Category Archives: Sport

News, Sport

Rugby legend Doddie Weir dead at 52

By Zak Williamson

Former Scotland International rugby player Doddie Weir has passed away aged 52 after a six-year battle with Motor Neurons Disease (MND).

After his diagnosis, Weir founded the ‘My Name’5 Doddie’. Created in 2017, they have been able to raise millions in support of research into combatting MND.

In a statement on its website, the foundation proudly declares that they ‘are absolutely committed to our vision of a world free of MND, leaving no stone unturned in our relentless pursuit of this goal.’

Capped for his country 61 times, Weir has been described as a ‘force of nature’ both on and off the field, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stating that ‘The brave way he responded to MND surpassed anything ever achieved on the rugby pitch.’

Weir was not only accomplished on the international stage, having a successful Rugby Union Career in which he won 6 Scottish Club Championships with Melrose RFC and an English Premiership title with the Newcastle Falcons in the 1997-98 season.

He was also selected to be a part of the British and Irish lions for their South African tour in 1997, where he suffered a bad knee injury.

He is survived by his wife Kathy and three sons. Commenting on her husband’s passing, Kathy said:

‘We are lucky to have shared our lives with him and we cherish all those memories: his love and warmth, his support and advice, his quick wit, and his terrible jokes. It is difficult to put into words how much we will miss him.’

Born in Edinburgh on 4th July 1970, Weir was not only a talented Rugby player, earning a Higher National Diploma from the Scottish Agricultural College during his years playing as an amateur.

Tributes poured in for the rugby legend from all across the world of sport.

Former Rangers striker Ally McCoist called him ‘an incredible example to us all’ and that his ‘smile made us all feel good.’

His former team, the British and Irish Lions also paid their respects to the Scottish Icon, tweeting:

‘We’re devastated to hear of the passing of Doddie. A Scotland legend, his determination to raise awareness & help find a cure for MND epitomised his personality.’

In the end, Doddie Weir will be remembered as a warrior who faced his challenges on and off the field with dignity and grace, inspiring those around him to keep pushing on through any adversities they may face.

News, Sport

Scotland Didn’t Make the World Cup – Why I’m Glad

By Zak Williamson

While Scotland fell short of the World Cup this year, they could not have picked a better year to miss out.

While many Scotland fans were upset at our 3-1 defeat to Ukraine back in June, which removed any chance of World Cup qualification, after seeing what Qatar had in store for the competition, I for one am glad we did not get to go.

As weird as it may sound for a lifelong football fan who has followed Scotland for all his days, Scotland not being in Qatar prevents us from being associated with the many, many human rights violations and corruption associated with this year’s tournament.

This year, FIFA has chosen to hold the World Cup, the biggest footballing competition in the world in a country where same-sex relationships are punishable by imprisonment.

What message does this send to football fans who are a part of the LGBTQ community? That they are only welcome to watch the beautiful game when it suits FIFA? That they need to sit this one out?

It completely goes against the messages we have been seeing across the sporting world over the last few years. From players taking the knee in support of Black Lives Matter to showing solidarity with Ukraine throughout their ongoing conflict.

The promotion of kindness and diversity in sport has been a very prevalent theme in football recently and hosting the competition in a place like Qatar that has no respect for these topics is an insult to every fan and player who has dedicated themselves to promoting these principles.

FIFA themselves have exposed exactly where their priorities lie in this situation, asking the 32 competing teams to not speak out in protest and ‘focus on the football’, even going as far as to book players who wear the LGBTQ Pride armbands on the pitch.

To add salt to the wound, FIFA cannot provide any form of defence for why teams and fans should not protest the Qatari treatment of LGBTQ people. When questioned about this, among other things, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said this:

‘I think for what we Europeans have been doing in the last 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.’

So Infantino believes that due to past transgressions, the people of the world should not strive to be better and should instead say nothing when it comes to injustice. This is exactly the kind of morally bankrupt response to be expected from the man whose organisation chose to host its flagship competition in a place where people cannot express themselves freely.

Questions also have to be asked of the players involved, with many accepting the ban of the armbands in fear of being booked and missing a game. It could be argued that the best showing if solidarity would be for the players to wear the armbands and take the bookings.

This may be unfair to say as it may actively go against their self-interests as unfortunately for most players, football will always come first.

To FIFA and its officials, it is clear that the whole thing is about money. In April 2020, a report from the NY Times revealed that sources from within the US Department of Justice were claiming that FIFA officials were bribed by officials from both Russia and Qatar in order to secure their World Cup bids for 2018 and 2022.

There have also been various reports emerging of worker deaths while working on the new stadiums built specifically for the World Cup. While the official reports say 40, news outlets such as the Guardian believe that this number could be much higher, even in the thousands.

Unfortunately, the Qatari Government have been unwilling to share details regarding this, meaning that people are being left to speculate precisely what the human cost of this World Cup actually is.

There have been reports that Qatar has spent over $220 billion in World Cup infrastructure in order to make it the biggest, most expensive tournament in history. Some of this money no doubt going to the hired fans being used to create the illusion of an atmosphere amongst the questionable living conditions supporters are being forced to endure.

What is undoubtedly a massive financial win for FIFA and Qatar is a loss for football and the world as a whole.

While it may sound like the bitter ramblings of a disgruntled fan, Scotland should be relieved that we do not need to partake in this farce of a World Cup.

We can only hope that the 2026 World Cup is a different story, although with the USA being one of the host nations, there will undoubtedly be more problems down the line.

News, Sport

The 2022 World Cup has begun and called a halt to football in many leagues across the World.

By Zak Williamson

With this, there is no better time to look at the stats within the cinch Premiership to see what conclusions can be found.

When we look at the league table, it is currently led by Celtic, who sit 9 points clear of their Old Firm rivals Rangers in 2nd place.

This is partly due to Celtic’s impressive goal-scoring form in the league, netting an impressive 50 goals in only 15 games.

That’s an average of 3.33 goals per game for the Parkhead side. This a stark comparison to Rangers, who have only managed to score 34 in the same number of games.

The data shows that Celtic are essentially outscoring their rivals to maintain their position at the top of the table, with both sides only conceding 13 and 14 goals respectively.

The comparative lack of goals for the Ibrox side may come as a surprise as they have registered the most amounts of shots in the league so far at 297.

At the other end of the table, it can be seen that Dundee Utd, Kilmarnock and Ross County are all struggling to find their opposition’s net, as well as keep the ball out of their own.

Each team currently has a goal difference of over -10, meaning that they have conceded far more goals than they have been scoring.

Another interesting note is that Aberdeen, who currently sit in 3rd place, are only 5 goals off Rangers’ tally, despite having more than 100 fewer shots throughout the season. They are let down by their conceded goals, however, which is far higher than their rivals in 2nd.

There are also some interesting takeaways from looking at the disciplinary statistics from the league campaign so far.

While Heart of Midlothian has the lowest number of yellow cards shown in the league so far, they have also been shown the highest amount of red cards with 5.

This means that statistically, Hearts’ players have been shown a red card once every 3 games.

St Johnstone has the most yellow cards in the league with 47. When this data is coupled with their relatively low number of conceded goals, it could be inferred that this could be a part of their game plan with the use of tactical fouls to prevent opponents from scoring.

The vast amounts of bookings so far could also be attributed to the introduction of VAR (Video Assisted Refereeing) into the Scottish top flight, with there being a reported 3x increase in the number of penalties. In the first 20 games with VAR, 13 penalties were given. For comparison, only 56 spot kicks were issued throughout the entirety of last season.

All things considered, it has been an eventful start to the season and fans can expect more surprising stats when the cinch returns after Qatar.

Stats sourced from: https://spfl.co.uk/stats-centre

Features, Opinion, Sport

WHY OUR PROSPECTS ARE LEAVING – THE SAD STATE OF SCOTTISH FOOTBALL

By Zak Williamson

There has been an emerging trend in football over the last few years of young Scottish talent being wooed away from playing in the Scottish Premiership to play abroad.

Whenever a new, exciting prospect emerges, it is only a matter of time before they are linked with a move to what many would consider greener pastures.

A prime example would be former Hearts fullback Aaron Hickey, who burst onto the scene in 2019 at just 17 years old, playing 33 games and becoming the youngest-ever player to play in a Scottish Cup Final.

After an outstanding debut season, Hickey was linked with many different clubs throughout the continent, eventually settling on a move to Italian Serie A side Bologna for a relatively low £1.5 million.

This is even after Hickey was linked with a move to Celtic, who reportedly tried to sign the young Scot on ‘5 or 6 different occasions.’

Speaking to the BBC, Hickey stated that his decision was influenced by the opportunity to play against some of the biggest names in Italian football at the time such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala.

The move eventually paid off for the former Hearts man, as he was able to secure a dream £18 million move to Premier League side Brentford back in July.

This blueprint of Italian clubs signing young Scottish talent has continued in recent times with Aberdeen’s Lewis Ferguson and Hibernian’s Josh Doig securing moves to Bologna and Hellas Veronas respectively, costing the Italian sides £3 million each.

While it is undeniable that the Serie A is of a better standard than the Scottish Premiership in its current form, it still feels as if Scotland is getting the worse end of the deal.

Firstly, the prices commanded by the players are far too low. While the Scottish Premiership may not be among the richest in Europe, it still has players of considerable talent playing in it.

When Aaron Hickey’s fee to Brentford is compared to what Hearts received for him, there is a massive difference, almost 10 times less money than Bologna received for the player.

The current state of the Scottish game has led to clubs releasing their hottest young prospects for a fraction of what they are worth, accepting what is essentially pittance for players who could develop into real, world-class talent.

When questioned by Sky Sports about Serie A clubs’ sudden interest in Scottish talent, former  Bologna scout Francesco Strozzi stated his belief that “the Scottish Premiership is an incredibly, incredibly underrated league,” and “it doesn’t have quite enough attention in the eyes of many scouting departments around the world.”

This shows that there are those who recognise how much of a goldmine the Scottish Premiership can be when it comes to young talent. The problem is that clubs from the Serie A are essentially taking advantage of the poor financial state of the Scottish League to turn over a profit.

Teams in Scotland will often be incentivised to accept offers far below the value of their key players due to the lack of financial backing received from the league itself, among other things such as poor tv deals.

One high-profile example of this would be the ‘cinch’ deal, which saw online car retailer company cinch become the main sponsor of the Scottish Premiership for 5 years back in 2021. The deal saw £1.6 million in sponsorship money shared between all 42 clubs in Scotland’s top 4 leagues.

This amounted to just £38,000 for each club. While it may be useful money to teams in the smaller leagues, this is an absurdly small amount for teams in the top flight and shows why teams jump at any chance to make money from player sales, even if the sale is way below the player’s worth.

While the cinch deal has recently been renegotiated to allow more finances to go to clubs in Scotland, it is still unlikely to make a huge difference when it comes to clubs in the top flight.

When looking at Scottish football today, it is hard to imagine that Celtic won the European Cup in 1967 with every player born within 30 miles of Celtic Park. Or that Rangers and Aberdeen won European trophies of their own in the 70s and 80s.

Although times have changed and the game has moved on, there appears to be a lack of belief in young prospects in Scotland, whether it be at the club level or international. Take former Rangers full-back, Nathan Patterson, as an example.

When playing for the Ibrox side as backup to James Tavernier, he was playing regular first-team football and even scoring a goal in the Europa League. Yet it took him a £12 million move to Premier League side Everton for him to become a regular starter for Steve Clarke’s Scotland.

A similar situation would be Liverpool’s Calvin Ramsey, who made his first start in the Champions League before receiving a call-up to the National Team.

Perhaps this puts things into perspective for why so many young players are looking to play outside of Scotland. It is the only way to receive the attention and recognition they deserve.

If top-level sides in England and Italy can see the worth of these players, then why can’t our national set-up do the same?

Teams in other countries are taking a chance on Scottish players who may have been thought of as ‘not good enough’ or ‘too young’ and giving them a chance to break into the first team.

They see the value in Scottish football, so perhaps the teams and governing bodies within Scottish should start doing the same and stop selling ourselves short at every opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 

News, Sport

Stevie Ray loses PFL Final

By Zak Williamson

Scottish MMA fighter Stevie Ray narrowly missed out on big money after losing in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) final last weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Ray faced Canadian fighter Olivier Aubin-Mercier for the organisation’s Lightweight Title, which guaranteed the winner a life changing $1 million prize.

This was one of six championship bouts on the night, taking place in front of a sell-out crowd.

It was a close opening round in which neither man was able to gain a foothold, both looked tentative and did not want to give anything away with so much on the line.

However, it was the Scot who gained the advantage in the second round, utilising his world class grappling to take his opponent’s back, almost submitting him.

Unfortunately for Braveheart, Aubin-Mercier survived the onslaught, getting back to his feet and delivering a vicious right hook to win by knockout with just seconds left in the round.

The result of the fight comes as a shock after Ray’s recent performances in the PFL, beating former UFC Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis twice on his way to the final.

The Scot gave his opinion about the fight on social media, offering his respect to his opponent and reflecting positively on his experience:

‘The fact I was told 3 years ago I was injured and wouldn’t/shouldn’t fight again, and I made it to the @pflmma finals. I’m proud of also beating a former world champion twice.’

It is unclear whether Ray will return to the PFL in its next season, after coming so close to the title.

His opponent has expressed interest in returning to the PFL, despite considering retirement in the lead up to the fight, claiming that he would like to take the PFL to his hometown of Quebec.

Mercier also trains with former UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St Pierre who is largely considered as one of the greatest combat athletes of all time.

While it is unfortunate that Stevie Ray could not push on and bring the million-dollar prize back to Scotland, the Fife native can still be proud of what he has achieved in his new organisation.

After being forced to retire from competition in 2021 with a 7-4 record in the UFC, few would have imagined that we would see the Scottish fighter compete again, let alone in a million-dollar championship bout.

Stevie Ray has become somewhat of a trailblazer with his run in the PFL, showing other Scottish fighters what they can achieve on the world stage if they put in the work.

News, Sport

Gers sack Gio

By Zak Williamson

Rangers have sacked manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst after just over a year in charge of the Ibrox club.

The news will not be a shock to most Rangers fans, after a string of bad results has seen them drop 9 points behind bitter rivals Celtic going into the winter break.

The decision came just under two weeks after Rangers drew 1-1 away to St Mirren, making it their second away game in a row without a win following their 2-1 defeat to St Johnstone the week prior.

Pressure had been mounting on the Dutchman, with calls for his sacking tracking back to Rangers’ humiliating 4-0 defeat in August’s Old Firm Derby.

An official statement from the club read:

‘RANGERS Football Club confirms today it has parted company with manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The board would like to put on record sincere thanks to Gio for all his efforts since his appointment as manager.’

Fan reactions to the sacking have been largely supportive, with fan organisation Heart & Hand tweeting:

‘The right decision to sack Gio. Results just weren’t there unfortunately in the league.’

Although the Ibrox side’s league form had undoubtedly faltered, it would not be a stretch to assume that Rangers’ disastrous UEFA Champions League run did not play a part, with Rangers becoming the joint-worst team in the competitions’ history with a -18-goal difference.

Despite such a poor start to the season, there are fans who believe that ‘sacking Gio’ was the wrong move, citing a lack of financial backing from the board as the main reason why results have been so bad.

Rangers have also been marred with injuries throughout the season, with key players such as Conor Goldson, Ianis Hagi and Tom Lawrence not due to return until after the World Cup.

It is hard to imagine that Van Bronckhorst led Rangers to a European final in May, with the club beating giant clubs like Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig on the way.

His Rangers side also won the Scottish Cup for the first time since 2008, delivering their second piece of silverware since returning from the lower leagues.

An argument could be made that given time and proper backing; Van Bronckhorst could have turned things around at Rangers after the successes of last season.

Van Bronckhorst commented on the sacking in an emotional social media post in which he stated:

‘Rangers FC will always be in my heart, and I wish the club all the success for the future. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger.’

Fans of the Ibrox side were given some form of good news, however, with the announcement of former QPR boss Michael Beale as the club’s 18th permanent manager.

Beale was a part of Steven Gerrard’s title-winning squad in the 2020/21 season, which saw Rangers win the league by a 25-point gap and remain unbeaten in the league.

Gers fans will be hoping that Beale is up to the mammoth task of getting their season back on track, however, at this time Rangers’ title hopes look to be dead in the water.