All Scottish sides knocked out of the European club

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All Scottish sides knocked out of the European club It is not a good time for Scottish football. All Scottish sides have been knocked out of the European club competition rounds, and this is the first time this has happened in history. Celtic and Rangers were both eliminated in the play-off’s showing a complete failure of Scottish football, and they joined Hearts, who were relegated earlier in the competition.

In the first leg of the competition Hearts had already taken a beating, losing to Tottenham five nil. Playing at home later they regained a tiny amount of pride by managing a draw, 0-0. Ranger’s managed a 1-1 draw against the Slovenian champions, Maribor. The Scottish team however lost the match on aggregate. Celtic lost in Switzerland by 3-1 and defender, Daniel Majstorovic was sent off in under a minute. All of the teams’ managers are facing a lot of criticism for the losing streaks of their various teams.

Ally McCoist, the new manager of Rangers, has had a dismal start to his time with the club as he has suffered only losses when playing in Europe. McCoist has, understandablym been criticised and has commented, “I feel disappointed mostly, for the fans and the players especially,” when asked whether he felt under more pressure after the losses he said, “No, it’s just disappointment, I don’t feel under more pressure.”

McCoist’s team have lost 24 out of the 25 matches they have played in Europe. Such a figure indicates that this problem is not just down to bad management. While McCoist cannot be held solely accountable he is certainly facing a lot more scrutiny. The manager has gone onto say, “We have been having some serious problems converting the chances for a win into an actual victory. The second half of the match in Maribor was a disappointing performance.”

1000% increase in football ticket prices in 20 years

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Despite the fact that it’s a multi-billion pound industry, football is alienating young fans due the continuing rise in ticket prices, which have gone up by a staggering 1000% over the past 20 years. If you wanted to watch Manchester United play at home in 1989, the cheapest ticket would have cost you £3.50. Allowing for inflation, that should cost £6.20 today, but in fact will set you back £28.

It is even worse for Liverpool supporters, they used to pay £4 for a ticket at Anfield, and their cheapest is now £45, a massive hike of 1,025%. Arsenal’s prices have risen by 920%, and their tickets have risen from £5 to a wallet bashing £51, making a home match possible only for those with cash to splash around, and excluding the ordinary footie fan.

The chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, Malcolm Clarke, has said that while some teams in the Premiership still offer their fans a good deal, the top clubs, particularly those in London, charge outrageous prices. These are way beyond the means of younger fans who now feel alienated and have to go to the pub to watch their team play, which robs them of the match day atmosphere that exists in a football ground.

Traditionally, football was one of the most accessible of all sports, but the price of tickets in today’s economic climate where jobs are under threat and there is less disposable income, fans have found themselves being priced out of the game. Some clubs, according to the Guardian Online, are proposing to raise ticket prices even higher. A rise of 6.5% is on the cards at Arsenal, but Blackburn have tickets for £10 and Stoke are freezing prices.

When stadiums were made all seated after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, prices rose as there were less supporters able to fit in the grounds, but nowadays, the price you pay at the gate is to pay the astronomical wages of the top flight players.

Scottish football clubs score one for dementia

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Scottish football clubs score one for dementia A top Scottish university has announced that some of the biggest football clubs in the country are joining them in a project which is aimed at helping those suffering from dementia. Hearts, Hibernian, Motherwell and Celtic have all teamed up with the Caledonian University in Glasgow in its latest stage of the long running research project it has been doing on the condition.

The clubs will be offering both those suffering from dementia, and their carers, the opportunity to visit the grounds and have a chat about the beautiful game in a serious of informal and relaxed coffee mornings. For those who like football but don’t follow a particular team, there is a chance to visit Hampden, the home of the Scottish national team.

This initiative has come about after those doing the research at the university discovered that using football to trigger the minds of those suffering from dementia resulted in startling and positive results. Experts had discovered previously that showing items of football memorabilia to men with dementia had stimulated their memories in quite a remarkable manner.

Charlie Bennett, from Motherwell FC,  has said that  Motherwell have always made an effort to engage with their community at all different levels, and strive to bring benefits to others wherever they could. He added that some of their former players suffered from Alzheimer’s, so they had first hand knowledge of how the condition affected both the sufferers and their families.

The team hopes that by letting sufferers and their carers access the facilities at their ground, Fir Park, they are creating an environment to stimulate their minds. The trophies and memorabilia that are on display in the lounges could have a profound effect and jog memories, thus bringing relief to their carers.

Football this August just doesn’t feel normal

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Football this August just doesn’t feel normal Although we now consider it as part of the norm, football in August still doesn’t sit well as it is so synonymous with winter. It has been around for a while now but it still feels as if the start of the new season sounds the death knell for our summer, and the dark night will soon be upon us. It’s also a sad fact that football this August is like no other, as the usually high octane excitement of the first day of the season has been marred by games being cancelled.

This isn’t due to the weather or anything so innocent, this is due to the acts of mindless violence that have taken place across the UK over the past week; this is due to the riots. The decision to let other games go ahead has been said by many to be madness, as crowds of drink fuelled football fans streaming through parts of run down cities already decimated by the riots is a recipe for disaster.

Those police officers who have worked tirelessly for days to try and restore order on our streets will invariably now be deployed to try and keep order amongst a different kind of threat. This is an explosive cocktail of extra, yet easily avoidable, tensions that the country as a whole could do without. Those in power should have got their priorities right and delayed the start of the season, the thugs wouldn’t have won, the country would have.

Footaballers get Twitter warning

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Footaballers get Twitter warning While the instant communication that comes with the social media explosion has brought about some new problems. Defining the limit of free speech on the anonymous internet, where the worlds of public and private collide, is one of the biggest challenges that today’s lawmakers face, according to ITV Football’s Sean Martin.

As usual, where politics go sport surely follows, and the recent furore over the super   injunction unceremoniously dumped the footballing world into the eye of a huge political storm. Whilst freedom of expression has been protected, and blanket censorship condemned, this hasn’t yet gone universal and similar protection has yet to be afforded to other sportsmen.

The fact that Twitter has now been banned by many sports teams is posing a real threat to the freedom of speech for players. Two of the teams from the Ryder Cup of 2010, the All Blacks world cup squad and the Leicester Tigers have already got bans in place and Alex Ferguson, who has expressed his disdain for Twitter more than once, is reported to be considering doing the same at Manchester United.

The censorship of Twitter is spreading like wildfire through sport, without any acknowledgement at all that this blatantly flouts their fundamental commitment to the freedom of speech. Freedom of expression needs reactive and not proactive censorship and should not be treat as if access to it is akin to drugs or firearms, as speech does not pose danger.