JOIN US IN STIRLING FOR A NIGHT OF CELEBRATION FIND OUT MORE
Date: 10th January 2026
2026 01 03 White Knuckles ahoy!
Donald C Stewart
Happy New Year!
If like me, you have gone back to work to get a rest what are your resolutions for the coming year?
I have set none, will be bound by none and at the end of the day or year will probably not fail any of them because I haven’t set them in the first place.
As we look at the landscape of Scottish football, whilst looking forward to the world cup during the summer, it’s also the time that people get asked for their predictions rather than resolutions. Got any?
Consider these factors…
Even looking forward, nostalgia plays its part in the future – it is Scotland after all – as the hope of every single Scotland fan will want to see Scotland get out the group stages.
For some of us that could constitute a good year!
For some of us it might ease the run into relegation dogfights – successful or not.
For fans of clubs that are used to success, still having European competition will have been the aim. Oops…
It’s a long time now since both Celtic and Rangers got to their respective UEFA cup finals but runs in Europe under the new rules seems to stretch further than it used to, perhaps giving money men an opportunity to well, make more money.
But could we be looking at Hearts in the Champions League for 2026-27? would St. Mirren fare better than Aberdeen in any of the European competitions?
What is our likely prediction for the end of the season for the Championship, League One or League Two?
St. Johnstone, Stenhousemuir, East Kilbride or The Spartans?
It is a more interesting landscape than it’s been for a long time for supporters in the top league as Hearts have upset the Auld Firm Applecart, though many in the hoops that feel that there has not been an old firm since some cataclysmic event in Govan a decade or so ago.
Then there is the January transfer window.
For many of us the January window is a danger time where our best players are vulnerable to clubs above and beyond us. Clubs in Europe and down south come in to pinch who has made a league one or championship run of it and is a very real concern.
For my own club I don’t know if there is anybody we are likely to lose but I certainly do know that we are looking to add.
Is it too early to look at how cooperation agreements have worked? I’m not feeling that Ayr and Celtic have benefited much from their relationship just yet. That however is perhaps premature.
The run-in to Easter time is where we find out who is involved in the relegation play-offs and dogfights as well as those who vying for a spot in the Scottish Cup Final.
For any team, vying for top four is an exciting period. The Challenge Cup (aka The Diddy Cup, until people get into the semi-finals) has also trialled a new phase for those below the Premiership – who will claim the unwanted prize?
The Scottish Cup will see both Rangers and Celtic gearing up to see if they can put their double in place. For many supporters outside these two, in Motherwell, Hearts and elsewhere they will be screaming at the top of their lungs suggesting that you cannot “presume” this season shall be the same as the last 40 or so. History would suggest that presumption is the very least to expect.
I have sat and made some predictions of my own which I am going to keep to myself but certainly the one thing that I think we should all be celebrating is the rise of Clydebank FC. It has been a considerable period of time since that once proud and great club, once the focus of moving to Ireland, being amalgamated with East Stirlingshire and then having their Football League membership taken by Airdrie United but they now proudly sit atop the Lowland League.
It would be fantastic to see them back in the SPFL, not for nostalgia, but just to show once again that the pyramid system is absolutely the right way to do things.
I feel very strongly and often have done that the pyramid structure is good for Scottish football though it needs a few tweaks. That is exactly what supporters should be asking for what is in their wish list for 2026.
Getting out of the group stages in the World Cup is a given.
But in terms of Scottish football and the new dawn that is upon us, perhaps it’s time to make the demands at the Scottish election that have been festering in the back of our minds, be it VAR, be it club ownership, be it some sort of overarching structure involving a Regulator who looks after football in Scotland just like they’re about to in England.
Who’s to know, but one thing I do know, that being a supporter of a Scottish football club in 2026 is much like being a Scottish football supporter of any era. It’s a roller coaster ride and my white knuckles are beginning to wear thin at my age, but they are still ready for what comes next.
photo Homes of Football
Posted in: Fan's Blog, Latest News
Tags: oor Donald, Scotland, Scottish fans, Scottish footbal