It’s Sunday evening and we’re all probably a little stuffed after overindulging on Easter eggs! Also this week, some of you may have been visiting Pure Fitbaw for the very first time. Things are really starting to ramp up for this brand new Scottish football website, and you’re all welcome to come along with us as we bring you content from throughout the leagues.
Watch out for this column every Sunday evening for a quick recap of articles published the previous week ICYMI. We’ll also look ahead to what’s on the menu for the coming week at Pure Fitbaw and beyond.
It was all about Scotland last weekend as Alex McLeish began his second spell in the national team hotseat. Owen James Brown brought us two pieces, beginning with ‘Tartan Spotlight – McBurning Up’. The Tartan Spotlight will be a recurring theme, and for its first outing focused on Oli McBurnie, who won his maiden cap against Costa Rica. From the same author, ‘Young, Scottish and off the McLeish’ provided an in-depth look at some of the controversies surrounding McLeish’s appointment and his first squad selection.
There was a cup final in Scotland last week – The Irn-Bru Challenge Cup, featuring a Dumbarton side appearing in the first cup final in its history. For most Sons fans, this was about so much more than just the trophy. The brilliantly named PenguinScrollerBlog, aka Rachel Henderson, was there and sent us a wonderfully emotive cup final diary that should strike a chord with any football fan.
Showing we won’t shy away from the big issues here at Pure Fitbaw, Paige Beresford’s important work on Gender Inequality in Sports Journalism painted a rather bleak statistical picture for women in the industry. However, it also reaffirmed Pure Fitbaw’s commitment to sharing a diverse mix of views on the Scottish game.
We also kicked off a ‘Behind the Scenes’ series, where Pure Fitbaw was given an exclusive peek at Partick Thistle’s commercial operations through an interview with the club’s Commercial Manager Ross Quaile. If you haven’t yet read it, please do so, and you’ve still got time to enter our prize draw for an exclusive prize package that includes two match tickets for Thistle’s next home match, a signed Jags shirt and signed ball. Not bad for the cost of a follow and RT on Pure Fitbaw’s twitter feed!
Last, but by no means least, Scott Rawlings was our roving reporter and took in Saturday’s League Two clash between Cowdenbeath and Stenhousemuir at Central Park. There will be more to come from the Warriors, as Scott will be looking at Stenny’s season so far and their play-off chances with just a handful of matches remaining.
We have a busy week coming up, as there will also be content from Aaron Connolly, who was recently featured in the Sunday Mail talking about his personal mental health battles and how football played a huge role in his recovery.
We’ll also be asking what’s next for Ryans Gauld and Christie. Portuguese football expert Jamie Farr gives us his thoughts on the man dubbed the ‘mini-Messi’ and his continuing trials and tribulations in the Primeira Liga. Paige Beresford will examine Ryan Christie’s prospects as he comes to the end of his loan spell with Aberdeen. Will the ex-Inverness Caley winger be able to force his way into Brendan Rodgers’ plans for next season when he returns to parent club Celtic?
Speaking of the Old Firm, Moussa Dembele and Alfredo Morelos have attracted plenty of press after explosive starts to their careers in Scotland. Both have at times set the league alight with their goalscoring exploits, but there have also been injury problems and losses of form to contend with. Either way, the two 21-year-olds remain their clubs’ most saleable assets and are sure to attract intense transfer speculation once again in the summer. Owen Brown will be looking at some potential replacements should either of the pair be lured away in multi-million pound deals.
Next Friday sees the begininning of New York City’s annual Tartan Week. What better excuse could there be to look at some footballing links between Scotland and the Big Apple?
In this week’s live action, there are rearranged matches in the Premiership, Championship and League Two on Tuesday, while Celtic host Dundee on Wednesday.
Scotland’s women have a crucial World Cup qualifying match against Switzerland, live on BBC Alba on Thursday at 6pm.
These are just a few of the things that have caught our eye for the coming week, so stay with us at Pure Fitbaw as we bring you closer to the action!
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