Split’s brought a beautifulbedlam to end of season

IT’S still one of the oddest scenes I’ve seen inside a football stadium.

Twenty years ago this month the first ever version of ‘The Split’ was launched in the SPL like a madcap late twist to an already wacky movie.

It was ridiculed by many as hare-brained and freaky, a one-off that should never be seen again in Scotland.

And as if to prove that point my abiding memory of the conclusion to that 2000-01 season is seeing Aberdeen supporters bouncing in the away stand at Fir Park belting out ‘Top of the Split’ to the tune of the Addams Family.

Celebrating coming top of the bottom half with all the gusto of having topped the table outright.

Weird scenes for sure. But, looking back, you know what?

Good on them. And good on ‘The Split’.

Like old Uncle Fester himself it might have seemed odd, even grotesque, at first.

But over the last two decades I reckon the vast majority of the audience have grown to love it.

It has already shown its worth this season.

Why else would Hamilton v St Mirren and St Johnstone v Ross County both have had the intensity of a cup final on the 33rd round of league fixtures if not for the scrap for a top-half spot on the final whistle?

The difference in prize money between finishing sixth and seventh wouldn’t even buy you Odsonne Edouard’s big toe but the two Saints were hell bent on beating each other to top-half bragging rights.

But it’s at the bottom end the fireworks are starting to fizz as sides in and around the drop zone go head-to-head over the next few weeks.

One slip could be costly. And with that kind of pressure on it’s no wonder the mind games have already cranked up a notch.

Just look at Brian Rice and John Hughes in the last seven days. Don’t tell me they didn’t know exactly what they were doing with their blasts at officialdom.

Whether their words were fair comment or not they’ll certainly have caught the attention of the men in the middle.

Right now Hamilton, Kilmarnock, Ross County and maybe even Motherwell will be bracing themselves for a few weeks where the pressure is set to hit boiling point and the word meaningless becomes redundant.

Today I’ll be at Rugby Park for Kilmarnock v Ross County. Tommy Wright v John Hughes.

It will be explosive, volatile, fiery. And the action on the park might be quite tasty too.

Three weeks ago at Rugby Park we saw Wright go bananas at the

Pressure’s at boiling point and the word meaningless becomes redundant

fourth official to find out why Motherwell chief executive Allan Burrows had approached him at half-time.

Last week it was Rice boiling over, claiming his side were being shafted by refs. He was quickly followed by his old pal Yogi going ape over the same group of whistlers.

Fast forward to the final round of games and the high noon kick-offs on May 16. Hamilton host Kilmarnock in an ‘El Plastico’ like no other. County travel to Motherwell. And St Mirren take on Dundee United in Paisley for what could be a shoot-out to finish top of the split.

It’s absolute bedlam. And it’s all thanks to ‘The Split’.

In the words of Gomez Addams: ‘It’s showtime!’

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