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Flight of fancy
By Daniel Gray

A Fitbatweets story
The football gods

Nutmeg exclusive
‘The game in Scotland is integral to what Scottish society is about’
Despite frequent criticism, and well aware of the disdain some football supporters hold for him, SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster remains a determined advocate of the Scottish game.
By  Stephen McGowan

The Nutmeg Interview
Big Dunc unleashed
From his infamous “Duncan Disorderly” days to his evolution into a devoted family man and ambitious manager, Duncan Ferguson bares all in his candid new memoir. Here, he talks to Nutmeg about the journey behind the book.
By Teddy Jamieson

A season with Ayr United: Part 4
Ayr of Rebirth Persists Despite Setbacks
Their title challenge may have collapsed in the spring, but a low-key end to the regular Championship season allows Ayr to reflect on just how far they’ve come. As our season behind the scenes with the Honest Men ends, it is time to ponder what the future holds for a club in perpetual motion.
By Scott Fleming

Football focus: League of Ireland
The look of the Irish
Viewed from over the water, football in the Republic of Ireland appears to be thriving. On the field, relative success in European competition suggests sporting progression.

The Supporters: Phoenix rising
My team Shelbourne and our wonderful, recently-saved Tolka Park home are part of a flourishing terrace scene. The matchday experience has attracted converts from Scotland and beyond.
By Barry Crossan

The Players: Young stars stay at home to light up the league
Brexit has ended the exodus of young players to Scottish and English clubs. But while the domestic game is buzzing, concerns about the longer-term outlook remain.
By Daniel McDonnell

The numbers: Turning the tables?
The financial picture in the League of Ireland is changing, and with it the game itself. Now is an interesting time to crunch numbers and make comparisons with a country of similar population size – Scotland.
By Nick Harris

In praise of Paddy
Beyond his incomparable journalistic prowess and those dulcet tones, Patrick Barclay was Dundee FC’s greatest advocate. And, he was a wonderful friend.
By Alan Pattullo

History carved in stone, bronze and steel
The sculptors behind football’s most revered statues reveal the craft and pressures of preserving sporting legacy in bronze and steel – shaping not just likenesses, but the soul of a club’s history.
By Sean Cole

The Slow Match Report
Glasgow Basques in the evening sunshine
April saw Athletic Club travel to face Rangers in a Europa Cup quarter-final first leg. From their fans’ colourful march through town to Ibrox’s electric atmosphere, it made for a vibrant occasion.
By Daniel Gray

The Players
Have boots, will travel
He has played for 11 different clubs, clocked over 700 games and never stopped running despite some gruesome setbacks. Alan Trouten reflects on a career that has spanned Scottish football like few others.
By Andy Ross

From Shielfield to the Stratford spotlight
How Andy Irving’s quiet graft and continental detours earned him Premier League recognition, and the hearts of Hammers fans.
By Danny Lewis

Sew Watt
With one eye on his post-footballing life, my old teammate Tony Watt has started a sportswear brand. Gone are relaxing Sundays as he enters a new world of taking orders and customising socks.
By Liam Grimshaw

An Addick by choice
Following successful stints at Rangers, Dunfermline and Charlton Athletic, injury ended his playing career. Now managing in the East of Scotland League, Greg Shields looks back at a career that has taken him full circle
By Declan Warrington

The Fans
Platform of dreams
The comings and goings of fans on their way to a game by train offer a mesmerising and ritualistic spectacle.
By Andrew Christie

Chasing rainbows
As a Partick Thistle fan, celebrations are rare. But after another season of highs and lows I realised football is not about the outcome – it’s about the moments that make the suffering worthwhile.
By Kenny Pieper

Accidental follower of football
Growing up, I rejected everything to do with the national game. Now I am a secret obsessive.
By Abby Millan

Pride in place
Online hate has exposed an uncomfortable truth – homophobia still exists in the men’s game. But across Scotland, supporters groups are fighting for their place in the stands, finding strength and community along the way.
By Patricia-Ann Young

Galactica Weir shows her down-to-earth side
A new SFA film charts the remarkable story of the Real Madrid superstar from her back garden in Dunfermline to the splendour of the Bernabéu.
By Ginny Clarke

Keeping receipts
Why do traditionally working-class pastimes like attending football matches continue to provoke outsized outrage in political expenses scandals – while far costlier indulgences pass with a shrug?
By Gordon Cairns

Football in the community
Finding victory in unity
Driven by word of mouth and founded on the belief that football is for everyone, the John Sutton Community Club welcomes all ages and abilities – a place where compassion and togetherness matter more than scorelines.
By Tom Brogan

Welfare check
Whitehill boss Jack Lynch was a talented young footballer who was banned from Easter Road at the same time as playing for Hibs U18s. These days he uses his compassionate side to support players off the pitch alongside club chaplain John McPake.
By Richard Purden

A view from the sweatbox
I first played the game on gravel then grass, but my true love was always school gym halls – where football stayed
By  Martin Greig

First voice of the fans
Research for a new exhibition led to an incredible discovery – that the earliest football fanzine was created by a Celtic supporter from Edinburgh, two decades before the zine movement thrived.
By Peter Slater

Between the sheets
Lockdown perusing of old football programmes led Hibs fan Graeme Brown to create the most unlikely of creative vehicles: a positive, cheerful Twitter account. Its retro content and obscure birthday wishes have spread the joy.
By Michael Gallagher

How Scottish clubs dived into Pools of cash
In pre-lottery days several clubs set up their own score prediction games, with Tannadice and Ibrox among the stadiums to be redeveloped largely from the proceeds.
By Kevin McAllion

How Gillie’s son played his own game
Ian Gilzean never felt the weight of his father’s legend at either Spurs or Dundee. He looks back with pride at his own career, and at his dad’s astonishing feats.
By Craig Millar

Broxburn Athletic’s ill-fated fling with Port Vale
In the mid-1960s the West Lothian club agreed to be a nursery for the Potteries outfit, with England legend Sir Stanley Matthews involved. The deal proved to be almost ruinous.
By David Allan

A Frank discussion
My route to supporting one side of the Old Firm was unusual. Now, I’m grateful for the late uncle who taught me to love the game.
By David Ferguson

From Russia with love?
I agreed to front a podcast on Vladimir Romanov’s time at Hearts – and spent a year chasing a wanted man who may or may not live in a submarine and who still refuses any blame.
By Martin Geissler

Scot who put Bayern on the map a century ago
Five decades before the Munich giants started winning for fun, James Quar McPherson, from Kilmarnock, helped lay the foundations..
By Colin McPherson

From Thistle to Fern
Just over 90 years ago, a tournament in New Zealand became a vibrant celebration of Scottish immigration and marked the distinct Caledonian influence on Kiwi football.
By Craig Stephen

Four at the back
1. From the Chairman to the Tea Lady…
Brian Johnson, owner of The Football Programme Shop on Albion Road, Edinburgh and online programme dealer.
2. By the way…
Buying my baby daughter a Dundee United top she won’t wear for 18 years felt like a gamble – until I realised it was really a bet on hope.
By Liam Kirkaldy
3. Record appearances
Supernaturals B-side that was inspired by terrace times in Dumbarton..
By David Pollock
4. Poetry
Changing rooms. By Donna Matthew
An essential diversion. By Aengus O’Dagda
Whatever happened to the foul shy? By Ian Spring