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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

Following our recent, online meeting with the CEO/MD/Chair of the women's game in Scotland and various fans from clubs across the country, we're delighted to say that two of those who attended that (very productive) session have volunteered to join the SFU's women's team. Let them introduce themselves... Loran Taylor My name is Loran Taylor and I first got into women's football, specifically Elgin City FC Women, in March 2025. I knew nothing of the team prior to this or ha

Isla McMillan is Chair-person for Rangers Woman Collective. She first started attending the games after getting tickets via Scottish Power (who are one of the biggest sponsors of the SWPL) and has been following Rangers Women FC for over five years now. To say she is a committed fan is a wee bit of an undestatement. Isla attends all home and away games with her 11 year old daughter, who is not just a fan but also now plays for Gartcairn. However, while Isla and her daugher s

The kilt, with the indisputable provenance of Andy Goram's name tag! Andy Goram was the first footballer Stephen Reside met when he was five years old, when Goram was still at Rangers. As a child with cerebral palsy, sitting in a wheelchair, it was a big thrill for Stephen. It was an even bigger thrill when Andy moved to Stephen’s team, Motherwell, and kept opposition forwards at bay for several seasons at Fir Park. What a keeper he was! Now, another Andy, Andy Smith, the

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

Until last night, I didn’t think I was a member of the Tartan Army. To be honest (and I suspect the sky will go dark with objects hurled at my head at this point), I have been a bit of a fair-weather Scotland fan when it comes to going to games in recent times. In the past, yes, I can recollect trips to the old Hampden with 100,000+ in the stadium for games against England, midweek friendlies against the likes of Northern Ireland and a potentially reckless trip to Hampden i

I’m at a stage when I realise that I’m not clever enough or knowledgeable to know who to vote for in elections and increasingly think the playground stuff that politicians put on to feed our media is embarrassing. I also find it easier to take people of different hues as I find them as people irrespective of political rosettery. Over the last two or three years I have gained a genuine respect for the football-related work that our junior Health Minister, Maree Todd, has done

If fans, clubs and the media want better referees what are they doing about it? There was a lot of publicity in the media recently about Rangers calling a ‘summit’ of other clubs to discuss their concerns about the standard of refereeing. Since then, there has been even more negative publicity about referees in the last week, culminating in a leading official requiring police protection. The SFU view on this is made clear in this post. No reasonable football fan can believ

No matter what you think of their decisions, our referees are human beings, with lives to live, families to protect and jobs to do and they simply must not be subjected to unaccepable threats and intimidation. The SFU is working with the SFA referees to help them recruit and retain more officials. We have real expertise in this area and are happy to help. Without referees we don’t have a game and we need more officials at every level of Scottish football. Youngsters sometim

A section of the audience at the SFU's Disability Events at McDiarmid Park. Last Thursday, many of the Disability Access Officers (DAOs) and other leading people working to help disabled football fans and para-footballers, met at St Johnstone’s McDiarmid Park to hear a number of presentations from some real experts in this field. When the SFU set up this event, we knew there had not been anything like it for a number of years. We were slightly worried how many people would t

UPDATED: 24th May 2024 The SFU now has over 102,000 affiliated members, cementing our position as the biggest independent fans' group in the country. Thank you to everyone who has signed up, whether individually or as part of a larger group. By joining us, you can get your voice heard in the corridors of power, at both Holyrood and Hampden. Here's what we're doing for Scottish football fans and it's this work that has attracted so much attention and interest. Please join

We are delighted to say that we got over 30 entries from universities across Scotland for this competition. Thanks are due to News UK Scotland, the publishers of The Times and Sunday Times Scotland and The Scottish Sun, for their support and encouragement. It's always good to see aspiring young journalists coming through the ranks and there were five entries we deemed good enough to be published here on our website. We'll publish the four runners-up first, followed by the

Supporting 300 Young People and Driving a Joined-Up Community Effort in Clackmannanshire! The Hive Celebrates One Year Supporting 300 Young People and Driving a Joined-Up Community Effort in Clackmannanshire The Hive in Alloa is celebrating its first anniversary on 8 April 2026, marking a year of transforming a disused town centre venue into a thriving, youth-led community hub at the heart of Clackmannanshire. Delivered by Wasp Community Club with the backing of Alloa Ath

Recently, we saw the ugly side of football, however, there are other sides which show just why we love the game. No matter your background or ability, whether you are able-bodied or not, there are so many things that bring people from every walk of life together to play the beautiful game that we call football. I’d like to introduce you to one aspect of this beautiful game that, perhaps, you didn’t know existed… Scotland's first transplant team – a group of players who have

With apologies to St Mirren and Dons’ fans, there is only one major issue in Scottish football this week. We have a good product on the park and one of the most competitive title races for years, the World Cup to look forward to, but still the same old issues off the field. Sometimes we think Scottish football is moving forward in and then the next minute/last weekend we get a reality check. Last Sunday was a low point in the season. When the quarter final cup tie between Ra

We are delighted to announce that Vivienne McLaren has agreed to be the SFU's Ambassador for the women's game in Scotland. Her passion for women’s and girls’ football and her keen focus on expanding the opportunities available to women and girls to take part in or return to sport has been evident for many years now and there is no doubt that she has played a crucial part in the development of women's football in our country. In 2016, Vivienne was appointed Chairperson of Sco

The SFU is delighted to welcome Alan Rough MBE, one of the most popular and well-loved Scottish footballers of the past few decades. As anyone who has spent more than a few minutes in his company knows, Roughie is never far from a smile and a laugh, while his collection of anecdotes from his club and country days is justifiably famous, if not always suitable for a younger audience. A star of 53 Scottish international line-ups over more than a decade, with over 400 appearan

Us football supporters are not mere spectators. We are the foundation stone and beating heart of every club. We are the people who create atmosphere, who buy tickets, replica strips and other merchandise, helping sustain our clubs, local businesses and communities financially. At times like these, where there is a genuine cost-of-living crisis for many, we still make amazing efforts to get to matches. The opportunity cost may be not having a pie or another pint, but we st

The Costs and Benefits of Walking Football for Scotland The Scottish Football Union and Walking Football Scotland, with support from Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and Para-football Scotland, has completed a major research project*, studying the health benefits of this rapidly expanding sport, whilst also drawing attention to the increasing costs involved in hiring pitches across Scotland. The key results are as follows, with the full survey report available at the link a

Yesterday, Kyle Sharkie, a member of the SFU’s Ops team, and I went to Cumnock to meet Derek King, Head of Community programmes for Cumnock Juniors Community Enterprise(CJCE) and a Community Councillor for that town and a driving force behind so much sporting activity in the area. Derek gave us several hours of his time at CJCE’s Townhead ground, showing us around and explaining at length the huge amount of work that he and others do to help keep the townspeople engaged wit