Scottish football has had its fair share of weird and wonderful moments in 2018. Here, we look at 10 bizarre moments of the past 12 months.
Chairman axed after ‘wrestling’ Scooby Blue
Reports of Stranraer chairman Alex Connor grappling with the club mascot in a lounge amid a dispute over a cup of tea before a game against Airdrie probably sounded like a shaggy dog tale, but the League One club soon announced that a committee member had been relieved of his duties after a full investigation and a new chairman appointed.
Wildlife tumbling from the skies
90' We've seen some strange things at Hampden but St Mirren keeper Craig Samson has just been forced to remove what looks like a dead squirrel dropped onto the pitch by a seagull. Entertainment at its best.
— Queen's Park FC (@queensparkfc) July 24, 2018
Ian McCall walked away from a post-match interview at Forfar’s Station Park after a dead seagull crashed on to the pitch five yards from his feet. The perturbed Ayr manager said: “There’s a lot of them round about us just now and I’m not really happy about this.” St Mirren goalkeeper Craig Samson faced a similar incident ahead of a Betfred Cup penalty shoot-out against Queen’s Park at Hampden when a dead pigeon plummeted into his goalmouth.
Divided we fall
Dundee United goalkeeper Deniz Mehmet indulged in some acrobatic celebrations after his side equalised in their play-off quarter-final against Dunfermline. But he suffered a knee injury in the process and was substituted. Manager Csaba Laszlo afforded himself a smile after his team’s victory. “If I write a book this will be the funniest thing in my life, that the goalkeeper injured his knee in a goal celebration,” he said. “This is absolutely the funniest thing I’ve seen. It was really stupid.” However, it turned out Mehmet had suffered cruciate ligament damage and he hasn’t played since.
Liam Fontaine meets Gok Wan
🎥 | On the first episode of #LiamFontaineMeets presented by @TradRoof, Liam had the honour of grabbing a quick interview with the legendary @therealgokwan after his DJ set at @PartyAtPalace. pic.twitter.com/dPVhtoOdN5
— #LiamFontaineMeets (@LFontaineMeets) September 3, 2018
For some reason, the Ross County defender interviewed the fashion guru on video after his DJ set at a festival and then carried on his sideline by interviewing his former Hibs boss Alan Stubbs, incorporating a cookery challenge entitled “Master Bakers”.
Goalkeeper injured by runaway cow
Queen of the South had a selection crisis after 19-year-old Sam Henderson was hit by a runaway cow on his father’s farm and suffered a shoulder injury. The youth-team keeper had been on the bench the previous week and soon dropped out of the squad.
Leigh Griffiths encounters flat Earth theorists
What's that, you want to see a video of Leigh Griffiths being lectured to about flat earth?
You only had to ask! pic.twitter.com/JGEI663BhU
— Garry Carmody (@GarryCarmody) July 21, 2018
The Celtic striker was singled out by a sceptic of the widely-accepted assumption that the Earth is round and listened patiently after being stopped in his car outside Parkhead to face questions such as: “Have you ever seen bendy water? If the Earth is 71 per cent covered in water and we know the surface of water is always horizontal, how can the Earth be a baw?”
Another phantom goal at Firhill
When Kris Doolan’s shot struck the underside of the bar before hitting the net and bouncing back out, every Partick Thistle player and fan celebrated, and the Morton players put their head in their hands while one kicked the ball into the stand in frustration. But referee Barry Cook and assistant Jordan Stokoe were not on the same wavelength and awarded the Jags a throw-in. In the same goal 25 years earlier referee Les Mottram committed an identical mistake when waving play on after Dundee United’s Paddy Connolly hit the back of the net from close range before a Thistle defender picked the ball up and handed it to his goalkeeper.
Foul play at Spartans
A break in play as the Referee asks that a jobby is shovelled off the pitch.
— The Spartans FC (@spartansfc) December 22, 2018
“A break in play as the Referee asks that a jobby is shovelled off the pitch.” One of the best tweets from an official club account of all time. The Lowland League clash between Spartans and Gretna 2008 was interrupted when the referee spotted some mess on the Ainslie Park pitch. It turned out to have been left by a fox and the game continued after the pitch was cleared up.
It was Bounty to happen one day
St Mirren left-back Stelios Demetriou was unflustered when struck by a chocolate bar thrown from Morton fans during a Renfrewshire derby at Cappielow. The defender unwrapped the Bounty bar, took a quick bite and then carried on with his throw-in.
Willo Flood’s summer of discontent
The former Celtic and Middlesbrough midfielder’s Dundee United career ended with a meltdown as the Irishman ranted at a television camera after being sent off in a play-off defeat by Livingston. Weeks later he signed for Dunfermline, vowing to put his unenjoyable season at Tannadice behind him. A week later he left East End Park after receiving a more lucrative offer from Bali United. But his move to Thailand fell through because of league rules on foreign players and he found himself without a club.
