I’m not sure if this video is of a genuine Dumbarton fan or not.

If she is, she may be in for a big disappointment when she sees the mighty Sons in the flesh.

I see Dumbarton’s away game against Hamilton Accies postponed (again) on Tuesday night has been rescheduled for 2^nd April.

This is only four days after we are due to play Hamilton Accies – away!

I know we had two games in a row against Livingston earlier this year (2/02/13 and 9/02/13) but they were a week apart and at least one of them was at home.

I remember this sort of thing happening a few years ago in Div 3 vs Stenhousemuir (13/3/2007 and 17/3/2007, a 1-1 at home and 1-5 away where Stenhousemuir scored all eight of the goals) and a year later also vs Stenhousemuir (18/3/08 and 22/3/08, 1-0 at home, 1-1 away.)

This is what comes of playing other teams four times a season and postponements catching up with you.

To be fair we now have matches every midweek up till the new date.

I suppose Hamilton will have too.

The players are going to be knackered.

Manchester Utd 1-2 Real Madrid (aggregate 2-3)

UEFA Champions League*, Old Trafford, 5/3/13

This game, of course, hinged on the sending off. Up to that point United had been marginally the better, certainly David De Gea in United’s goal had fewer saves to make. Actually, even afterwards Diego Lopez in Real’s goal made more saves but Real were in the lead by then and not pushing forward so much. They could even have afforded to lose a goal.

It looked to me like Nani had tried to get the ball, there was no intent to foul – but intent does not come into the law. As Roy Keane argued in the post match discussion Nani’s foot was raised, ergo it was dangerous, worthy of a red card.

This immediately invites a question.

Why, then, when a player takes down any high ball (or indeed executes a bicycle kick) is it not dangerous play? His foot is at least at chest height, as Nani’s was. Are such instances of control of a high ball now all to be banished? In which case Brian Prunty’s much You-Tubed (and sublime) opener for Dumbarton against Livingston a few weeks ago would have been chalked off as dangerous. Should it also have been accorded a red card?

The only difference is the possible nearby presence of another player. But Nani wasn’t aware (till too late) there was a player coming in, he was looking at the flight of the ball. Roy Keane suggested he should be alive to such a possibility, he must expect a challenge. This, though, would also apply to any attempt to play a high ball as above.

Surely, equally, a player is entitled to attempt to control, or pass, the ball in the most effective way?

Nani’s control of the ball arguably wasn’t dangerous or reckless in itself. What may have made it so was the incoming player.

The thing is; it also looked to me like the Real player was never likely to get to the ball first. He was aware of what Nani might attempt to do and yet still came in to make contact with Nani’s foot after Nani had played the ball. In other words the Real player came in late. If Nani had played the ball on the ground and then been impacted the foul would have gone the other way for a late challenge. So who was in the wrong? From one point of view the Real player deliberately ran into a foot he knew was going to be high in order to make it look like dangerous play. In other words he bought the red card. Which is a form of cheating.

The ref and assistants have only real time to make decisions. They do not have the benefit of replays. But even in real time Nani’s high foot did not seem to me to be a sending off offence. But can anyone else be entirely sure what went into the ref’s decision making processes?

Whatever the rights and wrongs of this we will never know what would have happened if the red card had not been issued. Real might have scored twice anyway. But United might also have scored again, they made chances even with ten men.

Given the stories floating around about match-fixing there is now an element of doubt about such high profile matches. (And possibly low profile ones as well.) It is unfortunate that a refereeing decision appeared to be central to the outcome of this game.

In an unrelated point I thought that Ronaldo might have been just offside when the cross was hit in for Real’s second goal in that a scoring part of his body was beyond the last defender. None of the replays focused on this and it was given no analysis. Strange that.

* so-called

Three years ago it was the 1960s, two years ago the 70s and last year it was the 1980s from which we at work were to pick our favourite song as a piece of fun at Easter.

The 80s winner?

A Town Called Malice.

Second was Money For Nothing, both from the beginning of the decade I noticed.

I haven’t bothered doing 80s songs up to now as among other things it was the decade style forgot (at least if Ashes to Ashes can be relied on.) I also wasn’t paying that much attention to contemporary music then.

Mostly though it was because I couldn’t decide which song to go with for the series title.

I’ve opted for Live It Up because that’s what a lot of people purported to do during Thatcher’s time. (A lot more were miserable.)

This particular song always reminds me of Boghead, late lamented ground of the famous Dumbarton FC, the Sons of the Rock. It was a Second Division game when Tommy Burns’s Kilmarnock came calling on their way to promotion. (And thumped us, so ruining our already unlikely promotion prospects.) Live It Up was played over the tannoy.

The group which performed this were (are?) Australian – which also goes along with the Easybeats connection of Friday On My Mind – but their name could be Scottish. Except I suppose if it were, the last word would be much more expressive.

Mental As Anything: Live It Up

The club has appointed 31 year old Ian Murray as player-manager.

I’m not sure what to make of this to be honest. He has no managerial experience and I would have thought experience is exactly what we need right now. On the other hand he is young, liable to be enthusiastic, and can fill in for us at the back – though his legs may be gone. Perhaps the board was thinking of a Div 2 campaign next season….

I see Ian’s Wiki entry has already been updated to mention his status as manager, even though he won’t take charge of the team till the Cup game with Hamilton a week on Saturday.

FA Cup, Round 1, Cressing Road,* 13/11/12

Since I lived in Braintree for two years Braintree Town is the English club nearest to what I could claim as a “local team.” While I lived there, though, the club was deep down in the English football pyramid and I never actually went to watch them. Somehow Saturdays were always spent going to Colchester or somewhere else to go round shops. I have continued to look out for their results in the intervening years and noted their climb to the Conference South and finally the Premier.

Last night was surely the biggest in their history what with a home First Round FA Cup tie against Tranmere Rovers and a live TV appearance thanks to ITV 4. My first time watching them in action. It was also my first time watching Tranmere for 90 mins.

The history I found on Wikipedia was interesting to me as they were for a long time associated with (as Manor Works and Critall Athletic the works team of) Critall Windows from where their nickname The Iron is derived.

They were playing in distinctive colours; shirts which were a shade of red that was close to orange (on Wiki it is orange) and light blue shorts. It was nice to see clips of their manager Alan Devonshire in his West Ham pomp before the game.

There was no doubt that Tranmere were the more accomplished side, stronger on the ball, quicker to it and generally more comfortable with it but Braintree had their moments and with some composure in front of goal might have scored. They were a bit unlucky with the first goal as the keeper made a great stop only for it to fall kindly for the attacker. Tranmere’s second and third were well worked and created though, the last coming in stoppage time and perhaps flattering the away team a touch. Braintree played some nice stuff, attempting to pass, spreading it wide but the gap in Divisions was obvious.

Comparisons are odious they say but as to how my beloved Dumbarton would match up I think that, presently, Braintree would come out on top.

*Sponsored as the Amlin Stadium.

This is the Excelsior Stadium,* home of Airdrie United FC (or, as some of us like to remember them, Clydebank.)

Main entrance to Airdrie United’s stadium. (Stitch of two photos.)

It’s a tidy ground but a bit soulless. The capacity is way above what Airdrie can attract as a crowd.

This is the view of the ground from the east car park.

Main Stand from East Stand

AFC crest at back of main stand.

The North Stand:-

Its main purpose, like its mirror image to the south (both are rarely, if ever, occupied) is to house an electronic scoreboard.

*So why New Broomfield?

Broomfield was the home of Airdrieonians FC who shortly before their demise moved to New Broomfield or, as it was known then for some sponsorship reason, the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium.

Broomfield was an idiosyncratic ground which had an old pavilion.

Compare Fulham’s Craven Cottage.

The reincarnation of a football team in Airdrie (Airdrieonians went defunct in 2002) was due to the fact that a local businessman, after failing to achieve election to the SFL with his new entity Airdrie United, took over the ailing Clydebank FC and moved it lock, stock and players to Airdrie, thereby effectively killing off the team who had been for 37 years Dumbarton’s local rivals.

This was the first time I’ve seen Sons fans do a conga. (To be fair we don’t get promoted very often.)

This is the scene just after the final whistle.

Seconds later the pitch was invaded by Sons fans.

Mutual rejoicing:-

The ritual press photos were taken after the pitch was cleared:-

The players salute the fans:-

This is Sons promotion winning team of 1971-2 (photo shamelessly copied from Big Rab):-

See the final Scottish Second Division 1971/1972 league table here.

We somehow missed out in 1982 but made it up to the Premier out of sequence in 1984 before two relegations saw us in Div 2.

But in 1991-2 the Final Scottish Division Two 1991/1992 league table shows us promoted again.

League reconstruction demoted us soon enough but there was 1994-5 in consolation.

We then plummeted down the leagues until 2001-2.

We lasted four seasons before demotion again.

After the aberration of a championship in 2009 I didn’t dare to hope that this season ending in 2 we would be promoted again.

Today at New Broomfield the dream came true.

I’m just off to watch the (highlights? re-run?) on BBC Alba.

Edited to add:- Magic!

These are a few photos I took at the last away game of the season proper at Forthbank Stadium, Stirling.

It’s traditional for the Sons fans, aka the Apache Army, to dress up for the last journey of the season. You can spot a few in fancy dress here.

This is the fans celebrating clinching third spot and a play-off place.

The players returned the tribute.