Defend the indefensible

[Ray de Galles]

(I’d actually feel some pity for them, for the kind of people their parents probably are, if nothing else)

I think what Ray de Galles needs is to be a bit more judgemental here.

Come on, any adult who chose to adopt the Franchise over the last 15 years is a cunt - any of them that exposed a child to it doubly so.

[blameless]

In the interests of full disclosure, I used to hate Meadowbank Thistle - more accurately, I used to hate Terry Christie's offside trap, and successive Partick managers' inability to break it down.

And yet, I agree with every single word MrLeam has posted above - the theft of Edinburgh's 3rd team by Bill "Mr Blobby" Hunter was a fucking disgrace, and remains one to this day. Fuck Livingston FC and all who apologise for its existence.

[treibeis]

I'm hypothesising here, but rebellious kids growing up in MK might choose to watch their local league team just to piss off their parents or siblings who want them to support someone else - like in Liverpool you'll often find a family of Reds with one standout Blue, and you just know they were a stubborn contrary little bugger when they were growing up.

My father grew up a stone's throw from Bristol Rovers' old ground, had a father, five brothers and numerous uncles who were all staunch Bristol Rovers supporters, and was the lone Bristol City supporter.

(He reckons he used to cycle across town every fortnight and then sneak into the ground over the wall/ through a hole in the fence / under the turnstile / by chartering a Cessna from Lulsgate Airport and then parachuting onto the centre circle. I've heard or read so many stories like that from so many people who went to football games pre-1970s that I wonder whether anybody at all ever used to pay to get in. No wonder the players didn't earn all that much.)

[Belhaven]

In the interests of full disclosure, I used to hate Meadowbank Thistle - more accurately, I used to hate Terry Christie's offside trap, and successive Partick managers' inability to break it down.

And yet, I agree with every single word MrLeam has posted above - the theft of Edinburgh's 3rd team by Bill "Mr Blobby" Hunter was a fucking disgrace, and remains one to this day. Fuck Livingston FC and all who apologise for its existence.

Scottish league football was a closed shop at the time, and new clubs were only admitted when the number of clubs was expanded. So, moving an already existing club was pretty much the only way to get a league club in a town like Livingston, likewise with Cumbernauld and the new Airdrie club. Are the latter two any more acceptable? It seems to me that Livingston is usually the lone recipient of bile.

[blameless]

Airdrie United (I'm not calling them Airdrieonians, that club died in 2002) are indeed worthy of every bit as much contempt as Livingston.

Clyde and Cumbernauld is a different matter - they were without a ground, having been turfed out of Shawfield by the owners, and having to groundshare at Firhill and the original Douglas Park. Cumbernauld didn't uproot a town's existing team, they reached out to a homeless one. Big difference.

As for it being a closed shop, if someone wanted a league team in Livingston that bad they could always have joined at the non-league stage, built up a following, done well in the Scottish Cup, and joined in one of the periodic expansions of the SFL in the 90s or noughties - like Ross County, Peterhead, Elgin City, Gretna and Annan Athletic did.

[MrLeam]

Airdrie United (I'm not calling them Airdrieonians, that club died in 2002) are indeed worthy of every bit as much contempt as Livingston.

Clyde and Cumbernauld is a different matter - they were without a ground, having been turfed out of Shawfield by the owners, and having to groundshare at Firhill and the original Douglas Park. Cumbernauld didn't uproot a town's existing team, they reached out to a homeless one. Big difference.

As for it being a closed shop, if someone wanted a league team in Livingston that bad they could always have joined at the non-league stage, built up a following, done well in the Scottish Cup, and joined in one of the periodic expansions of the SFL in the 90s or noughties - like Ross County, Peterhead, Elgin City, Gretna and Annan Athletic did.

Agreed. Despite being a Meadowbank fan, I think what Airdrie did was, if anything, more disgusting than what happened to Meadowbank. There was something just so completely and utterly shameless in the way Airdrie acted over the course of events.

Someone might know better than I do, but I'm guessing the powers-that-be in Scottish football haven't introduced any changes to regulations to stop this type of thing happening in future?

[blameless]

I think Airdrie were emboldened by the hijacking of Meadowbank, to be honest - they could claim Livingston as a precedent, especially as it had only happened 7 years previously.

No idea if rules exist to prevent this sort of travesty these days, but knowing the nature of football administrators in Scotland I'm presuming not.

[Guy Profumo]

Having slightly derailed the Hartlepool/national league clubs in crisis thread, I feel I should make amends by starting another conversation.

So, this is a bit like that Fighting Talk bit. I've already put up an argument that automatic promotion/relegation to/from the football league has fucked up more clubs than it's helped. This led on to whether the top flight should be a closed shop and some meritable points were made.

Anyone fancy a go at defending these?

"It's time to abolish the home nations and have a UK international team."

"We should only have video referees."

"Premier League clubs should be allowed to field B teams / Academy sides at any level below the Championship."

"Troy Deeney is an inspirational archetype of a British centre forward."

'Women officiating men's football matches are an unwelcome distraction."

"It's time to move on; WSC should include MK Dons in the annual season preview."

Troy Deeney signing up to write for the S*n "newspaper"

[Stumpy Pepys]

Prussia and bavaria don't insist on their own football teams

A Bavarian 'national' football shirt would be quite funky. Something like this:

[Patrick Thistle]

I'd forgotten about this thread.

[3 Colours Red]

I'd forgotten about this thread.

I'd forgotten that "defence" of Deeney I'd written. Now that he's apparently writing for the Scum, I wish I hadn't bothered.