Andy's Sting In The Tale (21/11/25) "The Big Dilemma Coming Maxie’s Way"
- Andy Smith
- Nov 21
- 9 min read
First let me say “Three Cheers for Council Telly “.
It’s fair to say that righteous mayhem with big smiles and hoarse voices has broken out across the land since Tuesday night’s match was beamed live to the nation by the ‘Beeb’.
2.9 Million viewers was the figure I saw quoted and many like me watched some of the match through their fingers especially immediately after their dodgy penalty award.
It is a Fact
There is nothing like football to unite our nation.
Both the green and blue halves of Glasgow rose in unison to Tierney’s goal.
Football can be a real power for good in these troubled times and that needs ‘Free to View’ tv.
I’m glad I was part of the fan team that made the right kind of fuss that saw this particular Hampden match and others aired free for the nation rather than behind the Scandi doors of the Viacom channel.
You might have forgotten.
‘Free to View’ hadn’t been the original SFA plan and was changed after our collective fan revolt and the lucky coincidence that Amazon Firestick sales had gone through the roof North of the Wall negating the Scandi broadcaster’s business model. (Their numbers didn’t add up so they retreated home).
Particular and special thanks are also due ex MP Gavin Newlands, to Gillian Mackay, MSP, joint leader of the Scottish Greens, and to my forever hero, Rose Reilly.
3 Great Leaders in a time of need.
“All Scotland football matches should be on ‘Free to Air’ tv”.
Easy to say but for this to make commercial sense The SFA needs some cross-party support to help find and fund the right financial formula.
Future games are on the horizon and we’ll have to pay to watch and celebrate or commiserate.
The SFA will need to stipulate a ‘free to View’, requirement to Uefa, who auction the media rights to football in our territory.
And be aware that ‘pay per view’ for international games happens in less than 5% of Uefa households.
It is not normal.
We should not accept it.
The team belongs to the nation.
Tuesday has done and will do wonders for football across Scotland and our politicians should unite and mandate that all home nations games get put on the ‘protected list’ alongside Wimbledon and The Olympics.
And with anything between 25 and 40% of Scottish kids designated as being below the ‘poverty level’ it is an obscenity if national games once again go behind a paywall after next year’s World Cup.
But if you squeeze me for a view as a cynical old businessman I think the SFA will again make the short term commercial decision rather than seeing the big picture.
Understandable for sure but nevertheless wrong.
For Now, Euphoria Abounds North of the Wall
After 28 long years and 6 tournaments sans Scotland, and on the back of what was in all honesty a shock and fortuitous result, it is unsurprising that we’ve gone doolally.
Nothing like what we’ve seen up here happened in Engerland when they quietly qualified.
That’s because they are used to being there and barely broke into a sweat delivering their clean sheets.
Tuesday was in many ways our ‘World Cup Final’ and against a better team we somehow scored three of the best goals I’ve ever seen.
A game that had everything.
So now instead of our expected tricky semi at home to North Macedonia, then away trip to Prague or Dublin we’ll be playing friendlies.
A Perfect Time for Real Change
If we want this to happen more often, that is?
And I don’t mean the usual football ‘tick box’ micro changes like the manager merry go rounds that abound across the game.
Scotland’s performance failures since ’98 have not been because of the managers we’ve had.
Our lack of success is deeper and is about our conveyor belt of talent that hasn’t existed.
If we really want qualification to become a habit we need enough players of the right calibre.
So here’s a plan.
Now’s the time for deep long-term investments into grass roots football to enhance our chances of making qualifying for tournaments a regular thing.
There will never be guarantees in a small nation.
But what is certain is we won’t always have Steve, and we won’t always have the current, fortuitous blend of old and young players at the same time, a group that Steve has moulded into a fighting club side.
We owe it to the future to make the deep changes that will not only fill our club sides with Scots kids like in the old days, but also start to provide future managers with a wealth of choice.
That could and should be the legacy of Steve Clarke’s over-achievement and the best three goals you’ll see anywhere this year, decade or century.
This Week’s Sting
1. Westminster Support for Andy’s Approach
2. You Wait 28 Years and Three Come Along at Once
3. Madness on the Horizon
4. Dinner with Donald
5. Shareholder Revolt in the East End
6. A Good Day for a Clean Out?
1. McWisdom
Last week, I talked about Scotland saving a couple of million per annum by ca-ing canny and watching the newly appointed English Football Regulator from a discrete (and free) distance with a plan to steal/borrow anything worthwhile.
That Scottish Pragmatism struck a chord with a few of you.
Here's a lift from an email response to me from a Scots MP who coined a new word, ‘McWisdom’ as a term for it, and is also a member of our new Scottish Football Union fans group having followed my volunteer team and I across the recent fan divide.
“Sometimes campaign’s momentums overtake the original heart and become establishments rather than improvements. Your plan to watch and copy the English experiment will certainly save our game assembly and I’d predict disassembly costs as well as salaries and overheads.
McWisdom is cheaper and will be better too. I agree with you that real regulation should always come from within but would still argue that football in England needs more of it than we do. One day someone in Scotland will actually add up what the pre and post collapse of Rangers has cost our nation. I don’t think an IR would have changed much there, unlike our more recent, internally driven VAT and Tax requirement regs. We are already ahead of our southern cousins. In the meantime keep shining the light with your weekly Sting in the Tale” and let’s all hope Hamilton somehow pull through and move home.
2. Number 75 Buses to Hampden
We’ve all been there, - you wait for ages and 3 come in a row.
Only this isn’t about buses to Mount Florida.
McTominay’s goal got me off my seat shouting so loud all the neighbourhood cats went into hiding.
The kind of genius that doesn’t happen.
A thing of beauty.
The highest overhead kick ever that made Ronaldo’s token effort look ragged.
A Guinness World Record cert.
Tierney’s left foot curler at a crucial time was sheer perfection, an exquisite finish under pressure with huge significance and could have been the amazing injury time winner it deserved to be.
Indeed, I and millions of others were shouting at the ref for adding unwarranted seconds when our much and wrongly derided stalwart Kenny McLean had the vision and skill to make a 55 plus yards incision that made Schmeichel look stupid.
My ranking of our three quite extraordinary goals with scores out of 100 would be
McTominay 98
McLean 97
Tierney 96.
But I’m just one opinion and you’ll have your own thoughts.
All three turned me into a wee boy again.
3. Scots Fans Very Welcome in the Money, Money, Money Circus
We’re there at Infantino’ s and King Donald’s tournament with the draw on Dec 5th, just two weeks away.
Wherever against whoever our fans will show up and do our nation proud.
Even getting ripped off by Fifa’s dynamic pricing on tickets, and everything else that starts coveting our newly purchased dollars or pesos from the moment we book our flights.
It will be crazy expensive but we’ll be there.
I personally hope we get east coast Canada for the more equitable climate and shorter time gap but heat and humidity will be a reality.
My son lives in Monterrey but it is crazy hot and stupid humid in summer and is to be avoided.
4. Ronaldo’s Dinner with King Donald
Ronaldo, Infantino and the Saudi Leader Mohammed bin Salman dined together at King Donald’s.
Barron Trump, King Donald’s son was introduced to the Portuguese superstar too in the first public visit by the footballer since the 2017 accusation of rape by a US teacher, denied vehemently by Ronaldo.
King Donald presented the footballer with a Golden Key to the White House, the kind of award previously given to deserving folks like Netanyahu.
There is no record of King Donald calling the Madeira born star Piggy, a name he reserves just for people who ask him real questions.
5. Sack the Board Stramash at Kerrydale Street This Morning
It was the Celtic AGM where shareholders, the ones who somehow don’t get dividends, made their feelings clear to the one who does and the board, so much that the meeting was abandoned.
Martin O’Neil later called it a ‘Sad Morning’ and further said, “There is an obvious disconnect at this moment” after fans were described as bullies by a board member.
Dermot Desmond stood up and tried to hold the meeting saying “The board will not be bullied by irrational and unfair criticism.
The board speakers were met with Boos, Red Cards from the floor and chants of ‘Out, Out, Out’, and ‘Sack the board’.
Not from ultras, from shareholders who baled the club out back in the day.
People who care.
Peter Lawwell finally tried to restore order saying, ‘This disruptive behaviour has to stop, we have to respect everyone in the room’.
The fans walked out not believing the board had respected them, and there was no question and answer session as per normal.
As they say in Yorkshire, Trouble at Mill.
6. Dreadful Financials Buried
While uncontrollable mayhem was erupting in the East End their Govan rivals announced record turnover and a whopping loss of £14.8 Million.
The announcement was accompanied by all the usual well-polished reasons but here is a prediction.
The US business people who were behind the recent purchase will not accept losses on the historical scale that have become the norm.
Today’s figures will not surprise anyone and indeed may also include some clean-out but Rangers will be run as part of a business. And profit will be part of the formula, or they’ll be ruthlessly moved on to the next owners.
Sting Is
A weekly football blog from Andy who loves football.
Not because my teams win trophies every year but because football can be a power for good.
I have no editor or owner to please and can follow my nose and be honest.
After Tuesday, I’m maybe the only Scots voice that is saying we need to do more than just enjoy this week’s outcome.
We need to enjoy it for sure, but we also need to start the long term actions and build the structure and habits that will get us into tournaments like this more often.
I think that means root and branch changes at all levels of kids football because Scottish Football needs a conveyor belt of talent that works.
I’m also Chair of The Scottish Football Union a fast growing Fans Group who believe we can work with those in power to effect positive change and changes.
A positive voice for fans.
If you haven’t already,
Please Join Us and have your voice listened to
And as always feel free to write to me about anything in football or beyond.
Andy’s Album of the Week
Supertramp : Breakfast in America
After Tuesday’s outcome it was always going to be this or Bowie’s Young Americans.
This album was the band’s 6th and for me the best, although I really like their first album Crime of the `Century too.
Looking back ‘Breakfast’ had some great songs and from a writing duo who didn’t even speak to each other apart from cursory ‘good mornings’ in the recording studio.
This album was arguably their finest and won Album of the Year in USA in 1980. I know Donald Trump used to play it when he was having his breakfast corn flakes from his wee 24 carat gold ‘Future King’ bowl he was presented at The St Regis.
(OK I made that bit up but I did once have breakfast in the same Manhattan eatery at the very same time as the not very orange, back then, one).
The album delivers ‘Logical Song’, ‘Breakfast in America’, ‘Goodbye Stranger’ and ‘Take the long way home’ all singles and for me stand outs too.
As an aside, and a wee follow on to the true story that was Andy ‘Breakfasting in America’ with Donald Trump, I’ve had many other morning meals there over the years and have particularly fondness for Denny’s’ Shamrock Slams’.`
Not as posh or maybe as cultured as the St Regis in New York, overlooking the Central Park Ice Rink, but much more Andy.
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