Issue 40 extract

“They talked about the football as if they were going to watch the opera. We thought: Let’s go to Bologna.”

Aaron Hickey’s move to Serie A in 2020 opened the floodgates for an influx of Scottish talent. This is the anatomy of that transfer, told through the eyes of the player, his family, agents, coaches and scouts.

By Stephen McGowan

Issue 41 pre-order

The Captains Issue

⚽  Adam Clery on John McGinn.
⚽  Barry Smith’s rules of captaincy.
⚽  Players celebrate their greatest skippers.

Plus
⚽ World Cup analysis by Stephen McGowan
⚽  Hearts title tilt revisited
⚽  Teddy Jamieson interviews Neil Simpson
⚽  Harry Pearson on Patsy Gallacher
⚽  The Ghost of White Hart Lane
⚽  Photo essay: Forest Pitch revisited

Read full contents Pre-order Issue 41

Three minutes, two free-kicks, one legend: remembering Leigh Griffiths vs England

Leigh Griffiths’ 180-second double against England in 2017 might just be the two greatest free-kicks in Scottish football history. A player, a manager, a fan, a journalist and a chief executive share their memories of June 10, 2017.

By Scott Fleming

How Ayr United saved Lawrence Shankland’s career

Lawrence Shankland returned from injury and grabbed a series of crucial goals that took Hearts to within five minutes of a first Scottish top-flight title since 1960. We dig into the Nutmeg archives to remember how Ian McCall and Ayr United helped a striker at a crossroads find his way back into the game.

By Sean Cole

Allaster McKallaster: The man who makes bias beautiful

In 2022, Texas-based lawyer and Scotland diehard Pete Reid created his furiously partisan commentating persona. 400 million views later and the Tartan Army are stopping him for selfies.

By Martin Greig
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What is Nutmeg?

Nutmeg magazine is the high-class home for quality writing about Scottish football’s past, present and future. Published every three months, our 196 elegant pages offer an engrossing blend of opinion, nostalgia and insight.

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Neglected gems

Football tourists tend to overlook Belgium but its grounds are havens of authentic charm and raucous song.

By Daniel Gray

The secrets of Studio 5

Studio 5 in the old BBC building in Queen Margaret Drive, 1962. This is where it all began.

By Archie Macpherson

Dad is gone, but thanks to football I know how much he loved me

In my quest to make it as a professional player, my dad was my biggest critic, champion and companion. Now that he is gone, I appreciate even more what he left behind.

By Chris Collins

‘And that was when Stevie Morrison farted’ — The day Dunfermline sang at Pebble Mill

The unforgettable story of how Dunfermline became daytime TV music stars singing the theme from EastEnders.

By Liam Kirkaldy
Dens Park illustration

Remembering Ralph

Prodigiously talented, hard-drinking, headstrong, self-deprecating: Ralph Milne was many things. Above all, he was great company.

By Neil Forsyth
Selection of Nutmeg Magazine print editions

3 for 2 offer on back copies

Select any THREE single issues and you will get an automatic discount at the checkout.

  1. World Cup 1998: When 500 million watched Scotland and Brazil take the first tango in Paris

    The next biggest thing to playing in the last game of the World Cup is playing in the first one.

  2. Fergus McCann: The epic account of how the man in the bunnet saved Celtic

    In 1994, Scots-born Canadian tycoon McCann swept into Parkhead to remove family dynasties at the club and usher in the modern era. To mark the 30-year anniversary of the day many say saved Celtic, we reproduce this epic account from Nutmeg 14.

  3. Allaster McKallaster: The man who makes bias beautiful

    In 2022, Texas-based lawyer and Scotland diehard Pete Reid created his furiously partisan commentating persona. 400 million views later and the Tartan Army are stopping him for selfies.

  4. Remembering Ralph

    Prodigiously talented, hard-drinking, headstrong, self-deprecating: Ralph Milne was many things. Above all, he was great company.

  5. McIlvanney’s World Cup

    William McIlvanney, who died in 2015, left us one of the most illuminating pieces of writing on the experience of being part of the Tartan Army in Argentina for the 1978 World Cup, in Surviving The Shipwreck, a collection of essays by the noted novelist, short story writer and poet. This extract from the chapter Journeys of the Magi was written before Scotland’s final game against The Netherlands.