THOROUGHLY enjoyed what I saw of Star Sixes over the weekend. Hydro highlights included the baby-faced Michael Owen emerging as an unlikely hatchet man, one shocker of a challenge drawing retribution severe enough to see Jason McAteer sent off, nursing a conspiracy theory as he went. “Referee didn’t see it, or he didn’t want to see it because it’s England and Michael Owen, more to the point,” growled his one-time Liverpool colleague.
Elsewhere, Rest of the World star Marco Negri – a prolific former Rangers hero - amazed everyone by making a tackle, and Scotland emerged after a first-day hiding with the kind of conservative game plan which suggested the likes of Barry Ferguson and Lee McCulloch had been given a half-time pep talk by Walter Smith.
Yet defence was the best form of attack for this Scotland team, as they suffocated the life out of first Wales and then England, driving an annoyingly fit-looking Three Lions side to distraction with a four-goal counter attacking burst in a 4-1 win. Scotland being Scotland, of course, our brave boys then succumbed to an injury or two, couldn’t quite manage to get past the Rest of the World and were ultimately pipped to a final place by the eventual winners. England and Michael Owen.
As all parties sloped off into the night – Scotland boasting of at least “winning the night out” – all this knockabout stuff made me nostalgic for the Tennent’s Sixes, contested annual by Scotland’s current top flight players (and the odd invited guest) between 1984 and 1993. Starting out at Coasters Arena in Falkirk, it moved to the Ingliston Showgrounds at Edinburgh, then spent the rest of its time just over the road from the Hydro at the SECC.
While the rules came and went with the passing of the seasons, let’s just say the pace of play was decidedly quicker than that witnessed last weekend, an outcome which could be attributed to a combination of younger legs, the old first-generation artificial surface and the acrylic boards around the perimeter of the pitch. There was more of a premium on attacking play, too, with teams having to keep at first one, and then two, players in the opposition half or concede a penalty. Badly-behaved players would be dispatched to the sin bin.
Scottish football bought into it with abandon, at least at first. Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts all triumphed twice, with Hibs, Celtic, Dundee all taking the title once. So too did last-ever winners Partick Thistle, who retain the title to this day.
It had all tailed off a little by then, with certain teams sending shadow squads out in fear of picking up injuries, and the odd bit of unrest between rival fans in the stands spoiling it for everyone else, but it occurred to me as I watched the Star Sixes that why shouldn’t the time be right for a return?
Supporters still crave the chance to see stars up, close and personal in exactly this kind of setting and even if established top team players are wary of being risked during the winter break why not give young players such as the Karamoko Dembeles of this world the chance to showcase their skills while they are back home in freezing Scotland. Either that, or simply give former pros, or aspiring female players, another chance to bask in the limelight and create more revenue that way.
As those in the business of putting six-a-side teams together across the country will attest, effective sides in any form of the game need a blend of youth and experience, quality on the ball and what is known as ‘legs’. This contrast will be equally fascinating in the remainder of the Scottish top flight season, with Rangers investing in Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis, two men blessed with great ability but with a combined age of 70, while Celtic have opted for youthful, but significantly less proven, quantities in the form of Oliver Burke, Timothy Weah and Vakoun Issouf Bayo.
The Ladbrokes Premiership, or the championship for that matter, is no retirement home. It is full of young, eager players keen to make their mark on the game, but it is also an arena where that extra bit of class can pay dividends. Our game still struggles to attract the type of players who fit between these two extremes, but the next six months will decide whose signing policy ultimately pays off.
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