Scottish Football Forums

We’re delighted to have a returning guest on as Aaron Connolly of St Rochs is on for his fourth appearance. To begin with we have a chat about adapting during lockdown and talking about his Time to Tackle project. He talks us through his career from being at Hibs as a young player and how he ended up leaving. There are career highlights like from his time at Glenafton but also lows of times of falling out of love with football in his younger days. Going forward we speak about what his hopes are for the rest of his career. We finish off with some quickfire stuff and the best eleven of players he has played with as well as his favourite Celtic eleven.

The regular trio are reunited for the first time in what seems like ages as the two John’s and Krys are on. We’re delighted to have current Glasgow City and Scotland International player Leanne Crichton on. Leanne talks us through her career as a player and her involvement as a pundit. She also chats about her memories growing up and how she got involved playing in girls football. We talk about the highlight of playing at the World Cup last year and how more needs to be done in order to capitalise on the exposure it brought to Women’s football. Other highlights include the success she has had with Glasgow City domestically and the big European nights. This week is Mental Health Week so we discuss the importance of this and how more needs to done. We finish up with some fun quickfire stuff and get Leanne to pick her best eleven of players she has played with.

The two John’s are joined by ex professional footballer Alan Lawrence and Scott who runs the Amoruso Let’s It Run account on YouTube. There’s plenty of banter throughout as Alan talks about his playing career at Meadowbank, Dundee, Airdrie and Hearts. He doesn’t know what day it is though which we’ll put down to all the top defenders he played against knocking lumps out of him. He talks about his battles with mental health and how more needs to be done to support players coming to end of their playing career. There is great interaction between Alan and Scott as they talk about Alan’s time at Hearts and his record of being successful against them when with Airdrie. Scott provides one of the funniest moments we’ve had on the podcast in a while as he provides his best and worst Hearts five a side teams. The podcast concludes with Alan picking his best eleven of players he played with and some chat about Craig Levein.

The regular trio are joined by SFA Head of Community Development Paul McNeill. We start off by talking about the reconstruction in West of Scotland Football League with the announcement of the conferences and a 20 team league at tier 6. There is brief chat about what might be happening in the top four divisions though there is still a fair bit of uncertainty. Paul then talks about his job and what it entails. His passion shines through in terms of how sport can make a difference in the community. We then get him to take us through his memories of being a St Mirren fan and the highs and lows it brings. To conclude we get Paul to name a best eleven of players he has seen in a St Mirren jersey.

The two John’s are joined by ex Hibs, Derby, Portsmouth, Stoke and Dunfermline player Kevin Harper. Kevin is the current manager of Albion Rovers so we start off by talking about reconstruction talks and what his views are on this. He goes on to talk about signing for Hibs, the highs and lows of scoring winners in Edinburgh derbies and relegation in his last full season. We talk about racism in football and how things haven’t really improved since then 1990s which is when Kevin started his career. He believes more needs to be done to get BAME involved particularly in management. Kevin moved on to Derby who were in the English Premier League and had a successful first season before moving on to Portsmouth a couple seasons later. This led to playing with some great players and characters such as Prosinecki, Crouch and Merson. This leads on to his best season in football where they got promoted to the top flight in England. Unfortunately things didn’t work out as well then with a couple of loan spells and e

The two John’s are joined by Clydebank legend and all time top scorer Ken Eadie. He joins us from Florida so we discuss how moving there came about and what life is like there. We start off with some chat about the current reconstruction talk in terms of what may happen. Ken talks us through his career which includes some terrific stories including hanging out with Wet Wet Wet and jumping in a taxi to Glasgow with team mates after Scottish Cup semi in 1990. He talks about his thoughts on coaching in Scottish football, his playing career which includes being inducted in to Hall of Fame at Clydebank and some fun stuff such as his desire for a Scotch Pie.

The regular trio are reunited for the first time in a while and are joined by ex Celtic, Ross County and Motherwell player Paul Lawson. Paul is currently manager of Formartine United in the Highland League. We kick off by talking about potential reconstruction in the senior leagues and what it may look like. This leads on to what’s been going on in the non league setup with declarations of titles and East of Scotland Juniors season being declared null and void. Paul talks about his ambitions for Formartine United, how the job came about and his success so far at the club. We then move on to talk about his playing career from his time coming through at Celtic to the success he had at Ross County and finishing his senior career at Motherwell. The podcast concludes with some quick fire questions, Paul picks his best team of players he has played with and we finish off with some Football Manager chat.

Good John and Krys are joined by Statement League creator Lewis Cumming. As you can imagine, his phone has went into meltdown recently. We start off by chatting about the Government’s decision to extend the lockdown by three weeks. It is agreed that this is optimistic and we expect the lockdown will continue into the summer. We can only hope that the numbers come down as soon as possible so we can get back to normality. The conversation moves onto the controversial SPFL proposal to conclude the Championship, League One and League Two season, which needed a 75% vote from each division to be passed. After the mystery of Dundee’s alleged missing vote, the proposal went through to crown Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers Champions with Partick Thistle and Stranraer relegated. Brechin avoid a potential relegation playoff against Brora Rangers or Kelty Hearts. The Leagues decision means that Hearts and Hamilton will lead reconstruction talks. This requires an 11-1 majority. Will we see proper change to

Share The two John’s are joined by ex Aberdeen player and assistant manager Willie Garner. He talks us through his career as a player and the early success he had at Aberdeen. Willie was lucky to have played under Ally McLeod, Billy McNeill and Alex Ferguson so gives us an insight in to what they were like. Willie became a player manager of Alloa at the age of 27 and talks about how this came about. He then lets us know how assistant manager job came up at Aberdeen and how his time at the club ended. He has some great stories to tell from his time in football and his role as an ambassador at Aberdeen. We finish off with some fun questions and what his best 11 if of players he played with.

Welcome to the second installment of the Scottish Football Forums interview with former Falkirk, Aberdeen, Dundee, Ross County and Scotland centre half Brian Irvine. In the summer of 1995, Brian’s world came crashing down when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He talks openly about how he came through that shock, how he learned how to manage the condition and fight his way back into the first team. He then discusses the hurt at being released by Roy Aitken in 1997 and how that spurred him onto have two impressive seasons with Dundee, including scoring in a Dundee Derby at Tannadice. Brian ended his career with four years at Ross County under Neale Cooper then Alex Smith before going into coaching and management. He speaks about the difficulties of his job with Elgin and coaching abroad. We round off the interview with a few quick-fire questions, including who the funniest personalities in the Aberdeen changing room were and why Eoin Jess left a pair of predators underneath his dressing room peg. We

Welcome to a special edition of the Scottish Football Forums Podcast with me Good John. This is a two-part special where I spoke to former Falkirk, Aberdeen, Dundee, Ross County and Scotland centre half Brian Irvine, one of my favourite players growing up as an Aberdeen fan. In the first of a two-part special, Brian talks about present day life as a key worker in two sectors with Marks and Spencer and as a Care Worker, which leads to an open discussion about the Coronavirus Pandemic and mental health in general. This leads to him talking briefly at his two jobs at the start of his career, working full time in a bank and part time with Falkirk for two years before joining boyhood hero’s Aberdeen. He goes onto speak about learning his trade at the Dons, being stand in for legendary centre back pairing Willie Miller and Alex McLeish and filling in as a right back, central midfielder and even goalkeeper. He became a regular in the 1989/90 season and wrote himself into Dons folklore by scoring the winning penalty

The two John's are joined by current Darvel Juniors manager Mick Kennedy. We're pleased to have him on especially in current situation where we're all desperate for any kind of football chat. Mick talks his through his career from his time playing in amateur football where he became a Scotland player at that level. He then leads on to his transition to management in the amateurs where he had tremendous success in a short space of time. He speaks about why Darvel were the right fit in terms of moving in to management in the Juniors. One of the main things that comes across is the professional approach he takes with Sports Science being a big part of things. There is some pyramid chat with all that is happening currently with that regard. We finish up with some fun questions and get Mick to pick a best eleven of players he has played with or managed. Tweet us @sffpodcast Facebook - Scottish Football Forums Instagram - sffpodcast

The two John's are delighted to be joined by Callum from the Football CFB podcast. We start off by talking about the raffle that took place to raise funds for Back Onside. We are delighted to have raised £765 and we express our gratitude to everyone who donated. This leads on to Callum talking about how he became an ambassador for the charity. The link is available if you still want to donate to help raise further funds for Back Onside. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/scottish-football-forums-podcast-back-onside Callum takes his turn of being the one to answer questions as we talk about his experience of being a fan. Good John gets him to select a team from the guests he has on his podcast. We finish off with some quick fire questions and as is tradition the chat leads on to pies. Tweet us @sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsInstagram - sffpodcast

The two John's are joined by another special guest as ex Aberdeen, Chesterfield and Montrose player Jamie Winter is on. Jamie talks us through how he got involved as a Back Onside ambassador and the importance of the work they do. Unfortunately we've had to cancel our charity game which was due to take place this Sunday but we still have a raffle with some fantastic prizes available. You can enter by donating on the below link to be in with a chance of winning. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/scottish-football-forums-podcast-back-onside We look back at Jamie's career as a full time footballer from his time as a youth at Leeds through to him now being at Carnoustie Panmure. He's got some great stories and it's interesting to hear how he found the transition from playing full time to transitioning to part time football. We finish off with some fun stuff including asking him to pick a best eleven of players he has played with. Tweet us @sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsInstagram - sffpodcast

It's the regular trio on this week and they are lucky enough to be joined by Callum of the Football CFB podcast. In the current situation there isn't much football to chat about in terms of action on the pitch. We speculate about what may happen. Will the season end as it stands? Will it be declared null and void? Will it be postponed? There are a number of issues relating to each scenario as there are contracts to finish in May, sponsorships and much more. Callum advises us how he got in to doing podcasts and we discuss a couple of guests he has had on. He has a really good style of interviewing so if you have room for two podcasts in your life then give it a listen. We'll still continue to be on regardless of the current situation and we have other special guests lined up over the next few weeks. Tweet us @sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsInstagram - sffpodcast

It's the regular trio of the two John's and Krys on this week as they discuss another busy week in Scottish football. There was another midweek set of fixtures in an expensive time for fans of the top flight. The bottom of the league is getting interesting with Hamilton picking up rare back to back wins and Hearts improving. At the other end of the table Rangers stumbled again. We briefly discuss Rangers upcoming game against Leverkusen and if away game might be behind closed doors. The chat moves on to what's been happening in the lower league in the Championship league of draws. We look one step closer to finding out what is happening with the West of Scotland League. A meeting is happening this Thursday where clubs should have further information. We finish off by talking about pasta and kisses in crowds. A reminder that you can donate here on our Just Giving page Tweet us @sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsInstagram - sffpodcast

This is a Scottish Football Forum's Podcast Special for Back Onside with Graham Wilson, a Patron for the Charity. In this interview, Graham talks openly about his battle with depression and alcoholism, and how that battle took him to the brink of taking his own life on a number of occasions. There is no hiding place for Graham as he talks about his darkest days, including taking payday loans to feed his alcohol habit and drinking weedkiller in a bid to end his pain. Thankfully, Graham is here to tell the story of how he gave up the booze on 4 October 2013, overcoming his demons and turned his life around to be where he is now. In his role as a patron, he frequently gives talks in Universities and Schools to raise mental health awareness and explains the great work of Back Onside. As you are by now aware, we have our own charity event for Back Onside on Sunday 29 March at Broadwood between fans and ex Players of Aberdeen and Celtic. Graham elaborates on the importance of events such as ours and the upcoming Ba

We're fortunate enough this week to be joined by another guest. The two Johns and Krys are joined by Celtic fan Paul. He's an award winning podcaster so I'm not sure how he's ended up on here. He has played a significant role for us in securing ex Celtic pros for the Back Onside charity match. A reminder that you can donate here on our Just Giving page We cover the Scottish Cup and the surprise that Rangers got knocked out by Hearts. This led to Gerrard having doubts on his future. There is discussion about when and where the semi finals will be played. It would make sense for an Edinburgh derby to be played at Murrayfield so it won't happen. Will this be the time for Aberdeen to beat Celtic? Are Morton now contenders for the Premiership playoff with their recent run of results. We cover the lower leagues and what's been happening there. Paul discusses the podcast that he runs and his plans to take it forward as he goes full time with it. He gives us an insight in to the books he has written too and the thril

It's our third offering of the week as the regular trio of the two John's and Krys are on. We discuss what's been going on in Scottish football in a busy week. There is the Scottish Cup which saw the two John's attend Rugby Park in a remarkable game. This links in with us previewing the quarter finals. We also cover the weekend action in the Premiership and other leagues. It's getting interesting as teams fight it out for promotion, relegation and to stay safe. The podcast concludes with some chat about Scotland and some random chat that goes off on a tangent. If anyone would like to donate to our charity match to help raise funds for Back Onside, please visit our Just Giving page Tweet us @sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsInstagram - sffpodcast

As part of our Mental Health Awareness, Good John got in touch with former Dunfermline and Aberdeen midfielder Gary Dempsey. Over the last few months, Gary has become an advocate of Mental Health Awareness by frequently posting videos with messages of positivity, hope and encouragement for those in need of help to come forward. More recently, he got in touch with eight-year old Dunfermline fan Ollie Young, who was the subject of bullying at school and left a letter for his mum saying he hated himself. Gary has gone above the call of duty to help Ollie, from a video call with him to arranging a game of football with Ollie and his friends in Dunfermline. Gary talks openly about the events that led him to talk openly, the difference in changing rooms from his time to now regarding opening up and the role the media and every one of us has to play to ensure nobody suffers in silence. This is a must-listen! #MentalHealthAwareness #ItsOkNotToBeOk If anyone would like to donate to our charity match to help raise fund