Andy's Sting

Episode 1 of the 3 part BBC Scotland ‘Ultras’ documentaries started this week. Jordan, the programme’s director was articulate in the media ahead of it talking about how Ultras is an easy word to say but Ultras, the broad concept we all think we understand, is an informal but uncoordinated alliance of mostly younger fans and not a simple or simplistic blueprint of anything. A church so broad it can’t be pigeon-holed. that is apart from maybe where Ultras has become the new na

I wish it was funny but it wasn’t. Not funny in any way. The weekend Miekelson’s Bams Ran Riot, Again, March 8th 2026. A date and fan behaviour that could, I think bring a sea change to football in Scotland. But only if the country and the game actually wants it because it will have to drag some people kicking and screaming. On a sad anniversary day for Scotland when my old dad would have been 102, it’s not a bad time to put this all into perspective. The past is the past. Bu

It is 100 days exactly till Scotland will hopefully line up somewhere to play Haiti. We will have a World Cup dominated by the USA and its current foibles. Accelerating uncertainty and genuine worry has become a fact of life. Pragmatic and cynical but always optimistic Andy thinks it will go ahead. And all will be OK. Yes, Fifa have evolved into a money driven machine hiding behind and within football naked revenue generation and extraction have become the underlying reasons

Sometimes football results make all fans smile. Back in North Blighty, the Scottish Sports Minister’s Round Table meets again on Monday. It was moved at the eleventh hour so sadly I’ll be an absentee. It’s a good forum potentially but I’d say it is in danger of being hi-jacked by particular self-interests. And Monday is in danger of that. Many of you know that my old gig, up to last August was Chair at the SFSA. For those of you wondering, I have never resigned. And I’ve neve

One of the good things about holidays in modern day Scotland is they come with a magic thing called ‘Holiday Pay’. When I almost accidently became an employer I learned that there is no Magic Money Tree to fund the Holiday Pay that everyone loves. When our First Minister declared a new public holiday for the day after our game against Haiti, out of the ether and with an election coming up, I cringed. Not because I don’t like holidays. No I love them all. But I know the pressu

It’s official, the Sun has started shining, even in Morningside, my wee room is warming up. Anyway, this week Sandy Ceferin, Uefa’s Biggest Cheese, told everyone in the room, at the Uefa Congress in Bruxelles, “Uefa’s future is bright”. He then snipped and sniped, “ We will never turn Loyalty into Luxury. Uefa is about community not commodity”. But who was he being snippy and sniping at? Well, Trump’s bestie, Jahnnie Infantino from Fifa was in also the room alongside our SFA

Jahnnie keeps his power over Fifa by firstly looking after his special friends, and secondly the numerous dependant associations who vote for him. In my years of writing Sting, I’d say his closest buddies include, USA, Russia and Israel and not far behind them, Saudi Qatar and other rich nations. None of us will ever know just how far Russia’s reach, reaches or has reached. But the baldy Fifa man who back in 2019, don’t forget, was personally awarded Putin’s ‘Order of Friends

Despite the Geo Politics I don’t think there is much that will change the hosting of the World Cup. This week several countries have tried to ‘squash’ their ‘sprouting like mushrooms’ calls for ‘A BOYCOTT’. Uncoordinated and not properly united or thought through, for now. But I think being wary of what King Donald will do next and prepared is eminently sensible . I say that because the stark reality is that come `Hell or High Water’ or an invasion or two of Venezuela, Greenl