I need to correct both myself and something in this morning's press.
I said in 'ROAR' that the 4,682 for the Dundee v Kilmarnock League Cup semi-final in December was a 20th century record low "for a major cup semi-final." It wasn't. But it was the record HAMPDEN low.
Stephen Halliday, in today's Scotsman, says the 4,360 for Livingston v Dunfermline last night was "The lowest crowd on record for a semi-final in the 60-year-old tournament."
It isn't. But it is the lowest for a ONE-OFF semi-final and also the lowest for a tie between two top flight sides.
The all-time record low however was set on Oct 9th 1984 in the second leg of the semi-final between Meadowbank Thistle and Rangers at Tynecastle when just 3,451 were present.
Livvy-Pars NOT the lowest League Cup semi-final crowd
Both the Herald and the Record make the same claim about it being the lowest ever. As I said above it looks like everyone got this wrong. In my defence I'll point out that I don't have the resources of a national newspaper behind me for fact-checking.
However the Scotsman and the Record made mistakes that are easy for anyone to make - the Herald's is a whopper. The replay crowd for the game they refer to was 9,265 - low but nowhere near the lowest. I was at both of those Killie semis, in 1973 and the 1997 replay. The first one was so low because it was during the three-day week and had already been postponed twice. Fans had already set out for Glasgow before being turned back. The second was, I think, televised live - certainly the first match, a 0-0 draw, was - and the SFA turned down Kilmarnock's request to move it to Glasgow.
The Herald are getting really sloppy of late. In his diary today Graham 'Britney' Spiers talks about the old TV series 'Civilisation' and says it was presented by Kenneth BAKER. Where he dragged that from I have no idea. The series was presented by Kenneth CLARK.
Baker was the oily-haired, Cheshire-cat grinning Education Minister in the late 1980s, best known for the introduction of the national curriculum and 'Baker Days' - in-service teacher training
Clark was the father of controversial politician Alan Clark and his name is similar to that of yet another Tory minister, Kenneth Clarke with an E
However, anyone who had ever watched a single episode of 'Civilisation' would be aware of the difference. It was a poor attempt by Britney to take a cheap shot at Tam Cowan.
While I'm on the subject the Herald's withdrawal of its online sports pages on a Monday is a disgrace. The paper never puts its Saturday edition online so readers outwith Scotland have to go from Friday to Tuesday without being able to read this so-called 'quality' paper - oddly enough the weekend is the time when most fitba fans WANT to read a paper.
They claim this is 'temporary' but that's about a month now that their Monday sports magazine has been unavailable. The only good side is that we are also unable to access their 'star' columnist Donald Findlay!
I thought when they dropped the 'Glasgow' from their masthead they were trying to be less parochial.
Evidently not.
However the Scotsman and the Record made mistakes that are easy for anyone to make - the Herald's is a whopper. The replay crowd for the game they refer to was 9,265 - low but nowhere near the lowest. I was at both of those Killie semis, in 1973 and the 1997 replay. The first one was so low because it was during the three-day week and had already been postponed twice. Fans had already set out for Glasgow before being turned back. The second was, I think, televised live - certainly the first match, a 0-0 draw, was - and the SFA turned down Kilmarnock's request to move it to Glasgow.
The Herald are getting really sloppy of late. In his diary today Graham 'Britney' Spiers talks about the old TV series 'Civilisation' and says it was presented by Kenneth BAKER. Where he dragged that from I have no idea. The series was presented by Kenneth CLARK.
Baker was the oily-haired, Cheshire-cat grinning Education Minister in the late 1980s, best known for the introduction of the national curriculum and 'Baker Days' - in-service teacher training
Clark was the father of controversial politician Alan Clark and his name is similar to that of yet another Tory minister, Kenneth Clarke with an E
However, anyone who had ever watched a single episode of 'Civilisation' would be aware of the difference. It was a poor attempt by Britney to take a cheap shot at Tam Cowan.
While I'm on the subject the Herald's withdrawal of its online sports pages on a Monday is a disgrace. The paper never puts its Saturday edition online so readers outwith Scotland have to go from Friday to Tuesday without being able to read this so-called 'quality' paper - oddly enough the weekend is the time when most fitba fans WANT to read a paper.
They claim this is 'temporary' but that's about a month now that their Monday sports magazine has been unavailable. The only good side is that we are also unable to access their 'star' columnist Donald Findlay!
I thought when they dropped the 'Glasgow' from their masthead they were trying to be less parochial.
Evidently not.
Yes, I've seen that figure quoted as well and I'm sure that's why the Record and the Scotsman thought the record being broken was Dundee-Killie.
But having seen the figures when researching "ROAR of the Crowd" i can vouch for the figure of 3,451. That figure also appeared in print in, I think, - and I'm dragging this up from memory here, please correct me if it's inaccurate - an updated version of Kevin McCarra's 'Pictorial History of Scottish Football' which had crowd figures as an appendix.
But absolutely no excuse for the Herald's howler.
But having seen the figures when researching "ROAR of the Crowd" i can vouch for the figure of 3,451. That figure also appeared in print in, I think, - and I'm dragging this up from memory here, please correct me if it's inaccurate - an updated version of Kevin McCarra's 'Pictorial History of Scottish Football' which had crowd figures as an appendix.
But absolutely no excuse for the Herald's howler.
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