Orcadian column, 27 June 2024
Few are the events or occasions in Orkney where Ken Amer is not to be found floating around the margins if not at the very centre.
Few are the events or occasions in Orkney where Ken Amer is not to be found floating around the margins if not at the very centre.
Well it didn’t take long for hope to turn to despair as Scotland got thumped 5-1 by hosts, Germany in the opening fixture of the Euro Championships.
For ‘embarrassing uncles’ everywhere, I may have raised the bar unsustainably high last week. During First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, I invited the Deputy First Minister to join me in congratulating Orkney and Shetland’s young athletes.
It’s 39 years since my last involvement in a Junior Inter County football match at the Bignold - a scrappy 0-0 draw, unlikely to make any JIC showreel.
It takes a special talent to dislocate your hip during a football match when you’re not playing, or even on the substitutes bench. Miraculously, I achieved this feat while cheering on Sanday in a Parish Cup tie away to Holm in 2021.
As the Scottish Parliament elects a third First Minister in 14 months, it seems we’re o’er blessed to live in interesting times.