YOUR excellent obituary on the truly inspirational Dale Greig (The Herald, May 22) highlighted the obstacles put in the way of successful sportswomen by the sporting establishment of that era. Dale’s story was mirrored by the experiences of another of Scotland’s female sporting icons, Rose Reilly.
Rose had to move to the continent to further her football career since the Scottish Football Association did everything to thwart the development of the women’s game in Scotland, only half-heartedly accepting it under pressure from UEFA in the mid-seventies.
Rose was banned sine die for playing in or for Scotland once she turned professional in Italy. In the course of an illustrious career Rose captained Italy to a world cup win and was voted world female footballer of the year. Like Dale Greig, her contribution to the sport was eventually recognised by the powers that be and she was inducted into the SFA Hall of Fame in 2007. A film of Rose’s life portraying her single-mindedness and determination to succeed will be shown on BBC Alba on June 2 and will prove to be a fine inspiration for the current Scottish women's football team in their preparations for their World Cup match against England the following week.
Jim Dunlop,
Largs.
A lesson for Xi Jinping
MARGARET Forbes (Letters, May 22) hasn't a good word to say for President Trump who is apparently a warmonger, a threat to world trade and doubts the bien pensant's latest apocalyptic fad: climate alarmism. Yet senior British businessmen who had dealings with Mr Trump long before he became President have warned he's a formidable figure
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, seemed confident three weeks ago that the year-long trade war with the US was about to subside, handing him an important political victory. He had agreed penalties for violating foreign patents, laws to prevent foreign firms having to transfer critical technologies and a tightening of cyber-security laws.
At the last minute Xi sent a revised document which was a “sea of red” with revisions that destroyed any hope of a breakthrough. It looks as if Xi, used to dealing with feeble European and Asian negotiators, misjudged Mr Trump’s eagerness for a deal and how far he could push the American. It's a miscalculation we should take on board.
Rev Dr John Cameron,
St Andrews.
Bold thinking for the elderly
I MAY be elderly, a pensioner, senior citizen, out-to-grass, long-in-the-tooth, an octogenarian, and perhaps in denial, but I am fortunate in rarely experiencing age-related discrimination, and don’t try, other than “can I call you Robert” on telephone enquiries, if that counts ("Negative stereotypes about the elderly must change", The Herald, May 24 ).
Years ago I said to my son that when I was old I intended to just say what I thought, and got the answer “but you do that already, Dad”.
So perhaps the message is “give as good as you get”.
R Russell Smith,
Kilbirnie.
TV licence
CAN someone explain how TV companies conducting an interview in a car with microphones, cameras and interviewer while the interviewee is driving is a safe practice or indeed lawful?
It’s about time this practice stopped. It sets a very bad example for the police who are trying to stop people using distractive activities such as using mobiles while driving.
Ian McNair,
Cellardyke.
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