We have a saying in Scotland "I support Scotland and who are ever playing England!"  Tartan Army Message Board home to Scotland International football fans www.taboard.com  The Tartan Army I am a proud member. I follow my national team, we need win something! OK how aboot this then; England has a logo of three lions, 3 lions submitting (layin doon) to the crown, Scotland however, has ONE lion and he is RAMPANT. Say no more, job done.

 

Sport in Scotland & Ireland

 

18 July 2010; Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of the Mankies, now most people who know me, know I dinnee like the Mankies (Manchester United), but - I have to applaud Alex just now! "I was offered to manage the England team, of course, it was just out of the question," he said. "It's a poisoned chalice anyway - I think it's a terrible job - plus the fact that I would have had a tremendous handicap being Scottish. No matter which way you look at it, that's important." Well done that Scotsman.

THIS IS HILARIOUS!!!

FIXTURES - 6 NATIONS RUGBY -  www.rbs6nations.com

Monday 30 January 2012 Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match (Scotland v England) has taken a twist with former England coach Sir Clive Woodward criticising everything from the Scottish Rugby Union’s pre-match entertainment to the design of Murrayfield (our stadium). Scotland coach Andy Robinson having refused to withdraw his claim about English “arrogance,” Woodward referred to his fellow Englishman as “McRobinson,” and said that he disliked visiting Murrayfield. Woodward said: “Lancaster (Paul's note; actual coach for this year - how long, who knows?) will find that everything is set up to frustrate the away team. Slap bang in the middle of the away dressing room is a massive square pillar of at least 15 feet in width. It makes it so hard to address the room and really difficult to operate as a team. Woodward also criticised the “hundreds and hundreds” of bagpipers disrupting England’s warm-up. He said: “I would spend ages clarifying exactly when the teams were meant to be emerging, but we always came off second best. I can recall England taking the field, side-stepping the hundreds of pipers at our end, then going to my seat and waiting at least five minutes with no sign of the Scottish team. Eventually, I ran back into the tunnel to find the referee vainly banging on the Scotland door, which they had locked. I demanded that the referee, who was doing his nut, gave us a penalty from halfway to start the game but even he laughed at that. Well, it was worth a try. Eventually, the door opened and the Scottish team walked out quietly, and totally focused.”  The incident is true, but leaves out one detail, according to Andy Nicol, the former Scotland captain who will be working for the BBC during the Six Nations... he said: “I was actually standing in the tunnel for the BBC when he did that and I remember it well. The pitch was full of pipers ( Denny & Dunipace band were there!), and he’s right, there was very little room for England to run into, when he came down into the tunnel to get Scotland out, the ref was faced with six more pipers in their busbies coming out ahead of the Scotland team – the shock on his face was hilarious. Paul; Woodward, - let’s just get on with the slaughter. After the Calcutta Cup of 2004, which then world champions England won handsomely, Woodward criticised the pre-match fireworks, glitter on the pitch, and the 300 pipers. Get a life!

A big part of my existence revolves around sport and in particular, football and rugby. These are the two big sports for me, but saying that, I am also a big fan of shinty. Wee punch up inIreland

The World Stone Skimming Championships 2012 will take place on Sunday 23 September 2012 on Easdale Island, near Oban in Argyll, Scotland.  www.stoneskimming.com  Easdale Island is the smallest permanently inhabited island of the Inner Hebrides. It was once the centre of a thriving Scottish slate mining industry, and one of the disused quarries forms a perfect arena for the World Stone Skimming Championships. The championships are held every year on the last Sunday in September. Anyone of any age and any level of skill can enter. Each competitor is allowed 3 skims using specially selected Easdale slate skimming stones. For a skim to qualify the stone must bounce at least three times - it is then judged on the distance achieved before it sinks.  Want to attend, watch? we can take you there; skimming@mcleanscotland.com

The 2012 Swamp Soccer World Cup will be held in Inverness, the capital city of the Highlands of Scotland, on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June. The venue is in a fantastic location, next to the sea but also very close to Inverness Airport. We believe that our seventh consecutive annual tournament will have the best ever location. Inverness is a fantastic city to visit, and the region is famous for whisky, golf, Loch Ness – www.swampsoccer.co.uk  Want to attend, watch? we can take you there; swampy@mcleanscotland.com

www.kilkennygaa.ie Best yet again in Ireland! The land of the Daley's; Kilkenny have won the best trophy in Ireland GAA again. Should you wish to visit this fantastic Irish place; let me know and I will take you there! 

SHINTY  Scotland V Ireland: 2011  The away leg is in Ireland on 22 October. Home leg is at Bught Park, Inverness on 29 October.  Shinty/Hurling International  - The Bught Park Inverness The annual clash between Scotland and Ireland: Scotland's native game of shinty versus Ireland's native game of hurling. Shinty is among the fastest, most physically demanding and skilful sports in the world, with the ball exceeding 100mph. Scottish emigrants to Canada played shinty on ice in winter, giving rise to the game of ice hockey. www.shinty.com      

SEE SHINTY ON VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3Lvqx-7NuA

CURLING a Scottish sport, we arrange curling tours here in Scotland.

IRISH HURLING  its a mans game! video proof here.   Who'd be a referee? video.

www.worldcurling.org A Scottish sport taken to heart and played by the world! SCOTTISH WOMENS TEAM EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS 2012! well done Eve and the team.

above; Henri the CHEAT

This photo on the left shows a CHEAT    THIERRY HENRY FRENCH FOOTBALLER; "Oui - I apologise for my bad mistake - in the heat of the moment things happened - but I played to the whistle - and now after the fact I feel very bad !  Please forgive me - for now I must live with the stigma of being a cheat for the rest of my life! My country has been an embarrassment to the sporting world - I ask for forgiveness for the whole of France"  He played for France against The Republic of Ireland in a world cup qualifier. HE DELIBERATELY HANDLED THE BALL TO GAIN ADVANTAGE AND A GOAL FOR FRANCE that knocked out Ireland. SHAMEFUL!  CHEAT!!!  what he should do now, is take up ping pong, or tennis, or, that English game cricket. Football doesnee want him. JAN 2012; RETURN OF THE CHEAT, HE HAS COME BACK TO ARSENAL AGAIN, THE CHEAT!

www.worldcupbuzz.com/thierry-henry-handball-sends-france-to-world-cup-video

 

Now most people who know me (Paul), know full well I support Celtic; From around 750 BC to 12 BC, the Celts were the most powerful people in central and northern Europe. There were many groups (tribes) of Celts, speaking a vaguely common language. The word Celt comes from the Greek word, Keltoi, which means barbarians and is properly pronounced as "Kelt".  The Iron Age Celts lived here 750 years before Jesus was born. The Iron Age ended in AD43 (43 years after Jesus was born) when the Romans invaded Britain. So, The Celts (c’mon the hoops) have been here much longer than Rangers, am I right?

world famous Glasgow Celtic football club doing the huddle

Coming from Oban originally, there are no big football team, just shinty, so who do you choose? er, aye well, Catholic and half Irish - who else; Glasgow Celtic.

I also lived a long time (from an early age) in Liverpool, now that famous city has so many things the same as Glasgow - 2 big teams, the river, the docks, a huge Irish population and, a superb sense of humour!  I follow both teams, but what happens when they meet (as they have done several times in European games)? It's Celtic. AND OF COURSE BOTH CLUBS SING "YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE" and both "FIELDS OF ATHENRYE" (although Liverpool sing fields of Anfield Road).

CELTIC; the first British team to win the European Cup (now Champions League).

LIVERPOOL; have won 5 (FIVE) of these trophies, more than any other British club - you hear that man U?

THE BEST GAME I HAVE EVER BEEN TO; 16th March 1977, European Cup Quarter Final Second Leg - Liverpool 3-1 St Etienne   In 1977, Bob Paisley was the Liverpool manager after the resignation of Bill Shankly. The first leg was played at St Etienne (France), who were probably one of the best sides in Europe at that time. They managed a 1-0 victory over us. And so to the second leg at Anfield, where Bob Paisley's men had the odds against them. The noise from the Kop was deafening and the whole ground erupted when Kevin Keegan scored after just two minutes to put us level on aggregate. Then our hopes were shattered when St Etienne smashed a superb shot past Ray Clemence. After an hour's play Ray Kennedy scored to send Anfield into raptures again. The score was 2-2 on aggregate, and Paisley made a momentous decision when he brought on 'super-sub' Davie Fairclough. Just six minutes from time, Fairclough  ran 20 yards, holding off the French defenders.  As the Kop held their breath - he coolly sent the ball into the bottom corner of the net, handing victory to The Reds. The fans roared with joy, and Fairclough ran over to the manager to celebrate, knowing he had just written himself into Liverpool folklore.THE BEST GAME i HAVE EVER BEEN AT, ALL DAY THE CITY WAS A MASS OF COLOUR. In the semi final we got past FI Zurich, winning 6-1 on aggregate, before recording a 3-1 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach in the final, to bring the European Cup to Anfield for the very first time.

Do you no agree.

It's funny that when our Scots laddie, ANDY MURRAY wins, he is British, but when he loses, he's Scottish!

It is all media hype of course, but maybe Cameron also agrees, shame on that name, a good Scots one too.  What do YOU say?