Andy's Sting

Three short weeks today, somewhere nice in St Andrews with good coffee and posh biscuits, the SFA will hold a meeting for and exclusive club. The 42 Scottish current SPFL members of the much larger Scottish Football Family. I’ve been told it’s a closed meeting, invited clubs only. Certainly no riff raff like fan groups of our ilk, and while I welcome the fact that Scottish Football seems once again to be thinking on a macro scale about its own future that alone raises so man

An optimistic prediction but for now, how on earth did we get to where we find ourselves? After what the Fifa beancounters and PR people are still trumpeting as their most financially successful World Cup ever we all viewed our dominant, omnipresent, media-savvy Fifa President relishing the quite amazing soapbox he has created for himself. In his world football is riding high and he, alone, is the main reason why. Sadly in reality football is at a crucial crossroads and what

A disturbing week for football after Martin Ziegler of Murdoch’s Times somehow dug up, then went public on Jahnnie and Donald’s wee plan to re-monetise football’s key asset and further enrich the Trump family et pals. And as normal, in the realm of King Donald, it was all just scheduled to ‘happen’ except it leaked early and caused a stooshie. Fifa blaming the press was cynical, farcical and in reality another smokescreen to the real levels of corruption and financial favouri

This is maybe the simplest and shortest Sting I’ve ever written with only 2 subjects. Things World Cup and this week’s Mark Blackbourne Report. Both are massive and have raised many questions that I know our football authorities don’t want to have to deal with, and indeed I have no confidence they will ever cross this bridge anyway. Infantino’s and King Donald’s ugly World Cup concluded with an ugly, ugly final and even uglier aftermath because of one of the teams. Spain’s wo

I’m glad that the madness that has been the World Cup is on its last lap and hope Spain win, but whatever, we all know 2026 has been a watershed moment. A central ‘forever’ statement of the new reality from the new boss, (much worse than the old boss). Why? Because of the seismic changes to Fifa-driven monetisation. (AKA Milking the fans). Crude over-monetisation in the land of KD. Profound never-to- be-reversed impacts where ordinary fans and the game become the biggest lose

We were there. But Scotland are now well and truly home. My own Tartan Army adventurers are awaiting nervously their Miami-induced, credit card bills, Ryan Christie was seen playing golf at The Renaissance and we’re all getting on with life again. And, in case you didn’t know senior football starts again tomorrow in what my pal in the pub calls the ‘Amazon Firestick Trophy’. Anyway The hype was manic, and fun while it lasted but the reality is that the collective hangover ha

Let’s talk first about the man. I’ve only met Steve Clarke once, at a photo shoot but he was more than helpful and came across just as I had expected. I immediately liked him and integrity was baked into everything he did. That’s why his loss is problematic and more than tactical. Looking at the other teams in the World Cup you can see how comfortable they all seem to be on the ball. We’re not. It’s simples. We have been left behind by the way we play and need to reinvent our

It’s the ‘Mornings After the Nights Before’ for all who care more about the future of Scottish football rather than who’s maybe on the sub’s bench for our clubs of choice and other vital but peripheral nonsense /football talk. Why? Because Scottish football right now needs some big, simple and determined thinking and then some deep changes. Like many fans I’ve loved being part of the World Cup and especially the way that our Tartan Army have not just captured the moment, they

Thank Goodness Football is about to break out. That is a relief for us all. Maybe the actual balls actually being kicked will start the process of the beautiful game becoming the talking point rather than the excesses. What’s for sure is the vast range and depths of sheer and often nasty ugliness baked-in by Infantino’s version of Fifa into the future, fully supported and exacerbated by his Faustian pact with the alleged leader of the free world. I love the USA, always have,

Consider: You are the commercial decision maker of either your football club or a football association. If you could get immediate and easy money for your club or leagues from a potentially toxic consumer product like gambling, and I mean much more than the market rate, what would you do? Of course, you are mindful that Gambling is a product you know to be potentially damaging. But it’s not your job to make the rules. And anyway, any damage will be under-reported and never d

The Immutable Laws of Scottish Football. (And some other wee stories) I was glad to hear yesterday that Steve has been given a 4 year contract extension by the 6th floor. I’m also well aware that we’ve never got out of the group stage and somehow that has become our be-all and end-all goal in the land of King Donald. People, especially those making a living in the media, seem to collectively forget we actually made the last 16 in 1974 just by qualifying. And were the only und