Nostalgia ain't wot it used to be.....

I'm not into nostalgia: just because something happened 50 years ago doesn't mean it was any good. But one area that's changed for the worse is - yes - you heard it here first: football!

A boy at my school on the southside of Glasgow was signed by Rangers at age 17. He spent 4 years at Ibrox and never made it to the first team. But he did get sent to college and qualified as a CA and went on to have a pretty successful business career. I dare say for every star footballer that was spotted by the Rangers scouts, another dozen boys were signed every year - and had the same great future guaranteed.

I grew up in Copland Road - at the other end from where the stadium was. On home Saturdays, huge crowds of guys walked down the street to get the bus or tram in Govan Road. As they passed, us weans would shout: 'Mister, did yer team win?' If it did, we quite often got pennies from the passing fans. Try doing that now and watch how fast Social Work are on to you! But my point is: the fans were mostly local guys supporting the local team. And they were mainly working men. And they were faithful.

Then the community link was lost: players were bought rather than scouted and tickets prices shot up to pay wages and transfer fees. Fans then had to be pretty well-off or paid for by corporate sponsors. Wee boys didn't get the chance to be lifted over the turnstiles so they could grow up watching Rangers with their dads and brothers.

Maybe now the owners of newco Rangers can accept the blindingly bleedin' obvious: they can't play with the big boys in Europe. That kind of money doesn't exist in Scotland. But they can sign local boys and build up a team to be proud of.

Of course, the football bubble had to burst: I believe transfer fees have dropped about 50% across Europe in the last three years and silly wages are less likely to be paid now. But I'm sorry it was Rangers that got caught out first. I'm not interested in football, but I am interested in the community Ibrox Stadium sits in - it needs the jobs and business - not to mention the sense of pride - football brings with it.