An excellent new book about the country’s smaller teams… [Stramash] captures the vague romance that still clings to the these ‘smaller’ Scottish clubs. It will make a must-read for every non-Old Firm football fan – and for many Rangers and Celtic supporters too. Daily Record, 27th November 2010
It is not a look at the state of the game just now in borrowed tartan glasses or a shortbread tin view of an English tourist, it is more than that… The book charts Gray’s visits to Ayr, Alloa, Cowdenbeath, Coatbridge, Montrose, Kirkcaldy, Greenock, Arbroath, Dingwall, Cumbernauld, Dumfries and Elgin and the chapters dedicated to each stop provide more than just a description of match action. Scottish Football League Official Newsletter, 28th November 2010
There have been previous attempts by authors to explore the off-the-beaten paths of the Scottish football landscape, but Daniel Gray’s volume is in another league as he mixes social history with sharp contemporary observation (and measured wit) in the classic outposts of the game which, together, epitomise the character of football north of the border. The Scotsman, Sports Books of the Year, 11th December 2010
That Scotsman review in full
As he takes in a match at each stopping-off point, Gray presents little portraits of small Scottish towns, relating histories of declining industry, radical politics and the connection between a team and its community. It’s a brilliant way to rediscover Scotland, and some outstanding players who deserve to have been national legends but are now long forgotten. The Herald, 11th December 2010
That Herald review in full
…there is enough here to interest the casual reader, and if you’re looking for a book that provides at least a flavour of life in the SFL and a bit of background to some of the social histories from which Scottish football and its teams grew, then this would be a reasonable place to start. And not only because of the lack of any other books attempting the same thing. When Saturday Comes, December 2010
…a great read, because Gray doesn’t write about just football, he uses football as an excuse to explore the histories of small towns in Scotland. Employing the same research skills used in Homage to Caledonia, he digs up theoretically fascinating facts about towns like Arbroath, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. And they are fascinating, because he works these into a narrative of his visits to see the small town’s football teams in action.
So historical detail combines with the day-to-day, as when he writes “[a manufacturer's] family would later gift the town the museum in which I now stood, being tutted at by a curator for allowing my mobile phone to erupt”, and it’s this approach that keeps the book moving pacily along, before we even get to the football. As for that, if you’ve ever wanted to know why Arbroath FC are called the Red Lichties or why Tommy Ring and ‘Vodka Vic’ are legendary in some postcodes, this richly researched and humorously written book is for you. 4/5. The Skinny, January 2011 edition
Why do the Gers and Hoops have retail outlets in the capital? Why do buses depart for Glasgow on a Saturday morning from every corner of Scotland?
Gray’s book is a splendid attempt to answer these questions, and more besides. The author has done it the hard way, too, by actually turning up for games in Alloa, Coatbridge, Greenock, Kirkcaldy, Elgin and, yes, Dingwall. He has been to see where we live, or once lived. The result is sociology at its best, which is to say eminently readable…
His book should be required reading for anyone who elects to prattle on about this sport’s “grassroots”… Stramash may turn out to be a memoir of the way we were, and an epitaph. Ian Bell, The Sunday Herald, 26th December 2010
I defy anyone to read Stramash and not fall in love with Scottish football’s blessed eccentricities all over again… Funny enough to bring on involuntary, laugh out loud moments. It’s a good book to read if you want to disconcert your fellow Scotrail commuters.
An admirably accessible introduction to Scottish football, our footballing heritage and our rich social history. Scottish Football Blog, 27th January 2011
A very readable book, striking the right balance between history and gossip. 5/5. Beyond the Bandstand: Stranraer FC programme, 5th February 2011
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