OFFSET YOUR WORLD CUP TRAVEL WITH GREENERTRAVEL
Date: 24th April 2026
It’s NOT like Celtic and Rangers
By Donald C Stewart
A sketchy and humorous look at the outpourings of the great, the good and the not so good of Scottish fitba’ by Donald C Stewart. Readers are warned that if they take this seriously then therapy is available – just let us know where you find it so we can pass it on to others…
Remember the good old days where you could settle down in front of a cup final in Scottish football and recognise the two teams, one in hoops, the other in blue?
Well, we’ve already had that final in a semi-final, now we’re about to have a final where one side of the equation is in black and white.
Unfortunately for me it’s not Ayr United.
Spare a thought for the Essex Women’s Cup Final which is due to be contested between two teams that are very familiar to each other. The first team managed to get to the final by beating the Bowers and Pitsea Ladies Football Club, whilst the second in the frame beat Billericay Town Women’s First Team. The former got a convincing 6-1 victory, the latter a 3-1 win.
Why is it so unusual? Why is it so different? Because the first team is Hashtag United Women’s First Team and their opponents … Hashtag United Women’s Reserves.
Both will meet at Colchester United’s stadium for the Cup Final.
The first team play in the National League Southern Premier or the third tier of English football. They’re only a couple of promotions away from reaching the Women’s Super League, though at the moment they are trying not to be relegated!
The reserves are a few divisions below them. They are in the Eastern Region of Women’s Football League South 1 or the sixth tier of English football, and they have just won promotion.
Can you imagine ever having that where Hearts B comes out of the Lowland League and faces Hearts in let’s say the Challenge Cup Final or Celtic B managing to go on a run through the League Cup which eventually sees them coming to Hampden to face Celtic or even more ironic, Rangers in the final.
Could you see it? Could you imagine it?
Of course, the difference between Hashtag United’s first team and the Reserves is that the reserves do not feed their first team; they are two separate entities. Both teams though have players that know each other very well because they have played together in previous seasons.
So again, some of the most interesting things that people see and hear are not the Premiership. They’re not even in Gorgie. In fact, they can be down in the lower reaches. So far down in the lower reaches that teams we once knew and were once part of the SPFL have an opportunity to come back into it.
This season though, it won’t be Bonnyrigg, Clydebank or Brechin but they were close – perhaps next season.
Spare a thought for East Stirlingshire. They are in a familiar place. For many years they were the bottom of League Two or the Third Division depending on which era you watched them. Before the pyramids they were stuck down at the foot but now they have not only been renowned for being at the bottom of the SPFL, they have ended up at the bottom of the Lowland League. Fortunately, the redrawing of the pyramid means they will stay in tier five and become, along with Brechin City become part of Lowland League East.
I wonder if they could apply to be in the BBC Essex competition in the future.
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Tags: Celtic, oor Donald, Rangers, Scottish fans, Scottish football