazy world of last Saturday’s Kilmarnock v. Dundee United match. A gorgeous Scots winter day for a start; it has taken me thirty years of football-watching to see a 4-4 draw and honestly it could have been much higher. United were 3-1 up after 35 minutes and looked like they would score a barrowload, and then when Killie fought back, aided by United kamikaze defending, and went 4-3 ahead in the

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The Power, Psychology and Problems of Scottish Football Gerry Hassan January 17^th 2010 Scottish football holds a place in the centrestage of Scotland, and even more it has a mythical power and importance over much of our culture: an importance which I believe has increased in the last thirty years as other vessels and phenomena we invested our hopes in: political and social bit the dust. One of the paradoxes of this age has been this move towards a coercive sense of ‘collective joy’ about football as it has become more corporatised and in Scotland in a number of respects,

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Tangerine Dreaming Gerry Hassan November 28th 2009 A word of commendation about the publication today of ‘the official history of Dundee United FC’ – ‘Dundee United: the Official Centenary History’ – written by Peter Rundo and Mike Watson (1). Rundo is United’s official match programme editor and Watson, is a former MP and MSP, who has written two previous books on United, ‘From Rags to Riches’ and ‘The Tannadice Encyclopaedia’. This is a beautifully cared for, put together and loved book, which the authors have painstaking spent time on in research and choosing the illustrations. And it is superbly

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The Mindset of Denial: A Panel of Experts Write Gerry Hassan November 27th 2009 I have written fairly often on the subject that passes for sectarianism in Scotland, at times written on football, and occasionally written on both. For some reason, my column yesterday in ‘The Scotsman’ that addressed these subjects, along with racism and homophobia, rankled a range of Rangers opinion who decided to get in contact. I cannot claim that these half dozen Rangers fans who contacted me are a representative cross-section of the club’s support, but what is interesting is that these fans expressed themselves in a

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What Happened to the Giants of Scotland? Life after Archie, Arthur and Bob Crampsey The Scotsman, August 13th 2009 Gerry Hassan The big boys football season starts this weekend. All across Scotland, football fans will be tuning in their radios, watching TV results, and turning to newspaper back pages and special supplements. Another year, another season, and yet something has gone wrong with the way football is presented and reported in this country. It has come to represent a very unflattering, unattractive aspect of ourselves which should give us pause for thought. It wasn’t always like this. Once football

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