Whatever our football loyalties, it was a whole-nation event to see Rangers playing in the Europa League final in Seville on Thursday night. But oh, what a cruel twist of fate it was to lose, on penalties, to Eintracht Frankfurt. It’s enough to prompt another outbreak of the old Scottish self-doubt that often haunts us.
No matter how hard the Rangers team tried, and the 100,000 supporters in Savile cheered, it wasn’t enough to persuade the god of luck to give us the victory. And Rangers did try, playing 17 games to reach the final, hanging on to a 1:1 draw till the end of extra time, and even making attempts on goal in the dying minutes. I always dread penalty shoot-outs, my heart goes out to the poor goalkeepers and to players who miss – and I won’t name him. I would prefer that the teams play on after extra time, until one of them scores the next goal, which is the decider.
I find it astonishing that 100,000 Rangers fans made the pilgrimage to Spain to watch the match, either in the stadium itself or on big screens in a nearby stadium or in the streets of Seville. 50,000 Frankfurt fans also descended on the city. This at a time when Europe is facing a “cost of living” crisis and a war with Russia. Not to mention the pandemic and the climate emergency which were supposed to limit air travel to essential journeys only. Somehow football transcends all this. Such journeys are spiritual journeys, proper pilgrimages. They help us cope with the troubles of the times.
We learnt this week that inflation is now running at 9 per cent, the highest rate for 40 years. The Bank of England is warning of “apocalyptic” rises in food prices later this year as the cost of fuel and fertiliser soar and the effects of the war in the “bread basket of Europe” come through. The SNP have joined the chorus calling for a windfall tax on energy companies to pay for special help for the poor.
Then there are curious things happening in the labour market. Unemployment has fallen in Scotland to just 3.2 per cent. The explanation seems to be that a lot of older men have given up looking for jobs and not that people are desperate to take work of any sort to help pay higher household bills. In any case, wages remain low, despite low unemployment. Teachers have been offered a rise of just 2 per cent. Railway workers have been offered the same and that’s now led to industrial action by the unions.
On Thursday, ScotRail announced that due to an overtime ban by train drivers, services are being cut by a third. There won’t be many trains running after 8pm for the next few weeks. The service between Edinburgh and Glasgow is being reduced to half-hourly and the last train will be at 10.15pm. It’s embarrassing for The Scottish Government which nationalised Scot Rail just a few weeks ago. When challenged at first minister’s questions, Nicola Sturgeon said it was up to ScotRail and the unions to reach a pay settlement. And she reassured us that more drivers are being recruited and trained.
Following the local council elections, earlier this month, negotiations have been taking place between the parties in each of the 32 districts. The SNP is the largest party in 21 of the districts and they’ve been seeking partners to form joint administrations. In Dundee, they have enough councillors to rule outright. In Inverness they’ve teamed up with Independents, in Aberdeen with the Liberal Democrats and in Glasgow they’ve been joined by the Greens. It looks like the same thing will happen in Edinburgh.
When Scotland has lost 24 per cent of its wildlife in the last 30 years, it’s heartening to hear the news this week that the re-introduction of the Scottish wild cat is getting under way. The first kittens destined for release have been born at the Highland Wildlife Park on Speyside. The six tiger-striped kittens will be kept well away from human contact for the next year before joining the 35 wild cats thought to be left in Scotland. More releases will follow to try to re-establish a stable population which has gradually declined due to interbreeding with domestic cats and encroachment by humans on their territories.
Finally, back to football. Rangers had another chance at glory on Saturday when they play in The Scottish Cup Final at Hampden against Hearts. It seemed only natural justice that they should win the Cup, since Celtic have won the League. They are, after all, the two giants of Scottish football. But the god of luck may have different ideas. I was glad it didn’t end in a penalty shoot-out and more tears. although Hearts fans have a different view of course.
