371 Years of History Disbanded

Despite all the protests and demonstrations, Defence Minister Geoff Hoon announced the results of his "Future Army Structure" review and confirmed the worst fears of those who had argued for the retention of Scotland's historic army regiments. All six are to be merged into a "super regiment" called the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The Black Watch (the oldest regiment in the British Army), the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Highlanders will form four battalions within the new regiment and a fifth will be created by merging the Royal Scots and the King's Own Scottish Borderers, which will have a new, single cap badge. The minister tried to put a gloss on it by saying that the new battalions would retain many of the emblems which distinguish the existing regiments. It appears unlikely that the individual tartans and cap badges will be retained although the red hackles in the caps of the Black Watch and the blue hackle of the Highlanders. Each of the new battalions will continue to recruit mainly from the same areas as before. During the debate in the House of Commons after the announcement, Annabelle Ewing, a Scottish Nationalist Member of Parliament, was ordered to leave the floor of the house when she refused to withdraw her description of the Defence Secretary as a "backstabbing coward." Although the Scottish Parliament has no power over defence issues, the Scottish Members of Parliament voted 61 to 59 in favour of a motion condemning any cuts and mergers. Of course, it is not just Scottish regiments that are being cut - a number of regiments in England are also to be disbanded or merged.

Gap Between Government Income and Expenditure in Scotland Widens

According to figures published this week by the Scottish Executive, £40.9 billion was spent by the government in Scotland while the amount raised by taxes was £31.6 billion. The deficit of £9.3 billion was a billion more than last year and is effectively being paid for by taxpayers south of the border and by government borrowing. The figures attempt to identify income and expenditure specific to Scotland and compares them with the UK as a whole. Even if income from North Sea oil is revenue in Scottish waters is taken into account, the deficit would still be £4.4 billion. Spending per head in Scotland was £6,579, compared with £5,652 for the UK as a whole. Of course, the Scottish National Party argues that Scotland would be financially better off as an independent country. They dispute the government's "discredited" calculations and say Scotland would achieve a higher level of economic growth if independent.

Long Waits For Scots Casualty and Emergency Patients

People who have to go to a hospital accident and emergency unit in Scotland have to wait longer for treatment than in a similar A&E unit in England and Wales. The worst performing hospital in the UK was the brand new flagship Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where 25% of patients spent longer than four hours being treated. Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Inverclyde Royal had the second and third worst times in the UK. Average waiting times in Scotland as a whole have increased 30 minutes since 2000 and eight of the worst ten hospitals in the UK are in Scotland. 10% of patients coming into Scottish hospitals as an emergency case had to wait more than four hours. In England and Wales, on the other hand, only 5% had such a long wait. The recently appointed Health Minister, Andy Kerr, agrees that the long waits are unacceptable and says he is working on plans to tackle the problem.

Reprieve for Accident and Emergency Units

Campaigners were celebrating this week when Greater Glasgow Health Trust announced that the closure of accident and emergency services at the Victoria Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital were to be given a lifeline. Instead of closing "as soon as possible" the Victoria (pictured here) will remain open until 2010 and Stobhill is also to continue "indefinitely". The Victoria Infirmary A&E is one of the busiest in the city. Only a few months ago the health board had said that it would have to close ahead of schedule because of staff shortages.

Scottish Economic Growth "Solid"

The latest Royal Bank of Scotland Purchasing Managers Index shows that the Scottish economy is growing but in a "solid" rather than "spectacular" fashion, according to the bank's chief economist. The manufacturing and services sectors are reported to have expanded for the 17th successive month with a solid level of demand. However, the growth in November was not as much as in the previous month. The strength of sterling against the dollar and the continued rise in input costs and raw materials suggest that further expansion of the economy will continue to be modest.

House Price Inflation Deflates

The soaring rises in property prices seems to have come back to earth with a bump, according to a recent survey. While houses are still increasing in value compared to last year, the rate of increase appears to have returned to more sustainable levels. In Midlothian - the area just to the south of Edinburgh - prices went up by 30% in the year to October 2003. But that has fallen back to just over 9% in the year to October 2004. Some areas, such as West Dunbartonshire, Glasgow and Fife, however, where prices had not been rocketing so high, are still seeing house price rises of 15/20%. The slow-down has meant trouble for the huge Glasgow Harbour development where speculators had snapped up houses as soon as they came on the market, expecting to sell at a handsome profit when the houses were completed. Now the investors are struggling to sell. In extreme cases, the builder is having to sue the initial purchaser who put down a deposit and is now unable to pay the balance as the property becomes available for entry.

Broadband for Rural Areas

The Scottish Executive announced this week that they were allocating £90 million to fund a project to provide broadband connections for schools and public buildings in the sparsely populated Highlands and Islands, Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. The "Pathfinder" project is intended to ensure that rural areas have the same opportunities as urban locations to access modern technology. The low population levels mean that commercial broadband providers are unlikely to offer such services as they would be uneconomic to them. But anyone in these areas expecting fast Internet access in the near future is likely to be disappointed. Work will start in 2006 and funding will be distributed over a period of nine years.

Scottish Shoppers Spend More

The Scottish Retail Consortium has reported that sales in Scotland grew by 6.7% in November compared to the same month last year. That was nearly three times the increase in the UK as a whole where the rise was only 2.4%. It seems that the main driver in Scotland was increased food sales which increased by 8.8% on last year. Consumers seemed to be stocking up early for Christmas with frozen goods, confectionery, alcohol and fresh produce for home freezing. Electrical goods and clothing outlets are not doing so well and as Christmas approaches many retailers have already started to offer major discounts to keep up the level of turnover. Retail sales in Scotland have been consistently stronger than in the rest of the UK for most of 2004. The illustration here is of Princes Street, the premier shopping area in Edinburgh.

Mull's 24-Year Swimming Pool Campaign

The island of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland, is the only "major" Scottish island which does not have its own indoor swimming pool. As a result, the proportion of islanders who cannot swim is high and this has resulted in a number of fatalities from drowning over the years. Campaigners on the island have been working for the last 24 years to raise the money to build a swimming pool. As the time has gone by, the estimated cost for such a project has risen each year. It had been hoped that having raised £1 million of the current £1.5 million required, the National Lottery would have been able to make up the balance via Sportscotland. But now it is feared that the sports funding body is not going to have as much cash to distribute this year as expected. So only £200,000 is likely to be allocated to Mull, leaving a funding gap of £300,000. The pool was to have been built beside the isle of Mull Hotel at Craignure and the hotel has promised £200,000. Argyll and the islands Enterprise have committed £375,000 which includes £169,000 from European-funded initiatives and local fundraising has exceeded £100,000.

Glasgow University Elects Vanunu as Rector

The 17,000 students of Glasgow University have elected Mordechai Vanunu as their rector, a post which mean he acts as their official spokesperson. Vanunu spent 18 years in prison in Israel for espionage and treason for revealing secret's about that country's secret nuclear plant in the 1980s. He will hold the post for three years and succeeds Greg Hemphill, the comic star of "Chewin' the Fat." Other holders of the office of rector have included William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli and Winnie Mandela. Since Vanunu is forbidden to leave Israel, he will not be able to directly fulfill the role of representing the students and acting as ex-officio chairman of the university court, which administers resources and income of the university. The situation is not unknown in the past and he is likely to have to appoint an "assessor" to represent him and then communicate via the Internet.

Philanthropist Contributes £7 Million to Band Aid

When the original Band Aid charity concert was staged to help starving Ethiopians in 1984, Tom Hunter was struggling to set up his own business in Ayrshire. In the intervening years, he amassed a £500 million fortune and these days tries to help youngsters start their own business and contributes millions each year to good causes. Moved by the plight of the refugees in Sudan, he has donated £7 million to the new Band Aid appeal. This was launched recently with the sale of a new CD of the original song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" performed by today's top pop groups and celebrities. The new CD has shot straight to #1 in the charts. The donation is the largest sum ever donated by a single person to Band Aid and the first time that Hunter's charitable foundation has given money to a destination outside of the UK.

Wildlife May Kill Wind Farm

Development of one of the UK's largest windfarm on the Isle of Lewis may not go ahead because environmentalists have argued that the 234 turbines, each 460 feet high, will be a threat to endangered species of birds such as the golden eagle, black-throated divers, dunlin, redshank and golden plover. While most of these birds nest away from the site of the proposed generators, there will have to be an extensive 105-mile road network criss-crossing the landscape. It is argued that this will cause irreparable damage to the environment. The windfarm could generate enough electricity to supply 6% of the UK's electricity requirements. But environmental groups say that the scheme would breach the Scottish Executive's legal duty to protect Scotland's natural heritage. The plans have been approved by Western Isles Council and are now with the Scottish Executive. If the project goes ahead, the Stornoway Trust estate (owned by the local community) would receive an annual rent of £650,000, with crofters on the estate entitled to a similar amount. The largest windfarm in the world is at Altamont Pass in the Tehachapi Mountains, east of San Francisco. It has 5,400 turbines which generate enough electricity to meet the residential needs of more than 500,000 Southern Californians (or nearly one million average Europeans who use far less electricity per person).

Comeback for Chimney Sweeps in Auld Reekie

The many coal fires in Edinburgh and the reeking smoke they created gave rise to the capital's nickname of "Auld Reekie". In the latter half of the 20th century, the coal fires gave way to centrally heated houses, removing the creation of soot and grime and the need for chimney sweeps. In recent years, however, open fires have been making a comeback and although smokeless fuel means there is not much need for traditional chimney sweeping, those still involved in the trade are being called on to unblock chimneys and reline them to make them useable again. There is a slowly growing number of people who want a cheerful coal fire and are willing to pay £1,000 to have a chimney relined - or much more than that if a new fireplace is involved.

Approval for Gaelic Secondary School

The former Woodside Secondary School in Glasgow's West End is to be the site of the first secondary school in Scotland to teach classes for children from age 3 to 18 exclusively in Gaelic. The Scottish Executive has allocated £2.75 million towards the £3.5 million cost of creating the school. At the moment, there are 34 secondary schools in Scotland which offer Gaelic language classes for pupils. The number of pupils in Gaelic education has risen from 2,661 in 2002/03 to 2,879 in 2003/04.

A Rail Bridge to Ireland?

It sounds a bit of an Irish one, but an engineering team in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has produced a " Vision of Transport in Ireland" booklet which tries to forecast what transport in Ireland (both north and south) will look like in 50 years time. As well as the expected construction of dual carriageway roads across the country, they have suggested a railway tunnel under the Irish Sea between Rosslare in Ireland and Pembrokeshire in Wales. They have also proposed an "optimistic vision" of a railway bridge linking Northern Ireland to Scotland across the North Channel, a distance of about 25 miles. None of the proposals to transform Ireland from being a peripheral island in Europe to having direct surface or undersea links to continental Europe have been costed - but the Channel Tunnel between England and France (31 miles at a cost of around £10 billion) is struggling to pay its way as result of the over-budget construction cost.

Price Increases Put Taxis Off the Road

In a classic piece of Toytown management, the increase in the cost of taxi fares went up this week as drivers went into their busiest time of the year. While the cabbies no doubt welcomed the increase of 3.25% to cover increased costs, particularly the higher fuel prices, it meant that all the taxi meters had to be altered to reflect the new fares. So there were long queues of taxis waiting to have the work done by officials - as passengers looked around for any taxis still on the streets.

Striker Gets Keys of Chairman's Aston Martin

This is another of those stories (like Scotland winning the elephant polo world championship last week) which should really be in the "Sports" section but is here because some readers might not page down to the latest news on Rangers and Celtic. This story is about a much less illustrious club, namely Third Division side Gretna, just over the border from England in Dumfries and Galloway. The club's millionaire chairman, Brooks Mileson, rather rashly promised the keys of his £150,000 Aston Martin for a week to any Gretna player who could score a hat-trick in the club's Scottish cup, second round tie against Elgin City last Saturday. Striker Kenny Deuchar scored two goals and had a hand in a third - which went on the score sheet as an "own goal" by an Elgin player after pressure from Deuchar. So the sporting chairman agreed to award the prize anyway and handed over the keys. Deuchar has scored 21 goals already this season and was named the Scottish league's player of the month for November after netting seven times.

Deep Fried Mars Bars "Not a Myth"

Like the Loch Ness Monster, apparently many people found it hard to accept that deep fried Mars bars really existed. Of course, some apologists tried to convince people that it was an urban myth and nobody in Scotland actually ate any of these cholesterol inducing concoctions. The idea of covering a Mars chocolate bar in fish batter and frying them in deep fat is certainly bizarre - and was mentioned on a recent edition of the US TV Tonight Show on NBC by Jay Leno. So a consultant in public health medicine in Glasgow has gone out to the wilds of Scotland's fried fish and chip shops to conduct some research and found that 22% of them proudly offered this Scottish-invented "delicacy". One shop reported selling 300 a week, with children as the main consumers. There are also requests for deep-fried Snickers bars and Cadbury's Creme Eggs. The origins are said to be a fast-food outlet in the northeastern Scottish fishing town of Stonehaven. Of course, Scotland's fish and chip shops have also introduced an element of Mediterranean cuisine - deep fried pizza is also popular. It is hardly surprising that Scotland has one of the worst records in the world for poor diet and a high incidence of heart disease.

Mutual Help

The Central Coast Scottish Society in Arroyo Grande, California has an enthusiastic shinty team which is hoping to travel to Scotland to play in a mini-series against clubs in the Highlands - where shinty is more popular than football. (Like hockey, shinty is played with sticks and a ball - the similarity ends after that). Of course, financial support on such occasions is paramount and Central Coast (who's chieftain modestly reckons, for some reason, that they should be called "Royal Scottish Society") have obtained sponsorship from the Glen Farclas Distillery who are providing T-shirts and shorts for the players. In turn, the members of the society are helping to support Glen Farclas Distillery - by imbibing large quantities of the company's product. Seems an equitable arrangement!

The Blue, Blue Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along

Perhaps it was because the robin is so associated with Christmas cards that TV and newspapers this week highlighted the story of a single blue-throated robin that had been spotted in the RSPB nature reserve at Loch of Strathbeg in Aberdeenshire. The bird usually inhabits the birch forests of Asia and Scandinavia and it is thought this was the first time that one of the species has spent the festive season in Britain. Of course, it helped that the RSPB warden had managed to obtain a brilliant picture (seen here) of the bird with its bright blue throat. Which was just as well, as TV crews and reporters who went to cover the story in Aberdeenshire returned empty-handed, having failed to spot the bird - but that's so typical of bird-watching. The bird is occasionally seen on the coast of Britain in the spring but this was the first time it had been spotted so early.

Capital of Cool

Glasgow often points to surveys which show that the city not only has trend-setting shops but also provides the opportunity for clubs and vibrant entertainment that suit the younger generation. So it was really no surprise to find online retailer Amazon reporting that an analysis of the sales of CDs around the country shows that the discerning buyers in Glasgow have put the debut album of a Las Vegas-based band "The Killers" at the top of their list for Christmas purchases. The CD has been given a Grammy nomination - but would definitely only please the "cool" generation. Of course, Robbie Williams is in the Glasgow top ten but so are trendier performers such as Snow Patrol (who are to perform in George Square on Hogmanay) and Gwen Stefani. On the other hand, Edinburgh customers go for more middle of the road CDs with the romantic ballads of Bridget Jones in 4th place and the veteran band U2 is top of their list. But many Glaswegians would be embarrassed to buy the latest in a long line of compilation CDs but "Now 59" is in third place in Edinburgh.

Betting on a White Christmas

As the temperatures dropped this week and the forecasters predicted snow for the north-east of Scotland this weekend, UK bookmakers experienced an increase in the number of gamblers betting on a white Christmas in Aberdeen this year. Less than a week ago the odds being offered were 4/1 against that at least one flake of snow would be recorded there on Christmas Day. That has now shortened to 2/1 while for Glasgow the bookmakers are offering 3/1. Of course, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, they experiences a white Christmas 83% of the time.

Weather in Scotland This Week

There was a mild start to the week with temperatures in the 9/10C (48/50F) and the thermometer even rose to 11/12C (52/54F) on Wednesday. The mild winds brought in heavy rain however with some areas being deluged with over two inches of rain in 24 hours; Glasgow had 1.3" of rain on Wednesday. Later in the week, the skies cleared but that meant much lower temperatures with most places recording around 5C (41F). That caused icy roads and brought snow to the hills. Blizzards in northern and eastern Scotland brought out snowploughs in the Inverness area to clear roads The outlook for the next few days is for sunshine but clear skies overnight will produce freezing temperatures - some areas may not get above freezing point on Sunday.

This week's illustrations of current flowers in Scotland shows first of all some daffodils flowering in Greenbank Garden, south of Glasgow. However, the flowers were growing inside a cool greenhouse, not outside where the bulbs are currently just poking through the earth.

This viburnum, also growing at Greenbank Garden, was growing outside. Despite some of the cold nights, this blossom had escaped the frost.

Finally, as an illustration of the sunshine and showers in the middle of this week, here is a picture of a rainbow above Mugdock Country Park to the north of Glasgow.

Take Part in Battle of Culloden

The £7 million redevelopment of the visitor centre at the site of the battlefield at Culloden will allow the public to experience the drama of the 1746 conflict in a "battlefield immersion area" with floor-to-ceiling screens. Visitors will be asked to assume one of several characters in the battle, including Ensign William Horne, a 14-year-old who carried a standard into the battle on the side of the government Redcoats or Ann Leith, a woman who cared for wounded Jacobites. Personal digital assistants will help the tourists to track their characters' fate. The designer of the new exhibition area is Ralph Applebaum Associates, a New York company which designed Bill Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas. The overall architect for the building is the award-winning Glasgow firm of Gareth Hoskin who created a new exhibition area at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. One of the aims of the new Culloden exhibition is to present information on the post-battle massacres and the ban on Highland dress, bagpipes and tartan. They will also show that the battle was not just Highlanders against Redcoats - many of the government forces were Scots who were as fearful of a return of the Catholic Stuarts to the throne as those in England.

Taymouth Castle Development Hanging in the Balance

A £70 million redevelopment of Taymouth Castle by Hotels International is hanging in the balance because approval of the plans has not been given by Historic Scotland. In August, Perth and Kinross Council approved the transformation of the 19th century castle and its 450 acre estate near Kenmore, into Scotland's first six-star hotel. The developers had discussed their plans with Historic Scotland for three years up to that point and had expected to see the development given the go-ahead by the end of this year, the technical deadline for their conditional offer for the property. Historic Scotland claim that the formal application did not reach them until November 10, three months after being signed off by Perth and Kinross Council. The government agency says it is still checking details because they were not provided with sufficient information about the impact of the development on the listed building.

Next Week in History

• December 20 1560 - First General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
• December 21 1846 - Robert Liston, who was born in Linlithgow in 1794, performed the first operation in a British hospital using anaesthetic (ether).
• December 21 1988 - Pan Am 747 blew up and crashed at Lockerbie, Dumfries, killing 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 Lockerbie residents.
• December 22 1715 - James Stuart, the Old Pretender, arrived at Peterhead. He stayed for only a few weeks.
• December 22 1930 - Author Neil Munro died in Helensburgh.
• December 22 2000 - Pop mega-star Madonna married movie-producer Guy Ritchie at Skibo Castle, putting Dornoch into the media spotlight.
• December 23 1831 - Major outbreak of cholera in Scotland.
• December 24 1165 - King William I (Lion) crowned at Scone.
• December 24 1650 - Edinburgh castle surrendered to Oliver Cromwell.
• December 24 1724 - General George Wade was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British army in Scotland after he had reported on the need for military roads in the country.
• December 24 1856 - Writer and geologist Hugh Miller died.
• December 25 1950 - Stone of Destiny removed from Westminster Abbey.

Love Returns in February

The annual "City of Love Festival" in Glasgow is to return for 13 days between 7th and 19th February. The festival is in its fourth year and is based on the flimsy excuse that a relic of St Valentine is held in the Blessed John Duns Scotus Church in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. More relevant, perhaps is that at a quiet time of year around 100 love-themed events generate some glamour and entertainment. Highlights will include bus tours of romantic spots in the city and a Burlesque theatre show. Special showings of romantic films will take place at the Glasgow Film Theatre. On February 15 at Oran Mor in the west end, the charity Sense Scotland will host its annual fashion show. The large Ferris Wheel (adorned with a glowing heart shape - see illustration) which has been a feature of the city's George Square in previous Love Festivals, is not appearing this year. It may be that the organisers recognise that February is not the best time of year to have an outdoor attraction in Glasgow - or that it was just too tacky.

Pantomime Crisis as Jack Falls from Beanstalk

The pantomime at Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre was threatened with closure and potential losses of £1 million when one of the veteran stars of the show, Wee Jimmy Krankie, was badly injured in an accident on stage. The beanstalk on which Krankie had been climbing collapsed, causing serious head injuries to the popular star and another performer on stage. The Krankies (played by husband and wife team Ian and Janette Tough) are now aged 57. Janette, who is only 4ft 5in tall, still plays the part of the "wee boy" Jimmy Krankie and fell ten feet onto the stage with the heavy beanstalk on top of her. Janette's husband, Ian Tough, has also withdrawn from the pantomime but in the best theatrical traditions of "the show must go on", three performers from the BBC Scotland TV soap "River City" will fill in at short notice from next week. But the telescopic beanstalk has been cut down to size and will be replaced by a rope-style prop which no-one will climb.

A Cracker of a Production

As a result of financial problems, the Scottish Ballet company has been through a bad patch in recent years. But they seem to be back with a Christmas cracker. Although using Tchaikovsky's music for "The Nutcraker", the latest production from Scottish ballet is based the original E. T. A. Hoffman's dark Gothic story (rather than the Alexander Dumas version used by the composer). While the production is far from the usual light and frothy story, the music critics (and, more importantly, the audience) thought it was magical and sparkling. The Nutcracker is being performed at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow until 31 December. It then goes on tour to Edinburgh (6-15 January), Inverness (19-22 January) and Belfast (1-5 February).

Police Pipe-Major Gets Musical Send-Off

Pipe-major James Wark 9seen here performing at the World Pipe Band Championships earlier this year) was given a musical send-off by a guard of honour of bagpipe playing colleagues this week as he retired from Strathclyde Police after 33 years' service. During his glittering career with the City of Glasgow and then the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, he composed many of the tunes played by the police pipe band, which won 12 world championships during his time with them.

Highland Gathering Cancelled

A star-studded New Year's Eve concert at the Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston on the edge of Edinburgh has had to be cancelled because of lack of ticket sales. The "Highland Gathering" was to have featured groups such as Supergrass, The Levellers and Razorlight in a marathon party lasting rom 8pm to 8am the following morning. The event was never part of the official Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations and had been criticised for its high ticket prices. Those who had bought tickets will be given refunds.

Insurance Threat to Borders Festivals

Scottish Borders Council is carrying out an urgent review of insurance arrangements for the annual Common Ridings and other festivals across the Borders. Riding the town boundaries is a colourful and historic ceremony which has taken place for centuries, but in the present climate of the legal claim culture, if anyone is injured at public events it is essential that proper liability cover is obtained. It is feared that this might mean considerable changes to the format and management of traditional events. This year’s Common Riding at Lauder in the Scottish Borders came close to being cancelled in the wake of an outstanding claims case involving a rider who had been injured during the 2003 event. Understandably, insurance companies are getting nervous at the potential claims in events where 250 horses parade down the main street of a Border town.

Sunday and Mid-Week Football Results

Dunfermline 0 Celtic 2

Bank of Scotland Premierleague Results - 18 December

Celtic 1 Dundee United 0
Dundee 1 Aberdeen 0
Hibernian 2 Dunfermline 1
Motherwell 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2
Kilmarnock v Rangers and Livingston v Hearts will be played on Sunday.

Scottish First Division Results - 18 December

Falkirk 4 Queen of the South 2
Partick Thistle 0 Hamilton 1
Raith Rovers 0 Airdrie United 2
Ross County 0 Clyde 1
St Johnstone 1 St Mirren 0

BT Scotland Rugby Division 1 Results - 18 December

Ayr 34 Currie 7
Watsonians 35 Gala 25
Glasgow Hutcheson's 14 Biggar 8
Heriots 18 Boroughmuir 19
Melrose 26 Hawick 10
Aberdeen v Glasgow hawks postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

League Tables

Although Celtic are 4 points ahead of Rangers at the top of the SPL, that lead could be reduced to one point if Rangers win on Sunday against Kilmarnock. Aberdeen are still in third place but Hibernian have been catching up with good results while Aberdeen have been faltering. Motherwell are in fourth place, but are now 4 points behind Hibs.

In the First Division, Falkirk are well out in front, 11 points ahead of Clyde. St Mirren are third, 14 points behind Clyde. Raith Rovers are still struggling at the foot of the division, 11 points adrift from Partick Thistle.

In the BT Scotland Rugby Division 1 Heriots are well out in front with 61 points despite losing on Saturday. However, Glasgow Hawks who are 6 points behind, have played two less games than the Edinburgh side. Gala remain fixed at the foot of the league, 12 points behind Watsonians.

....And Then There Were None

Two weeks ago, there were three Scottish teams competing in European football competitions. Then Celtic were knocked out of the European Champions League and failed to win a consolation place in the UEFA Cup. This week it was the turn of Rangers and Hearts to try to win through from the Group stage of the UEFA Cup but both teams fell at the final hurdle. Rangers seemed to have the easier position in that they "only" needed to draw with French side Auxerre to qualify. But they lost 2-0 at Ibrox. Rangers might still have gone through in third place but Austrian side Grazer AK beat the previously unbeaten group leaders AZ Alkmaar in their final game and pushed Rangers into fourth place - and out of the competition. Hearts were in a more difficult situation, having to not only win their own match against Ferencváros, but hope that Feyenoord, who had already qualified, would defeat Basle. In the end, neither came about as Hearts lost by 1-0 and Basle won their place in the next round with a 1-0 defeat of Feyenoord. So now Scottish fans will have no local teams in the two major European competitions in the new year. The lack of progress is not just bad news this year - Scotland will now slip down the UEFA rankings and will lose an automatic place in the group stage of the European Champions League.

Scottish Cup Draw

The next round of the Scottish Cup will see either Celtic or Rangers eliminated as the two top clubs face one another in one of the earlier rounds to be played on 8/9 January. Other senior clubs playing one another in the knock-out competition are Kilmarnock v Motherwell and Hibernian v Dundee. Aberdeen play near neighbours Arbroath and Partick Thistle face Heart of Midlothian.

St Mirren's Future Under Threat

The future of St Mirren Football Club is hanging in the balance and is dependent on the Paisley club getting planning permission from Renfrewshire Council approving the construction of a supermarket at the club's ground at Love Street and construction of a new stadium at Ferguslie Park. A decision is not expected until next Easter and the St Mirren chairman doubts if the club will survive if approval for the project is not obtained. The club is in debt to Bank of Scotland and the money from the deal is needed to repay that loan and create a new stadium.

Falkirk Fans on the Edge of Their 6,100 Seats

As Inverness Caledonian Thistle found last year, winning the First Division is the easy bit of winning promotion to the Scottish Premier League. Clubs have to be able to satisfy all the SPL criteria for an acceptable ground. At the end of the 2002-03 season, Falkirk won the First Division but could not move to the SPL as they did not have a suitable ground (and could not arrange a suitable ground-sharing agreement as Inverness later had to do). Now, although more than half the season is still to be completed, Falkirk have become favourites to win the First division. With the passage of two years since the disappointment in 2003, and with the SPL requirements now reduced (only 6,000 covered seats instead of 10,000) it might have been expected that by now Falkirk would have solved all the problems. However, a combination of financial shortfalls, an over-ambitious plan for office space and a centre of excellence training establishment (now abandoned) and an extension of the blast zone at the nearby Grangemouth oil refinery to encompass Falkirk's ground, have all contributed to multiple delays. The builders are hard at work now, but the project has to be completed by the end of March - and winter is a season when builders are often at the mercy of the weather. But the club is confident the target can be met. Then all that is required is that little matter of the team on the pitch winning the title.

Taking the Bull by the Horns

Formula 1 racing driver David Coulthard from Twynholm, Dumfries and Galloway, has signed a one-year contract with Red Bull Racing for the 2005 season. Red Bull, the Austrian drinks maker, took over Jaguar in November. 33-year-old Coulthard's contract with McLaren-Mercedes is not being renewed at the end of this season. He has been in the F-1 racing circuit for eleven seasons and has won 13 races in that time. While that is second only to world champion Michael Schumacher among currently active drivers, his last win was in Melbourne in the 2003 season.