With the Scottish football season drifting into the void alongside almost every other major league across Europe, it is uncertain if and when we will see any sort of competitive action resume
Obviously, at a time like this, it is important to remember that sport, football in particular, does not matter. With pandemic spreading at an accelerated rate, anxiety over its effects rising and messages on how to contain it sometimes unclear, it seems insignificant to worry about whether a resolution can and will be found.
However, sport has the power to bring people together like nothing else on earth. Whatever your team, we all share the same passion for the beautiful game and the last few weeks have been, in all honesty, rubbish without it.
With that said, here are five ways to get your football fix this weekend, while staying safe in your own home.
Aussie Rules
Football has not actually stopped. It never will. We will just keep going on and on and on until the world is no more and frankly who are we to complain?
There is probably football being played right now, a cursory look at LiveScore reveals - at the time of writing - the Belarusian Premier League is kicking off its season with a huge clash between Dinamo Minsk and FC Ruh Brest.
Thrilling as that may be, however, the A-League may be slightly more accessible.
Australia’s premier football competition has never quite had the lure of Major League Soccer in the US, but with a passionate fan base and several well-supported clubs, it often flies under the radar when it comes to the world’s better-viewed competitions.
Full commitment from this fan in Australia! 😂 pic.twitter.com/VnJ83SQxqH
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 20, 2020
Matches start early in the morning, which can be something of an inconvenience if you value an extra few hours with head on pillow, but there is the carrot of plenty of Scottish football links.
On Friday, former Hibernian striker Jamie MacLaren hit a hattrick for Melbourne City - who also boast Celtic loanee Jack Hendry in their ranks - against a Central Coast Mariners side featuring ex- Hamilton man Ziggy Gordon.
Scott McDonald and Tom Aldred represent Brisbane Roar, Roy O’Donovan and Wes Hoolahan turn out for Newcastle Jets, Ryan McGowan is a starter at Sydney FC, while his brother and fellow ex-Jambo Dylan plays for Western Sydney Wanderers and former Celtic hero Gary Hooper is now scoring at Wellington Phoenix.
What we are trying to say is the distance between these shores and Australia in footballing terms is a hell of a lot closer than geographically.
Live football is a rare thing on British TV at the moment, we should cherish it while we can.
And imagine how much fun you are going to have boring the backside off everyone you are self-isolated with by explaining the intricacies of designated player rules…
Where to watch: BT Sport, Western Sydney Wanderers vs Sydney FC is live at 08:30 on Saturday, March 21
Hand of God
How does Diego Maradona self-isolate? What is he doing right now? How is he whiling away the hours of quarantine in Argentina?
Maybe some of us could have a guess, but surely it is better to revisit Scotland’s greatest ever footballer at his hedonistic best in his heyday in Naples.
Directed by Asif Kapadia, who earned critical acclaim for similar character studies of Ayrton Senna and Amy Winehouse, this documentary is an absolutely gripping portrait of the world’s greatest footballer at his volatile peak in the most dangerous city in Europe.
Not only is this film - which follows Don Diego’s rollercoaster career at Napoli - a must-watch for football fans, it is accessible enough for those who do not follow the beautiful game to enjoy, gaining widespread approval by fans and film buffs alike.
It also features one of the catchiest chants in world football, so be warned.
Where to watch: Channel 4, Saturday, 9pm
The Scottish Cup delivers
For sheer drama, few competitions can rival the Scottish Cup and with two tantalising semi-finals cruelly ripped from our grasp by the developing pandemic, what better way to satiate the appetite than by reliving some classic finals.
The Scottish Cup Twitter account has been posting links to a week’s worth of Hampden showpieces, featuring some of the greatest moments in the history of one of the world’s oldest trophies.
There might not be any live matches, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy some Scottish Cup action.
— William Hill Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) March 16, 2020
Join us on our Facebook and YouTube the rest of this week to watch these classic finals.
➡️ YouTube: https://t.co/QRc5gHTd1c
➡️ Facebook: https://t.co/pQHu92FXZo#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/6oo7b90pGy
Already this week, the governing body has streamed the 2008 clash between Queen of the South and Rangers, Airdrieonians vs Celtic from 1995 and Kilmarnock’s win over Falkirk from 1997.
This weekend features ‘live’ broadcasts of Hibernian vs Rangers at 3pm on Saturday and Inverness Caledonian Thistle vs Falkirk from 2015 at the same time on Sunday.
Don’t worry if you missed the broadcast of your team’s game either - all have been made available on the Scottish Cup YouTube channel.
Ultimate Quaranteam
And now for something completely different.
The massive gap created by the lack of actual football has opened a window for eSports to fill in in the meantime.
Given the popularity of online gaming across the world, it is somewhat surprising virtual football has never quite taken off in the same way in the UK, but hats off to English League Two side Leyton Orient for giving it a decent crack.
Titled ‘Ultimate Quaranteam,’ a play on the Fifa online game mode, the 128-team tournament features a varied line up of fans, players and clubs. After all, who doesn’t want to see a simulated version of Sydney FC vs Accrington Stanley, AS Roma vs Orlando Pirates, or Hamilton vs Feyenoord?
⚽️🎮 IT'S HAPPENING LADS!#UltimateQuaranTeam will commence this weekend!#LOFC #OnlyOneOrient
— Leyton Orient (@leytonorientfc) March 19, 2020
There is plenty of Scottish representation, with Accies joined by Hibs, Motherwell, Ross County and St Mirren and if we can all get behind the coefficient most weeks, surely cheering on the Steelmen as they dismantle Manchester City shouldn’t be too difficult.
The tournament is also for a good cause, with 75 per cent of the profits donated to a justgiving page being used to support workers at EFL clubs who may be struggling at the time of the shut down and the remaining 25 per cent split between mental health charity Mind and the World Health Organisation’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fundraiser.
The round of 128 kicks off on Sunday, March 22 from 7pm - though the draw has not been revealed as yet.
Current plans are for the final to be played and streamed around the world on April 3.
You can find out more about the tournament, including rules and match dates here.
Where to watch: Twitch - more details in above link
It’s coming home
As the popular chant goes, except Fifa, the loveable little scamps, are actually allowing you to relive 30 classic World Cup matches in the comfort of your own home.
#WorldCupAtHome: The first game
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) March 20, 2020
⏰15:00 CET
📅 Saturday 21 March 2020
📍 FIFATV on YouTube
Join us as we take you back to a #WorldCup stunner in Salvador: 🇪🇸Spain v Netherlands🇳🇱
👇 Subscribe for updates 👇https://t.co/QI4QPwYuJI
Football’s governing body have thrown open the doors on their video vault, giving fans the opportunity to relive the greatest moments in the history of the world’s biggest football tournament, including the time Diego Maradona punched the ball over Peter Shilton, the time Diego Maradona beat the entire England team and scored and the time Diego Maradona did both of those things in the same match.
Fans will be able to vote on which games will be broadcast, including those from the Women’s World Cup, with all videos being added to Fifa’s YouTube channel.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here