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Maybe it was the realisation that Billy Dodds couldn't even beat Raith Rovers that was the end of him. For what it's worth, Caley Thistle only lost to a late goal away from home to a club who went top of the Championship as a result of their victory. And by all accounts the visitors put on their best performance of the season and squandered numerous chances of their own. But Inverness had this absolutely mental record against Rovers where in twenty-three years and thirty-four competitive matches their only defeats had come in penalty shootouts. However bad it got, Raith Rovers was at least a guaranteed point. But not any more. Of course, if that was the actual reason for Dodds' dismissal on Sunday night then that would raise significant questions about the people running the club. But then choosing to sack him after the Raith defeat - rather than after one of the many worse performances and results in recent months - raises enough questions. As does the fact that he is only three months into a new two year contract that he was given after ICT's Scottish Cup Final defeat to Celtic. Oh, and don't forget how the decision on Dodds' future was left all the way until after that match in early June, which was not exactly a show of confidence in the manager and which can hardly have aided preparations for the new season. Or how, despite the club making somewhere between £1million and £1.5million from the aforementioned cup run, the squad actually seems, on paper and in reality, drastically weaker than it was last season. That's not to suggest that Dodds is some sort of victim here. The cup exploits distracted neatly from a lacklustre league campaign as Caley Thistle finished sixth, their lowest finish in twenty-three years (though had they won their last match they would have come third). Whilst some of the criticism of his tactics by supporters was over-the-top, the slow-tempo, possession-based style was exposed by teams that pressed high up the pitch - after all the Scottish Championship is often short of quality but rarely short of energy - and was ineffective when chasing games against defensive-minded teams. But Dodds' first season in charge ended with a playoff final where, at half-time in the second leg in Perth, Caley Thistle fancied their chances of promotion before a second-half capitulation to St. Johnstone. He was not the next Sir Alex Ferguson, but nor was he the next Richie Foran. Sometimes things just go stale; his tenure of more than two seasons is well above the current average shelflife of an SPFL manager. The biggest concerns stretch back to his appointment in the first place. In March 2021 Dodds was brought in as a coach by Neil McCann, who had taken over temporarily after John Robertson stepped out of the dugout for mental health reasons. When it became clear Robertson was 'moving upstairs' to become sporting director, it was McCann's job if he wanted it...but he didn't want it. A few weeks later Dodds was appointed, to the surprise of nobody even though he had never held such a role at a club before. There was certainly nothing in the public domain to suggest the club had conducted an active search for a replacement or even interviewed outside candidates. This left the feeling that Dodds, who already lived locally, was the cheap and easy option. This turn of events felt very reminiscent of Robertson's appointment as Richie Foran's replacement back in 2017. It also leads to understandable suspicion amongst the support that Robertson - whose relationship with the fans has taken a hit recently with his media work for the BBC (or to give out man of the match awards at Brora Rangers) when his club are away from home - will simply be parachuted back in to his old job. That would be the cheap and easy move again, but then we come to the fear that this is the way the board have to go. The aforementioned cup windfall seems to have been used to save the directors from paying the bills this season; that is not all that unreasonable given the club made a loss of more than £800,000 in 2021-22. There are lots of rumours flying around suggesting that things are even worse than that, though to be fair such tales have done the rounds since relegation from the Premiership in 2017. There is no sign of a wealthy benefactor coming over the horizon any time soon, and when one looks at the list of current shareholders the same old names from two decades ago are still there. Directors come and go but there is no sign that newcomers bring about any meaningful change; the most curious one in recent times is Panos Thomas, a retired orthopaedic surgeon whose only notable role in football previously was as the frontman for an attempted takeover of Watford more than a decade ago by the disgraced businessman Laurence Bassini. However in his nine months at the club there has been no sign of anything so exciting happening in the Highlands...except for claims in the last set of accounts that the club is heavily involved in a hydro pump scheme and a battery farm plan, as well as being in position to be part of Inverness' upcoming freeport. If these ideas already sound pie-in-the-sky, the fact they are being touted by CEO Scot Gardiner - who is not exactly well loved amongst Dundee and Hearts supporters for his spells in a similar role at each of these clubs - does not lend them significant credibility. And in football financial prudence is rarely rewarded. One has to run just to stand still. Amongst their Championship opponents are Dundee United, Dunfermline, Ayr United, Queen's Park and Raith, all of whom have significant backing from their ownership. And if Caley Thistle go any further backward it means relegation. That would surely put their full-time status at risk. If the club goes part-time then, given their location, that would in turn surely mean competing for players in the same sort of pool that the likes of Elgin City fish. There would be no realistic way back to even the Championship under those circumstances. In October 2016, St. Mirren pulled the plug on Alex Rae after a nightmare start to their Championship campaign and replaced him with Jack Ross. They still nearly went down that year, but it was the wakeup call they needed. In 2017-18 they were promoted and they have been Premiership stalwarts ever since, a small club punching above their weight in a way rather reminiscent of Caley Thistle a decade ago. Maybe - hopefully - this will be Caley Thistle's St. Mirren moment. Those in charge of the club need to make sure it is, or football in the city may never be the same again. Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly. View the full article

And now for the promised part 2 of the World Cup Approaching blog. For this part, I am going to review the Toronto Stadium now that I have had a chance to sit in the finished article for the world cup and also pass some good news (for me) on at the end. Thanks to my son's youth team, I was able to secure tickets for us to go along to Canada -Vs- Iceland as I mentioned in part 1. This was my first international game in 30+ years. My last time was at Hampden Park in the early 90s I seem to recall so this was a bit of an adventure. It was also my son (and my wife's) first ever international game. The game itself was a disappointing 2-2 draw in freezing temperatures, with both of Canada's goals coming on Jonathan David penalties in the second half. Prior to that Iceland had led 2-0 at HT courtesy of sloppy and shoddy defending from Canada in the first half that gave away goals that should never have happened, albeit with a largely second or even third string defence on the field. Do that in the World Cup and the result will not be as forgiving. If I am honest, I had to admit, as a regular visitor to BMO Field, my focus was more on the stadium itself as it is officially classed as completed ahead of the world cup with any tweaks to be largely cosmetic or fixing, covering or 'prettifying' certain things. Personal opinion is that I hope they do tart it up a bit as some of it is still a bit underwhelming or even embarrassing. We spent $146m on what appears to be North America's largest stockpile of scaffolding poles and only a small portion of it will be left behind as any legacy of the World Cup. The scaffold poles are apparently all being shipped out to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics once FIFA leaves town. The picture in the header of this article can be clicked for an entire panorama of the stadium, but here are the individual stands with a little commentary about the changes that have taken place and what if anything will be left behind. South Stand The south stand is traditionally the supporters' section at BMO Field and has been there since the stadium was opened in 2007. The portion where the current crowd is located is the normal home for the noisiest and most raucous TFC fans and holds maybe 3500-4000. In the graphic you can see an all-new section above this that will hold about the same as well as what appears to be a hospitality area - likely for some people in the regular seats as it seems to be too far away from the actual pitch to be a viewing box. Despite the BMO Field canopy (not really a roof), the sightlines from all seats have been checked and there is no issue. The entire upper section (grey seats) will be removed and disposed of at the end of the World Cup which is a bit of a shame. The reality however is that Toronto FC do not need 45,000 seats or even 35,000. The current capacity of just under 30,000 will be sufficient for all but the most popular of games (currently Miami and LAFC with Messrs Messi and Son) Main Stand The Main Stand has been left untouched from the Toronto FC layout with any tweaks and upgrades being cosmetic or not associated with the actual capacity. The dugouts have been replaced, some of the main stand hospitality suites have been upgraded or merged and upgrades are pretty much all behind the scenes. You can also see two of the massive 4 screens that are in each corner. They dont look much in the picture, but when you get up close and personal they are pretty huge. These will stay after the World Cup. East Stand The East Stand, opposite the main stand is another with little to no adjustments apparent for the World Cup. This is a normal 2-tier stand and the view from the top level is as shown in the blog header at the top of the page. Again, there are the big screens now in each corner which will remain after the World Cup. North Stand I left the North Stand until last as the entire structure was not there before. It is nestled between the end of the playing field and a building nearby called the 'Food Building' which is used during the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) each year to serve up weird and wacky food combinations. Google the CNE if you want more info - or perhaps that's an idea for a blog entry in August since there is usually one or two matches during the CNE. Another reason there is typically not a stand or anything other than casual standing at the at end during the normal season is that BMO Field is shared with the Toronto Argonauts, a CFL team that uses a longer field so needs more space for the endzones. (CFL is like the NFL but with less downs, lower wages, smaller crowds, and less brand recognition). After the World Cup the bottom seats and the top seats will all be removed, but the structure holding the hospitality boxes, as well as a rooftop patio will remain. Not quite sure how that will look, but I guess we will see in August/September. The angle of the upper tier seats appears to be very steep and again its like a huge Meccano set at the back of it. I really hope the scaffolding is covered up with some form of FIFA supported branding during the tournament. Scaffold Poles Apparently, it has passed all structural design and safety checks, but the sheer quantity of scaffolding poles joined in every conceivable direction just has to be seen to be believed. What also blows my mind - working for an engineering company - is that each and every one of these poles would have been mapped out in a 3D modelling program and subjected not only to design review but also risk analysis and various simulations. It is not just a haphazard joining of scaffold poles to one another. The time it would have taken to do this has to be acknowledged as impressive (and likely tedious for the engineers). A couple of pictures here, taken outside the South Stand really do fail to do it justice. Again, I hope they cover this up with something for the games to at least prettify it! Ticket Woes With the Italians failing to qualify for the world cup in the playoffs, Canada will now face Bosnia & Herzegovina at the stadium on June 12th. There was apparently a surge in the number of resale tickets offered up on Ticketmaster and StubHub after the Italians didn't progress. However, with an estimated 162 different nations represented in Toronto, and with the city being acknowledged as one of the most diverse on the planet, there is also a somewhat healthy Bosnian diaspora as well. According to the last census in 2021, there were around 36,000 people who listed Bosnia & Herzegovina as their country of origin, with roughly 1/3 of these living in the Greater Toronto Area. The games are still expected to sell-out and tickets for the game on June 12th first priced at around $500 are still on the market for about $5000, with the most expensive pitch side seat apparently listed at over $100,000 !!! Most normal fans simply cannot afford it. And now for the good news! After exhausting all avenues to get a ticket from official sources, and giving up hope of hearing anything from FIFA about the volunteer position I applied for last year, which was supposed to be notified by February, an email dropped quietly into my email inbox a couple of weeks ago ... its official, I am now a Host City Ambassador. I have a vague idea of what that is, but FIFA preparation is very thorough and training for the position starts tonight! I hope to bring some insight into the journey in future blog postings and am starting to make my way through a 50+ page manual that details all the do's and don'ts, which so far do seem pretty normal and sensible. Wont post any more about it until I have read it completely as one of the first things I noted as part of this, is that FIFA asks you to make it clear your social media posts reflect your personal opinion, not that of FIFA or the Competition. all pretty standard disclaimer type wording. So be aware, everything I post (and everything I have ever posted to be honest) is my own opinion, and may not reflect the opinions or policies of the organisers, sponsors or anyone else associated with FIFA. Ok, so with all that being said, its time to wrap up this post and prepare for the training. You do get FIFA branded uniforms/gear as part of this, which will be a pretty nice souvenir to go in my football cabinet. Over the cold and snowy winter, I have (finally) been able to set things up in my home office with all the various Caley Thistle and TFC memorabilia I have amassed over the years instead of it sitting around in plastic storage containers in the basement. Will have to create some space for the World Cup memorabilia that I will either purchase myself or be given as part of my role in this World Cup. Really pleased to have been selected. Onwards and Upwards.

Doesn't seem like several months since my last post in this blog, but apparently it is! That means its longer since I last posted than it is until the first game at the Toronto Stadium in the World Cup. 77 days from now, on June 12th Canada will open the Canadian portion of the FIFA World Cup when they take on that famous team of "TBD". (that's apparently what it says on the electronic ticket - for those lucky enough to secure one). Yesterday morning, the identity of 'TBD' was between Northern Ireland, Italy, Wales and Bosnia & Herzegovina but after some horrible results for the home nations the final qualifying match next Tuesday in this group will see Bosnia & Herzegovina take on the Italians for a spot in the World Cup. The game will take place in Zenica rather than in the capital of Sarajevo. The Italians did something similar last night and dispatched Northern Ireland in Bergamo, home of Atalanta, rather than playing in vast stadiums in Rome, Milan or Naples. There is a huge Italian diaspora in Toronto and the surrounding area (known as the GTA [Greater Toronto Area]) who are holding their breath hoping that the Azzurri can make it to the finals after failing to qualify for the last two World Cups and in danger of becoming the first previous winner to fail to qualify for the competition three times in a row. If they do qualify, that could see face value tickets that averaged around $1200 for the Canada game surge to 3 or 4 times that cost. The Ontario government is however trying to expedite a new law for the province that would make selling tickets for any event above face value illegal - they hope to have it in place before the World Cup. This past week, the Toronto Stadium as it will be called for the World Cup (or BMO Field to those of us who have Toronto FC tickets) was finally completed with only minor tweaks to happen so apparently, we are ready to host that first game and 5 more after that. The video of the mayor unveiling a plaque circulated online this week and showed a good view of the seats. It looks absolutely "fugly" from the outside, like a Meccano set of scaffold poles. The sheer quantity of poles looks incredible but we are told it is safe and it is similar to temporary expansions put in place before for the Grey Cup and the MLS Cup finals in 2016/2017. Much of it will be torn down after the world cup but the new screens and the new hospitality suites will remain. I will get my chance to see it in person tomorrow, as Canada take on Iceland in one of their last friendlies before the World Cup proper. I will be in a different seat to my normal Toronto FC tickets so that too will be an experience. Hopefully lots of photos and maybe a video or two to come after that if my fingers are warm enough to take some footage! It’s -8 here today and forecast to be 0c tomorrow at 1pm when the game kicks off. This will be my first Canada game and also my first international in probably 30 years Would need to do some research but I know it was at Hampden last time I saw Scotland play The new stands will not be operational tomorrow unfortunately. The first outing - I think - for the new stands is in May when Toronto face Inter Miami FC in TFC's last MLS game before the world cup. That will be the final home game of a set of 9 consecutive home games! More to follow in part 2 - and some interesting news.

Ok, so September 30th came and went without an email from FIFA, unless you count the numerous emails offering a guaranteed ticket if I spend hundreds of dollars on some card pack or other. It was a longshot of course, but I was definitely hoping to be one of the lucky ones in the estimated 4.5m people who registered for the VISA presale for tickets for World Cup 2026. Alas it was not meant to be, probably also in part due to the fact that I restricted myself to only the games taking place in Toronto, which only has 6 games overall, or just 270,000 tickets. Many of these will be part of hospitality packages starting at $2500 per ticket, or allocations yet to be released or held for teams and officials. A cat in hell definitely had a better chance than me! But we stay positive and wait for the next round of ticketing in phase 2. Why only Toronto you ask? Well quite apart from the geography involved that means I can get to Glasgow quicker (and cheaper) than I can take a domestic flight to Vancouver, Canadians for the most part are avoiding travel to our nearest Southern neighbours. Recent reports are showing a 20-30% downturn in cross border travel since the administration there announced a desire to make Canada the 51st state and imposed huge trade tariffs on exports from Canada. End result is that popular destinations like Las Vegas, Florida, Texas, and northern border cities like Buffalo, Detroit and Seattle are all reporting economic impacts from lower-than-normal visitor numbers. With the Iranian delegation also being denied entry visas to even watch the World Cup draw in December now that they have qualified, and other immigration policies coming into force, including a new pricey "visa integrity fee" for anyone not in the Visa Waiver program this tournament is shaping up to have a lot of geo-political under-currents that might affect attendance. I am going to make a prediction that FIFA will somehow make sure that Iran is drawn to play in either Mexico or in Canada and hope they don't qualify for the last 32. Group L seems a good bet, with two group stage matches in Toronto although the other is in the USA. Overall, this turmoil could make demand for tickets in Mexico and Canada a lot higher and chances of getting a ticket a lot lower. The UK is part of the visa waiver program so no visa issues there (for now) but anyone planning the World Cup would do well to start checking the visa situation now as these things are notoriously slow ... I read online this week that the current visa situation for those requiring them (mostly Asia, Africa and South America) is something like 186 days so it's cutting it quite fine! On the plus side, the cheapest prices in Toronto did seem to start at an affordable USD$60 cost when I looked. Admittedly this was tucked high in the stands in the corner, but still in the stadium nonetheless ... We will see how dynamic pricing affects this. The secondary market (stubhub and others) already has that huge matchup between TBD and TBD on Jun 17th selling for anywhere from US$750 to $1000 per ticket but once more tickets hit the market, and the teams are known that could rise or fall ... In my last blog I mentioned that Toronto would get an infrastructure dry run on a big crowd attending BMO Field (sorry Toronto Stadium) when the Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami entourage came to town. I was ready to head down and watch the game with my son until I got the proverbial "offer I could not refuse". Despite me constantly telling him it should be Ross Tokely, my son has CR7 as his "GOAT" so was not overly bothered about seeing Messi again. He saw the game in-person last year and that was good enough for him, so I put my tickets up for sale on Ticketmaster for a hefty price with us agreeing to go if they did not sell and to stay home if they did. The price was higher than I expected to get as I was secretly hoping they would not sell. Surprisingly, someone wanted my tickets so desperately that they paid the asking price, so we sat down to watch it on TV on Saturday afternoon. Although Messi, Suarez, Busquets, De Paul, and Alba all started, the game itself was a bit of a snoozefest. Messi played well but was no match for man-of-the-match Sean Johnson, the Toronto FC goalkeeper who thwarted him at every turn. As with last year, half the stadium was sporting crisp new Argentina or Miami shirts and there were several pitch incursions, so it was indeed a bit of a circus. At least last year we got to see Messi's bodyguard prowl the sidelines like a panther stalking anyone who dared to try and reach him, but he got told by the league towards the end of last season last year that he was no longer permitted to do that on a match day so that element of fun was removed. By the end of the game, Lionel Messi's appearance in the 1-1 draw pretty much paid about 50% of my 2026 season ticket cost. A pretty good day all around. Sergio Busquets announced before the game that he would retire at the end of the season and now Jordi Alba has said the same thing. It would not surprise me if Luis Suarez was next as the man looks in agony every time he runs. Have to be honest in saying that they were all good to watch in their time in MLS. They may not have been in their prime, but skill does not fade, only pace and fitness (and Suarez's knees). Unfortunately, this dry run may be closer to how the world Cup will go for me too ... 20 miles north of BMO Field, but so near yet so far if the next round of ticketing is not kind. Keeping fingers crossed and keeping my eyes open for other avenues

Oh well, as one door closes another opens as they say ... not sure who actually said that but that's what we all say that someone said isn't it. In my case, the door that closed was yet another advanced World Cup ticket window which ran until October 31st and should have seen those lucky enough to get selected receive a purchase time and date by November 7th. Having said that, this comes with a huge caveat in that there is actually no guarantee that even with a purchase time and date you will get a ticket! The only guarantee is that you will be able to login and see what - if any - tickets are available for the venue you want, and if there are tickets you would be able to purchase up to 4 tickets for your chosen game if available. Lots of ifs, buts, and maybes in here. Its all irrelevant though as my email didn't arrive, so now, a week after the deadline, I am pretty certain I will not be able to login and see if there are any tickets for that exciting match up between TBD and TBD at BMO Field The Toronto Stadium, If it follows the last timeline, I will likely get confirmation of this in about a weeks' time, nearly two weeks after the purchase window has closed. After this window then it's about to get opened up to the public in general and getting a ticket is going to be nigh on impossible although I do have some hope through 'Canada Reds' the organisation for supporters of the Canadian National Team and I still hold out hope that somehow and some way, Toronto FC will also offer some form of ticketing given that they claimed part of the reason for a 25% hike in season ticket prices for next year were because of the $162m cost of upgrades to the stadium for the world cup that they have agreed to partially fund. The rest of the cost will come from the city and I will be on the hook for my share of that through municipal taxes as well .... And now to the door that opened ... I applied way back before even the first ticket window opened to see if I could be a volunteer at the World Cup in Toronto. I heard nothing for a while, but last week just as I realised I was not going to be selected for the next ticketing phase, an email dropped into my inbox saying I had been successful in passing the first test to be a volunteer! You fill in a sizeable application survey that asks you a lot of questions and also gives some scenarios and asks how you would handle specific situations and also state which positions you are interested in. It was clearly designed to screen out those who might not be suitable for one reason or another. I guess my application was empathetic and sensible enough as I have made it past that first hurdle. No idea just how many hurdles there are to overcome, or how many applicants there are (10s or even 100s of thousands I am sure) but my 'Volunteer Team Tryout' is scheduled for tonight. You get a 90-minute tryout window and there are literally hundreds of windows open to choose from in the next few weeks. No idea what they will ask or what they will need us to do, but I've got my ICTFC top and hoodie with me, and my Toronto FC baseball hat and jacket. Hopefully these bring me good luck on my quest for some involvement in the World Cup atmosphere as a volunteer. If not, we keep trying for the tickets until the games themselves are over. I still worry about the infrastructure in Toronto being able to cope ... I mentioned in my last entry that I didn't go to the TFC -V- Miami match as someone made me an offer too good to refuse on my tickets. That offer helped soften the blow of the 25% price hike of the season tickets, but I was determined to make it down to the last game of the season against the other team from Florida (Orlando) on October 18th. My journey down to the stadium was pretty mundane, dropped off at the nearest subway station by my wife, then a 60-minute journey across two subway lines to the main rail station and a 20-minute journey to the stadium on the streetcar. These are absolutely going to be choke points when there are 45,000 people in the stadium. getting from subway to streetcar has a really narrow corridor which looks busy with 100 people in it, let alone several thousand and streetcars themselves, even the double-car articulated ones don't hold as many people as a normal train or a subway car. Toronto won the game comfortably with a final score of 4-2. Canadian international and TFC team captain Jonathon Osorio opened the scoring and goals followed from Djordje Mihailovic (2) and Deandre Kerr, neither of whom are going to be on the radar of anyone reading this blog as far as I know. Mihailovic is of Serbian and Macedonian descent but born in USA and played for the national team 11 times, scoring 3 goals. He is the man TFC turned to when they terminated the contracts of high priced Italian designated players Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne during the season. Still finding his feet in Toronto, he is more workmanlike than the Italians but looks like he will work hard and add some grit to the midfield instead of flash. I do have to say I did like Bernardeschi at TFC. He worked really hard, but with a nearly $7m per year salary, the return was just not enough for the execs of the club. Deandre Kerr is a local lad and at 22 is probably getting to the stage where he needs what they call over here a 'breakout season'. He has popped up with some well needed goals from time to time but needs to do it more regularly if he wants to claim a regular starting spot. If not, then he may just fade. Anyway, back to the infrastructure ... Getting home after the game was a far more challenging affair! Toronto's subway system is definitely what you might call rudimentary. Although there are technically 4 lines, really that is just two main lines supplemented with a couple of shorter ones, one of which is permanently closed before its replacement is in place. You then have streetcar or bus routes above ground in the downtown core. The main system itself looks like a big (crooked) letter U with a line through it. (There is also a commuter train system for cities outside Toronto but that's a different beast). On the map here, to get home, I have to retrace my steps and travel to the bottom of the U from the red streetcar line that's hanging below it like a tail pointing to the left, then all the way up the yellow line until it turns into the purple one, across the purple one to the end, then either a bus or my car north from there for about 10-15 mins. All told, about 90 minutes or so. On this particular day, I made it part way up the yellow line without incident, to one station below the green line, then the whole system was shut down. After sitting on the train, underground, for about 20 minutes, they said get off the train, its out of service and heading back south. Everything north of us was shut down due to an incident at a station 7 stations north of us. This is a common occurrence on the Toronto Transit Commission system (TTC) given the U shape design, trains cannot loop back or bypass stations where an incident happens so the controllers have to reposition them as best they can when problems happen. I ended up having to walk from one station, north to the station where it intersects with the green line, then take it east 4 stops to another station where a bus would take me up to the end of the purple line. It is an alternative, but not a good one. In the end it took nearly 3 hours to get home instead of 1.5 and if it happens during the World Cup with a lot more people in the downtown core, its going to be a logistical nightmare and you know that Uber and Lyft will have surge pricing in force for the whole competition and Toronto taxi prices are already insane. I don't feel full of confidence that the TTC or the Toronto City Council have a proper transit plan in place for the world cup and local news articles about what may be planned (fast track lanes on the streets) make me think that getting around the already congested city in Summer 2026 is going to be almost impossible. Travellers, who do persevere and get a ticket will also have to put that perseverance to the test when travelling around Toronto.

For my annual League One reviews, I've tended to assume that full-time sides (the ones that are not financial basket-cases) are likely to beat out part-time ones over the course of a whole season. Of course Arbroath put that particular theory to shame last season, but I'm not going to let a small thing like that stop me. Of this season's four full-time League One teams, INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE are the bookies' favourites but start with a five point deduction courtesy of last season's administration adventure. Five points isn't a huge amount, but it's the equivalent of nearly two wins and may make this tougher than many think. Caley Thistle have also lost loanee striker Alfie Bavidge plus excellent keeper Musa Dibaga and midfielder Charlie Gilmour, though they've replaced the latter two adequately with Ross Munro and Joe Chalmers respectively. They also did well to retain Paul Allan and get Alfie Stewart back on loan. They unquestionably have the best midfield in the division and wingers Luis Longstaff and Liam Sole could have big years; however at the moment their starting attackers are Billy McKay (36) and David Wotherspoon (35). A new striker (or a Bavidge return) is required if they really are going to be the team to beat. QUEEN OF THE SOUTH finished last season strongly and so boss Peter Murphy has largely chosen to run it back, signing three loan players permanently. Jordan Allan and new striker Kurtis Guthrie (who played for Livingston in the top flight a few years back) should be a threatening pair and mitigate the exit of Adam Brooks. They've also used the loan market well to get St. Mirren defender Callum Penman and exciting Killie midfielder Cole Burke, while Kai Kennedy is hugely talented if he can stay fit. This looks like the best squad the Doonhamers have had in the last few seasons and could take them far. In contrast, COVE RANGERS went down a rebuild route; Paul Hartley has lost a number of players, including goalie Nick Suman and club legend Connor Scully, and is operating a very streamlined squad at the time of writing. There is plenty of quality in striker Mitch Megginson and midfielders Fraser Fyvie and Declan Glass but new keeper Robbie Mutch will be a downgrade from the terrific Suman (who joined Aberdeen) and the lack of depth - and, surprisingly, the lack of loan signings so far - will be a concern unless Hartley is very busy in the market in the next month. And then we come to the aforementioned basket-case. HAMILTON ACADEMICAL were relegated after a points deduction and now, having had to move to Cumbernauld for the season, they have been hit with a transfer embargo until next summer as well. Whilst they held on to a pretty solid core - including forwards Oli Shaw and Scott Robinson and midfielders Barry Maguire and Steven Bradley - they seem to only have around 13 senior players; just to add to the chaos, at least two veterans who had been kept on to join the coaching staff apparently can't be re-registered as players due to the embargo. They feel like the obvious answer to the question "Which Scottish club is most likely to end up in administration this season?". Which of the part-time clubs could emulate Arbroath's success? I'm not sure any jump out for me. PETERHEAD could well carry momentum from their League Two title triumph; guys like Craig McGuffie, Peter Pawlett and Cammy Smith have been round the block and Oliver Colloty really impressed up front after joining mid-season. Jack Newman should be a good signing in goal, though I'm not sure veteran forward Niall McGinn has much left to offer. It'll be strange seeing them without Rory McAllister up front though. The other promoted side, EAST FIFE, have only made one new signing at the time of writing - Lewis Latona on loan from Livingston - and it'll be a huge ask for 39 year old forward Alan Trouten to repeat last season's ridiculous goal tally. He and Nathan Austin should give them enough firepower but neither the defence nor midfield look of League One standard (as it stands, their only goalkeeper is youth product Matty Rollo, who made his debut in the League Cup groups). They need reinforcements if they are to show they belong here. STENHOUSEMUIR did remarkably well to make the promotion playoffs last season but admitted afterward that their finances had sailed rather too close to the wind for comfort. The exit of Blair Alston is probably a sign they are cutting their cloth. Striker Matty Yates has also gone (though his expected move to Accies fell through and he's still a free agent) and most of their signings are short-term ones to deal with an injury crisis. Finlay Gray looks like a great addition from Dumbarton and boosts a midfield area that is probably still a strength, and Gregor Buchanan and Ross Meechan provide experience at the back. However they look very unlikely to challenge for top four again. ALLOA ATHLETIC just missed out on that fourth spot and there was perhaps a feeling that Andy Graham's side underachieved a little last season. With the exception of loan keeper Liam McFarlane most of their newcomers feel like depth pieces though medical student midfielder Andy Clarke looks worth taking a punt on. They'll need McFarlane to prove an adequate replacement for PJ Morrison between the sticks, but otherwise the backbone of last season's team is still here and still looks strong. I don't think League Cup form holds much weight but the Wasps were very, very good in the group stage. Last season was quite a turbulent one for KELTY HEARTS, who lost manager Michael Tidser to Dunfermline and then endured a nightmare period under Charlie Mulgrew. Tam O'Ware took the reins after Mulgrew's exit and kept them out of a relegation playoff; he was rewarded with the gig permanently and has only retained nine players. If he can gel the newbies quickly, he could be rewarded; midfielders Innes Murray and Alex Ferguson look like particularly smart acquisitions. But top scorer Ross Cunningham is away and they're looking to former Stirling forward James Graham for goals. And finally MONTROSE are heading for their eighth consecutive season at this level, which is some job. It does seem to be getting gradually tougher for Stewart Petrie's side though. Keeping Kieran Freeman and Craig Wighton permanently after loan spells will help, and Ewan Loudon scored a lot of goals in the Highland League last season. And the defence, marshalled by 42 year old Sean Dillon, isn't short of experience. But they're another team who could do with bringing in a few loans if they are to avoid a relegation scrap. So here's my (inevitably wrong) predicted table: 1. QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 2. INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE 3. COVE RANGERS 4. PETERHEAD 5. ALLOA ATHLETIC 6. KELTY HEARTS 7. STENHOUSEMUIR 8. MONTROSE 9. EAST FIFE 10. HAMILTON ACADEMICAL Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly. View the full article

God, I hate the Scottish Championship. My club have been stuck in this particular circle of hell since 2017 and I'm desperate for us to get out of it. And the more time that passes the more likely it is that my wish will be granted...but with a move downward rather than up. After all there's always someone worse off than you...and it's Falkirk. The usual script for this league is as follows; one club has a decent financial advantage over all the others, and that club gets promoted. The last couple of seasons, said club has completely failed to run away with the league, eventually grinding out just about enough results to take the title on the last day or the week before that. But still, they've managed promotion and that's all that matters. So...Dundee United, Hearts, Kilmarnock, Dundee...DUNDEE UNITED? Let's put it bluntly; anything other than a canter back to the Premiership will be an underachievement. Louis Moult and Tony Watt up front. Craig Sibbald and Glenn Middleton (though Goodwin seems unable to get a tune from him) in midfield. Three signings who were amongst the best players in this division last season in Kevin Holt, Liam Grimshaw and Ross Docherty. Declan Gallagher leading the defence. And crucially, anyone but Mark Birighitti in goal. In truth I expect United to grind it out rather than destroy everyone (possibly with a midseason managerial change like when Killie binned Tommy Wright), but they'll definitely go up. Definitely. Won't they? As for who else could challenge, I think you could make an argument for many - if not all - the other clubs in the division. I'm going to stick my neck out though and tip DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC to follow the example of Queen's Park last year and be a newly promoted side challenging at the top. James McPake - to my surprise after his lousy spell as Dundee manager - has put together a really good side that walked League One last year. So far he has focused on keeping them together, and so they should be very well drilled from the off. The defence should be plenty good enough now that Sam Fisher has been brought back, and I love Chris Hamilton at the base of midfield. A year in the third tier has rejuvenated Craig Wighton - who seemed doomed to be yet another case of unfulfilled potential in Scottish football - and it'll be interesting to see how dangerous he is. I also expect the Pars to be active in the loan market in the next few weeks for further reinforcements that will cement them as a top half side. There could also be a challenge from the other side of Fife. RAITH ROVERS did a heck of a lot of business early, which has the advantage of getting your new signings lots of time to get up to speed but does mean not having any space left for players that become available late in the window. I do particularly like new keeper Kevin Dabrowski, who certainly won't be a downgrade on the departed Jamie MacDonald. Striker Jack Hamilton has done it at this level before. Josh Mullin still has plenty in the tank (though a 3 year deal for a 31 year old winger seems optimistic) and Euan Murray and Keith Watson will strengthen the defence. As it stands, they certainly have a stronger squad than most. The million dollar (or the £200,000) question for AYR UNITED is how they will fare without talismanic striker Dipo Akinyemi after he signed for York City. United will hope veteran wide players Aiden McGeady and Jamie Murphy will provide whoever plays up front with lots of ammunition but Lee Bullen needs either new signing Akeem Rose or youngster Fraser Bryden to step up and score regularly...or to use the Akinyemi cash on another striker. Otherwise Bullen has again made some intriguing signings from the English non-leagues - Olly Pendlebury captained England at under 16 level and is still only 21 - and they will hope they can kick on from last season's third place. As for the rest - well, your guess is as good as mine. QUEEN'S PARK seem a good place to start as they came second last year, but it's all change at Lesser Hampden with Owen Coyle having left and being replaced by Dutchman Robin Veldman. I do like the Spiders' focus on bringing in young players let go from the likes of Southampton (defender Will Tizzard, midfielder Jack Turner) and Brighton (midfielder Jack Spong). At the time of writing though they are still short at right-back and are up front are heavily dependent on Ruari Paton making the step up from lighting up League One with Queen of the South. Again, I'd expect plenty more new faces to come here. A sensational cup run shouldn't distract from the fact that INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE had their lowest league finish in more than twenty years and they come into this season having lost their best defender, Robbie Deas, and their best midfielder, Scott Allardice, along with their two loanee wingers Jay Henderson and Daniel Mackay. That cup cash is either being saved for a splurge at the end of the window or is being saved to pay bills - either way, signings like Luis Longstaff and Jake Davidson feel like little more than cheap depth. Charlie Gilmour might be a good addition to midfield, mind. The biggest worry is the hole left by Deas that does not look in any way to be adequately filled yet. GREENOCK MORTON somehow got by last season with the smallest squad in the history of the world (in terms of numbers, not height!) and seem determined to do the same again; I presume it's a budget thing? They will be busy in the next few weeks if only because they need another four bodies just to have a full bench (and only have one keeper). Dougie Imrie is as good a coach as anyone in this league and that is crucial given their financial constraints. Continuing to get performances and goals out of forwards Robbie Muirhead and George Oakley is crucial, while Jack Baird and Robbie Crawford are two of the best players in their positions in the Championship. The big concern at the moment is at right-back, in that they don't actually have one. AIRDRIE are as intriguing as anyone in this league, given their unusual model where the manager, the assistant manager and one of the coaches are also players. It didn't exactly do them any harm last season, where they were League One's great entertainers, either doing the scudding or being scudded most weeks. Adding Nikolay Todorov and Josh O'Connor to a forward line of Calum Gallagher and Gabby McGill means they should still score plenty of goals, and sticking with the same defence as last season means they should still concede plenty too. So whatever happens, it should be fun. There may be less of that at PARTICK THISTLE, who came within seconds of an extraordinary promotion via the playoffs and then shortly after admitted huge costcutting was required at a club where wages might not have been paid but for a cup tie against Rangers. They've lost four of their best players - Kevin Holt, Ross Docherty, Kyle Turner and Scott Tiffoney - and even if the immortal Brian Graham continues to s**thouse his way to 15 goals every season it's tough to see them repeating last season's success. It'll be interesting to see how Kris Doolan fills those gaping holes in his lineup; if he can recruit in the summer as well as he coached and motivated in the spring they'll be okay. And the fact I have left ARBROATH to last is surely a clue as to how I think their season is going to pan out. The group that nearly got them promoted in 2021/22 is ageing and dissipating, and finding good part-time replacements is hard going. Last season's recruitment wasn't great and it's not clear that Dick Campbell has done any better this summer. He really needs to do well in the loan market again if this isn't to be the end of the Red Lichties' glorious run at this level. Of course, it would be typical Campbell and typical Arbroath if they didn't make the naysayers eat their words. So the inevitably wrong predicted table looks like this: 1 DUNDEE UNITED 2 DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC 3 RAITH ROVERS 4 AYR UNITED 5 QUEEN'S PARK 6 GREENOCK MORTON 7 INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE 8 PARTICK THISTLE 9 AIRDRIE 10 ARBROATH And the Twitter view: View the full article

So here we go (here we go, here we go) ... The competition starts in 6 days time and Scotland are firmly ensconced the USA preparing for their World Cup return in 8 days, albeit without Billy Gilmour, which is a big loss to the side, but we are nonetheless at our first World Cup since France '98 and the Tartan Army will be there in force, tickets or not. I remember France 98, we got beaten by both Brazil and Morocco enroute to a bottom of the group finish. Let's hope history does not repeat itself. We have been drawn against Brazil in 1974 (0-0), 1982 (1-4), 1990 (0-1), and 1998 (1-2) so 1 draw, 3 defeats across 4 games in a total of 7 world cups we've been to since 1974. I'd take a repeat of the 1974 result against them if you offered it right now! If we can avoid slip-ups then the current squad surely has a chance to make a name for itself as the first Scotland team to get out of the group stage, something that is statistically easier this time around with 48 teams instead of 32, but we all know Scotland don't do things the easy way ... its like watching ICT (or Toronto FC). Another possibility is for there to be a new Scottish top scorer at the tournament, not the golden boot for the tournament itself (although that would be really nice) but just the top Scot. Joe Jordan has the most goals for Scotland at the World Cup, with 4 in total having scored 2 in '74 and 1 each in '78 and '82. Three other players have two World Cup goals total, Archie Gemmill got two in 1978, both in the same game, and I think we all remember only one of them ❤️. John Wark was our top scorer in 1982 with two in the game against New Zealand and Kenny Dalglish has two as well, but spread across two tournaments with one each in 78 and 82. If McTominay, McGinn or Shankland can bag two goals in total then they would join the three players who have scored more than once at a World Cup, and if by chance anyone got three or more, they would be our all-time top scorer in a single World Cup tournament ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves, I think we would all take an 89th minute sclaff in the box deflecting of Grant Hanley's right erse cheek if it got us three points. ESPN had a decent article this week about the World Cup predictions and for Group C it predicted - as many have - Scotland to finish third but noted a 67% chance of advancing. The simulation, performed 1000s of times has this averaging out as a low scoring group and shows Scotland ending up with 4 points and a 1-1-1 record. According to the Supercomputer we are going to beat Haiti 2-1, draw 0-0 with Morocco and lose 1-0 to Brazil before crashing out 1-0 to Mexico in the round of 32. I guess that sounds plausible and also puts the kybosh on us hoping for a new top scorer for Scotland at a world cup. (source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/48962628/world-cup-predictions-picking-winner-every-game-entire-tournament) On a personal level I thought long and hard before deciding not to cross the border into USA and go to Boston. There were just too many factors conspiring against me personally, professionally and it has to be said, financially, with tickets, travel and accommodation costs putting it well out of reach of most 'normal' people this time around. The cherry on top of it is that my son's football team will be playing in a tournament close to Niagara Falls next weekend on the very day that Scotland kick off against Haiti. So instead, we have a group of around 40 parents who are all going to the pub to eat loads of fried food, drink loads of beer, and hopefully be converted into Tartan Army members, although I don't think this will work on the Haitian family who are part of our group nor those with Spanish or French connections. Should make for some interesting banter however ... and yes, full Tartan Army uniform will be in force. The kilt is being dusted down, the Scotland top is already in hand, and I have my (really comfortable) Adidas World Cup trainers, courtesy of FIFA. Anyone following the blog will have seen I was unsuccessful in getting tickets for any of the games in Toronto, and although prices are now coming down slowly, they are still pretty high and may eventually sell out before reaching my comfort zone. I will keep my eye out just in case things improve. However, what started as 'Plan B' to try and get a role inside the stadium on matchdays by volunteering my services, has instead seen me get a role that is called "Host City Management" and I will be based at the Volunteer Centre that is located in the heart of the Fan Fest area near the stadium. The title sounds high falutin' but it's basically checking in other volunteers and telling them where they need to be and being kept in reserve in case, we are needed elsewhere. The description of this new role, notes that we need to be flexible, adaptable, and capable of performing many different roles, so I'll take that as a compliment. The training we are receiving is comprehensive and things, while perhaps looking chaotic on the surface, which is not unexpected given the sheer quantity of applications received, is actually very well organised, and smooth. I went to pick up my accreditation and uniform the other week and was in and out of the place I had to go in about 20 minutes with all my gear. During training it was confirmed to us that there were more than 250,000 applications for volunteer positions in Toronto alone, of which a total of about 3200 volunteers were selected in total, and in the role I have been given, only a total of around 60 people. The same is true of other roles where it was whittled down from that initial 250K to just a few. As the tournament draws closer, I am actually looking forward to this quite a lot and after signing up for the required 8 shifts the other week, I actually went into the volunteer portal and added 4 more today although none when Scotland are due to play! Wherever I end up on any given day, the atmosphere is going to be electric around Toronto and it's time to breathe it all in. If I ever experience this again, it's unlikely I will be able to go home to my own bed at the end of the evening and that's kind of a surreal feeling. And so to a little final comment about the "Toronto Stadium". I am going to say it now. I think the smallest stadium in the tournament might actually be very popular with fans and players alike. The temporary stands are not exactly attractive from the outside, but on the inside of the stadium it does not look too bad, the fans are really close to the field (like 10-15 feet at the front row) and there is no running track or other barrier distancing the field from the players. They WILL hear you if you are close enough to the action. I know that much from TFC games. They tried a dry run at the recent TFC -V- Inter Miami game and because Messi and co. were in town, they managed to pretty much sell out the stadium. They also implemented World Cup travel schedules on public transit and put the proposed entry procedures into effect to test it, and it has to be said, it all seemed to go pretty smoothly considering there were twice as many people as normal in the stadium. The atmosphere was pretty good with 45K in the stands, although with World Cup crowds I think it will be more raucous and louder than the Messi-hunters. Despite the result, a 4-2 defeat with Messi and Luis Suarez both on the scoresheet, the experience felt good. I looked around and wished the Tartan Army would have been drawn here. I think any team as loud and as passionate as the TA will make this stadium rock. No Scotland No Party !

Well my last AI generated blog header aged well didn't it! Shows what can happen when you make assumptions. The World Cup playoffs yesterday certainly brought some surprises not least of which was Bosnia & Herzegovina deservedly beating out the Azzurri to reach the finals of the World Cup. I watched the match yesterday and have to say that this was a deserved victory for Bosnia & Herzegovina. They fought hard for every ball, looked like scoring on multiple occasions and deservedly equalised when they did. Was very impressed with them and they will now be in Canada's group for the World Cup alongside Qatar and Switzerland. They will be Canada's opening game opponent here in Toronto on June 12th and at the risk of looking foolish by making another assumption, I suspect there will be a lot of tickets made available in the coming days on the resale market. There is a huge Italian diaspora in Toronto and around Toronto and Ontario and many of them are now likely to try and offload the tickets they paid so dearly for. Still not going to be cheap but if the Italians had qualified then the existing tickets would have increased in value even more. This defeat for the Italians also sets an enviable new record for them and for the World Cup. Apparently, this is the first time that any previous winner has failed to qualify for the tournament three times in a row. Elsewhere, the stage is now set as the final six nations in the World Cup are now decided. As mentioned, Bosnia will now go into Canada's group alongside Qatar and Switzerland. Sweden beat Poland 3-2 and will join Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in group F. Turkey beat Kosovo 1-0 and get slotted into group D alongside USA, Paraguay and Australia while the final European qualifier Czechia, who beat Denmark on penalties last night go into Mexico's group with South Africa and South Korea. I am just glad that Scotland somehow got the job done against Denmark at Hampden and could watch this from the sidelines. We would have undoubtedly found some way not to qualify if we had needed to face some of the nations in these playoffs. The South American, Caribbean, Africa and Middle East playoffs also took place yesterday to decide the final two teams that will make up the 48 teams at WC 2026. Iraq triumphed over Bolivia to secure a spot in group I with France, Senegal and Norway. The final spot went - perhaps controversially - to DR Congo who will face off with Portugal, Uzbekistan and Colombia after defeating Jamaica 1-0 in extra time. Why controversial you ask? The Congolese progress in the competition was beset by complaints from the Nigerian federation that DRC had illegally played a number of players in their match against them and should have the scoreline revoked. This would have put Nigeria in the playoffs against Jamaica and potentially got them to the World Cup. The complaint noted that under Congolese law dual citizenship is not allowed and that between 6 and 9 of their players had played during the playoff match against them. You can read more about it here but FIFA eventually threw the complaint out and after last night it seems there is no way back, even under an appeal for the Super Eagles. https://www.withinnigeria.com/2026/03/27/nigeria-2026-world-cup-qualification-can-the-super-eagles-still-make-it-through-the-fifa-case/ For now, my attention now turns to the games in Toronto with of course an extremely watchful eye on at least three games in Boston and Miami! Canada -V- Bosnia & Herzegovina (June 12) Ghana -V- Panama (June 18) Germany -V- Ivory Coast (June 20) Panama -V- Croatia (June 24) Senegal -V- Iraq (June 26) 2nd Round game (July 3) - runners up group K -V- runners up Group L (Portugal/DRC/Uzbekistan/Colombia -V- England/Croatia/Ghana/Panama) - I predict Colombia -V- Croatia Didn't think I would have to write a blog admitting to getting it so wrong about the Italians failing to qualify, but as Greavsie used to say about footy .... "It's a funny old game". That is why this is labelled as part 1a. Part 2 is still to come :)

Seems my first blog on the World Cup was timely ... Earlier this week, FIFA announced the World Cup schedule of games for each venue and in Toronto it will kick off on day two of the competition with the Canadian National Team game at BMO Field. BMO Field is to be renamed Toronto Stadium for the duration of the World Cup due to sponsorship rights / FIFA No idea who Canada will be playing yet, what group it will be, or who makes up that group (fingers crossed for Scotland) but it's the World Cup so it's not going to matter ... If I get tickets, then I am at the game regardless. Double-checked the FIFA site and yes, I am still registered for the World Cup Lottery. Also hoping that my 18 years as a season ticket holder at Toronto FC and BMO Field might count for something but won't hold my breath on that one. It has been previously announced that the City of Toronto would host six matches. We now know that this will kick off on day 2 of the World Cup on June 12, 2026, with the first-ever men’s FIFA World Cup match on Canadian soil and featuring Canada’s Men’s National Team. Toronto is also hosting a second round match on July 2, 2026 but nothing after that unfortunately. Toronto Schedule: June 12, 2026, Group Stage, Canadian Men’s National Team opener June 17, 2026, Group Stage June 20, 2026, Group Stage June 23, 2026, Group Stage June 26, 2026, Group Stage July 2, 2026, Round of 32 Not much hype around the city just yet, not even in football circles. It's talked about, but not with any sense of urgency. I am sure that will change over the course of the remainder of 2025. Toronto is such a diverse city, so any time the World Cup is on elsewhere, we see clips on TV from "Little Italy", Little Portugal", and various other enclaves around the city where certain supporters congregate due to the ethnic makeup of the neighbourhood. Have never encountered a little Scotland, little England or even little Spain, but I am sure they exist somewhere in the City. If not, the Tartan Army and other supporters groups will, I am sure, setup camp somewhere! The City is doing its best to start promoting the event and now has two websites dedicated to it. The main city website section: https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/fifa-world-cup-26/ and a separate World Cup site: https://torontofwc26.ca/game. Looks like the marketers have really airbrushed the descriptions of some of the neighbourhoods around the downtown and failed to mention the dark side of some of them! More on that later perhaps. I will leave you with a small video to whet the appetite for Toronto.

Its Ticket Time !!Almost there ... as the graphic says: 11mins and 50 seconds until I can officially apply for tickets for the 2026 World Cup courtesy of FIFA partner VISA's presale window. Having said that, all of this was after well over 90 minutes of the spinning dots tantalisingly telling me I was almost there, and then the countdown timer starting at 30 minutes! All the while while I was keeping my fingers crossed that my browser didnt crash or I had some other IT failure happen! The actual process of applying for the tickets after the window opened up and gave me FIVE MINUTES to complete my info after waiting two hours was pretty simple. Fill in a little extra data from your FIFA profile, add your credit card number and off you go ... So thats that then, I am on the list to try and get tickets for either Scotland (if we qualify) or for any game in Toronto which might include one Canada game and whoever else might be drawn here. So whats next?According to the site, thats all there is for now. I now wait until 29th September to find out if I was lucky enough to get something in the draw and if so I believe I can score up to 4 tickets. If nothing awarded for this then I am keeping the eyes peeled for any and all other opportunities to get an order in. FIFA dropped the news last week that "dynamic pricing" would be in effect. This is basically the same type of surge pricing that Uber uses for their services when busy and can see the cost rise two or three fold or more! It can however also work in reverse and dynamic pricing for the Club World Cup recently held in the USA as a pre-cursor to the main tournament saw tickets drop as low os USD$4 per ticket !!! FIFA have however said that no tickets will drop below the absolute minimum cost of USD$60 per ticket. Personally, I don't care who it is playing the game, although I would obviously like it to be Scotland -V- Canada or some other meaningful game for me personally, but I just want to be able to take my son and wife to a game so we can say we experienced the World Cup!! I think that is something my son will remember long after I am dead and gone! Plan B?Oh yes, one must always have a plan B. Not sure it will work for the family, but I also submitted an entry last month to be a World Cup volunteer in Toronto. If I cant pay to get in the stadium, then maybe I can volunteer to get in for 'free'. Its a bit of a longshot, and you could find yourself based anywhere from the airport to a hotel, to some random street in downtown Toronto, or if you are really lucky then maybe you could be an 'ambassador' greeting players or VIPs to the stadium, escorting them to the expensive seats and hoping to not only soak in the atmosphere but also get a glimpse of the game. The list of positions seems daunting and the application process did seem like a bit of a psychological test to see if you had the warm and fuzzies required for dealing with thousands of well-oiled fans ... We will see Plan C?Guess I will have to watch it on telly like the rest of us ... Fingers crossed I dont need a new Telly !

Ah, the mad, bad Scottish Championship, a place where teams who think they're too good for this level quickly learn to show respect after they've been scudded at Gayfield. There's a reason why clubs looking to get promoted fill their squad with players who are known to be good at this level, rather than ones who they think can do a job in the top flight. Thus ROSS COUNTY followed their relegation by quickly moving for Declan Gallagher and Ross Docherty, who formed the backbone of the Dundee United side that won the division in 2023/24, and Arran Lyall who was a decent winger for Morton last year. The two clear issues for County are up front - they will be a completely different proposition if/when talented striker Ronan Hale goes - and in the dugout, as Don Cowie is somewhat fortunate to still be in a job after the collapse at the end of last season. There's a clear move away from a back three to a team with wingers, and that midfield with Docherty and new signings Dean Cornelius, Jamie Lindsay and Adam Emslie looks suave, but an ageing Nicky Clark will not replace Hale's goals and Cowie better have learned some lessons. ST. JOHNSTONE's 'Championship experience signings' were more for depth - Morton centre-backs Jack Baird and Morgan Boyes, Accies full-back Reghan Tumilty, Raith forward Jamie Gullan - but it's their subsequent moves for Exeter defender Cheick Diabate and midfielders Reece McAlear from Livi and Stevie Mallan (who has been out of football with injury for 18 months) that catch the eye. Even if Uche Ikpeazu chooses to leave they will still be dangerous up top with Makenzie Kirk and Adama Sidibeh. Simo Valakari's tactics should, in theory, work better now they're expected to be on the front foot. As the best of the rest last time out, AYR UNITED will have designs on another promotion battle. Their most crucial signing may be Kevin Holt, who adds some nous and experience to the defence. Dom Thomas looks like a super acquistion too, and it'll be interesting to see how young Celtic loan duo Jude Bonnar and Kyle Ure do. They still have their choice of George Oakley, Curtis Main and (when fit again) Anton Dowds up top, but you feel like the team as a whole are still a level below the duo that have been relegated into this division. PARTICK THISTLE also made the playoffs last term but they've had a tumultuous off-season with budget cuts and a bit of a mess regarding appointing a new manager; Captain and talisman Brian Graham turned down the job and then left for Falkirk after they gave it to Mark Wilson. Wilson's managerial CV doesn't fill one with optimism and whilst Thistle still have Logan Chalmers and Robbie Crawford to provide creativity and a solid defence marshalled by Lee Ashcroft and Daniel O'Reilly, they have only one senior striker in veteran Tony Watt. Young midfielder Ts'oanelo Lets'osa might be a wildcard though after returning to Scotland from Belgium. RAITH ROVERS came fifth in 2024/25 after a late charge following Barry Robson's appointment as manager. Rebuffing a six-figure bid from rivals Dunfermline for star man Dylan Easton keeps the supporters sweet but only wing-back Jai Rowe and winger Paul McMullan (who doesn't really fit into their three-at-the-back system) look like reinforcements. Lewis Vaughan's fitness will always be key to their success, though Jack Hamilton is a solid alternative. Their season may depend on whether Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson can keep defying Father Time, and whether a proposed co-op agreement with Rangers works out for them. Eventually, Dougie Imrie's tactics will go stale, or for some other reason GREENOCK MORTON will slide away from mid-table. That's not to say it'll be this season though. It's not exactly ideal that they lost Baird, Boyes, Lyall or quality keeper Ryan Mullen, but they've picked up a new keeper in Jmaes Storer and defenders Kris Moore and Sonny Hart from down south. Crucially, they've kept Tomi Adeloye who will be good for goals as long as he doesn't get injured. All in all, Morton should be able to scrap sufficiently to avoid relegation again, but that seems to be their ceiling. DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC have far higher aspirations now that Neil Lennon is in charge. Having failed with their wild attempt to sign Easton, they have instead boosted their midfield with Charlie Gilmour from Inverness and the exciting Alfons Amade, who is a Mozambique international who previously played for Germany's under-20s. Rory MacLeod, who is still a teenager, feels like a high risk, high reward capture from Dundee United to compete with the oft-injured Chris Kane up top, and the emergence of brothers John and Andrew Tod (sons of Pars legend Andy) is fun to see. Remember the name Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen though; this is a central defender who should already be playing at a higher level. QUEEN'S PARK stank the place out in the last few months of last season and would surely have been relegated via the playoffs had Hamilton Accies not had their points deduction. They've had a nightmare offseason with massive cuts to their budget and a move to the woefully inadequate Lesser Hampden ground, so good luck to rookie manager Sean Crichton. If there is hope it is in the shape of Josh Fowler, their new forward who has joined from Dubai City (!) and was banging them in during the League Cup games. Most of their more talented and more experienced players have exited though and a squad mix of a few veterans, a lot of raw youths and some former Dumbarton players is likely to struggle...especially if the stuff off the park gets worse, as it may well do. If the Spiders were lucky to stay up, AIRDRIEONIANS were even luckier; the problems at Hamilton gave them a reprieve via the relegation playoffs and they need to try and build on that despite the loss of captain Adam Frizzell and striker Ben Wilson. However many of the new faces have a feel of being good League One players rather than Championship-quality, with ex-Accies trio Jamie Barjonas, Euan Henderson and Sean McGinty being particular examples. Up front they currently depend on converted midfielder Chris Mochrie to lead the line, and could really do with a decent striker as an alternative. And finally there's ARBROATH, the sole part-time team who, despite their recent history at this level, have to be tipped to be closer to the bottom than the top. They look pretty solid though, with Aaron Muirhead joining permanently after a loan spell to partner Tam O'Brien at the back and Harry Cochrane and Ross Callachan added to the midfield. They still look light up top though, as whichever of Gavin Reilly, Calum Gallagher and Nikolay Todorov starts up front is not likely to score many. It's worth noting that their best players of the second half of their promotion campaign were loanees Fraser Taylor and Sam Stanton, and they are of course gone. So here's my (inevitably wrong) predicted table: 1. ST. JOHNSTONE 2. ROSS COUNTY 3. DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC 4. AYR UNITED 5. RAITH ROVERS 6. GREENOCK MORTON 7. PARTICK THISTLE 8. AIRDRIEONIANS 9. ARBROATH 10. QUEEN'S PARK Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly. View the full article

Lessons I've learned from the League Two previews I've done in the past (many of which have been extremely, spectacularly wrong): - Do not pay much attention to the League Cup group results. They tend not to be a good indicator of what's coming. - If there is a team that is pretty well bankrolled, put them near the top as they will either romp it or, if they don't, they will sack their manager and/or bring in loads of players in January and then romp it. - The weakest team right now is not actually all that likely to come bottom, as they will also sack their manager and/or bring in loads of players in January and then turn it around. The team that finishes bottom will probably be the seventh or eighth best right now, but will be overtaken by a few sides that panic sufficiently early to get out of danger. There is a little extra spanner in the works this year: DUMBARTON start with a five point penalty following their administration in League One last season. That doesn't sound like much, but a six point deduction was the difference between Bonnyrigg Rose staying up and going down last time out. It's a new beginning for the Sons, on the pitch as well as off; pretty much none of their best performers from last year remain and manager Stevie Farrell has had to mostly build a new team. While centre-backs Mark Durnan and Morgyn Neill give them a solid backbone, they will be heavily dependent on veterans Leighton McIntosh and Ally Roy for goals and probably need some of their many loan players to shine if they are going to avoid a fight at the bottom. I also fear for the other side relegated from League One, ANNAN ATHLETIC. Star striker Tommy Goss is set to leave after an alleged fallout with player-boss Wullie Gibson, while potential replacement Joel Mumbongo picked up a serious knee injury on his debut. Aidan Smith is probably good for double-figures and that will be crucial, while Paul McGowan and Paul Smith add a bit of midfield nous. I can see them starting badly, punting Gibson and then hauling themselves out of trouble but I'm not sure they have the budget to make wholesale changes if they are in danger. Having only avoided the relegation playoff via goal difference, FORFAR ATHLETIC need to improve, and while Lewis Martin and Jake Dolzanski should strengthen the defence their problem in recent years has very much been at the other end of the park. New boys Martin Rennie and Scott Shepherd will be relied on heavily for goals, and their ability to deliver will be the difference between them climbing the table and not. STRANRAER were always near the bottom last season and it could well be the same again for them. Manager Chris Aitken has turned over the squad (thirteen signings so far) but he's relying on a lot of lower league players to make the step up. He's done well to get winger James Dolan back after a year away studying in Spain, and signing defender Lewis Reid permanently from Queen's Park is actually a bit of a coup. Moving to the business end of the table, EAST KILBRIDE are the newly promoted side but are also the ones who could be described as 'bankrolled' so I'd make them favourites. They've considerably reinforced the team that won the Lowland League with Rhys Breen and Magnus MacKenzie added to the backline and Ouzy See joining the attack. John Robertson is a solid bet to be League Two's top scorer this season. Curiously EK signed two players and then punted them in a matter of days; one is striker Josh O'Connor (son of Scotland international Garry) who looks like quite the star signing for ELGIN CITY. Elgin made the promotion playoffs last season and have added keeper Tom Ritchie, defender Connall Ewan and midfielder Miko Virtanen as well which is not too shabby. They have lost the flair of Dujon Golding though. City's target will be to remain in that top four. EK also let Mouhamed Niang go and he should add a bit of steel to the CLYDE midfield. After a couple of seasons that go into the "bad start, sack manager, sign lots of players, turn it around" category they will look to continue their steady improvement under Darren Young. Guys like full-back Tommy Robson and striker Scott Williamson are probably better than this level and the Niang-Andy Murdoch pairing in the centre of the park is very strong. However captain Lee Hamilton left and they are banking on Sam Campbell, signed from East Stirling, making the step up to replace him in central defence. EDINBURGH CITY were probably 2024-25's surprise package with Michael McIndoe impressing as manager. Their weakness still seems to be their small squad and the resultant lack of depth. If they can avoid injuries they will be dangerous. Aside from keeping Malik Zaid permanently after a successful loan, McIndoe has had to dip into the lower leagues again to augment the squad (though that worked pretty well for them last year). They did struggle to replace Connor Young's goals after his January exit and have lost Ouzy See too, so they'll need Innes Lawson and James Stokes to continue to contribute heavily from midfield. As ever, THE SPARTANS resisted making wholesale changes as they go into their fourteenth season under Dougie Samuel. They've convinced Sean Welsh to drop down to League Two and kept defender Bailey Dall on a permanent deal. Crucially Blair Henderson and Cammy Russell are as reliable as any front pairing at this level and so they will have aspirations of finishing higher than last year's fifth spot. And finally STIRLING ALBION seemed to spend the entirety of last season in mid-table. They'll be hoping new attackers Ross Cunningham and Russell McLean can move them up, while they did well to attract defender Lee Hamilton from Clyde. However the bulk of the squad have been around for the last few seasons and it's possible that they have reached their ceiling under Alan Maybury. So my (inevitably wrong) predicted table: 1. EAST KILBRIDE 2. THE SPARTANS3. ELGIN CITY4. EDINBURGH CITY 5. CLYDE6. STIRLING ALBION7. FORFAR ATHLETIC8. STRANRAER9. DUMBARTON 10. ANNAN ATHLETIC Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.View the full article

We just upgraded our forum and site software from the Invision Community software V4 that we have been using for many years to their latest release of V5. A LOT of things have changed in this major version change so over a number of blogs we are going to post a few 'How To' guides or tips to get the most from the new system. I am going to do this via the Site Admin blog and explain some of the new features implemented with this new version of our website software. First item is how to actually find new content as this has changed. On the main menu there is a menu item called 'activity streams'. This contains pre-configured searches that will bring up results based on Articles, Topics and various other options. Try them out and see what you might like. If you find one you do like you can use the options window within the feed result to set it as your default. If you set it as default then you can view it from the little page icon next to your profile information as shown on the images below. If you do not like any of the options, or want to tweak it slightly, you can click show filter and setup a custom feed using the filters then save it as a default in the same way. The same default new content search is also available at the bottom of each page ...

It's still more than six months until Euro 2024, and the draw hasn't even been made yet. So of course it's far, far too early to think about who will be in Steve Clarke's squad for the finals. But I'm not going to let that stop me. Rather than just list twenty-three names (current info suggests that the squad size will be cut back to what it was before Covid and Euro 2020), I'm going to break things down by position and look at what options there are, as well as who is most likely to be on the plane to Germany. GOALKEEPERS Certain to be in the squad: Angus Gunn Probably going to be in the squad: Liam Kelly, Zander Clark Outside chance: Craig Gordon, Robby McCrorie, Ross Laidlaw A left-field option: Jason Steele Are we stronger than at Euro 2020? Yes, in that Angus Gunn looks more capable and more reliable than David Marshall was at that tournament. Notes: One of the lessons learned from the Georgia-Norway doubleheader - and an awful lot of Zander Clark flapping - is that we really don't have any depth at the position unless Craig Gordon manages to get himself back to the level he was playing at prior to his broken leg. Liam Kelly and Robby McCrorie emit massive "in the squad because there aren't any other Scottish keepers" vibes. Ross Laidlaw was mentioned by John Carver as someone the management team are aware of. Rumour has it that Brighton's Jason Steele has declined a call-up before, and I doubt he'd enter the fray just to back up Gunn. CENTRAL DEFENDERS Certain to be in the squad: Kieran Tierney, Jack Hendry, Ryan Porteous Probably going to be in the squad: Scott McKenna, Grant Hanley, John Souttar Outside chance: Liam Cooper, Dominic Hyam, Liam Lindsay, Ross McCrorie A left-field option: Liam Morrison Are we stronger than at Euro 2020? Probably, if only because the players now look very well versed in playing a back three (the other lesson learned from the Georgia-Norway doubleheader is we don't seem to be strong enough defensively to get away with a back four). Notes: Kieran Tierney remains key because of his quality in possession and his ability to overlap/underlap Andy Robertson, as well as the fact that there is a big drop off to the next best left-footed centre-back, Liam Cooper. Jack Hendry generally seems the best option on the right, also offering good distribution to go with his height, while Ryan Porteous is the current incumbent in the centre position. Scott McKenna is the next man up if any of that first choice trio are absent, though he hasn't been getting gametime at Nottingham Forest recently. John Souttar finished last season really well for Rangers, but has been injured again recently. If fit, he would have a good chance of getting in. Meanwhile Grant Hanley has been out since the spring with an achilles injury but he was a first choice prior to that so if he gets back to fitness and form he'd be expected to make the squad. Dominic Hyam has been injured recently too but is normally a first choice for Blackburn. The uncapped Liam Lindsay is playing regularly and well for Preston, who are flying just now. Ross McCrorie has yet to play for Bristol City because of illness so he's probably well down the pecking order now; however his versatility might work in his favour. And apparently Liam Morrison has shone on loan for Wigan Athletic; the 20 year old Bayern Munich player is probably one for the future though. FULL-BACKS Certain to be in the squad: Andrew Robertson, Nathan Patterson, Aaron Hickey Probably going to be in the squad: Outside chance: Greg Taylor, Anthony Ralston, Calvin Ramsay, Josh Doig, Max Johnston A left-field option: Tino Livramento Are we stronger than at Euro 2020? Yes, because we've significantly upgraded from Stephen O'Donnell on the right. Notes: Captain Andy Robertson will start at left wing-back and Aaron Hickey on the right; Nathan Patterson will back up the latter unless Tino Livramento declares for Scotland, in which case the Newcastle United player would be in a direct battle with Hickey for a start. Hickey and Tierney would both be more than capable stand-ins for Robertson which means Clarke could potentially skimp on the position. Greg Taylor seems more comfortable in a back four - and didn't look comfortable at all in the Georgia and Norway games. Anthony Ralston is probably too far down the queue just now, while Calvin Ramsay's progress has stalled because of injuries; he hasn't even played yet this season. Josh Doig and Max Johnston have both had call-ups recently to the seniors but are unlikely to be in the reckoning for this tournament. CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS Certain to be in the squad: John McGinn, Callum McGregor, Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, Lewis Ferguson Probably going to be in the squad: Kenny McLean, Ryan Jack Outside chance: Elliot Anderson A left-field option: Hayden Hackney Are we stronger than at Euro 2020? Yes, not because personnel have changed much but because we've finally found a role that works for Scott McTominay. Notes: Clarke will either play four central midfielders, with McTominay and John McGinn pushed further forward of Callum McGregor and probably Billy Gilmour, or just go for the former trio with a more attack-minded player inserted instead. Gilmour is most effective in games where we dominate possession, which may not be plentiful in the finals. Lewis Ferguson has been terrific at club level in more of a number ten role and it wouldn't be hard to imagine Clarke deploying him there if he continues his current trajectory. Ryan Jack missed Euro 2020 because of injury and is a polarising figure, but I'm not sure anyone in the squad is better as a purely defensive midfielder. However it may be hard to fit in both Jack and Kenny McLean because of the numbers game. McLean got a lot of praise for Clarke after the Norway match and the manager particuarly likes his reliability and tactical discipline. It's not clear if Elliot Anderson, who was called up for one squad and then pulled out through injury, still wants to play for us or hang fire in the hope of a future England call; he is a real prospect though and is talented enough to be in the 23 if he wants to be. Hackney has shone for Middlesbrough but, having played for Scotland under-21s, he has appeared in recent England squads at that age level and also seems to have thrown his lot in with the Three Lions for now. ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS Certain to be in the squad: Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Christie Probably going to be in the squad: Outside chance: Ryan Fraser, Ben Doak, Siriki Dembele A left-field option: Harvey Barnes Are we stronger than at Euro 2020? Not sure we're much different, really. Notes: The industrious Stuart Armstrong remains a guy who either squeezes into the starting XI or is one of the first options off the bench. Ryan Christie is probably the best player we have for carrying the ball up the pitch though his recent international performances have not been as good as his efforts for Bournemouth. Given that Clarke may not start any of the listed players and doesn't use a system with wingers, it's hard to justify taking any others unless someone hits form or is felt to offer a spark as a substitute. Ben Doak is clearly going to be special but isn't getting enough game time to confirm whether he's ready yet. Ryan Fraser has done well since joining Southampton but Clarke has been suspicious about his commitment in the past. Siriki Dembele has impressed for Birmingham this season but probably not enough to get on the radar yet. But it does sound like Harvey Barnes is tempted to join up, though recent injuries have made sure we couldn't find out if he would have accepted a call for the last few squads. Barnes would be a huge upgrade on what we have, though squeezing him in on the left might require some tactical tweaking. STRIKERS Certain to be in the squad: Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams Probably going to be in the squad: Outside chance: Jacob Brown, Kevin Nisbet, Lawrence Shankland, Ryan Hardie A left-field option: Oli McBurnie Are we stronger than at Euro 2020? No. It's mostly the same names. Notes: An elite forward would elevate this team so much, in the way Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale did for Poland and Wales respectively. Instead we have Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams as our best two options. Dykes' industry and attitude are first-rate and he's better at link-up play than Adams, but the latter is a far superior finisher. Neither can be relied on for more than the odd goal though. The other options are quite the motley crew though, and one would think Clarke would pick a third striker based entirely on form in April and May. At the moment Jacob Brown seems to be that option but he struggled against Norway. Lawrence Shankland did score against Georgia as a sub and has more goals than any of the other candidates this season. Kevin Nisbet hasn't really got going since joining Millwall in the summer. Ryan Hardie of Plymouth has six Championship goals and is as good an option as anyone. And then there's Oli McBurnie, out of the picture for nearly three years but playing regularly (when fit) in the Premier League. He'll win lots of headers, but does he offer much else? That's 16 certainties and 7 probables, which of course fits nicely with the numbers. But I bet that a lot will change in a few months time. So shall we look at it again then? We shall. Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly. View the full article

The phrase 'club statement' now fills one with almost as much dread as 'root canal surgery', or 'Andy Halliday at left-back'. There have been exceptions - Stenhousemuir and Kelty Hearts leading the way - but most cases have involved people who think they're cleverer than they are and who have too much time on their hands using the word 'dignity' whilst throwing it away spectacularly in a multi-paragraphed ranting word salad. It would be nice to think that the result of today's vote on having an independent inquiry might bring a break from these lunatic pronouncements. The number of clubs in favour of such an inquiry - thirteen - was higher than I expected but not high enough even to hint at a general lack of confidence in the league, let alone actually triumph. Whether it does so or not now depends on whether those who still have an axe to grind find other avenues of attack. A previous suggestion by Rangers of going to CAS sounds more like desperation from a slightly unhinged supporter on an internet forum than a real possibility. However Hearts may well feel the cost of relegation is high enough to justify risking a legal challenge. I've long wondered whether this might throw a spanner in the works not necessarily because the Jambos would win but by holding up the start of the 2020/21 season long enough that the other side has to back down. One shudders at the thought of what animosity would develop should this scenario occur. Whichever side of the divide you come down on - and, depressingly, it has been treated by too many as a case of being either pro-Rangers or anti-Rangers when there is so, so much more at stake here - there is a compelling argument here that letting things get so out of control is evidence that there is a total failure of leadership at the SPFL. A competent organization would have largely ignored the Rangers dossier and kept quiet until, as was always inevitable, they won the vote on an independent inquiry. Instead MacLennan, Neil Doncaster and other members of the board have come out all guns blazing, throwing allegations back at their accusers and keeping the pot boiling over instead of turning the heat off. They may feel that they are entitled to do so given the personal nature of some of the attacks but they've been impugned before and still managed to take it on the chin, After all, Doncaster earns his £350,000 salary as Chief Executive not because of outstanding business acumen but because he has proven willing, for that money, to be the face of the organization and therefore the target and lightning rod for criticism. He has had plenty of that over the years without resorting to an almost permanent slot on BBC Radio Scotland to defend himself; why change that now? The thing is, there's so much childish mud-slinging going around that it is becoming increasingly easy to forget the trigger for this whole palava - the farce over Dundee's vote on bringing the lower leagues to an end. I'm quite prepared to believe that one man's 'bullying' could be another's 'robust conversations', given emotions will have been running high. I'm also prepared to accept that getting 42 different clubs who are almost all entirely fixated only on their own short-term self-interests - I think putting that in bold was justified - to agree on something may well require a bit of harassing and harrying with strong-worded reminders about potential ramifications and with artificial deadlines. But whilst Doncaster and co. would no doubt argue that they have done nothing illegal that is not the same as doing nothing wrong. There was publishing the result of the April vote before everyone had voted. There was allowing (and effectively encouraging) Dundee to change their vote. There was openly offering the reconstruction carrot and then putting so many cooks into the working group that there was no way in hell the broth would be edible, all the while being quite aware that Premiership clubs would torpedo any plan regardless. But Doncaster survives because he is still, to enough clubs, a useful idiot. At any given time the status quo suits a large enough number that reform and progress is impossible. This has been the case for several years and there is no reason to expect this will change, especially because of the arcane decision-making system - what the league calls 'democracy' - where potentially three clubs in one division can shoot down a motion supported by the other thirty-nine. Whether reconstruction would have actually been a positive move in the short-term or the long-term is still open to debate - not least because it feels like it hasn't properly been debated. If it is true that this has just been a distraction from the much, much bigger problem - the fact that clubs can't play football currently, don't know when they will be able to play or under what conditions, and might go bust before that day comes - then the SPFL now should have no excuses for being fully focussed. But there will be considerable battles ahead here. There will be questions of closed-doors matches, player safety, supporter access and safety and probably plenty more. There will be a myriad of opinions, and a myriad of different needs. And ultimately the league will need to get the vast majority of the clubs to agree on a plan to tackle this enormous crisis. Good luck with that, lads. Still, it could be worse. Imagine if John Nelms was on the board: he'd have probably given away the TV rights for magic beans. Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly. View the full article

The addition of a relegation playoff has changed the dynamic of Scotland's fourth tier dramatically. No longer can a club coast along, safe in the knowledge that being the SPFL's bottom club is the worst that can happen. As the hapless Berwick Rangers found to their cost, there are well-funded, hungry teams looking to get out of the regional leagues. Stagnate at your peril. At the other end, last season was ultimately one for the 'haves' - those who could afford impressive part-time wages to players who probably should be playing for one of the smaller full-time teams. It was Peterhead and Clyde who got promoted in the end. It'll be interesting to see if 2019-20 is a season for a club that are well-organized (think Montrose in 2017-18) or for one that splashes a bit of cash. Let's look at the ten clubs... ALBION ROVERS Coatbridge's finest looked doomed for the drop until the Spring but came to life in the run-in. Kevin Harper has retained as many of the players that saved them as he could and the aim this season is to get back towards mid-table. It might be a long way to go though, given they finished 16 points adrift of eighth last time out. ANNAN ATHLETIC Annan arguably punched above their weight by getting into the promotion playoffs last season. It'll be much harder to do so this time around as manager Peter Murphy has lost the majority of his first XI to League One and Two clubs that can offer more money. He needs to find some gems amongst the new signings he has made if they are to avoid sliding down the table. BRECHIN CITY After back-to-back relegations, Barry Smith has gutted the squad. There are certainly newcomers who arguably belong at a higher level, such as Chris McLaughlin, Luke Watt and Ross McCord, but the question is whether Smith can gel them together quickly enough. Anything other than a promotion challenge would be a disappointment. COVE RANGERS How quickly will the newcomers find their feet? They've essentially kept together the squad that won the Highland League and the reinforcements they have made, especially ex-Killie defender Daniel Higgins, are more than good enough for this level. They certainly won't fear anyone, and shouldn't worry about the drop. Could they even push for back-to-back promotions? COWDENBEATH After consecutive relegation playoff escapes the Blue Brazil consolidated somewhat under Gary Bollan, a boss who knows what it takes at this level even if it isn't always aesthetically pleasing. They've lost their veteran spine of David McGurn, Jason Talbot and Mark Fotheringham and star player Gary Fraser though. EDINBURGH CITY The citizens faded badly at the end of last season after challenging for the title for months. They've done well to attract a number of talents by offering decent wages for part-timers. Striker Blair Henderson needs to prove last season's goal glut wasn't a one-off. On paper they have a squad that can win the league, as long as they don't have another attack of the wobbles. ELGIN CITY Their situation looks a lot rosier now Shane Sutherland has returned for a third spell - their form fell off a cliff after he left in January. Their summer business looks decent but they'll need to play the loan market well again if they are to get back into the top half...or even to avoid getting dragged into a relegation battle. QUEEN'S PARK The great amateurs have realized that in the current era luring decent players for expenses only is becoming too hard - especially when in a year's time they'll no longer be able to offer the lure of playing at the national stadium. For now though, it's a team of decent Junior League players and young cast-offs. Will it be sufficient to get by? STENHOUSEMUIR In Mark McGuigan, Stenny can boast a striker who will score for fun in League Two - which makes a massive difference at this level. There has been a big squad turnover following relegation - part of which is down to Colin McMenamin wanting to shape the squad to his taste - but moulding them together may take a while. STIRLING ALBION The Binos improved massively after Kevin Rutkiewicz took over midseason and will fancy they can push on this time around. This is another club who have chopped and changed significantly over the summer but crucially there's plenty of players here who know what League Two is about. A decent loan signing or two could push them over the top. And here's how I predict it'll go... 1. EDINBURGH CITY 2. STENHOUSEMUIR 3. STIRLING ALBION 4. BRECHIN CITY 5. COVE RANGERS 6. ELGIN CITY 7. COWDENBEATH 8. ANNAN ATHLETIC 9. ALBION ROVERS 10. QUEEN'S PARK As ever, I expect time will prove that I don't know what I'm talking about! Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly. View the full article