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View Full Version : Scottish footbal (adult language!!!!)


Abstract
09-11-2004, 06:05 PM
As a lot of you well know i am from Scotland and therefore football (soccer) os my first love. Today my team, St.Mirren beat local rivals Partick Thistle to go top of the league! Woot! However at 1-1 PArtick missed a penalty which one fan caught on camera. I dont know if im biased but i think the reaction is hilarious.

http://www.blackandwhitearmy.com/reports/clips/MOV01791.MPG

troutman
09-13-2004, 10:11 AM
Just curious, but how can you stay interested in a league where only Rangers and Celtic ever have a chance of winning the championship? It all seems so pointless for the other teams. The problem is bad throughout Europe, but Scotland seems to be the least competitive league of all.

http://www.soccergaming.tv/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96325

Out of the 20 winners of the two major trophies (Premiership and FA Cup) in England in the last 10 years, only 5 times has the winner not been Man U or Arsenal.

Contrast that with the 3 times that rangers and Celtic have not won a major trophy in Scotland over the same period.

scottie
09-13-2004, 03:28 PM
Not that I want to answer for Abstract, but here's my take on Scottish football.

You support your team no matter what, yeah? Like we all support the Flames regardless of their success. So, that takes care of the team aspect. The league aspect is a little trickier, though I think this'll makes sense. Remember, in football in the UK (and most/all other nations?) there are different leagues. In Scotland, the top league is called the Premier League, but there's also the First, Second, and Third Divisions too. Whereas the NHL is a set list of 30 teams which (generally) doesn't change, teams move amongst these leagues all the time. If you finish in the last few places of each of the leagues at the end of the season, you go down to the next lowest league (e.g., imagine Pittsburgh would now be in the AHL or something similar.) and, obviously, the highest placed teams move up one. As you get towards the top leagues, the skill gets better, the rewards are higher and the teams get more professional.

Another point is that both Rangers and Celtic are from Glasgow. That leaves an awful lot of the country with local teams with local rivalries, etc.

So, in Abstract's case, he supports St. Mirren who are in the First Division. The game was against a team called Partick Thistle -- who jsut happen to be from the next town over (less than 10 miles apart I'd estimate). Local Rivalry. Plus, St. Mirren are at the top of the league, so if they keep going, they're promoted to the Premier League.

Going back to the Rangers and Celtic thing for a moment, I see your point. But in Scotland, there's always talk of who will be Scotland's "Third Team". I think as far as the league is concerned, we all do expect 'those two' to be first and second so it's almost irrelavant (to fans of other teams) and the real battle is for third place.

Plenty to cheer about.

I'm a rugby man myself though ...

sbailey924
09-13-2004, 04:31 PM
Rangers aren't quite as dominant as they used to be. Isn't Celtic trying to get in the English Premier?

scottie
09-14-2004, 02:58 AM
It's true that Rangers haven't been as consistently dominant since their 9-in-a-row years (they won the league 9 years running), but it's all relative. They've been pretty bad in Europe though with Celtic doing a bit better (especially last couple of years).

Last I heard was that both Celtic and Rangers were trying to get into the Premiership but that it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

DeanOMac
09-18-2004, 02:34 PM
Hasn't it been SEVERAL years since the Gers have been in Europe past December? They seem to never get it done there.