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The Football We Deserve
James Curran Baxter was born in 1939 in Hill of Beath, Fife. He played 381 games for Raith Rovers, Rangers, Sunderland, Nottingham Forest, and Scotland, scoring 38 goals, including both in the 1963 win at Wembley – the stadium where, four years later, he played “keepie uppie” against the newly-crowned world champions. Baxter retired from […]
Billy Williamson
July 29, 2010
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Going on Holiday? Pack Your Replica Shirt
Back in the mid-90s, before Mrs Williamson was a snowboarder, we’d often spend the Martin Luther King long weekend (mid-January) flying down to Miami and hanging out in South Beach. It was a fine break from the freezing New York winters and allowed me to transform my pasty white skin into a marginally less pasty […]
Billy Williamson
July 22, 2010
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Reflections on the 2010 World Cup
My tournament began in the conference room of a fund management company on George Street in Edinburgh: I had travelled through from Glasgow for the day to visit a friend who had invited me to watch South Africa-Mexico on an extremely large flat screen TV in his office. A month later, I staggered out of […]
Billy Williamson
July 15, 2010
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If A Week Is A Long Time In Scottish Football, How Long Is A Season?
Saturday evening, 9pm local time, and life is good. Celtic are 2-1 down to Hibs with 12 minutes to go, I’m already a bit drunk, and I am heading out for more, sans Mrs Williamson, who is sleeping off an afternoon session. If all goes to plan, the following evening will be spent celebrating both […]
Billy Williamson
April 22, 2010
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Six Months Later: The State of the SPL
Back at the beginning of October I did a review of the SPL table at that time and made a few predictions for the rest of the pre-split season. Six months later, let’s see how things have turned out…
Billy Williamson
April 8, 2010
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Sixty-Seven Seconds and the SFL
So that’s the first big trophy of the year decided. Last week I opined that the League Cup should be scrapped, and I’m repaid for that statement with a League Cup triumph that will be remembered by Rangers fans for years to come. Perhaps referee Craig Thomson had read last week’s article and decided to […]
Billy Williamson
March 25, 2010
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Chinese Numerology and Scottish Football
Living in China these past few years has been a cultural education for me. I’ve given red packets of ‘lai see’ money to my employees at Chinese New Year (always crisp, new notes); I understand why a large apartment block on a hillside was designed with a hole in the middle (it’s so the spirits […]
Billy Williamson
March 18, 2010
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Interview with Aberdeen Midfielder Paul Marshall
Manchester City fans must be revelling in their sudden elevation to the footballing elite off the back of all those petrodollars, but for some at the club the arrival of those riches was not entirely welcome. They’re the youngsters coming through what has long been a highly regarded youth system at City.
Pete Reid
March 4, 2010
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I Hate Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here
On Friday morning I arrived at Heathrow’s overrated Terminal 5 and picked up a broadsheet in the BA Lounge. I head straight for the back page, as usual, and all I see are articles and opinions on an announcement that Tiger Woods is – wait for it! – going to make an announcement later that […]
Billy Williamson
February 25, 2010
