Book reviews

The Billy Abercromby Story
by Billy Abercromby with Fraser Kirkwood
Macdonald Media, £9.99
Reviewed by Archie MacGregor
From WSC 273 November 2009 

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Many would contend that if football is Scotland’s national game then the favourite pastime of those playing it is most surely drinking. There’s certainly a longstanding tradition of romanticising, and even celebrating, the alcohol-fuelled deeds that so many of Scotland’s leading players have presented us with over the years – from an inebriate Jimmy Johnstone floating helplessly down the Firth of Clyde in a rowing boat on the eve of the 1974 World Cup to the recent escapades of Allan McGregor and Barry Ferguson. Yet all this larking about all too often comes at a cost. Be it a truncated career, or worse, in the tragic cases of the likes of Jim Baxter, a truncated life.

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Paul Joyce reflects on the tragic death of German goalkeeper Robert Enke and examines football's poor record when it comes to helping players with mental illness

Unlike many of today's players, people felt like they genuinely knew Robert Enke. An ambassador for children's heart charities and anti-fur campaigns, the German national goalkeeper embodied a new generation who rejected the combative machismo of Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann in favour of an unspectacular integrity. Yet it turned out that no one knew Robert Enke at all, not even his Hannover 96 team-mates. "You learn over time how to trick the media," he once said, tellingly. "You talk a lot, but say nothing."

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With their big-spending years over and Champions League place under threat, Rangers' future looks grim, says Neil Forsyth

Well at least we now know what was behind Rangers’ most recent insistence that they will soon leave the SPL behind, seeking greater riches in England or the ludicrous proposition of an Atlantic League (a strange set-up involving clubs from “second tier” nations such as Portugal and the Netherlands). No sooner had any observers still paying attention wearily worked through statements such as Rangers chief executive Martin Bain’s declaration that Rangers would be out of Scottish football “within ten years”, then the real motivation for this latest attempt to escape to a bigger TV deal became clear.

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Rangers and Celtic have once again hinted that they could leave the SPL. Keith Davidson thinks it might be for the best

This autumn, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell and Rangers equivalent Martin Bain once again raised the issue of their clubs quitting Scottish football for more financially lush pastures – England or a North Atlantic League involving sides from the Netherlands and elsewhere.

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Ashley Timms found himself jailed for attempting to blackmail a Premier League footballer. But as Mike Whalley reports, his attempts to rebuild his career are not running smoothly

When you’re trying to rebuild your career after a spell in prison, the last thing you need is to fall out with your boss after barely a month. But Ashley Timms isn’t very good at steering clear of trouble. In September last year, the former Man City youth-team keeper was jailed after admitting that he tried to blackmail an unnamed Premier League footballer over a mobile phone sex video.

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