Staying at Hamilton stadium 'could have finished Accies'
Buying New Douglas Park instead of moving to Cumbernauld next season could "almost certainly have finished" Hamilton Academical, chairman Jock Brown has claimed.The Scottish Championship club have been relegated after receiving a 15-point penalty for various breaches of Scottish Professional Football League, including giving incorrect information to the governing body about stadium ownership.Accies subsequently announced that they would be moving to Broadwood Stadium next season after deciding to stop renting their current ground from a company controlled by Colin McGowan, one of the club's former owners."It became impossible to stay at New Douglas Park and there is no other location at the moment available in the town which could house the club at this time," Brown told his club website.
"We tried for many months to purchase the company which owns the stadium, which was the seller's preferred method of completing the transaction. The funds were in place, but the seller refused to provide all the normal information about the company – a standard, required procedure."Brown said Accies would have had to "buy the company without knowing what liabilities it had" and with no redress if there were any."That would have been irresponsible in the extreme and would almost certainly have finished the club," he said. Brown disputed a claim made by the seller that the club owed him rent in excess of £500,000, saying they owe "absolutely nothing" and that the terms of a two-year rent-free lease were "unacceptable".League 2 club Clyde will continue to rent New Douglas Park while looking for a permanent home in Glasgow as Accies say they are looking for a new arena site in their home town.Brown recognised that moving to Clyde's former stadium in Cumbernauld would "affect our home support".However, he also stated that the experience of being tenants for the last two years were "totally unsatisfactory for the club in respect of players' facilities, hospitality, catering, cost, and general management of the stadium". Meanwhile, Brown promised to clarify soon what the future holds for their youth academy.
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Homeowners warned over green energy scammers
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'Unfair trading practices' Fiona Richardson of Trading Standards Scotland added: "Scams, mis-selling and rogue trading continues to damage trust in the green home heating market."If consumers are to play their part in the transition to net zero, they must be protected from unfair trading practices and given the necessary confidence to engage in the sector."A UK government spokesperson said: "Allegations of fraud are taken very seriously and for UK wide schemes there is a dedicated Ofgem team working on counter fraud and whistleblowing."A Scottish government spokesperson said it welcomed the report "which highlights the need for a change to clean heating as part of Scotland's commitment to achieving net zero".They added: "It is vital people feel assured that any work carried out to decarbonise their heating is done to a high standard and represents good value for money."That's why we have been working with the UK government and Ofgem on the introduction of new consumer standards for heat network consumers – such as fair pricing and reliable supply – which will be introduced in January 2026." 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He said there was damp in the air and this spray foam insulation would help."They had a good looking brochure and it all looked legit."He paid around £5,300 for the work, but a fortnight later he received a phone call from a company called the Roofing Advisory Service (RAS).In documents seen by BBC Scotland News, it warned him of "mis-selling of spray foam insulation by certain companies" and that his home was at risk from damp in the roof space and "potential issues with mortgageability and insurability in the future".In the end, he paid a further £2,750 to have insulation removed by a third company just a month was only after he paid that Mr Adams contacted Trading Standards and Advice Direct Scotland, but he remains £8,000 out of added: "You just think, 'I've been a sucker'… That's why I haven't taken any steps to get my money back."I should've known better." 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He said: "Both customers mentioned have been contacted by a fraudulent company that emerged after members of our sales team departed to work with RAS."We have provided the details of numerous individuals and customers who have been contacted by RAS to Trading Standards' investigative team."Smarter and FastFoam have now ceased trading."I deeply regret that customers have had to endure such a poor experience while purchasing insulation."The BBC has been unable to reach RAS for Standards Scotland confirmed that RAS, both Smarter Insulation and FastFoam, and the company that removed Mr Adams' insulation are all currently being investigated.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
How undaunted teenager Miller exuded class in Scotland victory
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Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
Notable victory for Steve Clarke as Scotland boss on cusp of outright record - but hold the hosannas
4-0 win may not silence detractors but there was cause for optimism Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Victory in Vaduz, a hat-trick for Che Adams and relief for Steve Clarke. Such brief match reports do not really fit the bill in a newspaper - or even online. But these were the major takeaways for Scotland and principally their manager following a 4-0 victory over Liechtenstein. Clarke knew he could ill afford anything less than a straightforward win, which is what this was against a country ranked 205 in the world. Hold the hosannas, however. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Some might contend that little else ought to be derived from this one-sided contest high in the Alps. It did at least supply some closure after a sometimes torrid 12 months for the men's international team and took Clarke onto the 71-match mark as manager, which means he has drawn level at the top with Craig Brown (Brown also had one extra match as caretaker). Che Adams scores his and Scotland's second goal en route to netting a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in Vaduz. (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images) | DeFodi Images via Getty Images Clarke will move into the outright first position in this list of permanent Scotland managers when he leads the national side into World Cup qualifying in the Autumn. According to some, the miserable home friendly defeat to Iceland on Friday night, which came hard on the heels of a comprehensive reversal against Greece at Hampden in March, was further proof that he should not be given this responsibility. Even now, there will be many who believe someone else should lead Scotland. A comfortable win over Liechtenstein will not necessarily alter their view. Despite such strength of feeling, the only person departing will be John Carver. Clarke has confirmed that his assistant coach has signed a full-time contract with Polish club Lechia. Vaduz, where this match took place, is not so very far from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where Scotland were just settling in this time last year following their arrival at their scenic Euro 2024 base. Clarke's side didn't humiliate the opposition quite like what was visited on them by Germany in the opening game of those finals but the same margin of victory must be gladly accepted nonetheless. There were some points worth noting other than the headline observations, with Adams scoring Scotland's first hat-trick since a John McGinn treble against San Marino six years ago (and first in a friendly for nearly 60 years, since Colin Stein struck four times in a friendly v Cyprus in 1967). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Torino striker completed this in timely fashion – his header from substitute Tommy Conway's cross was the last action of the match. Scotland went out on a high. It might not be a case of roll on next season, and an away double-header against Denmark and Belarus, but some optimism exists. Lennon Miller made an impressive full debut for Scotland in the 4-0 win over Liechtenstein. | SNS Group Motherwell teen a welcome addition Lennon Miller made an impressive full debut, where he distinguished himself with an assist and further caught the eye with intelligent flicks and a willingness to move the ball around quickly. He always seemed to be in position to receive a pass. It is hard to believe he is just 18-years-old although easy to see why Motherwell made him captain last season. Another midfielder might not be what Scotland desperately need but he is a welcome addition to the list of options. A striker, meanwhile, is on the list of desirable additions. George Hirst followed up his lively performance against Iceland with a goalscoring one here. He was unfortunate to be denied a goal on Friday following a VAR review that confirmed Scott McTominay had strayed offside in the build-up. Clarke later commented that he could have had a hat-trick, having been denied by two good saves while missing another good chance with a header over. While it was his strike partner Adams who got the hat-trick on this occasion – and isn't it good to be able to use the term 'strike partner' in relation to Scotland – Hirst will be happy enough to simply get off the mark in a Scotland shirt. It's now a case of three strikers with a reasonable chance of leading the line next time out against Denmark – Adams, Hirst or Lyndon Dykes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The first-named, though, surely remains in pole position having significantly improved his goal ratio statistics, which, before kick-off, stood at one in his last 19 international appearances. This record is now a slightly more respectable four in 20. It was a better start for Scotland than on Friday, when they lost goalkeeper Angus Gunn to injury in the opening minutes. Here they started like a team wishing to address some issues. Adams thrashed in the opener after four minutes following a corner that was won by Hirst. Miller's miscued effort when the ball was partially cleared landed at Adams' feet from a deflection and he rifled a shot into the goal with a venom that spoke of some pent-up anger. He had Miller to thank for his second after 25 minutes, with the teenager reacting well after a poor pass from 'keeper Benjamin Buchel had put Nicolas Hasler under pressure. Miller dispossessed the skipper and offloaded to Adams, whose finish wrong-footed Buchel. Hirst's goal was a typical No 9's and arrived just three minutes after half-time. He swept in at the back post after Adams helped on Tony Ralston's cross after a McGinn effort had hit the post and rebounded out. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Emergency call-up 'keeper Ross Doohan might as well have still been on that beach in Turkey. Never mind breaking out of their own half, Liechtenstein could barely emerge from within an area around 30 yards from their own goal-line. Doohan does, though, have a cap to his name now, which is something very worthwhile from this strange period where he is suspended between being an Aberdeen player and a Celtic one. He was happy to see an effort from wing-back Kenny Kindle drift by his far post shortly before half-time.
