The Herald

The Diary

Elder statesman BBC Scotland football sage Chick Young was irked last week by a Westminster initiative for Euro 2004 in Portugal, designed to prevent English fans causing their customary trouble overseas. The Foreign Office is employing veterans Bobby Charlton, of England, and Eusebio, of Portugal, to substantiate its claim that "England and Portugal are Europe's oldest allies, having signed a treaty in 1373". The patriotic Chick shocked colleagues at Queen Margaret Drive by loudly exclaiming...

What Happens If the School Catchment Area Is Abolished?

Should parents be banned from buying their way into the best state schools via the property market? And is this the latest "big idea" from some left- leaning think tank? On the contrary, it comes straight from Tim Yeo, the Conservatives' education and health spokesman. "We no longer want schools in expensive areas to exclude children from poor areas merely because they don't live nearby. The present system does discriminate against pupils from poor families who can't afford to buy an expensiv...

The Truth Behind a Legend of Laughter

AT Graham Chapman's memorial service in 1989, the choir sang Jerusalem in Japanese accents, just as Chapman himself used to do in his drinking days. John Cleese made a point of saying f*** in his eulogy, responding, he said, to Chapman's voice egging him on to say it in a church. "It started seriously and descended into lunacy," says writer and comedian Adrian Poynton. That description could equally be applied to the life of Chapman himself, who started off as a medic at Cambridge University ...

We Must Look at the Bigger Picture On Young Offenders

You might well suppose, in terms of the media and political hand wringing going on, that Scotland was in the grip of an epidemic of serious crime committed by unparalleled numbers of its young people. Not so. Most young offenders are guilty of petty crimes, most grow out of it, and of the million or so kids under 15 in Scotland, only 1% come into the category of persistent offenders. Examine any community in Scotland suffering from a sustained level of what the current shorthand calls anti-so...

Hamas Warns of 100 Attacks On Israelis

HAMAS, the Islamic militant group, yesterday threatened "100 unique reprisals" against Israel for killing its leader, Abdel Aziz al Rantissi, as hundreds of thousands of mourners flooded the streets in a show of strength and fury. The Egyptian-trained paediatrician, outspoken in support of violence against Israel, died when two missiles hit his car on Saturday.

Larsson's Last Hurrah?; Striker Hints That He May Retire Back to Sweden After Helping Celtic Clinch Title

Henrik Larsson normally manages to invade any news involving Celtic and he did it again yesterday. As Martin O'Neill's team celebrated winning the SPL title following the 1-0 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, Larsson once more intimated that his football career might soon be over. After seven years in Glasgow, the Swedish striker has still failed to confirm where he will play next season, and none of it is down to apathy on the part of Larsson or his agent, Rob Jansen. The fact is, in turnin...

Stefan King's Growing Club Empire Runs Up (Pounds) 22m Debt

COMPANIES run by Stefan King, the biggest player in Glasgow's night-time economy, have racked up debts of more than (pounds) 22m as he continues building one of Scotland's biggest independent pub and nightclub empires. The bank loans place the enigmatic entrepreneur's firms under pressure to generate healthy profits, enabling them to pay rising interest charges. In a low-margin sector where public taste is fickle and the competition cutthroat, this will be no mean achievement.

Blair Paves Way for Eu Poll U-Turn; Premier Poised for Referendum On the New Constitution

TONY Blair is poised this week to signal the biggest U-turn of his premiership by promising to hold a referendum on the proposed new European constitution. It was claimed last night that the prime minister will seek the backing of senior colleagues for the move at the weekly cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Marathon Woman Is Off to the Olympics

The Numbers That Count

Parkhead Players Dominate Player of the Year Shortlist

The shortlist for the SPFA Player of the Year was announced yesterday, with the odds heavily stacked in favour of Celtic. The four players on the shortlist are Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, and Stilian Petrov, along with Rangers' goalkeeper, Stefan Klos.

Call to Expand Nuclear Power Use Attacked by Greens

CALLS for the government to make greater use of nuclear power instead of windfarms were denounced by environmental groups yesterday. The Sunday Herald, The Herald's sister paper, reported that the David Hume Institute, the Edinburgh-based economic think tank, intends to publish a report urging ministers to reconsider nuclear power and abandon renewable resources such as wind power.

Hearts' Strike-Force Could Do with an Infusion of Firepower

Hearts 1 Livingston 1 THE passionate protests from Hearts supporters over the club's proposed move to Murrayfield continue apace. It's a shame for the Tynecastle faithful that their strikers don't have the same fire in their bellies.

Police Cut Back On Crime Reports; Records Being Abbreviated to Alleviate Force's Backlog

CRIME reports are being abbreviated to try to reduce a growing backlog at the new multi-million pound crime recording centre of Scotland's largest police force. The Pinnacle recording centre has been forced to halve the detail in reports on minor crimes such as vandalism to try to clear the burgeoning backlog.

Title Win Built On Lennon'ssolidity

WHEN the title is won by a chasm that makes the Grand Canyon look a crack in the pavement, it is perhaps invidious to single out one player as central to success. It takes a team to go for a season, so far, undefeated. It takes a team to rack up dozens of victories, to score almost 100 league goals already. It takes a team to prevail at home and away with an indomitable will. But this team is made of individuals who have all routinely garnered praise. Henrik Larsson has been proposed for the ...

Hibernian Will Take Their Time Before Appointing Williamson Replacement

The search for a new manager of Hibernian will start in earnest today when the final details of Bobby Williamson's move to Plymouth Argyle are ironed out. The Easter Road club are looking for a decent compensation package from the English team, who are expected to name Williamson as their new manager at a press conference today. If, as expected, Williamson goes south, the names of David Hay at Livingston, John Robertson at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and Alan Kernaghan at Clyde are the earl...

Dig at Housing Site Sheds Light On Prehistoric Settlers

ARCHAEOLOGISTS will have a greater understanding of the lives of the people who built great ritual monuments such as Stonehenge following excavations at one of Scotland's largest rural settlements. A dig at a new housing development in Dreghorn, Ayrshire, has revealed major medieval remains and Neolithic features including the site of a ceremonial pole, houses and a pottery kiln.

'Paula Radcliffe Won't Know Who I Am. It Will Be Tracey Who?'; Unknown Runner Qualifies for Olympic Team in London Marathon

TRACEY Morris was the improbable British heroine of the Flora London Marathon yesterday. At 36, officially a veteran, she sliced more than an hour from her previous best time - in only her second attempt at a marathon - to gain selection for the Olympic Games in Athens this summer.

Whisky for Ids and Silence From Archer

IAIN Duncan Smith reckoned he had a pretty horrendous October and November, culminating with him being ousted as Tory party leader. However, that was until yesterday, when he completed the London Marathon as one of the walking wounded.

One Team, One Vision and One Title-Winning Strike; Far From a Classic at Rugby Park, but Visiting Throngs Don't Care

Kilmarnock 0 Celtic 1 Scorer: Petrov (32) this was the sort of biting, scrappy match that the new Scottish champions would be happy to avoid most weekends of the season. A first-half goal from Stilian Petrov, a Bulgarian footballer whose myriad qualities are often hard to quantify, ensured that Martin O'Neill could celebrate a third title in four seasons with Celtic. This was not a classic Celtic performance, and certainly not during a second half in which they appeared visibly drained of ene...