The Courier week ends with letters discussing the decline of football crowds, problems at Kinross car boot sale and Christianity.
Live TV football accelerated decline Sir, – Re: the recent letter from Ian Wheeler, may I say I am a long-retired Dundee supporter who also had the great privilege of seeing many great teams and many great players.
I, and many other fans of my generation, will agree with Mr Wheeler that in the days of Bob Shankly, Dundee could put a team on the park equal to any team in Britain, maybe even Europe. The 11 players mentioned by Mr Wheeler could grace any football ground.
I think Dundee’s success in the 1950s and 60s was due to the way they played, with a solid defence and two talented wing-halfs supporting five goal-scoring forwards. No wonder they had crowds of 30,000-40,000 for every home game. Alas, nowadays, a tenth of that is the normal gate.
I suppose there are many reasons for this and, personally, I stopped going to Dens Park when they started putting prices up while the standard of play dropped. There were other reasons I think could apply to many supporters who like me started to find other things to do on a Saturday afternoon, for instance, a girlfriend with no interest in football; going to the pictures when it was raining or simply staying at home.
Then, of course, along came opportunities to see live football on TV and what a difference this has made to attendances. Who can resist staying home to see a live match in brilliant colour in your own living room with every important incident or goal shown from every angle?
I appreciate football teams need paying fans to bring in income, and should not depend on a multi-millionaire to bank on in case the money supply be cut off.
I saw a recent suggestion that gate prices be reduced to tempt the fans in and this might be an excellent idea as the bigger the crowd shouting support, the greater the effort of the team. It is a very true saying that a good supporting crowd can act like a 12th man.
Good luck to the Dundee board and their supporters. I sincerely hope they can restore some of the former glory.
Alex Halliburton.4 Kingfisher Place,Dundee.
One complaint led to chaos
Sir, – It is amazing that one person can create such a scene of absolute chaos as was apparent at the Kinross Car Boot Sale on Saturday, October 2.
As a result of changes to the timing of the event (which, incidentally, pre-dates the building of most of the adjacent houses), traffic that would normally have been inside the site by about 7am was forced to queue in surrounding areas until after 8am.
Inconvenient for those who had come to sell at the event (many of whom, being occasional visitors, were unaware of the change of times)? Certainly! But more so for those local residents and businesses that were affected by the queuing traffic in the nearby industrial estate and along Kinross High Street.
So why the change of timing? Simply to accommodate one complainant (as recorded in the minutes of the Perth & Kinross licensing committee) who, it must be assumed, could not fail to have been aware of the presence of the Motor Auction, Car Boot or Sunday Market when he took up residence.
Those affected deserve an apology but it should come from the individual whose complaints brought this situation about.
Bill Barnes.16 Ayton Court,Glenrothes.
Hitler’s actions are key factor
Sir, – I have not seen the earlier correspondence between M. Duncan and James Thomson but M. Duncan’s latest contribution (October 6) about Hitler’s supposed Christianity is simply laughable.
Just because Hitler claimed to be a Christian does not make his actions those of a Christian nor does it prove that his actions were motivated by the Christian faith.
Many fanatics have done things in the name of religion but the key question, surely, is: “Did Hitler’s actions correspond to the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth?” Even the most hardened atheist would have to concede they did not, and to imply that Christianity is somehow the inspiration for his views is tendentious to say the least.
If Hitler’s claim to be a Christian is meant to show the folly of religious faith, by the same logic M. Duncan’s ‘fact-based’ faith of atheism is completely discredited by the actions of his fellow atheists like Stalin and Mao; the biggest mass murderers in history who managed to commit their atrocities without any religious belief. Removing religion does not result in the utopia of human kindness that some atheists seem to imagine, because faith is not the culprit here.
There are issues of power, stupidity, selfishness, cruelty and sometimes downright barbarity in human nature in all its varieties, atheist, agnostic and religious, but I happen to think Jesus came up with some rather good solutions to the problem.
The Rev Fraser Penny.The Manse,Cathedral Street, Dunkeld.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.