The game in Scotland just now.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I watched Raith Rovers v Dunfermline on Viaplay yesterday and fair enjoyed it. During the game it was mentioned that Raith have new owners who have tarted up the main stand interior substantially and that the club are set to announce an upsurge in season ticket sales.

Dunfermline are also chugging along very nicely with their ST sales, currently at around 3,300 I believe.

With us yet to announce ST sales figures I doubt we will break any records, but we could be looking at around 12,000 which is still maintaining a real upsurge following 2016. The Yams are pretty well sold out and Aberdeen have announced a record amount.

Ayr United are doing construction work at Somerset Park to cover a good chunk of the open terracing, with real ambition to progress the club going forward.

Last season the SPFL announced a new attendance record of over 5,000,000 ... due to the fact that the Uglies have more or less sold out for the last few seasons that kind of indicates that that new record was mostly down to better crowds in the remainder of the premiership and the lower leagues.

Over 4000 fans paid to watch a friendly between Morton and St Mirren last week.

The upsurge in 'ultras' groups big and small springing up all over the leagues seems to be enthusing a lot of younger fans too, the number of kids at that Morton game and the game I watched yesterday seems to bear that out. Could it be that this new embracing of that area of 'football culture' is encouraging kids to follow local clubs, keeping them out of the clutches of the Uglies. There's a few You Tubers who cover Scottish football making great wee films about their attendance at games all over the country, including one from our 4 - 2 victory against Celtic where the two English folk involved were massively enthused about their trip to Easter Road and the Hibs support.

There might be a ton of folk out there willing to talk down our game, thankfully it seems less and less folk are listening ... long may it continue :thumbsup:

[Juice-Terry]

Long may it continue - and grow.

[David90+2]

I watched Raith Rovers v Dunfermline on Viaplay yesterday and fair enjoyed it. During the game it was mentioned that Raith have new owners who have tarted up the main stand interior substantially and that the club are set to announce an upsurge in season ticket sales.

Dunfermline are also chugging along very nicely with their ST sales, currently at around 3,300 I believe.

With us yet to announce ST sales figures I doubt we will break any records, but we could be looking at around 12,000 which is still maintaining a real upsurge following 2016. The Yams are pretty well sold out and Aberdeen have announced a record amount.

Ayr United are doing construction work at Somerset Park to cover a good chunk of the open terracing, with real ambition to progress the club going forward.

Last season the SPFL announced a new attendance record of over 5,000,000 ... due to the fact that the Uglies have more or less sold out for the last few seasons that kind of indicates that that new record was mostly down to better crowds in the remainder of the premiership and the lower leagues.

Over 4000 fans paid to watch a friendly between Morton and St Mirren last week.

The upsurge in 'ultras' groups big and small springing up all over the leagues seems to be enthusing a lot of younger fans too, the number of kids at that Morton game and the game I watched yesterday seems to bear that out. Could it be that this new embracing of that area of 'football culture' is encouraging kids to follow local clubs, keeping them out of the clutches of the Uglies. There's a few You Tubers who cover Scottish football making great wee films about their attendance at games all over the country, including one from our 4 - 2 victory against Celtic where the two English folk involved were massively enthused about their trip to Easter Road and the Hibs support.

There might be a ton of folk out there willing to talk down our game, thankfully it seems less and less folk are listening ... long may it continue :thumbsup:

Which begs the question……are the ‘other’ 40 teams strong enough to tell the old firm to do one?!?!

For example, 2 leagues of 20 teams with a greater wealth distribution/pyramid system that encourages genuine competition every year, all without the ugly sisters!!

[Diclonius]

Would absolutely love if we expelled the OF from our league and created our own self-sufficient product.

See how they get on playing each other 38 times a season. The bigotry will get old fast.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Which begs the question……are the ‘other’ 40 teams strong enough to tell the old firm to do one?!?!

For example, 2 leagues of 20 teams with a greater wealth distribution/pyramid system that encourages genuine competition every year, all without the ugly sisters!!

The only way you could genuinely put that to the test would be if the other clubs formed a new set up without the Uglies. If they were still playing in Scotland as part of the EPL for example I don't think it would work ... the TV and MSM would simply give them saturation coverage in the 'glamour' league and we would lose far too many supporters, especially future ones, to them playing the likes of Liverpool and Man United every week.

I do think though that we are at the stage now where their dominance has been such that fans are simply buying into a game within a game. They are so far out of sight that fans are looking at 3rd as akin to winning the league and fans are starting to enjoy the lower leagues such as the Championship simply for themselves .... the fun and enjoyment is now to be found in supporting your club simply for the sake of it, without worrying about the fact that it can never win the top league. It's the only thing I can think of that can account for an upsurge in interest despite the two horse race we are annually subjected to.

[hibby rae]

Which begs the question……are the ‘other’ 40 teams strong enough to tell the old firm to do one?!?!

For example, 2 leagues of 20 teams with a greater wealth distribution/pyramid system that encourages genuine competition every year, all without the ugly sisters!!

This very nearly happened in the 90s, or at least the clubs threatened to do so.

Pat Nevin was talking about it at his book launch.

[Cheshire Hibee]

I was in Kirkcaldy yesterday and was walking along the High Street when it all kicked off between Raith and Pars fans, glasses where flying through the air!!


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[Since452]

Football is fashionable amongst the youngsters in a way I can't remember before and I don't think it's just because I'm getting older and noticing it more. There are loads of youngsters going now. The "ultras" groups are really taking over and social media is a big part of that. I see more kids choosing to follow their local sides with their mates rather than become braindead old firm fans. It's great to see actually.

[Pretty Boy]

Football is fashionable amongst the youngsters in a way I can't remember before and I don't think it's just because I'm getting older and noticing it more. There are loads of youngsters going now. The "ultras" groups are really taking over and social media is a big part of that. I see more kids choosing to follow their local sides with their mates rather than become braindead old firm fans. It's great to see actually.

The Ultras groups are definitely having an impact.

I was at the Spartans game yesterday and they had a wee ultras section that never shut up all game. They let under 16s in free, as do a lot of clubs, and the players all chip in a few quid to pay for their travel to games and for them to get some food on the day.

Similar groups at the likes of Tranent, Musselburgh, Edinburgh City and so on. It's suddenly become cool to support your local club again among the young team rather than watching the EPL or sitting on a couch 'supporting' Celtic and Rangers. Hopefully when these lads hit 17/18 they become paying customers as that's the age when it's easy to lose them.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I was in Kirkcaldy yesterday and was walking along the High Street when it all kicked off between Raith and Pars fans, glasses where flying through the air!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's a shame. I'm not presuming that 'ultras' were involved, but all I would say is that the idea is to bring noise colour and the right kind of passion to games ... do that and all they will have is a positive impact. Turn it into punch ups in the street and all that will happen is that folk will be put off going to games .... we do not need a return to the 70s and 90s where hooliganism and to a lesser extent the casuals gave football a terrible reputation that made the idea of attending matches unattractive to a lot of people, especially those that wanted to take wee kids.

[Lago]

I watched Raith Rovers v Dunfermline on Viaplay yesterday and fair enjoyed it. During the game it was mentioned that Raith have new owners who have tarted up the main stand interior substantially and that the club are set to announce an upsurge in season ticket sales.

Dunfermline are also chugging along very nicely with their ST sales, currently at around 3,300 I believe.

With us yet to announce ST sales figures I doubt we will break any records, but we could be looking at around 12,000 which is still maintaining a real upsurge following 2016. The Yams are pretty well sold out and Aberdeen have announced a record amount.

Ayr United are doing construction work at Somerset Park to cover a good chunk of the open terracing, with real ambition to progress the club going forward.

Last season the SPFL announced a new attendance record of over 5,000,000 ... due to the fact that the Uglies have more or less sold out for the last few seasons that kind of indicates that that new record was mostly down to better crowds in the remainder of the premiership and the lower leagues.

Over 4000 fans paid to watch a friendly between Morton and St Mirren last week.

The upsurge in 'ultras' groups big and small springing up all over the leagues seems to be enthusing a lot of younger fans too, the number of kids at that Morton game and the game I watched yesterday seems to bear that out. Could it be that this new embracing of that area of 'football culture' is encouraging kids to follow local clubs, keeping them out of the clutches of the Uglies. There's a few You Tubers who cover Scottish football making great wee films about their attendance at games all over the country, including one from our 4 - 2 victory against Celtic where the two English folk involved were massively enthused about their trip to Easter Road and the Hibs support.

There might be a ton of folk out there willing to talk down our game, thankfully it seems less and less folk are listening ... long may it continue :thumbsup:
Can confirm a lot of hard work going on at Starks Park, new owners making a big effort to engage with the local support.

[ancient hibee]

Good that efforts are succeeding but I'm probably a party pooper. The fact is that on any Saturday whoever of the OF is at home will account for around 50% of attendances and the other 19/20 games will account for around the other half.Don't see that ever changing. If the OF left it would turn off the TV and advertising money which we depend on and bigger clubs would never be able to support wage bills on gate income.

[DIXIHIBS]

Good that efforts are succeeding but I'm probably a party pooper. The fact is that on any Saturday whoever of the OF is at home will account for around 50% of attendances and the other 19/20 games will account for around the other half.Don't see that ever changing. If the OF left it would turn off the TV and advertising money which we depend on and bigger clubs would never be able to support wage bills on gate income.

I agree. The record attendance of over 5 million...OF home games account for over 2million. Maybe other teams have increased slightly but sadly...financially...we are reliant on the OF. Without them we could have a more competitive league which would help those actually challenging at the top, but the finances (standard of players)in general would be diminished imho.

[DH1875]

We are number one for fans going to games per head of population. Here is the thing, even if you take out the oldfirm we are the 5th best supported league per head of population in Europe. Considering we are supposed to be fish i still think that is some doing.

[Gordy M]

We are number one for fans going to games per head of population. Here is the thing, even if you take out the oldfirm we are the 5th best supported league per head of population in Europe. Considering we are supposed to be fish i still think that is some doing.

I might be wrong, but i think its actually higher than that....i think we could be 3rd without the old firm?

[7Hero]

Italy
Germany
Spain
England Premier
England Championship
Portugal
France


Lot of competition for attendances, we'll struggle to be ahead of any of them for totall attendnace figures with or without OF

[Pagan Hibernia]

We are number one for fans going to games per head of population. Here is the thing, even if you take out the oldfirm we are the 5th best supported league per head of population in Europe. Considering we are supposed to be fish i still think that is some doing.

we are and it’s not even close. 21.3 per thousand people versus 12.9 in the Netherlands (2nd highest). We are nearly double that of England and Wales.

and yes of course the cheeks account for a huge part of that. But the figures for other clubs are impressive and growing.

[Diclonius]

The Ultras groups are definitely having an impact.

I was at the Spartans game yesterday and they had a wee ultras section that never shut up all game. They let under 16s in free, as do a lot of clubs, and the players all chip in a few quid to pay for their travel to games and for them to get some food on the day.

Similar groups at the likes of Tranent, Musselburgh, Edinburgh City and so on. It's suddenly become cool to support your local club again among the young team rather than watching the EPL or sitting on a couch 'supporting' Celtic and Rangers. Hopefully when these lads hit 17/18 they become paying customers as that's the age when it's easy to lose them.

Still seeing more OF tops in my village than Dunfermline ones sadly, to be fair though it's mostly people my age or older.

[Carheenlea]

A lot of people have probably come to accept that the elite level EPL and Champions League are a passionless snooze fest, and realising that what attracted most of us to the game is still prevalent a few tiers below.

It’s more than just football, it’s the camaraderie of enjoying days out with your friends across the country and the rivalries that do with it. Football fans tend to be creatures of habit too, so when you get more on board, or back on board, then those ST’s stand avoid chance of being renewed.

Whatever it is, it’s great to see attendance numbers increasing.

[number9dream]

The football landscape is looking healthy right now, with the men's national team on the up too.
My only concern is the dwindling number of Scottish players in the Premiership...
English clubs are snapping up a lot of our best young talent at very early ages and young players aren't getting much of a look in since it's such a tight league with managers getting chopped left, right and centre.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Italy
Germany
Spain
England Premier
England Championship
Portugal
France


Lot of competition for attendances, we'll struggle to be ahead of any of them for totall attendnace figures with or without OF

The figure that matters here is attendance per head of population mate.

You don't have to be Steven Hawking to work out that a country with a population of 5 million has utterly no chance of competing in overall attendance figures with countries that have populations of between 47 million ( Spain ) and 83 million ( Germany ) Even the smallest country you have quoted ( Portugal ) has a population of 10 million ... twice the size of Scotland's.

The fact is that the crowds Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen get would put them in the upper half of some European countries with far bigger populations, Hibs average of just over 17,000 would have made us the equal 4th biggest club in Sweden in 2022 along with Malmo .. a nation of 10.5 million. And the 3rd biggest club in Belgium along with Genk, a country with a population of over 11 million. Even in the aforementioned Portugal ( pop 10 million ) we would have been the 4th best supported club.

Hell, last season it would have made us the 15th biggest club in Serie 'A' and the 11th best supported club in the French top flight.

In most of the countries I've mentioned here with populations of 10 million once you get outside of the top half of the leagues crowds drop off a cliff to the extent that in some of them the likes of Dundee United and Motherwell would be well off the bottom of the attendance table.

In European terms Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen are a lot further from being small clubs than you might think .... our lack of population means we cant draw in the TV money and advertising these countries do so we are poorer financially .... but crowd wise we are well up there.

Oh and coz we play Groningen on Friday it might interest you to know we would have been the 7th best supported club in 17 million pop Holland last season. :greengrin

[Heedersnvolleys]

Similar groups at the likes of Tranent, Musselburgh, Edinburgh City and so on. It's suddenly become cool to support your local club again among the young team rather than watching the EPL or sitting on a couch 'supporting' Celtic and Rangers. Hopefully when these lads hit 17/18 they become paying customers as that's the age when it's easy to lose them.

Unfortunately these folk are also picking these teams over Hibs as well.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Unfortunately these folk are also picking these teams over Hibs as well.

And Hearts :greengrin

Great to see kids going to see the smaller clubs .... I don't think we should worry too much about it just yet so far as competition for fans is concerned.

[Oscar T Grouch]

The Ultra groups are doing something I have never seen in my 50 years on this planet. Local lads in Scotland getting excited about their local team. When I was a teenager I would say half the kids that were into football at school supported one of the bigot brothers, the other half was split between Hibs and Hearts (and a few Dundee Utd and Aberdeen fans, the glory hunters of those days!). It is great nowadays that I see more Hibs and Hearts tops worn by kids than I see celtc of the rangers tops. That is what will shift the balance of power in Scottish football, we don't need to get rid of the old firm, we need people to support their local team, so as the ultra grow up we will see an increase of support for non old firm teams and a reduction in the support for the glasgow cheeks. I hope that is what is happening anyway.

[NAE NOOKIE]

The Ultra groups are doing something I have never seen in my 50 years on this planet. Local lads in Scotland getting excited about their local team. When I was a teenager I would say half the kids that were into football at school supported one of the bigot brothers, the other half was split between Hibs and Hearts (and a few Dundee Utd and Aberdeen fans, the glory hunters of those days!). It is great nowadays that I see more Hibs and Hearts tops worn by kids than I see celtc of the rangers tops. That is what will shift the balance of power in Scottish football, we don't need to get rid of the old firm, we need people to support their local team, so as the ultra grow up we will see an increase of support for non old firm teams and a reduction in the support for the glasgow cheeks. I hope that is what is happening anyway.

Indeed mate :aok:

This totally needs a two pronged approach ... not just encouraging kids to follow their local clubs with ticket deals, supporting ultras culture, with the caveat that violence wont be tolerated, and stuff like that, but also a decent amount of anti glory hunting rhetoric and I mean from the clubs, not just the fans.

I remain convinced that a jointly funded TV advert would get the point across:

A map of Scotland showing the 42 non OF clubs with a voice over saying ....come from here ( arrow points to Hamilton ) ... come from here ( arrow points to Dundee ) ... come from here ( arrow points to Dunfermline ) .. come from here ( arrow points to Ayr ) etc etc .... Proud of your town, proud to be from there?

Glasgow pops up on the map with the voice over saying .... so why would you give your support to a football club from HERE !! ?

Chuck in a wee film of fans of Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen, St Mirren, Morton etc etc cheering on their teams with the voice over saying ... Scottish football is far more than just two clubs ... join in the fun

End with a poster saying:

YOUR LOCAL CLUB WANTS YOU !!!

YOUR LOCAL CLUB NEEDS YOU !!!

THEY DON'T !!! ...... Picture of Celtic and Rangers.

COMPLAIN THAT ITS A TWO HORSE RACE EVERY SEASON?

DON'T BE PART OF THE PROBLEM, BE PART OF THE SOLUTION !!!

If I had my way that advert would be on STV tomorrow :greengrin

[Oscar T Grouch]

Indeed mate :aok:

This totally needs a two pronged approach ... not just encouraging kids to follow their local clubs with ticket deals, supporting ultras culture, with the caveat that violence wont be tolerated, and stuff like that, but also a decent amount of anti glory hunting rhetoric and I mean from the clubs, not just the fans.

I remain convinced that a jointly funded TV advert would get the point across:

A map of Scotland showing the 42 non OF clubs with a voice over saying ....come from here ( arrow points to Hamilton ) ... come from here ( arrow points to Dundee ) ... come from here ( arrow points to Dunfermline ) .. come from here ( arrow points to Ayr ) etc etc .... Proud of your town, proud to be from there?

Glasgow pops up on the map with the voice over saying .... so why would you give your support to a football club from HERE !! ?

Chuck in a wee film of fans of Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen, St Mirren, Morton etc etc cheering on their teams with the voice over saying ... Scottish football is far more than just two clubs ... join in the fun

End with a poster saying:

YOUR LOCAL CLUB WANTS YOU !!!

YOUR LOCAL CLUB NEEDS YOU !!!

THEY DON'T !!! ...... Picture of Celtic and Rangers.

COMPLAIN THAT ITS A TWO HORSE RACE EVERY SEASON?

DON'T BE PART OF THE PROBLEM, BE PART OF THE SOLUTION !!!

If I had my way that advert would be on STV tomorrow :greengrin

:thumbsup:I would contribute to that being on the telly, and nothing you say in it is untrue but you know the amount of butt hurt that will come from celtc and the rangers :greengrin

Watched a YouTube vid of a young Lancashire lass attending the friendly at Cappielow, Morton vs St Mirren, there were loads of youngsters from the area all excited for this friendly, waving flags and making noise. It is not a huge leap for the glasgow bigots to lose support and other teams gain significant followings from the local areas!

[NAE NOOKIE]

:thumbsup:I would contribute to that being on the telly, and nothing you say in it is untrue but you know the amount of butt hurt that will come from celtc and the rangers :greengrin

Watched a YouTube vid of a young Lancashire lass attending the friendly at Cappielow, Morton vs St Mirren, there were loads of youngsters from the area all excited for this friendly, waving flags and making noise. It is not a huge leap for the glasgow bigots to lose support and other teams gain significant followings from the local areas!

I watched the same video and that and a few others from an English lad who lives in Scotland and is a massive fan of our game more or less inspired my original post. The lass you mentioned was also at the Hibs 4 Celtic 2 game ans she absolutely loved it. There's a Scottish lad who does similar videos and he was at the Dunfermline game where they beat Falkirk to pretty well guarantee winning the league .... you should watch it, absolute scenes :greengrin

As for the Uglies ... who gives a stuff what they would think of such an advert, as you say none of it would be untrue and as we all know they don't think twice how it will affect everybody else when it comes to their own self interest ..... so the attitude from the other 40 clubs should be ... tough, **** you !!

In fact, we could do worse than give these You Tubers a platform on any new SPFL channel ... a sort of 'today we are at' ( whatever game it is ) giving a fans perspective of what it's like to be at that particular game.

I even hatched a plot for a late night 'viewer discretion required' show where pissed up fans commentate on that weeks live game.

Instead of ... oh that was a bad pass there ... or, Ooh I bet he wishes he had that chance back' and more along the lines of WTF WAS THE GOALIE DAIN' THERE !!!! the stupid %@#*# :greengrin

[Baldy Foghorn]

Would absolutely love if we expelled the OF from our league and created our own self-sufficient product.

See how they get on playing each other 38 times a season. The bigotry will get old fast.

This:top marks

[NAE NOOKIE]

To labour my TV advert theory.

What is the fan experience?

For 95% or more of the worlds football fans part of that experience, and a vital part of it in my opinion, is also if not relegation then at least the fear of it.

What is the point of following the game if the club you choose is in reality, if not in theory, absolutely immune from any jeopardy? What is the point of the joy of the sweet taste of success if you haven't also experienced the bitter taste of the ultimate failure? A failure which can also be followed by the sweet taste of redemption by being promoted back a few years later lats not forget.

How can you say you have the full experience of being a football fan If every season you wake up on the first morning of the season knowing that finishing 2nd is failure and 3rd an absolute disaster ... knowing that if your club draws more than two games at home, never mind loses them, questions will be getting asked of the manager .... but far more than that, knowing that even the threat of relegation, never mind the reality of it, simply isn't a possibility.

Being a true fan, being a great fan, is sticking by your club post relegation ... that's the true test of a supporter, not calling yourselves the greatest fans in the world because you've managed to stick by the club through a whole season, heaven forbid two or three, where it hasn't won anything?

In my advert that would be stressed as well .... misery is as big a part of the football experience as joy is .... it might be painful at times, but get the full experience for your money ... not half of it.

NOTE: Its a fact that many fans of Major League Soccer bemoan the lack of promotion and relegation because they feel they are denied the full experience of 'soccer' as it is felt by fans everywhere else in the world IE the possibility, or reality, of 'going down'... Why then follow football in a country where that experience is available and follow a club miles from where you live that will never afford you that part of the experience?

This would also be stressed in my advert ... because football isn't all rainbows and Unicorns and that is ( or should be ) part of the fun of following it.

[cocteautwin]

The National team is doing well at the moment also. There’s a real buzz around that.

[WhileTheChief..]

The only way you could genuinely put that to the test would be if the other clubs formed a new set up without the Uglies. If they were still playing in Scotland as part of the EPL for example I don't think it would work ... the TV and MSM would simply give them saturation coverage in the 'glamour' league and we would lose far too many supporters, especially future ones, to them playing the likes of Liverpool and Man United every week.

I do think though that we are at the stage now where their dominance has been such that fans are simply buying into a game within a game. They are so far out of sight that fans are looking at 3rd as akin to winning the league and fans are starting to enjoy the lower leagues such as the Championship simply for themselves .... the fun and enjoyment is now to be found in supporting your club simply for the sake of it, without worrying about the fact that it can never win the top league. It's the only thing I can think of that can account for an upsurge in interest despite the two horse race we are annually subjected to.

There's an opportunity for a company to step in and offer a prize for finishing 3rd.

Similar to bookies taking bets on league winners ex-old firm.

[NAE NOOKIE]

There's an opportunity for a company to step in and offer a prize for finishing 3rd.

Similar to bookies taking bets on league winners ex-old firm.

I proposed something similar on another thread a few weeks ago mate. My idea was a supporter's trophy awarded to the best placed non Uglies team at the end of the season, in lieu of the fact that we do not play on anything like a level playing field. It could even be based on who finishes best of the rest when results against the Uglies are removed .. IE any points won or dropped against the Uglies don't count in the fans league.

Once again taking inspiration from MLS where fans financed an unofficial, and long established, trophy that is awarded to the team with the best record prior to the playoffs, a trophy all clubs take extremely seriously. Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers also play for a fan inspired trophy called the 'Cascadia Cup' awarded to the team with the best head to head record between the three, a trophy also taken extremely seriously by the clubs involved, and the fans.

I more or less got my head in my hands for my suggestion. But considering it would not in any way detract from finishing second in the official league, if by some miracle that was to happen, I simply can't see whats wrong with it. The biggest criticism was that fans of the Uglies would laugh at us and call it 'the losers cup' ..... but at this stage of proceedings, 40 years down the sodding line, why should any of us give a rats arse what they say or think. They know as well as we do that this is in no way a fair competition any more ... if it ever was .... So why shouldn't there be recognition of the club that does best in an at least semi fair and level competition by the fans who support those clubs?

IMO it would also make a statement that the SFA / SPFL and the uglies might even find ever so slightly embarrassing, if that trophy was launched with a fans statement saying exactly why it is being founded.

[King conrad]

The Ultra groups are doing something I have never seen in my 50 years on this planet. Local lads in Scotland getting excited about their local team. When I was a teenager I would say half the kids that were into football at school supported one of the bigot brothers, the other half was split between Hibs and Hearts (and a few Dundee Utd and Aberdeen fans, the glory hunters of those days!). It is great nowadays that I see more Hibs and Hearts tops worn by kids than I see celtc of the rangers tops. That is what will shift the balance of power in Scottish football, we don't need to get rid of the old firm, we need people to support their local team, so as the ultra grow up we will see an increase of support for non old firm teams and a reduction in the support for the glasgow cheeks. I hope that is what is happening anyway.

Love the fact the ultra groups is getting kids to support their local team, I have been to a few Bonnyrigg Rose games over the last year as i stay in the area and their young ultra group just keeps growing , loud and enthusiastic it's great to see, Better than them supporting the glasgow teams.

[WhileTheChief..]

I proposed something similar on another thread a few weeks ago mate. My idea was a supporter's trophy awarded to the best placed non Uglies team at the end of the season, in lieu of the fact that we do not play on anything like a level playing field. It could even be based on who finishes best of the rest when results against the Uglies are removed .. IE any points won or dropped against the Uglies don't count in the fans league.

.

Yup, that's what I'm thinking of.

It would generate a huge amount of interest throughout europe.

Imagine the Old Firm knowing that each week they play, they're going up against our kids or players returning from injury etc. None of thee games would a mean a thing to us. We could even keep play closed doors, just coz.

It would be hard for the media to ignore. If anything, the rest of the league would be laughing at the old firm playing for such a meaningless league trophy.

Our 'league winners' and runners up would still qualify for the same Euro cups. And relegation / promotion would still be the same.

It's a cracking idea :thumbsup:

[DH1875]

Love the fact the ultra groups is getting kids to support their local team, I have been to a few Bonnyrigg Rose games over the last year as i stay in the area and their young ultra group just keeps growing , loud and enthusiastic it's great to see, Better than them supporting the glasgow teams.

Can anyone just rock up and be an ultra? How easy is it to become part of block 7? Who decides who is in and who is out?

[ErinGoBraghHFC]

Can anyone just rock up and be an ultra? How easy is it to become part of block 7? Who decides who is in and who is out?

You need to go to the top boys house and audition your singing voice. If you pass that test you need to shadow box a crash dummy wearing a jacket one size too big for you and a balaclava while they have police sirens blasting on the surround sound system to see how you’d do on Union Street, Aberdeen. If you pass both tests then you’re in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gordy M]

Yup, that's what I'm thinking of.

It would generate a huge amount of interest throughout europe.

Imagine the Old Firm knowing that each week they play, they're going up against our kids or players returning from injury etc. None of thee games would a mean a thing to us. We could even keep play closed doors, just coz.

It would be hard for the media to ignore. If anything, the rest of the league would be laughing at the old firm playing for such a meaningless league trophy.

Our 'league winners' and runners up would still qualify for the same Euro cups. And relegation / promotion would still be the same.

It's a cracking idea :thumbsup:

Whilst it would be interesting to see it happen, what if we had one game left against Rangers or Celtic needing a win to finish 3rd in the league.....you putting out a reserve/injured/young team? Bearing in mind the SPL wouldnt recognise a 'fans cup'?

[NAE NOOKIE]

Whilst it would be interesting to see it happen, what if we had one game left against Rangers or Celtic needing a win to finish 3rd in the league.....you putting out a reserve/injured/young team? Bearing in mind the SPL wouldnt recognise a 'fans cup'?

Kind of missed the crux of what both me and 'While the Chief' are saying mate. Games against the Uglies don't count in this league within a league. If your last game of the season is against either Ugly sister it won't matter, you are where you are ..... that doesn't mean to say the game is meaningless in the context of a European place, or in what is currently practically a million to one shot, you winning the actual official SPFL league.

I get what you mean though and that is why no club will be running out crocks and kids in any game against the Uglies.

No, this is purely a league within a league, inspired by and supported by the fans of the other 10 clubs, with any reward for winning it like a cup or flag awarded to the best placed non OF club by them ... if by some miracle that club has won the official league, they still get that cup or flag ... but what the hell are the chances of that? Which is why IMO this idea of a fans league not involving the Uglies is a bloody great idea.

[King conrad]

Can anyone just rock up and be an ultra? How easy is it to become part of block 7? Who decides who is in and who is out?

I've no idea but I'd imagine everyone would be welcome.

[hibee-boys]

From what I can see it’s a combination of a growing ultra scene, football grounds (in the main) being far more family friendly and Hibs, along with most clubs, catering for the supporters who like to splash out on a day out at the hospitality. I may be over thinking this but I do feel that culturally we’ve moved on as a society. Football grounds are thankfully far more inclusive than the environment I became accustomed to when starting to attend games with my old man in the mid 80s.