Methven Hornet

Till the next time!

Ya beauty!!!! Rochdale come from behind to beat Northampton Town 3-2 and go top of the league. The Keith Hill Revolution 2.0 No Fear!

It's fitba (p. fit-baw).

Yes, City have been successful. I thought they might have been in trouble when you-know-who set up women's sides but they seem to have survived reasonably well.

And didn't it scare the football authorities?

He does come across as a bit of a dinosaur on Radio Scotland's "Off The Ball" programme, advertised as "the most petty and ill-informed football programme on radio". On air, though, he is slapped down adequately by his co-presenter, Stuart Cosgrove. Whatever humour he was trying to convey in the article, he just hasn't got the ability to get away with it. Total unacceptable. Besides which, women's football in Scotland is at least giving us a little bit of success to cheer at the moment.

Although Gretna are back as Gretna 2008 FC, currently playing in the Lowland Football League.

R U Still Down? [remember me] - 2Pac

A piece in the (Glasgow) Herald about David Scott's inclusion in the Scottish squad. 'I knew that if they offered me something I'd have to go'

We do have a more 'representative' national side, they just don't get many outings (just the home nations). http://scotlandrl.com/elite/scotland_a

Irvine no more!

He'll make one hell of a difference to Scotland if 2008 is anything to go by.

St Johnstone make their own pies, and very nice they are too! And the town city even has an eagle in its crest (albeit a two-headed one). Does this mean that Perth could host a game against one of the Cumbrian clubs?

What was the supposed deal with Bawtry Road (Sheffield Hallam University's sports complex)? I've looked at the redevelopment plans and it didn't look anywhere good enough for the Championship, let alone the proposed second tier of Super League

Have they merged? I didn't know about that, and it is a shame that United have gone. I hope, at least, that the merged club becomes stronger. I suppose it depends on how many fans are willing to transfer their allegiance.

Try being a St Johnstone fan! Last season we drew Eskisehirspor from Turkey in the Europa League and a couple of hundred Saintees went to the away leg. They were treated with great respect and hospitality by the town and football club, which was reciprocated when their fans visited Perth for the 2nd leg. Many friendships were forged between fans, and the two clubs have cemented their new relationship by wearing each other's kit design as their away strip this season. This season the Saints drew the (relatively) mighty Rosenborg, and again both sets of fans had a great time visiting each other's cities (even if the beer over there was expensive. Having won the tie the next round was against FC Minsk of Belarus - the authorities wouldn't let anybody have visas. They wouldn't even let the club use the nearest airport - as it shut for the day at 2pm!

Great photos. I used to really enjoy this stage of "The Road To Wembley", although it did seem weird to be watching the FA Cup in August: at Rochdale involvement in the competition was usually confined to the month of November. One match I do remember from the early 80s was Rossendale United (now sadly defunct) v Chorley. The FA had just introduced the automatic red card for a professional foul by the last defender on an attacker in a scoring position. Chorley's goalie committed the foul and was duly sent off. Whether the Chorley fans didn't know about the new ruling I don't know, but they were furious - there was an actual pitch invasion by some of the fans (well, two or three of them).

Can there be any more pointless thing than your post? And can there be any more predictable event than Celtic, year after year, proving their critics wrong when it comes to European football? GIRUY!

I've lost touch. I had no idea that Rhyl had been out of the top flight. Last time I looked they were doing quite well.

I do hope these were electronic cigarettes (à la Merthyr Town FC)!

Wasn't it Wimbledon? I think that was to pressurise the local authority into assisting in the building of a new stadium.

I say Methven's greatest ever player... We noticed that there had been a bereavement on Tuesday at our next door neighbour but one, and as we suspected it was the man of the house who had passed away. To us he had just been Fred, the friendly guy who was always in his garden in the summer, always ready for a chat. It turns out he made over 200 appearances for Aberdeen, was part of the team that in 1995 won the championship for the first time, and was Scotland goalie in the 1954 world cup (6 appearances in total). Although born in Carnoustie, the family had lived in Methven for a few decades, his wife was teacher at the village school and one of his daughters taught both my children at nursery. I wish I'd have known, reminiscing about his career would have made a change from chatting about the weather, his garden, my dog... Fred Martin, RIP

Anyway, enough of Celtic. Tonight, Methven's greatest ever footballer scored her first goal for Scotland when she equalised in the last minute against Serbia. Clelland grabs late equaliser in Serbia

I'm taking GJ's advice about feeding-time but bagging Celtic, of all the clubs that have ever entered the Champions League (or qualifying rounds) seems strange. Given the handicap they have by not being part of one of Europes wealthier leagues, Celtic are credible performers.

I don't think there's any chance they'd be voted in. With the support they have they'd be candidates to expand the 'big four' (or is it five these days) but would that be in the interests of the current top-dogs? Some sort of elite European league would be interesting, but they've been talking about it for years and I'm not sure it would be possible with the politics inherent in UEFA. From a footballing point of view I always fancied the Atlantic League, which would have brought together clubs from Scotland, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and, possibly, Scandinavia. The idea was that the clubs that had outgrown those leagues could come together and attract the type of revenues associated with the big leagues of England, Spain, Italy, etc.