The Tartan Army and the Scottish football media. Why do they bother?

[G B Young]

As someone who stopped watching international football years ago, I can't help but wonder how much longer those who still attend Scotland matches and the media pack which continues to accompany them will continue to bother?

For 20 years now the default mechanism is a big build-up to a fixture, followed by days of hand wringing about where it all went wrong and pictures of Scottish fans with their Glengarry-clad heads in their hands after the match. We've had nine consecutive failures to qualify for a major tournament and following last night's defeat to an England side which not so long ago lost to Iceland has almost certainly made it 10 in a row.

The media pack, I assume, are in it because they enjoy the jolly of a regular trips around Europe, but the fans? It just seems like such a wasted investment to saddle yourself to relentless failure. The news footage of the Tartan Army in London conformed to all the usual stereotypes (ie two-day drinking sessions, the takeover of Trafalgar Square) and one has to conclude that these days it's more about the party than the match. A lot of fans simply like to dress up as soldiers I guess.

My point is that these days the attention devoted to the national team seems totally disproportionate to its newsworthiness. Nobody, from those running the game, to the media, the manager, the players and the fans seems to have a clue how to improve things so perhaps it's time to turn our attentions elsewhere. How about encouraging kids to see if they can become the next Andy Murray or Chris Hoy or indeed any Scottish sportsperson who actually merits their place among the best their sport has to offer?

[Onceinawhile]

You're right. They should give up. Glad I gave up going to hibs Scottish cup games a few years ago. We'll never win it.

[steakbake]

It's a bleak point of view. "Let's just pack up and go home"

In no particular order:

We have a governing body who are frankly dreadful at running the game. They are just stuffed blazers. Negative, bureaucrats who can handle a board meeting, agenda and action points but do any of them seem to know what to do?

We have good players to call upon but seem never to find the right person who will get them punching above their weight.

I was optimistic about Strachan but it's not worked. Look at any team who have punched above their weight in recent times, they've got a manager with a game plan and who knows their best team. We had 8 changes last night - that's not a manager who knows his best set-up.

As to why we bother - you could ask the same of pretty much three quarters of the teams in Europe. Let's just go all the way and insist on the top 10-12 teams in Europe keep there national teams and the rest just pack it in. If you were to ask a whole range of people if they'd ditch their national team just because they don't qualify, they'd think you're soft in the head.

Once again, we need a thorough restructure of the management of the game, some purpose and investment in a high quality manager. The negativity defeats us before we've even kicked a ball.

The other thing is expectation. I'd like to think that qualifying for the Euros shouldn't be beyond us if we do well and get a decent draw. The World Cup might be a rarer feat but in a good year, a good manager who knows how to set out and play to the strengths of the best team he can put together, it'd make a big difference.

Year after year, we get this kind of "we might as well give it a go" kind of attitude. I don't think players will perform to the best if our starting point is "let's just see what we can do".

[Wee Effen Bee]

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As someone who stopped watching international football years ago, I can't help but wonder how much longer those who still attend Scotland matches and the media pack which continues to accompany them will continue to bother?

For 20 years now the default mechanism is a big build-up to a fixture, followed by days of hand wringing about where it all went wrong and pictures of Scottish fans with their Glengarry-clad heads in their hands after the match. We've had nine consecutive failures to qualify for a major tournament and following last night's defeat to an England side which not so long ago lost to Iceland has almost certainly made it 10 in a row.

The media pack, I assume, are in it because they enjoy the jolly of a regular trips around Europe, but the fans? It just seems like such a wasted investment to saddle yourself to relentless failure. The news footage of the Tartan Army in London conformed to all the usual stereotypes (ie two-day drinking sessions, the takeover of Trafalgar Square) and one has to conclude that these days it's more about the party than the match. A lot of fans simply like to dress up as soldiers I guess.

My point is that these days the attention devoted to the national team seems totally disproportionate to its newsworthiness. Nobody, from those running the game, to the media, the manager, the players and the fans seems to have a clue how to improve things so perhaps it's time to turn our attentions elsewhere. How about encouraging kids to see if they can become the next Andy Murray or Chris Hoy or indeed any Scottish sportsperson who actually merits their place among the best their sport has to offer?

Maybe partly because the basic instinct in humans is to continue, never give up...PERSEVERE? There's a great book out, researched and written by Carol Dweck, about developing your mindset. I recommend you read it.

[High-On-Hibs]

We expect to fail therefore we do.

Even the fans that turn up don't actually expect us to win the game. They see it as a jolly lads outing. We're a soft touch.

[Sammy7nil]

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As someone who stopped watching international football years ago, I can't help but wonder how much longer those who still attend Scotland matches and the media pack which continues to accompany them will continue to bother?

For 20 years now the default mechanism is a big build-up to a fixture, followed by days of hand wringing about where it all went wrong and pictures of Scottish fans with their Glengarry-clad heads in their hands after the match. We've had nine consecutive failures to qualify for a major tournament and following last night's defeat to an England side which not so long ago lost to Iceland has almost certainly made it 10 in a row.

The media pack, I assume, are in it because they enjoy the jolly of a regular trips around Europe, but the fans? It just seems like such a wasted investment to saddle yourself to relentless failure. The news footage of the Tartan Army in London conformed to all the usual stereotypes (ie two-day drinking sessions, the takeover of Trafalgar Square) and one has to conclude that these days it's more about the party than the match. A lot of fans simply like to dress up as soldiers I guess.

My point is that these days the attention devoted to the national team seems totally disproportionate to its newsworthiness. Nobody, from those running the game, to the media, the manager, the players and the fans seems to have a clue how to improve things so perhaps it's time to turn our attentions elsewhere. How about encouraging kids to see if they can become the next Andy Murray or Chris Hoy or indeed any Scottish sportsperson who actually merits their place among the best their sport has to offer?

What a strange question.

[Scouse Hibee]

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As someone who stopped watching international football years ago, I can't help but wonder how much longer those who still attend Scotland matches and the media pack which continues to accompany them will continue to bother?

For 20 years now the default mechanism is a big build-up to a fixture, followed by days of hand wringing about where it all went wrong and pictures of Scottish fans with their Glengarry-clad heads in their hands after the match. We've had nine consecutive failures to qualify for a major tournament and following last night's defeat to an England side which not so long ago lost to Iceland has almost certainly made it 10 in a row.

The media pack, I assume, are in it because they enjoy the jolly of a regular trips around Europe, but the fans? It just seems like such a wasted investment to saddle yourself to relentless failure. The news footage of the Tartan Army in London conformed to all the usual stereotypes (ie two-day drinking sessions, the takeover of Trafalgar Square) and one has to conclude that these days it's more about the party than the match. A lot of fans simply like to dress up as soldiers I guess.

My point is that these days the attention devoted to the national team seems totally disproportionate to its newsworthiness. Nobody, from those running the game, to the media, the manager, the players and the fans seems to have a clue how to improve things so perhaps it's time to turn our attentions elsewhere. How about encouraging kids to see if they can become the next Andy Murray or Chris Hoy or indeed any Scottish sportsperson who actually merits their place among the best their sport has to offer?

Because some folk will support their team and country whatever the results,a bit like club football many of us stay loyal to Hibs no matter what division or the results are like yet others disappear.

[nomad]

Great post. I will now stop watching Hibs as they will never win the premiership. I will also chuck away my Hibs top after all I should not be dressing up as a football player.

[tamig]

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Because some folk will support their team and country whatever the results,a bit like club football many of us stay loyal to Hibs no matter what division or the results are like yet others disappear.

Was just going to make that point. I have seen some pish from Hibs over the years and they have given me some severe kickings, but it will never stop me following them.

[BSEJVT]

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As someone who stopped watching international football years ago, I can't help but wonder how much longer those who still attend Scotland matches and the media pack which continues to accompany them will continue to bother?

For 20 years now the default mechanism is a big build-up to a fixture, followed by days of hand wringing about where it all went wrong and pictures of Scottish fans with their Glengarry-clad heads in their hands after the match. We've had nine consecutive failures to qualify for a major tournament and following last night's defeat to an England side which not so long ago lost to Iceland has almost certainly made it 10 in a row.

The media pack, I assume, are in it because they enjoy the jolly of a regular trips around Europe, but the fans? It just seems like such a wasted investment to saddle yourself to relentless failure. The news footage of the Tartan Army in London conformed to all the usual stereotypes (ie two-day drinking sessions, the takeover of Trafalgar Square) and one has to conclude that these days it's more about the party than the match. A lot of fans simply like to dress up as soldiers I guess.

My point is that these days the attention devoted to the national team seems totally disproportionate to its newsworthiness. Nobody, from those running the game, to the media, the manager, the players and the fans seems to have a clue how to improve things so perhaps it's time to turn our attentions elsewhere. How about encouraging kids to see if they can become the next Andy Murray or Chris Hoy or indeed any Scottish sportsperson who actually merits their place among the best their sport has to offer?

I may be wrong and my apologies if I am but I cant be bothered checking back, but weren't you one of the supporters who was missing a Hibs game late last season to go to Murrayfield for a Scotland rugby game?

If so why do you watch the Rugby and not the football, maybe because Scotland have a greater chance of success on the rugby field rather than the football one?

I used to got to all the Scotland home games, decades ago but it wasn't so much that they stopped qualifying for things (I stopped before then, but other things became more important to me)

I would though never criticise anyone for going to support their club or country.

For many folk a Scotland away trip is a chance for a few days holiday in another country with a few thousand like minded folk, as its predominantly attended by non OF supporters, it is maybe a chance for some of these fans to savour a big crowd / big match atmosphere they don't have as club supporters.

My dad used to run a bus to Wembley every couple of years from the 60's to 90's and guys who probably didn't see much football otherwise used to save up for 2 years for a blow out weekend away with their mates.

I was lucky enough to see Scotland at Wembley in 79 & 81 and it is without doubt two of my best ever football memories.

Its sad but inevitable how far we have fallen, the participation rate and the frequency of participation for football has fallen like a stone over my lifetime and the consequences are there for all to see.

Its partly nostalgia and I am sure partly rose tinted glasses, but on the few occasions I see a young boys game down the park, the level of skill and for that matter commitment they exhibit is worlds apart from that I grew up playing.

For guys of my generation football was the b all and end all of our childhood and other than a brief week for tennis around Wimbledon and another for golf around the Open was the game every one played, regardless of how good or bad they were.

I seldom see kids wandering a round with a ball in hand, whereas in my day, I seldom saw Kids without one or a tennis ball or something.

Unfortunately that lack of participation as a youth feeds into a smaller talent pool with narrows further as you reach club and international level.

Its easy to blame the blazers and they are certainly partly to blame but as someone once said you cant make bricks without straw and its our lack of straw more than anything that is the problem and isn't easily rectifiiable.

[Mcpakeisgod]

A bit of a contradictory statement considering your a hibs fan

[heretoday]

It's an excuse for a trip. I think a lot of the Tartan Army support clubs like Peterhead or whatever and don't get out much.
You've a point about the media attention. I doubt whether anyone in their right minds reads the oceans of print devoted to Scotland's national team.

[G B Young]

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Great post. I will now stop watching Hibs as they will never win the premiership. I will also chuck away my Hibs top after all I should not be dressing up as a football player.

I don't think you can compare it with a club situation. Hibs hit a dreadful malaise post-2007 and several thousand fans simply stopped going regularly. If that malaise had continued for 20 years like Scotland we'd be playing in front of crowds of three or four thousand. But with the right manager in place and the signing of the right players you can turn things around fairly quickly, as we saw with the arrival of Stubbs post-Butcher.

With Scotland we're talking about an international team which has failed to even qualify for a tournament in 20 years. That's two decades of relentless failure. And unlike a club, you can't bring in better players. You're stuck with the mediocrity at your disposal no matter how good a manager you might be and as things stand with Scotland there appears no prospect of improvement.

Based on that, I can only conclude that following Scotland is a lifestyle choice rather than being founded on the belief that things will get better. The majority of those who go now have probably never seen Scotland at a major tournament so perhaps the national team is simply a vehicle for justifying a boozy trip away with the lads, a two or three-day cartoon soldier fancy dress party. If that's the case, then why not base the drinking around something that actually delivers a bit of satisfaction eg a fishing, hiking, cycling, golf etc trip? Each to their own though, I just don't really get it. When Scotland reached a decade of failing to qualify I started to lose interest and those who've endured that level of failure for yet another decade clearly have stronger tolerance levels than me.

[Malthibby]

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As someone who stopped watching international football years ago, I can't help but wonder how much longer those who still attend Scotland matches and the media pack which continues to accompany them will continue to bother?

For 20 years now the default mechanism is a big build-up to a fixture, followed by days of hand wringing about where it all went wrong and pictures of Scottish fans with their Glengarry-clad heads in their hands after the match. We've had nine consecutive failures to qualify for a major tournament and following last night's defeat to an England side which not so long ago lost to Iceland has almost certainly made it 10 in a row.

The media pack, I assume, are in it because they enjoy the jolly of a regular trips around Europe, but the fans? It just seems like such a wasted investment to saddle yourself to relentless failure. The news footage of the Tartan Army in London conformed to all the usual stereotypes (ie two-day drinking sessions, the takeover of Trafalgar Square) and one has to conclude that these days it's more about the party than the match. A lot of fans simply like to dress up as soldiers I guess.

My point is that these days the attention devoted to the national team seems totally disproportionate to its newsworthiness. Nobody, from those running the game, to the media, the manager, the players and the fans seems to have a clue how to improve things so perhaps it's time to turn our attentions elsewhere. How about encouraging kids to see if they can become the next Andy Murray or Chris Hoy or indeed any Scottish sportsperson who actually merits their place among the best their sport has to offer?

Glory hunters can always bog off & support Celtic or Barcelona. Don't think Scottish national footie supporters are gonna start supporting Germany or Argentina just because we are pish. You support your national team because it's your national team, that's meybes a bit subtle but it's why I do. A wee bit of success would be nice but it's not a requirement.

[MartinfaePorty]

Yawn, another post having a pop at the Tartan Army, disguised as a critique of the national game. As for the 2 sports you've used as an example of what we should be doing - tennis & cycling - it's like comparing apples and oranges and both these sports have had recent issues with major drug scandals. Perhaps not a suitable role model for our youngsters?

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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Glory hunters can always bog off & support Celtic or Barcelona. Don't think Scottish national footie supporters are gonna start supporting Germany or Argentina just because we are pish. You support your national team because it's your national team, that's meybes a bit subtle but it's why I do. A wee bit of success would be nice but it's not a requirement.

Perfectly summed up for me.

[superfurryhibby]

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I don't think you can compare it with a club situation. Hibs hit a dreadful malaise post-2007 and several thousand fans simply stopped going regularly. If that malaise had continued for 20 years like Scotland we'd be playing in front of crowds of three or four thousand. But with the right manager in place and the signing of the right players you can turn things around fairly quickly, as we saw with the arrival of Stubbs post-Butcher.

With Scotland we're talking about an international team which has failed to even qualify for a tournament in 20 years. That's two decades of relentless failure. And unlike a club, you can't bring in better players. You're stuck with the mediocrity at your disposal no matter how good a manager you might be and as things stand with Scotland there appears no prospect of improvement.

Based on that, I can only conclude that following Scotland is a lifestyle choice rather than being founded on the belief that things will get better. The majority of those who go now have probably never seen Scotland at a major tournament so perhaps the national team is simply a vehicle for justifying a boozy trip away with the lads, a two or three-day cartoon soldier fancy dress party. If that's the case, then why not base the drinking around something that actually delivers a bit of satisfaction eg a fishing, hiking, cycling, golf etc trip? Each to their own though, I just don't really get it. When Scotland reached a decade of failing to qualify I started to lose interest and those who've endured that level of failure for yet another decade clearly have stronger tolerance levels than me.

Given your regular posts on the national side on here you've not really lost interest have you? Why are you so bothered about whatever motivates people to attend? Gie it a rest man.

[Dashing Bob S]

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As someone who stopped watching international football years ago, I can't help but wonder how much longer those who still attend Scotland matches and the media pack which continues to accompany them will continue to bother?

For 20 years now the default mechanism is a big build-up to a fixture, followed by days of hand wringing about where it all went wrong and pictures of Scottish fans with their Glengarry-clad heads in their hands after the match. We've had nine consecutive failures to qualify for a major tournament and following last night's defeat to an England side which not so long ago lost to Iceland has almost certainly made it 10 in a row.

The media pack, I assume, are in it because they enjoy the jolly of a regular trips around Europe, but the fans? It just seems like such a wasted investment to saddle yourself to relentless failure. The news footage of the Tartan Army in London conformed to all the usual stereotypes (ie two-day drinking sessions, the takeover of Trafalgar Square) and one has to conclude that these days it's more about the party than the match. A lot of fans simply like to dress up as soldiers I guess.

My point is that these days the attention devoted to the national team seems totally disproportionate to its newsworthiness. Nobody, from those running the game, to the media, the manager, the players and the fans seems to have a clue how to improve things so perhaps it's time to turn our attentions elsewhere. How about encouraging kids to see if they can become the next Andy Murray or Chris Hoy or indeed any Scottish sportsperson who actually merits their place among the best their sport has to offer?

Never been a fan of Scotland and international football. In fact, I pretty much detest all things Scottish football that aren't Hibs. But I accept that not all people feel the same way. Fan loyalty is a strange business, and people shouldn't be castigated for the choices they make. In the end, it's all futile. Even if you're a glory hunter, you know in you're heart of hearts that you are just a 'winner' by proxy and it's not 'you' who is triumphant. In May, I experienced an almighty high which I'd never have enjoyed had Hibs been meaninglessly hoovering cups based on financial advantage (that, in turn, based on sectarian manipulation) like the OF. I'm sure when Scotland do finally qualify for a major tournament, a lot of their die-hard fans will similarly go crazy, and even cold-hearted, cynical, non-believers like myself might even feel enough of a semi to consider hitting Scorpio Leisure.

[Spike Mandela]

The uncomfortable truth is that since the referendum vote it is clear to any fair minded individual that there shouldn't even be an England, Scotland, NI or Welsh team. Some strange archaic Fifa anomaly that allows one country to have four International teams.

Not sure how much longer our European friends will tolerate us potentially taking up 3 extra spaces at tournament finals thatn one country deserves.

[CropleyWasGod]

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The uncomfortable truth is that since the referendum vote it is clear to any fair minded individual that there shouldn't even be an England, Scotland, NI or Welsh team. Some strange archaic Fifa anomaly that allows one country to have four International teams.

Not sure how much longer our European friends will tolerate us potentially taking up 3 extra spaces at tournament finals thatn one country deserves.

By that logic, there wouldn't be separate entry for Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish teams in UEFA competitions.

No bad thing, maybe? 😣

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[Spike Mandela]

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By that logic, there wouldn't be separate entry for Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish teams in UEFA competitions.

No bad thing, maybe? 😣

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As I say, an uncomfortable truth. May be difficult for UEFA to unravel seeing as we play in different leagues with different associations but for FIFA it's simple. The country we all live in and have passports for is the same.

[bigstu]

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You're right. They should give up. Glad I gave up going to hibs Scottish cup games a few years ago. We'll never win it.

Haha spot on!

[G B Young]

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I may be wrong and my apologies if I am but I cant be bothered checking back, but weren't you one of the supporters who was missing a Hibs game late last season to go to Murrayfield for a Scotland rugby game?

If so why do you watch the Rugby and not the football, maybe because Scotland have a greater chance of success on the rugby field rather than the football one?

I used to got to all the Scotland home games, decades ago but it wasn't so much that they stopped qualifying for things (I stopped before then, but other things became more important to me)

I would though never criticise anyone for going to support their club or country.

For many folk a Scotland away trip is a chance for a few days holiday in another country with a few thousand like minded folk, as its predominantly attended by non OF supporters, it is maybe a chance for some of these fans to savour a big crowd / big match atmosphere they don't have as club supporters.

My dad used to run a bus to Wembley every couple of years from the 60's to 90's and guys who probably didn't see much football otherwise used to save up for 2 years for a blow out weekend away with their mates.

I was lucky enough to see Scotland at Wembley in 79 & 81 and it is without doubt two of my best ever football memories.

Its sad but inevitable how far we have fallen, the participation rate and the frequency of participation for football has fallen like a stone over my lifetime and the consequences are there for all to see.

Its partly nostalgia and I am sure partly rose tinted glasses, but on the few occasions I see a young boys game down the park, the level of skill and for that matter commitment they exhibit is worlds apart from that I grew up playing.

For guys of my generation football was the b all and end all of our childhood and other than a brief week for tennis around Wimbledon and another for golf around the Open was the game every one played, regardless of how good or bad they were.

I seldom see kids wandering a round with a ball in hand, whereas in my day, I seldom saw Kids without one or a tennis ball or something.

Unfortunately that lack of participation as a youth feeds into a smaller talent pool with narrows further as you reach club and international level.

Its easy to blame the blazers and they are certainly partly to blame but as someone once said you cant make bricks without straw and its our lack of straw more than anything that is the problem and isn't easily rectifiiable.

Good post and yes I have on occasion gone to Murrayfield ahead of a Hibs game. It's partly a family thing but I also find it enjoyable to watch sports other than football, which when all's said and done is actually vastly overrated. I wasn't able to get to either Murrayfield or ER today but from what I gather Scotland were superb against Australia and Hibs should have beaten the Bairns. Both experiences sound a great deal more enjoyable than being at Wembley.

The reference to your dad running buses to London in the days of the Home Nations is one I can empathise with because, as you say, it was an event which only took place every two years and brought with it a real sense of occasion which people would save up for.

The type of Scotland fan I'm referring to here though is the sort who plans every year around travelling to Scotland fixtures despite 20 years of receiving nothing tangible in return apart from a good few hangovers. All well and good if you're happy with that, I just don't really get it. As I said, I gave up long ago and I wonder whether there would ever come a point when the Tartan Army would simply fizzle out and the Scottish media will cease prioritising a team which constantly fails over sports at which we are actually competitive.

[Bishop Hibee]

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As someone who stopped watching international football years ago, I can't help but wonder how much longer those who still attend Scotland matches and the media pack which continues to accompany them will continue to bother?

For 20 years now the default mechanism is a big build-up to a fixture, followed by days of hand wringing about where it all went wrong and pictures of Scottish fans with their Glengarry-clad heads in their hands after the match. We've had nine consecutive failures to qualify for a major tournament and following last night's defeat to an England side which not so long ago lost to Iceland has almost certainly made it 10 in a row.

The media pack, I assume, are in it because they enjoy the jolly of a regular trips around Europe, but the fans? It just seems like such a wasted investment to saddle yourself to relentless failure. The news footage of the Tartan Army in London conformed to all the usual stereotypes (ie two-day drinking sessions, the takeover of Trafalgar Square) and one has to conclude that these days it's more about the party than the match. A lot of fans simply like to dress up as soldiers I guess.

My point is that these days the attention devoted to the national team seems totally disproportionate to its newsworthiness. Nobody, from those running the game, to the media, the manager, the players and the fans seems to have a clue how to improve things so perhaps it's time to turn our attentions elsewhere. How about encouraging kids to see if they can become the next Andy Murray or Chris Hoy or indeed any Scottish sportsperson who actually merits their place among the best their sport has to offer?

Worst post ever.

[blackpoolhibs]

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Good post and yes I have on occasion gone to Murrayfield ahead of a Hibs game. It's partly a family thing but I also find it enjoyable to watch sports other than football, which when all's said and done is actually vastly overrated. I wasn't able to get to either Murrayfield or ER today but from what I gather Scotland were superb against Australia and Hibs should have beaten the Bairns. Both experiences sound a great deal more enjoyable than being at Wembley.

The reference to your dad running buses to London in the days of the Home Nations is one I can empathise with because, as you say, it was an event which only took place every two years and brought with it a real sense of occasion which people would save up for.

The type of Scotland fan I'm referring to here though is the sort who plans every year around travelling to Scotland fixtures despite 20 years of receiving nothing tangible in return apart from a good few hangovers. All well and good if you're happy with that, I just don't really get it. As I said, I gave up long ago and I wonder whether there would ever come a point when the Tartan Army would simply fizzle out and the Scottish media will cease prioritising a team which constantly fails over sports at which we are actually competitive.

You maybe don't get it, and that is up to you.

Others do get it, and even enjoy it, you seem to not understand why folk like following the national team, perhaps its best you just ignore them in future?

[Pete]

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You maybe don't get it, and that is up to you.

Others do get it, and even enjoy it, you seem to not understand why folk like following the national team, perhaps its best you just ignore them in future?

If this is the guy who missed hibs at hampden for an international rugby match then I'm not sure he ever will "get it".

[Phil MaGlass]

Your name says it all really. GB . Obviously brittish not Scottish. From what I remember. correct me if I.m wrong but havent you come on here before and started a thread like this or slated Scotland and the TA. Almost sure yi did.

[brog]

I must admit when I see newspaper pix glorifying Scotland fans standing in a London St lifting their kilts up, I cringe. If our fans had done similar after 21/5/16 the DR etc would have called us sex pests, or worse!

[G B Young]

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A bit of a contradictory statement considering your a hibs fan

As I said, I don't think you can compare it to following Hibs. In the time since Scotland last actually qualified for something Hibs have also endured one of the worst spells in the history of the club, yet have still reached seven cup finals, winning two of them, and (I think) 13 cup semi finals. There have been a few European qualifications in there too. Not brilliant perhaps but enough to keep you going back.

[CropleyWasGod]

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As I said, I don't think you can compare it to following Hibs. In the time since Scotland last actually qualified for something Hibs have also endured one of the worst spells in the history of the club, yet have still reached seven cup finals, winning two of them, and (I think) 13 cup semi finals. There have been a few European qualifications in there too. Not brilliant perhaps but enough to keep you going back.

I think you're missing the point.

Hibs fans don't follow the team purely for trophy hunting. Neither do Scotland fans.

If you can accept that as a Hibs fan, then surely you can accept that supporters of other teams....club and national....do the same. You don't have to understand....although I'm sure you do....just accept.



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