THE Scottish Football League brought in a comedian to help make the draw for the second round of the Co-Operative Insurance Cup yesterday, although the joke will have been lost on the managers of Aberdeen and Dundee United.
Both sides face tricky away draws against lower-division clubs. Jimmy Calderwood's Aberdeen, who got their season off to a disappointing start when losing at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday, are required to make the long trip to Seco
nd Division Ayr United. Craig Levein, the Fife-based manager of Dundee United, has not so far to travel after his side were handed an away draw at Cowdenbeath. It is a significant journey in terms of emotional-charge, however. Levein made his name as a manager at Central Park, and also began his playing career at the club.
Hibernian and Hearts were handed more straightforward draws by Ed Byrne, the Irish comedian who is currently appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Both play at home, entertaining Morton and Airdrie United respectively. The tie which perhaps holds most prospect of a shock is the one between currently high-flying Brechin City and Kilmarnock at Glebe Park. Brechin eliminated Jim Jefferies' side from the same competition five years ago.
The holders Rangers are excused second-round participation due to what had been assumed would be European commitments. Celtic, Motherwell and Queen of the South are also not required for the same reason, although they at least remain in Europe.
The draw, which was made in the opulent Signet Library in Edinburgh, sought to banish memories of last season's foul-up during the draw for the semi-finals of what was then the CIS Cup. The draw was botched due to Alex Fergusson, the presiding officer, matching up the numbers to the wrong teams. The mistake was later rectified, but only after the draw had gone out live on television.
This time such farce has been restricted to the theatres, school halls and gymnasiums being deployed for Edinburgh Fringe festival productions. But a link between football and the performance arts was established when Byrne was recruited to draw out the balls. It was brave of the SFL and the Co-Op, given the easy headlines on offer had there been another blunder. 'Ed Balls Up' was just one possibility, but the comedian performed as though he had been born to grab numbered balls from a felt bag. He did, though, confess to being slightly bemused to be asked, given his indifference to football. "I think you'll be hard pressed to find a comedian with less of an interest in football than me," he said afterwards. He has only ever been to one football match – Burnley v Huddersfield Town.
"My link with the Co-Operative is through Amnesty International – they sponsor the Stand-Up for Freedom gig every year, at which I perform," he explained. "It's an odd thing to be asked to do. I am not a huge football fan, but I am big fan of Scotland, the country. I have links with Scotland, just not to Scottish football."
It didn't matter. Dressed in a pair of hiking boots and with the style of haircut last seen in a Panini sticker album circa late 1970s, he wrapped his Irish tongue faultlessly around names like Hamilton Academical and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He even displayed a knowledge of what had occurred on the last occasion the draw was made in Edinburgh. "This won't be as funny as when you had politicians doing it," he said, prior to picking out the first seeded team – St Mirren.
He's here all month.
Co-operative Insurance Cup Second roundSt Mirren v Dumbarton
Livingston v St Johnstone
Dundee v Partick Thistle
Ayr v Aberdeen
Hibernian v Morton
Arbroath v Inverness CT
Hamilton v Clyde
Cowdenbeath v Dundee Utd
Hearts v Airdrie
Raith v Falkirk
Dunfermline v Alloa
Brechin v Kilmarnock
Ties to be played on Tuesday/Wednesday 26/27 August
The full article contains 671 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
