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Stramash: Tackling Scotland's Towns and Teams
Fatigued by bloated big-game football and bored of a samey big cities, Daniel Gray went in search of small town Scotland and its teams. At the time when the Scottish club game is drifting towards its lowest ebb once more, Stramash singularly falls to wring its hands and address the state of the game, preferring instead to focus on Bobby Mann's waistline. Part travelogue, part history and part mistakenly spilling ketchup on the face of a small child, Stramash takes an uplifting look at the country's nether regions. Using the excuse of a match to visit places from Dumfries to Dingwall, Gray surveys Scotland's towns and teams in their present state. Stramash accomplishes the feats of visiting Dumfries without mentioning Robert Burns, being positive about Cumbernauld and linking Elgin City to Lenin. It is ae fond look at Scotland as you've never seen it before.
222 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 27, 2017
A bit of an oddity this. An English Marxist historian spends a football season (2009/10) travelling around the lower league clubs in Scotland, and writing a feature on the clubs and the towns that host them. The target audience is therefore a bit narrow. When in one early chapter the author tells a local (in Alloa) about the purpose of his visit he gets the response, “What are you going to watch them for? Who’s going to read that anyway?”
Who indeed? In my case, I have a family connection with one of the towns featured – Elgin – and as a small boy my father occasionally took me to watch Elgin City FC. Elgin is the last chapter in the book and by then you had a sense the author was either getting a bit bored with the whole exercise or had run out of different things to say about each town. For all that, as a whole this was quite an entertaining read. Twelve towns are featured, and for each the author draws an idiosyncratic picture, focusing largely on the social history of each town during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The author’s political bias is a bit obvious at times, but it doesn’t overwhelm the book. The humour can be a bit variable, but at its best is very good. One of my favourite chapters was the one on Albion Rovers FC (from Coatbridge), perhaps because it reminded me of stories told to me by a one-time acquaintance who used to visit that ground.
Although the book is a few years old now, the fact that it focuses on the history of each town/club means that it hasn’t dated. A 7/10 for me.
Who indeed? In my case, I have a family connection with one of the towns featured – Elgin – and as a small boy my father occasionally took me to watch Elgin City FC. Elgin is the last chapter in the book and by then you had a sense the author was either getting a bit bored with the whole exercise or had run out of different things to say about each town. For all that, as a whole this was quite an entertaining read. Twelve towns are featured, and for each the author draws an idiosyncratic picture, focusing largely on the social history of each town during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The author’s political bias is a bit obvious at times, but it doesn’t overwhelm the book. The humour can be a bit variable, but at its best is very good. One of my favourite chapters was the one on Albion Rovers FC (from Coatbridge), perhaps because it reminded me of stories told to me by a one-time acquaintance who used to visit that ground.
Although the book is a few years old now, the fact that it focuses on the history of each town/club means that it hasn’t dated. A 7/10 for me.
April 29, 2012
WONDERFUL STUFF, MAKES ME WANT TO GO AND VISIT EACH TOWN MENTIONED (YES, INCLUDING GREENOCK)...PREFERABLY IN THE COMPANY OF THE WARM AND WISE AUTHOR.
January 6, 2019
Being a fan of one of the teams highlighted in this book, I loved this! I thoroughly enjoyed how the author intertwined the social and political history of the towns with the emergence of the football teams. While looking at their past glories, local heroes & future survival against the bigger Scottish clubs. Fantastic stuff ...
August 12, 2023
Class wee book, chapters on Cowdenbeath and Coatbridge were the best.
November 2, 2024
Well researched and written, lacked a bit of flow
February 19, 2014
I read this as part of my continuing effort to understand Scottish football (soccer). This book had some great insights, and some fun details, but it meandered in places.
Let's look at some of the best quotes. Early on the book, Gray explains why he's focusing on the smaller teams instead of the Old Firm (Rangers and Celtic):
So are the Old Firm and their fans ruining Scottish football? The owner of Alloa Athletic doesn't think so.
The insight into small-time Scottish football was neat, especially since it slightly pre-dates all of the current turmoil with Rangers (and Hearts). The history was interesting, but my main knock on the book is that the history meandered and encompassed more social history (obviously a passion of the author's) than I wanted to hear.
Even more than Fan Mail, I liked reading this book electronically. Not only could I see what had happened to these teams since 2009 (three moved up a division, two moved down, and seven are playing at the same level), I could look up all the weird UK cultural references the author dropped in.
Let's look at some of the best quotes. Early on the book, Gray explains why he's focusing on the smaller teams instead of the Old Firm (Rangers and Celtic):
When I moved to Scotland from north-east England in 2004, I was amazed by how few people supported their local football teams. This was not the case in small towns alone, but in Edinburgh too. There, Rangers and Celtic tops were ubiquitous, and both clubs had retail outlets in the city. I hadn’t even watched them play and already I was sick of the Old Firm. Their domination was similar to that of the chain supermarkets and cafés...It's an important point that the Old Firm teams don't just get more support because they're based in Glasgow, the largest city, but because fans in other cities support those teams rather than their local sides.
So are the Old Firm and their fans ruining Scottish football? The owner of Alloa Athletic doesn't think so.
‘It's not the Old Firm that’s failed football. It’s me and the other clubs who don’t get enough local fans that have failed Scottish football.'I like this attitude because it acknowledges that fans aren't morally obligated to root for one team or another. Since moving to the city I currently live in, I've gone to two games in Baltimore and one in DC without visiting our local AAA team -- that doesn't make me a bad person. Also, since 2009, Alloa have moved up a division (by moving down once and up twice), so I feel like they probably have some decent insights.
When lean times engulfed underground Fife, attendances fell. They dropped too after the nationalisation of mines in 1947, following which pitmen earned enough money to travel further afield for their football, and to Glasgow.When poor miners spend some of their pay increase to go support another team, it's hard to argue that they're horrible people for not sticking in town.
In truth, I’m no clearer a year on how...so many of these places and clubs survive.I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't understand Scottish football.
The insight into small-time Scottish football was neat, especially since it slightly pre-dates all of the current turmoil with Rangers (and Hearts). The history was interesting, but my main knock on the book is that the history meandered and encompassed more social history (obviously a passion of the author's) than I wanted to hear.
Even more than Fan Mail, I liked reading this book electronically. Not only could I see what had happened to these teams since 2009 (three moved up a division, two moved down, and seven are playing at the same level), I could look up all the weird UK cultural references the author dropped in.
August 28, 2015
In a time when football seems to be at every turn it's nice to come across something that uses the game to do something more than fawn over the dazzling lights and bewildering finances of 'Soccer'. The author's traipse around provincial Scotland is an enjoyable one, and he gets across the character, charm and quirkiness of Scotland, via its community-entrenched football teams.
If anything, he goes a bit too heavy on the 'quirky', and his background as a fanzine writer comes through heavily as the 'arch' is laid on a bit too thick. Overall very enjoyable.
If anything, he goes a bit too heavy on the 'quirky', and his background as a fanzine writer comes through heavily as the 'arch' is laid on a bit too thick. Overall very enjoyable.
February 9, 2011
Daniel Gray does a great job here of capturing the atmosphere of small town Scotland through a football season of going around football matches of the lesser teams (yes we have more than Rangers and Celtic!). A mixture of well researched social history, wanders around town centres past their prime, and various football stadiums well past their prime. The feeling of the book is best captured by a quote from Arthur Montford on why he follows Morton - it's not just about winning.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews