The Good, The Bad, The WTF

Nightmare fuel

The time has come. With so many teams choosing dodgy shirts again and again, eventually I would have to make it back to a team for a second time. Ideally, I would have left Celtic alone until I had exhausted other possibilities, but when this shirt showed up on the ebays, I had to plow ahead. Come inside and feast your eyes on the avalanche of wonder that is the Peoples Ford Celtic shirt.


This beauty comes from the 1991-92 season. Oddly, the club decided against bringing it back for a second go round. Looking at the shirt, it's not hard to understand why. I don't know what is most aesthetically annoying--the (at least) four different greens used on the shirt, the fact that the jagged, mountain-skyline-like lines don't match up, or the fact that "peoples ford" really needs an apostrophe. Any way you choose, it's an appalling shirt.

Which brings me to the ebays. Someone does want to buy this shirt, as there is one bid at the minimum $4.99. If you want to do the same, go here. If you want to stay away, I understand. Even a man who is willing to wear this shirt can tell that this thing an eyesore beyond belief. Besides, it's Celtic, and Old Firm fans are twats. It says so right in the tags below.

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Gretna: Not dead yet

But not for lack of others' trying. On Sunday, the same day that Arsenal's chances of winning the EPL went in the shitter, Gretna's chances of staying alive took a not insignificant hit as well. As we have covered here before, Gretna was looking forward to this past Sunday as the day Celtic came to town, or as close to town as Gretna is allowed to play. The tie was meant to fill the cash-strapped clubs coffers, and help them pay off back wages owed to the team as well as finally getting enough money to survive to the close season. Well, it didn't quite happen that way, and the reason why is quite curious.

You stay classy, Celtic fans

It seems that the police force in charge of safety at Gretna's new home, Almondvale in Livingston, felt that the idea of selling tickets to fans who showed up on game day was too much to handle, so they forbade it. The result was that only tickets that had been sold to support before game day would be allowed. People were turned away at the gate, and the 10,000 seat stadium had only 3500 people who were allowed in. Mick Wadsworth, caretaker manager of the dying team, opined the following

I don't know if I am a silly old sod, but there are so many things in life nowadays when you ask yourself: "Where is the common sense?" If there is a pay-on-the-day gate, are they expecting the Khmer Rouge to come through it with Kalashnikovs or football supporters? It's just beyond belief.

I can't say that he is wrong.

In the end, Gretna did not get the payday they were looking for, and may have reneged on pay promises to players. Further, Gretna is in such bad financial shape that they have had to cut an injured Uruguayan because they cannot pay for his rehabilitation. I do not profess to know how labor disputes are handled in Scotland, but I can foresee that this will probably be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Yantorno should probably get that started before the team vanishes into thin air.

As for the game itself, Celtic won 3-0, but I don't think that results really matter in this story anymore.

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