Scottish Sport/Scottish Umpire

[Burnie_man]

Looking to get stuck into my pre-1900 Junior research and have pretty much exhausted most newspapers and I believe these journals have good Junior coverage.

Which libraries hold them? what periods do they cover? and in what form are they held eg. microfilm, bound volumes etc etc.

Also, are there any other journals from this era that I should look at?

[honestman]

The Mitchell Library in Glasgow has the Scottish Referee(1888-1914), Scottish Sport(1888-1900) and the Scottish Umpire(1884-1888)

[Scottish]

National Newspaper Library in Colindale, North London, also has the above. Long time since I've been there but they were mainly original papers - much easier than microfiche.

National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh also has at least some of these.

There is also the Scottish Athletic Journal which IIRC stopped publishing around 1888.

Local papers are best for junior content and there were plenty around in the 19th century.

Also, don't overlook the obvious. Evening Times and other city papers which had Saturday editions. The Mitchell has a full set of ET but on microfiche.

[Cinneide]

I've been reading Scottish Sport for the late 1890s recently. It devoted a page (of tiny type so lots of content) to the juniors. It was rarely full match reports. It would rather be news and gossip - nice for filling in gaps between reports. Its taken around four times as long to complete a period of research in the Sport compared to the Record or Times.

At the Mitchell one of the papers, probably the Referee, was microfilmed as a negative, ie white type on a black background, that makes it almost impossible to read.

[Burnie_man]

The Mitchell Library in Glasgow has the Scottish Referee(1888-1914), Scottish Sport(1888-1900) and the Scottish Umpire(1884-1888)

Thanks for everyone's advice.

How easily accessible are the above at the Mitchell? particularly the Scottish Sport? are they microfilmed?

I found the NLS in Edinburgh to be frankly pretty unhelpful, maybe I've caught them on a couple of bad days, but they could never tell me what range of Saturday evening (sports) editions they held for the Edinburgh Evening News and the Dispatch. Also, there's a bit of a palava to go through the get bound volumes as they are held off site and they only let you get one or two at any one time.

Having never been to the Mitchell, I want to give them a try.

[Cinneide]

How easily accessible are the above at the Mitchell? particularly the Scottish Sport? are they microfilmed?

Yes, microfilmed. You'll get them on the 5th floor, although the staff occasionally forget that they are microfilmed, and tell you you can't see the bound volumes.

They don't have film readers on the 5th floor though - you'll need to go down to the 4th or 2nd floor.

[LLD]

Might be worth speaking to the Scottish Football Museum and asking them if they hold any copies.

[LEATHERSTOCKING]

The standard of the Mitchell`s microfilm is atrocious. I believe it was a student project about 30 years ago and was clearly carried out without any quality control whatsoever. It`s a scandal because most of the newspapers themselves are in such a state of disintigration now there is no chance of redoing the work. In the latter days of getting my hands on the volumes, I`d stand up a great heaps of pink & white "confetti" would fall on the floor. The "negative" filming ie. black background with white print is a hazard to eyesight & is virtually illegible. When I started going in to the Mitchell in the mid 70s, I was asking for so many volumes to be brought up I came to an agreement with the Glasgow Room staff that I got down into the bound volumes vault alone & spent many happy hours rummaging about all the while taking full advantage of the ash tray facilities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Burnie_man]

Might be worth speaking to the Scottish Football Museum and asking them if they hold any copies.

Never thought of that but may give them a try.

Also what's the procedure with the Mitchell, can you pre-book a microfilm reader? sounds like I'll need to get an eye test done before I go....

[Cinneide]

Also what's the procedure with the Mitchell, can you pre-book a microfilm reader? sounds like I'll need to get an eye test done before I go....

There are about 16/18 readers on level 2. You shouldn't have a problem getting a machine.

[Burnie_man]

Cheers.

I've dropped the SFM at Hampden an email to see if they have these publications.

[Burnie_man]

I've dropped the SFM at Hampden an email to see if they have these publications.

Well as per usual I have had no reply. I think I have emailed them on 3 or 4 occasions since the place opened and never had a response to an email yet. What's the point in having email addresses if nobody bothers their arse to reply? Very poor show.

[Insertnamehere]

I know what you mean. I did the tour and was speaking to one of the guys there. I had a couple of notebooks with me that he said they would be very interested in borrowing for their junior section, I emailed and as it seems with everyone else .................... no reply!

[Burnie_man]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that gets ignored

[Cinneide]

I was reading Scottish Sport for 1900 yesterday. In April it changed from a broadsheet format to a tabloid, with increased typeface and more pictures (usually of Rangers). Out went the gossipy news format, replaced by more in-depth features.

Prior to that change I could rely on at least 3 or 4 snippets about Partick Thistle in each issue. In the 3 months of new format there were 8 mentions (and that was for a period where Thistle won the 2nd Division and were elected to the 1st Division). Very disappointing.