Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2026
I start by observing that the importance of football can sometimes be overstated. I imagine that most of us will be aware of Bill Shankly’s age-old maxim about football being much more important than life and death. I think that that is somewhat overstating it, but nor should we understate the importance of our national pastime. That was never underlined more than by the delirium with which the men’s team’s qualification for this year’s world cup was met last year, when an earthquake began, literally, as a result of fans celebrating at Hampden park.
If I could give one piece of advice to those of a younger vintage than me, I would say that they should not do what I did when I was 19—I did not think to bother to go to the world cup for which we had qualified because I thought that Scotland’s failure to qualify in 1994 was an aberration and the norm was regular qualification. If people have the means—of course, there has been significant debate about the cost—I would urge them to try to see Scotland in the flesh.
I intend to speak largely from a constituency perspective, as I expect many members will. However, I will indulge myself a little at the outset of my contribution by focusing on my club. Unlike George Adam, I do not support a club that is based in my constituency, so I cannot combine the two things, but my first, and most enduring, love has been Partick Thistle Football Club. I am not alone in this institution in having such an affliction—Michael Matheson, Bill Kidd and Ivan McKee share that particular perspective, along with previous colleagues such as Bill Butler, Patricia Ferguson and, indeed, Bill Aitken, who, as some members might remember, was a youth player at Partick Thistle as well as a fan.
We have had our ups and downs—losing on penalties to Inverness Caledonian Thistle last night in the league challenge cup was a particular down. Nevertheless, given that this is George Adam’s debate, I want to reflect on a particular high on 13 April 2002, when Partick Thistle won 2-0 at Love Street to secure promotion to the premier league. I know that Mr Adam will appreciate my recognising that.
I could expound much more on my team, but I will leave it at that. It is very important to me personally in relation to the friendships that I have and being able to take my children to watch the team. This year is, in fact, the club’s 150th anniversary, which I think should be recognised in the Parliament.
I turn to my constituency, where there is an abundance of youth and amateur clubs. There are too many to mention individually, but I place on the record my thanks to them for the recreational opportunities that they provide to people in my area.
I will focus on the four clubs that are in the Scottish football pyramid, starting with Cumbernauld Colts Football Club, which was formed in 1969 and has more than 500 players involved across a range of ages. It has had a senior team in the Scottish lowland league since 2015. Colleagues might be aware that Jackie McNamara, Derek Whyte and—this one is for George Adam—Dougie Bell all began their careers there. Cumbernauld Colts is a really important organisation and football club that provides opportunities to young people in particular, but it also does a lot in the community by taking in food bank collections, working with Network Rail to promote safety to the young people who play for the team, and co-operating with Scottish Gas to put in place school holiday football activities.
I also want to highlight Cumbernauld United Football Club, which was formed in 1964 and has been a long-term fixture in junior football. [Interruption.] I can hear Gordon MacDonald behind me agreeing—I think that I recall him telling me once that, as a young man, he sold pools coupons to raise funds for Cumbernauld United, so let us place that on the record, too.
Cumbernauld United is present in the first division of the west of Scotland football league, and I wish the team well as they seek to gain promotion to the premier division of that league. The team’s most famous player is, of course, Kenny Dalglish, who began his career there on loan from Celtic.
Both Cumbernauld Colts and Cumbernauld United have growing women’s teams. Last year, Cumbernauld United won the regional league plate and Cumbernauld Colts got to the final of the regional league cup. It is great to see that they are growing. The clubs also compete annually in the Cumbernauld cup, raising money for local charities.
I see that the light on my microphone is flashing, Deputy Presiding Officer, so my time is nearly up. If you will indulge me for a moment—otherwise I will get into trouble–I will quickly mention Kilsyth Rangers, formed in 1913 and the Scottish junior cup winners in 1955 and 1967, and Kilsyth Athletic, formed in 1999 with a focus on youth football. The latter also has a team in the west of Scotland football league that, until recently, had the youngest manager in the entire Scottish football pyramid before he moved to Falkirk Football Club.
I thank all those teams, and I thank you for indulging me, Deputy Presiding Officer, because if I had mentioned only the Cumbernauld clubs and not the Kilsyth clubs, I would have been in trouble.