The true benefit of the social media world I am now hesitantly embracing was brought home this week when a new Facebook chum posted a photo inspired by the BBC's latest hit costume drama.

It was, in a strange way, reassuring to discover from the resultant messages that many others of a certain age go a bit misty-eyed at the memory of the demur Angharad Rees, TV's original Demelza. Can it really be 40 years ago since Poldark first aired?

In its very different way there have been some memories invoked by recent goings on with another rediscovered lost love of the same era.

This past year or so has brought me back to regular attendance at football, my sporting obsession back in the seventies and it has been largely enjoyable.

Admittedly the odd quizzical look or comment from media men who were still at school, in nappies or not yet born when I was covering Scottish Cup finals and Scotland-England internationals in the eighties and consequently only associate me with other sports has been a tiresome reminder of the tribalism that so blights this wee province, while I have previously questioned whether the over Scottish football package is worth what it costs supporters.

However most have been generous and welcoming and, watching for free admittedly, I have been encouraged by much of the on-field fare.

Pundits based in the capital of what claims to be a unified country, until it suits its power-that-be to see things otherwise - as with any bid to integrate Scottish football teams into British competition - may sneer at the standard but I wonder how much more we might appreciate the youthful talent most Scottish clubs boast if it was not for globalisation, wall-to-wall live televised football and the constant hype that surrounds the English Premier League.

It has been a joy to see homegrown youngsters getting their chances all over the country, offering cause for optimism that Scotland may one day be heading back to World Cup finals as we briefly got used to back in the seventies and eighties.

However rather less appetising has been the reminder of some of the entrenched attitudes that mean suspicion is an ever present facet of Scottish football life with talk of conspiracy is its constant companion.

Back in the day, when TV coverage was a tiny fraction of what it is now, I have no doubt that some questionable decision-making affected Old Firm matches in particular, even if the suspicion - that word again - also lurks that both its members ultimately benefitted from more of them more than the rest of their rivals.

It is, after all, hard to imagine that in a country so much more effectively divided by allegiance to Celtic and Rangers than to any actual religion or sense of national identity, that the refereeing community can somehow be exempt.

However, do Celtic's executives really think match officials, who stand to lose their own status let alone anything else when blatant mistakes like Sunday's are inevitably picked up by television cameras are still cheating them?

In its way such decision-making would require a level of selflessness in the interests of a wider cause that might be considered admirable if applied to something more honourable.

Setting that aside, though, Celtic officials could not fail to understand how the sending of their letter asking for clarification would be received by those eager to believe that the club's hierarchy shares their view that malpractice was afoot.

After all, if we accept that the mistake made was an honest one then what clarification is required?

Of course with so much, in sporting terms, having been at stake in the pursuit of the Holy Grail that the treble has become now that Scottish aspiration in Europe has been so drastically readjusted since the UEFA Cup became the Europa League, emotions were running high and to some extent allowances must be made for the reaction of those affected.

Longer term a source of greater concern is the impression given, with Josh Meekings becoming the first player to be retrospectively charged as a result of a hand ball, that the SFA has bowed to pressure from one of the Old Firm, something supporters of all other clubs have long believed is a regular occurrence.

Doubtless the overall reaction, not least on social media with its capacity to convey mass outrage, played its part, but for those of us disposed to do so there is scope to take the SFA decision at face value as merely the first clear-cut example of such a crucial illegal intervention by a player since the rules accommodated retrospective action.

The same cannot, however, be said for the official blundering that has been all but forgotten in the wake of last week's surprising results at Hampden.

The justified anger of Leeann Dempster, Hibs' chief executive, was unmistakeable last week after the SPFL seemed to try to hand some of the blame for their fixture scheduling mistake to her club.

Their statement suggesting as much did the game great disservice.

Scottish football deserves better than to be run by people prepared to embrace innuendo and inference as part of the culture rather than seeking to rid the game of it.

If you agree or disagree, of course, feel free to get in touch on social media, an invitation that is also extended to fans of seventies TV.