Tomorrow is Helicopter Saturday in Scottish League Two, also rife with relegation fever. All the drama can be enjoyed on each club’s own TV station – as Tony Dawber explains.
Tomorrow’s title, promotion and relegation battles in Scottish League Two will not only be played out before a few hundred souls at modest grounds from Berwick to Elgin. Hang fire a few hours after the final whistle and you can watch all the action as it happened.
Everything is down to the wire – all five final-day fixtures have something at stake.
For Berwick Rangers, Clyde and Cowdenbeath, Saturday is D-Day as far as survival goes. Local rivals Forfar and Arbroath will be shooting it out for the title, and two other teams are in a battle for the last play-off spot.
And while many around Scotland and beyond will be following how the day unfolds by radio, few may realise that SPFL League Two clubs have their own mini TV stations.
The current Scottish TV deal has made no provision for covering this level of football. ‘There’s no problem with the Scottish League Two sides recording their own highlights in whatever form they wish,’ a SPFL spokesman points out.
‘The only restriction is that they must wait until midnight on the day of the match to post them online.’
Most clubs post highlights on YouTube with team line-ups, score graphics and replays, with some club stations also adding commentary and post-match interviews with the managers involved.
‘Our TV channel is run by a fan who volunteered to do it,’ explains Montrose FC commercial co-ordinator Regan Tammi. ‘It’s not expensive to run, it’s a service for the fans and it works well.’
Most of these mini stations are simply named after the club, but Brechin City’s calls itself ‘Hedge TV,’ a nod to the bush that runs the entire length of the touchline at their Glebe Park home. Arbroath fans follow their team’s fortunes on ‘36nilTV,’ a tribute to their world record scoreline dating back to 1885.
While the Lichties need to win at Stirling Albion to be assured of the League Two crown, the scrap at the bottom of the table might provide the liveliest coverage.
After 112 years, the Scottish League status of Cowdenbeath is now hanging by a thread. The ‘Blue Brazil’ have occupied bottom spot in the table for the last few weeks, and must win at play-off challengers Elgin and hope either Clyde or Berwick slip up.
Berwick are in the box seat for survival, with home advantage over Edinburgh City while Clyde face the last play-off contenders, rejuvenated Montrose.
‘I’m not looking forward to it,’ says lifelong Clyde fan Gary Ballantyne. ‘It’s been a long week and it’s going to be an awful day.’
The team who finish bottom then face a two-legged showdown against the winners of the East Kilbride v Buckie Thistle clash, which stands at 2-2 with the second leg at Kilby tomorrow.
At the other end of the table, it’s Helicopter Saturday. In traditional fashion, the league trophy will be transported by air to previous leaders Forfar, scheduled to host third-placed Annan, or to Stirling, where Arbroath hope to hold on to their one-point advantage at the top.
Scottish League Two might fill a small space in the results section of the Sunday papers – but all the nerve-shredding drama can be brought to life as you relax and watch all the goals at your leisure on your own laptop.
Scottish League Two (spfl.co.uk/league-two), 3pm, Saturday May 6. See individual clubs for details.
