What a great week for the Tartan Army

LAST Sunday morning, Scottish football fans all over the world were happy, celebrating the 1-0 win over Moldova.

A good start to the week and things got even better on Tuesday when a Lyndon Dykes penalty was enough to give Scotland a win against Austria in Vienna.

It had been a close contest. The Austrians had been thrashed 5-2 by Israel at the weekend but recovered well and put the Scots defence under pressure for most of the match. Steve Clarke though would have been pleased with the way his defence coped as they repelled some pretty decent forward charges.

At the same time, he would not have been so happy with the lack of goals in both games. One goal per game does not leave much room to compensate for defensive errors, flaws which every team suffers from, even if occasionally.

Now Clarke and his players can look forward to the visit of Israel on October 9 before the away games against the Faroe Islands and Moldova.

At present all the players are back with their clubs, ready to take part in the various league matches at the weekend.

Two weeks ago, the first Rangers v Celtic clash of the season attracted all the headlines. Tomorrow the Edinburgh derby take centre stage, with Hearts hosting Hibs at Tynecastle. These were important days for my late father, a Hibs fan who was always happy to see his team beat Hearts.

I always found the Edinburgh greens great to play against, as they seldom shut up shop and always tried to play against us, which suited the Celtic side of my time.

I have to admit Tynecastle was one of my favourite grounds, with its sheer stands and terracing plus the lack of a running track meaning the crowd was very close to the pitch. Let’s hope tomorrow’s derby is an exciting one.

When my sons were younger, one asked why such matches were called ‘derbies’. To be honest, I did not know and had to look it up. As you might have guessed, the English town of Derby played a part.

In the 18th century, games played with a ball were held in various parts of England on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. These competitions were pretty basic and competitive and the most popular – and probably best-known – took place in Derby between the parishes of All Saints and St Peters.

These games were always full of action, with the watching crowds making sure there was plenty of noise as well.

Unfortunately, in 1848, the off-field activities became more abusive, there were physical contacts between the opposing supporters and eventually troops were brought in to restore some order.

And from that date, the name ‘local derby’ is attributed to any football match with fierce partisanship between neighbouring clubs.