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The National
3 days ago
- Sport
- The National
Ex-Rangers striker sparks wild celebrations with cup-winning penalty
The Northern Irish striker smashed home the winning penalty for Johnstone Burgh to beat Tranent in the final at Broadwood Stadium. Lafferty, who has three top-flight Scottish titles, a Scottish Cup and two League Cups as well as a Serie B title and a Championship winners' medal made no mistake from the spot as he lashed home the crucial spot-kick. The 37-year-old climbed off the bench to play a decisive role in the victory after Ciaran Diver equalised, following Tranent taking the lead through a Harry Girdwood header in the first half. Tranent were reduced to ten men with 13 minutes left to play as Scott Gray was shown a second yellow card. Read more: With the scores tied after 90 minutes, the final would go to penalties with Burgh perfect from the spot. Dean Brett fired his penalty over the bar with Luke Scullion saving Tranent's third penalty from Euan Bauld. Diver, Fraser Mullen, Ross Davidson and Lafferty were on target for Burgh to win the cup, and spark wild celebrations as supporters raced onto the Broadwood pitch. Lafferty said on BBC Alba after the cup victory: "You always want to get to finals, no matter what standard you are in. "When I first signed for the club, that was the first thing they said to me: 'We need to win the Scottish Cup, that is the cup we want'. "It's been a long, long time since they've been to the final, never mind winning it."
The National
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Only the historically illiterate would think this Union is ‘equal'
To call this a 'union' is akin to a burglar looting the silver and then claiming joint ownership of the house. READ MORE: Here's what's on the agenda at our next independence convention Opponents of Scottish independence – the grim custodians of imperial nostalgia – cling to their myth of 'British unity' with the tenacity of flat-earthers grasping their ancient maps. They wax lyrical about 'shared history' as though history, in this case, were anything other than a record of coerced assimilation – a process in which Scotland's Parliament dissolved itself under duress, its elites bribed and strong-armed into submission, while its people bore witness to their nation being relegated to a provincial outpost of London's ambitions. To deny this is to inhabit a realm of fantasy where the Highland Clearances were merely an invigorating game of musical chairs, and the exploitation of North Sea oil and gas reserves was an act of benevolent Treasury largesse. These Unionist apologists – these parochial zealots swaddled in Union Jacks – would have us believe that sovereignty is a fixed, immutable doctrine, akin to the divine right of kings or the literal truth of Genesis. They quiver at the thought of Scottish self-determination as though it were heresy, a rupture in the cosmic order. Their arguments – when not drowned in syrupy sentimentalism about wartime camaraderie or the Queen's Christmas broadcasts – amount to little more than the petulant wails of a child unwilling to part with a favourite toy. 'But we built the Empire together!' they bleat, as if the moral and economic ruin of that enterprise were not already scrawled in blood across the pages of history. READ MORE: BBC Alba launch search for homegrown talent to play Belladrum festival And what of their vaunted 'United Kingdom', this patchwork of asymmetrical power? It is as contrived and unsustainable as the Ptolemaic model of the universe, requiring ever more elaborate contortions of denial to uphold its fiction. The Unionist's devotion to it is a form of Stockholm syndrome – bizarre loyalty to the machinery of their own cultural diminishment. They are the political equivalent of those who, confronted with Darwin's On the Origin of Species, retreat into murmuring about 'missing links' and the aesthetic perfection of the banana, as if wishful thinking could erase the fossil record. Scotland a colony? The question scarcely requires an answer. Only those afflicted with terminal imperial amnesia – or perhaps the careerist urge to ingratiate themselves with the mandarins of Whitehall – could dismiss the evidence. The sun has long since set on the British Empire; it is high time it ceased to set on the intellect of those who confuse subjugation with solidarity. Alan Hinnrichs Dundee PETER Bell lays out an interesting formula to get us to independence (Letters, May 25). One thing that kept entering my thoughts throughout the piece was: as a colony getting independent status, how would we the people of Scotland and the newly reformed Scottish Parliament get our hands on any of 'our dosh' held at Westminster and how, if at all, would that be calculated? Ken McCartney Hawick
Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
International prize for Gaelic thriller An t-Eilean
A £4 million crime thriller that was the biggest Gaelic drama series in BBC Alba's history has won a top award. The channel commissioned the four-part series An t-Eilean (The Island) which was filmed in the elemental landscape of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides and also in Glasgow. The Gaelic noir whodunnit, which gripped audiences and was popular on network TV, has won the drama and entertainment prize at Prix Circom 2025, the international television awards. Judges from 15 European regional public service broadcasters selected the winner. The award will be presented during a ceremony at the Circom annual conference in Barcelona on May 22. • Sorry, Scandis — Gaelic noir is rising and the Skye's the limit John Morrison, the chair
The National
13-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Over £35 million announced to help promote Gaelic
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said £35.7 million would be invested into initiatives to promote the language in 2025-26, alongside the introduction of the proposed Scottish Languages Bill. Ahead of a visit to Stornoway as she marked one year as Scotland's first Gaelic Secretary, Forbes said: 'The Scottish Government recognises that urgent action is needed to grow the Gaelic language in communities where it is traditionally spoken.' The Scottish Languages Bill — which is still awaiting its third reading in the Scottish Parliament — aims to strengthen support for Gaelic and Scots by requiring national language strategies, enhancing education provisions, setting standards for public authorities and recognising areas of linguistic significance. READ MORE: John Swinney pledges to give Scotland 'option of independence under my leadership' Alongside this multi-million pound investment, additional funding has been allocated to Gaelic projects in the Hebrides. MG Alba (The Gaelic Media Service) will receive a grant of £110,000 to modernise studios used by BBC Alba whilst a Stornoway Gaelic cultural centre, An Taigh Ceilidh (The Ceilidh House), will receive £10,000 to purchase musical instruments and renovate the space. Forbes added: 'This investment will support Gaelic community events in Stornoway and ensure that Gaelic broadcasters can continue to develop high-quality programmes. 'This follows the success of BBC Alba's crime thriller series An t-Eilean (The Island).' The investments have been made available through the 2024-25 Gaelic Capital Fund allocations. Independent research showed MG Alba supports more than 300 jobs in Scotland, including 160 across the Scottish islands.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'You can change your mindset' - Scotland's Watson on year of recovery
Women's Nations League A: Scotland v GermanyVenue: Tannadice Park, Dundee Date: Friday, 4 April Kick-off: 19:35 BSTCoverage: Watch on BBC Alba & iPlayer, listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & Sounds, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app "Scars tell you where you've been, not where you're going."The words of 19-year-old Emma Watson reveal a very mature head on relatively young shoulders. She was even younger - just 17 - when her world appeared to fall apart.A month after clinching a dream move to Manchester United from Rangers, she ruptured the ligaments in her right knee in a training session with Scotland. It was not just a big match with England she missed. Anterior cruciate ligament injuries mean you're out for a past six months, however, have helped put a smile back on her face. Her delayed debut for the Red Devils happened against Everton late last year. The Toffees were so impressed, they signed her on loan in goal-scoring midfielder is also now back in the Scotland fold, licking her lips at the prospect of two cracks at Germany, the third best team in the world, in the Nations League. Watson is about to find out if she has come through her injury a better player. What she harbours no doubts about is how much stronger the ordeal has made her as a person."At the time, I was absolutely devastated," she told BBC Scotland. "I thought that was it for me. That my world was ending. But you can quickly change your mindset and change the narrative of your story. I'm a big believer that scars tell you where you've been, not where you're going."It was definitely a blip in my career, but at the same time, I don't think it was time lost. In the 12 months I had off the pitch in the gym rehabilitating, I really worked on my mental side. I think I've become a lot more resilient and developed stronger physically."So I think there are definitely a lot of positives to take from the experience and a lot of learnings. As bad as it was, I don't think I would change the experience. You have to go through everything in life and that was an obstacle I had to deal with. "Now that I'm back from that, it's about taking the learnings from that, getting back playing, trying to work those levels back up again and just continue my story."The scar is still there, visible right down the middle of her right knee. A symbol of her successful struggle with adversity."I look at it some days and you think back and it makes you a bit sad about what you've been through," she explained."But it's a warrior wound and I'm very proud of the hard work that I've put in to get myself back playing football, because it's not a guarantee. "I have to be the one in the gym every day doing the work, so I'm just very grateful that I was surrounded by such supportive people at United - the physios, the staff, the players. I wouldn't have done it without them."Even the support from the Scotland national team, like the psychologists, working with them and having people to talk to was massive. I'm happy that I'm back now. " Not just back but back in the Scotland squad. She made quite the impression before her injury, scoring three international goals as a 17-year-old in her first four matches for her country. Perhaps no surprise, given she was playing - and scoring - for Rangers as a 15-year-old. However, it was the national colours, not club affiliations, that she dreamt about as she grew up in Edinburgh as a child."One of my earliest dreams was to play for Scotland," she said."I don't really remember thinking I wanted to play for this club or that club. It was more, 'I want to play for the Scotland national team one day'. "As a young girl, I used to go to all the games and travel around the country to go see the likes of Claire [Emslie] and Caroline [Weir] when I was younger. I used to sit and watch and say, 'I really hope that's me one day because they're living the dream'."It's massive now that we have all these top players that young girls can look up to and we can go to the games and see. That visibility is massive for getting young girls into sport, getting them into football and hopefully following in their footsteps one day. "Even going to tournaments. I was at the World Cup [in France in 2019] as a young player watching that."It's just an amazing feeling. I can imagine being at a World Cup and hopefully one day I can get to experience that. "It is a hope that will be echoed up and down her country. Scotland have not been to one since 2019 and will not be participating at this year's Euros restored to full fitness and armed with much greater mental fortitude as a result, Watson is convinced good times lie ahead for the national side. She has the "warrior wound" to prove she can overcome adversity. She knows Scotland will need the same fighting spirit when Germany come calling on Friday.
