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Who Came Up With This Sevco Pre-Season Schedule? Peter Lawwell?

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Sevco are set to take 10,000 supporters on a trip to Sheffield for a friendly, according to The Daily Record. On the forums this is being hailed further proof that they have “the best fans in the world.” Perhaps they’ll even try to label it another record breaker.

They hold so many records, this lot.

“Highest attendance for a third division game played at eight o’clock on a Tuesday morning where a crisp packet blew into the away fans goal.”

That sort of thing.

As an alternative to European football, this takes some beating.

What a way to cheer yourselves up.

Crap manager, hired on the strength of one interview? Out of Europe to a team from Luxembourg? Dreading the coming season and further proof of Celtic’s dominance?

Then there’s nothing like a trip to Sheffield!

They went there a couple of years ago, and put on a sordid display of uber-Britishness which sections of the home support lapped up.

Without getting all heavy on this, Sheffield, on paper, looks perfect for them.

Nigel Farage is big in the city. During Brexit, the Hillsborough area voted Leave by 81%. I am not going to labour the point; it doesn’t need doing. But this game will be a nice one for the EDL and their “Scottish brothers.”

Actual Sheffield Wednesday fans are less impressed; many have taken to Twitter to ask why the club is bothering to play this shower when they promised a “glamour friendly.”

One fan made his own feelings on it pretty clear.

Another, who is clearly unhappy after Real Madrid had been suggested as a possible opponent, marvelled at the poor quality …

Some will enjoy the fixture, no doubt.

Last time the entire crowd in the ground joined in with a rendition of 10 German Bombers.

The pride they must feel in clinging to the past.

Odd that so much of the far-right fringe that attaches itself to uber-Britishness also feels an affinity with Hitler.

As for the friendly against Marseille … well talk about “good timing.”

Jesus, over on SevcoMedia they have it down as a game between themselves and “match fixers” and are calling for the stripping of the French team’s European Cup.

In all seriousness.

Without a trace of irony at all.

Let me clue them in, since they seem to want to know.

Marseille were fully investigated, their club was raided, they suffered title stripping, people went to jail and they got a ban from Europe. The reason they got to retain their European Cup is that a UEFA investigation found no evidence that the tournament itself had been compromised during the scandal.

All this was in relation to a single game of football, against Vallencienes. Oh other allegations were made, of course, and years after the fact. None were ever put where they could be tested; in a courtroom, under oath. People can say what they want on STV.

In other words, Marseille were found guilty and punished.

Unlike a certain Scottish club who were found guilty and never were.

We await developments on that front.

A game against sporting cheats … where all this can raked over. Where we can compare how the French football authorities handled allegations with how the SFA does … I mean, these people are just a public relations car crash.

Who came up with these arrangements? Peter Lawwell?

If you were trying to show this club up at its worst, you would highlight the relationship with Linfield, you’d organise a friendly in England where they could spew their anti-European bile and mingle with the dregs of the far right and you’d put on a friendly match against a team who’ve had titles stripped for cheating, thus drawing even more attention to your own.

Honestly, we couldn’t have done it better.

Congratulations to the PR geniuses at Ibrox.

The gift that keeps on giving.

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