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A DUNDEE United fan was attacked and robbed of his scarf just hours after the team won the Scottish Cup final.
The 43 year-old was walking on Brook Street, just north of the city’s university campus, when he was assaulted.
Three teenagers shoved him to the ground and made off with his Tangerines scarf.
Police have appealed for witnesses to Saturday’s 10.30pm robbery.
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By Andrea McCallum
HOSPITAL admissions rocket when Scotland’s football teams suffer defeat, according to new figures.
An investigation linking Saturday scores and casualty queues has proven that hospital visits increase when Premier League teams do badly.
The figures reflect hospital admissions in two-team city hospitals like Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee – and show that in one-team city Aberdeen the trend is reversed.
Admissions to A&E units on Saturdays at Scotland’s hospitals were compared to club results over a year.
BLUBBING Scots telly babe Lorraine Kelly was in floods of tears yesterday as celebrities from across the globe wished her a happy 50th birthday.
Stars including film hunk Gerry Butler, The Bee Gees, Peter Andre and Ricky Gervais sent surprise messages while she presented yesterday morning’s GMTV.
Looking wholesome as ever in revealing tartan dress, the big-hearted Dundee mum couldn’t hold back the tears as youngsters from the Black Watch Army Cadets also passed on their best wishes.
In a morning packed full of surprises, Lorraine was relieved from her usual presenting duties by another TV queen, Paul O’Grady, with the set adorned with balloons.
The camp star leapt onto the GMTV set and whipped off his bowtie, treating Lorraine to an impromptu birthday strip-show.
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By Michael MacLeod
CELTIC goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska has been hit with a fine for speeding near Edinburgh Zoo.
A speed camera caught the 27 year-old Poland international hitting 41mph in a 30mph zone on the capital’s Corstorphine Road on January 21 this year.
This week he admitted that he had been driving a car over the speed limit.
The Parkhead number two managed to keep a clean sheet in his side’s 4-0 win over Falkirk in the Co-operative Insurance Cup on Wednesday night.
But yesterday (Thurs) he got three penalty points on his licence at Edinburgh’s Justice of the Peace Court.
By Cara Sulieman
OLD FIRM fans are the worst behaved on the rail network according to new figures from the British transport police.
And Rangers fans are detected for twice the number of football-related crimes than their arch rivals Celtic.
But the Chief Superintendant for the British Transport Police in Scotland Martyn Ripley said it was the nature of the crimes that were worrying rather than the number.
As well as the usual urinating in public and alcohol charges, there were a number of fans arrested for sectarianism.
FOOTBALL daft telly star Lorraine Kelly says she’s terrified over the prospect of Setanta Sports going bust – because she won’t be able to watch her beloved Dundee United while filming in London.
The 49-year-old Arabs fan she is a subscriber to the beleaguered station like many of other Scots working away from home, and will be “devastated” if the channel has the plug pulled on it.
And she’s waiting anxiously to find out if the stricken subscription-only channel will plunge the league into limbo, fearing a blackout will leave the Tannadice club crippled for transfer cash.
She said: “I just hope they can find a buyer because a lot of clubs will be feeling it because it’s an awful lot of money that they owe.
A SCOTS artist once considered one of the country’s finest post-war landscape artists has left his entire £3million fortune to his wife.
But John Houston OBE plans for organizations supporting artists to eventually benefit from his works.
Mr Houston, who was born in the small Fife town of Buckhaven and was once capped for the Scottish international U-21 football team, passed away aged 78 last September.
Included in his legacy is his share of the family home in Edinburgh valued at an estimated £750,000, cash, shares and investments worth over £1 million, as well as his prized Mercedes Benz motorcar.
Throughout his life he continually championed art in his home country, collected scores of awards and titles, and was known for his intense, atmospheric landscapes exploring the dramatic effects of weather and light.
By Karrie Gillett
BUNGLING politician Alex Fergusson was handed a second chance at the draw for the CIS cup semi-finals today after last year’s gaffe.
The Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer joked before the draw that he was grateful to be invited back after mixing up the numbers in 2007.
This season’s semi-finals will see Celtic playing Dundee United and Rangers facing Falkirk.
First Minister Alex Salmond drew out the numbers at the event in the parliament building while Mr Fergusson spoke of his relief at having the chance to redeem himself.
The blunder in 2007 saw Mr Fergusson matching the wrong balls with the wrong clubs during a televised draw.
But after today’s event, the First Minister said: “No action replay required today as we managed it fine.
“I know a lot of folk will be looking at the draw and the Old Firm being kept apart again but I can tell you it was both a bona-fide draw and an accurate draw.
“I think relief is what myself and the presiding officer are feeling now.”
Celtic midfielder Marc Crosas – who played against Dundee United twice while with Barcelona – said their semi-final opponents could prove difficult to overcome.
He said: “I hope that we can win the semi-final but I think that Dundee United are a very good team.
“A semi-final cup game is always difficult.
“I played against them two times with Barcelona and because of that I know they are a very hard team.”
Alex Salmond also slammed comments today from Scots Secretary Jim Murphy that a British football team in the 2012 Olympics would have no impact on the Scotland team.
Mr Salmond said: “This is daft stuff.
“We know from meetings last year with Sepp Blatter and Scots at the very top of international football that if we open the door to this then it will be used by other countries to jeaopordise the position of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the home countries in international football.
“We know that will happen and no amount of paper guarantees or smooth assurances from any official at any time will ever remove that danger.
“This is a Pandora’s box and we will open it at our peril.
“Jim Murphy and Gordon Brown are only interested in the politics and not football. They should back off and think again.”
FORMER Hearts captain Gary Mackay has launched his autobiography at Tynecastle.
The fans’ favourite, who played 737 times for the Edinburgh club, was joined by friends, family and ex-teammates for the unveiling of ‘Maroon Heart – The Gary Mackay Story’.
Written in conjunction with Talk 107 journalist Mark Donaldson, the book tells the warts-and-all story of Mackay’s playing days with Hearts, Airdrie and Scotland.
And on a tough day for football due to the announcement of the untimely death of Dundee Utd chairman Eddie Thomson, the former-Scottish internationalist managed to take time out to pay his respects to a man he described as “humble”.
Mackay, who still holds the appearance record for the Tynecastle side, was joined at the launch by his old boss Alex McDonald, and former teammates Walter Kidd, Sandy Clark and Willie Johnstone.
He said: “I was approached two years ago to tell my life story and it was then I spoke to Mark Donaldson to help me with it. Overall, I’m delighted with the book and everything that’s in it is true, and I’ve been as open as I could have been.
“My favourite memories have to be about my derby record against Hibs, which is really important to me. I’ve devoted a chapter about those matches in the book because I played in 54 and was only defeated eight times.
“I’m a local lad and I went to school just round the corner from Tynecastle, so my record is a big, big thing for me.
“Some of my favourite characters in the game have joined me today. Guys like Alex McDonald, Sandy Clark and Walter Kidd took me along the right road. You don’t become a professional footballer without help from your peers and these guys helped me enormously.”
Currently a football agent for stars such as Gary O’Connor and Lee Wallace, Mackay also spoke of the highs and lows he encountered during his time as a player.
“Being capped for your country is a wonderful thing, but I think playing for as long as I did has to be the highlight of my career.
“And of course the worst footballing moment I describe in the book has to be that week in May in 1986 when we lost the league title up at Dens Park, and then lost the Scottish Cup to Aberdeen the following week.
“The book is all about my experiences in the game and friendship was a huge part of me enjoying my career.”
The dyed-in-the-wool Jambo also believes the current crop of Hearts stars can win over the fans after their sticky start to the season by beating arch-rivals Hibs in the first Edinburgh derby of the season on Sunday.
He said: “Hibernian will go into the game as the favourites, and they have three prolific strikers in Nish, Fletcher and Riordan so Hearts will have to defend very well on the day.
“Saying that, if they do defend well that should give them a solid base to go on and win the football match.”
And kind-hearted Mackay also paid tribute to Eddie Thomson who tragically passed away after a long battle with prostate cancer.
“My condolences go out to the Thomson family. He was a very humble man and he had a great way with him with other people. He’ll be sadly missed.”
Mackay’s autobiography will be on general release this week.
Deadline Press & Picture Agency 