Cartha could become victims of SRU procrastination

IN THE long-running saga of the cup match between Kirkcaldy and Boroughmuir, more than three months have elapsed since the tie was originally scheduled to be played.

The suggestion now is that Kirkcaldy have been thrown out and Boroughmuir will play Cartha Queens Park this Tuesday evening.

This begs a significant question. The Cartha Queens Park pitch has been frozen for many weeks in the same way as other pitches around the country, and there are currently several inches of frost in the ground. In particular, one part of the main pitch – the one with floodlights – receives no sunshine and therefore will take a long time to thaw.

The likelihood is that the pitch will be unplayable for some time to come, almost certainly this Tuesday. Will Cartha Queens Park be allowed three months to find a solution? I doubt it.

As usual, the Scottish Rugby Union competition committee has been sitting on its hands hoping that this problem will go away, and now finds itself in the position where it will move the goalposts at the expense of a club which has been an innocent bystander for the duration of this sorry tale.

ALAN R IRONS

Glasgow

Collins was first black manager in England, not Alexander

With due respect to the family of the late Keith Alexander of Macclesfield Town, he was not the first black manager in English football. That accolade goes to the remarkable Tony Collins, who, equally remarkably, managed to turn Rochdale – the club whose only claim to fame until then had been the worst record of any club in continuous Football League membership – into a team of winners, reaching the League Cup Final in 1962.

MARK BOYLE

Johnstone

Renfrewshire

Something needs to be done about shinty's decline

The news that only two people attended Kincraig Shinty Club's recent agm is a sad reflection of the sport. Other Scottish sports – golf, curling and rugby sevens – are international and have Olympic status, unlike shinty, which despite giving birth to ice hockey, has faced catastrophic decline on its home turf and does not get the support it deserves. Shinty is our invisible sport.

Shinty may be strongest in the Highlands now, but it was once played throughout Scotland, and even in northern England. We know this from kirk records from Glasgow, North Berwick and elsewhere, complaining about games on the Sabbath or in churchyards. Edinburgh and Glasgow changed over to field hockey in the late 19th century and shinty is now dying out in its supposed heartlands, it seems.

When politicians talk about Scottish culture and heritage, they mention our built heritage, or natural resources and beauty spots. They never mention shinty, which is as much a part of Scotland as these other things. Coverage in the national media is pitiful and no party has a specific shinty policy. This needs to change.

RAYMOND BELL

Gogarloch Haugh

Edinburgh