The great vuvuzela debate looks likely to run beyond Sunday”s World Cup final, after clubs in Courier country said it would ultimately be the supporters who decide if they become part of Scotland”s football culture next season.
The noise from the instruments has been likened to a herd of stampeding elephants or the drone of a thousand bees.
They have sparked an international debate since the competition kicked off with critics, including footballers and managers, arguing that they drown out the noise of crowds and hamper the game.
Football clubs will be given the final say whether to allow the noisy horns into their grounds or not.
Dundee FC operations director Jim Thomson said, “If it adds to the atmosphere and the fans are happy then that’s fine by us.
“I wouldn’t like to make a firm policy on the matter on the back of the World Cup.
“If our fans particularly feel the need to bring them in then we’ll monitor it and see how it goes.
“We wouldn’t like to be killjoys and say it’s not happening.”
A spokesman for Dundee United said he would imagine their use might well be regulated by other supporters.
“Unless it is advised to us that they represent a health or safety risk we have no plans to ban vuvuzelas from the stadium,” he said.
A spokesman for St Johnstone FC said they had already received a negative reaction from supporters.
“I would note that we had right at the start of the World Cup a handful of calls from supporters concerned if they became a fixture at McDiarmid Park,” he said.
“We will keep a very close eye on this and most importantly keep an ear to our supporters.”
Raith Rovers chairman Dave Sommerville said he can’t stand their monotone drone but the Kirkcaldy club would not be banning them from Stark’s Park.
“They do my head in!” he said.
“From a Raith Rovers point of view I’m not in favour of them, but I don’t see us moving to ban them.
“It sounds great if you see them on TV but I don’t think it would be if you were sitting beside one in the ground.
“We won’t be selling them and I would suggest that they are a passing phase.”
Some say vuvuzelas ruin the atmosphere at games and deaf charity RNID Scotland said the noise is louder than a road drill.
MSP Margo MacDonald even called on the Scottish Premier League (SPL) to outlaw the horns before they went on sale here.
An SPL spokesman said there is nothing in the rules which specifically relate to carrying musical instruments into grounds.
“The decision would lie with the clubs and their operations people whether or not they want to allow the vuvuzelas into their grounds,” he said.
Supporters last night gave a mixed reaction to football stadiums buzzing to the furious drone of the vuvuzela.
Dundee United fan Stuart Ramsay said, “While I have no problem with them at the World Cup as I accept it is part of the culture, the thought of them in Scotland is unbearable.
“I have got used to them now, but they clearly drown out the chanting of fans. Hardly a sound can be heard from fans singing, which is so unusual.
“I go to Scotland games where the kids buy hooters and they can be bad enough never mind someone using a full-scale vuvuzela.”
Fellow United fan Jim Jenkins said, “I think they would help create an atmosphere inside the ground, but the big problem would be someone sitting behind you blowing one for 90 minutes.
“It would drive you round the bend.”
Dundee supporter Kevin Cassidy said, “I’m all for them.
“Being a Dundee fan it would probably help the players as it would drown out the usual abuse they get from the fans.”
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user gerbisson.