St Johnstone historian Alastair Blair temporarily drifted away from the highs and lows of the Perth club to pen his latest work - and he’s hit the back of the net. ‘Stop the game: We’re going to arrest the goalkeeper’ explores Scottish football referees and the influence of Scotland on the laws of the game.
It is already being billed as a winner and a “unique insight” into the much-maligned men and women of Scottish football refereeing.
Alastair’s previous work on Saints - alongside fellow historian Brian Doyle - includes the highly-popular ‘Bristling with Possibilities, ‘Manifest Destiny’ and, more recently, ‘Hagiography: The Great Saints’.
Dipping his toes into another area of the beautiful game and away from the corridors of Muirton and McDiarmid Park has proved a rewarding experience. “After finishing Hagiography, Brian wanted to take a break from Saints’ books for a while so I decided I would write about something else,” Alastair explained. “I really have no idea why the idea of writing about Scottish refereeing came to my mind, but it did. “My initial thought was to look at Scotland’s impact on the development of the laws and this, naturally, led to the idea of writing about referees and refereeing. “With the rapid advance of technology into football, it seemed like a good time to do this. “I used my contacts to seek out former referees and managers - and Stuart and Tam from Off the Ball - for interviews and these form the first part of the book. “I also spoke to two rugby referees, including Jim Fleming - probably the most experienced referee in the entire book - and got their views on both rugby and football refereeing and the use of the TMO and VAR.” The book has been hailed for bringing enlightenment,