Engineers of the Invigorating Unconciousness,

Local tensions are running high, they are caused by a personality clash. One person seeks every iota of information possible in order to gain excuse to form anger and cause conflict, the other person, by nature, is a laid-back information gatherer who has a skill for being philosophical, diplomatic and thinks speech, other than general politeness, is only necessary when the information they dispense is of interest or use.

I happened to run a search for "bellyaches" amongst the blogs. I can't believe there is another Bellyaches that takes preference over this site in their foolish rankings system. I believe this other fellow's motives might be somewhat misguided. I would question why he came to call his site by this random moniker, because that's what it appears to be. I called this blog "The Bellyaches" because they wouldn't let me call our 5-a-side team "The Bellyaches" in the annual town Civic Week competition. They wouldn't even allow me to call the team "General George's 5-a-side Team", but I wouldn't bestow that name upon this blog as it does not import the attitudes I share with my valued readers as successfully on a global scale as the current name. Evidently, my credentials to lay claim to this banner are far superior to those of Mr. Inge.

The "Down With Brown" campaign rolled into Falkirk today for the match between East Stirlingshire and East Fife. Chairman Brown surprisingly chose not to attend. The large bus full of police officers that had appeared at the ground to offer protection to chairman Brown was driving off as we approached the ground after news had reached them that they were not requireed. East Fife were defeated 1-2 by the worst team in Scottish professional football.

In keeping with their status as the worst club, Firs Park is very grim, no segregation of fans exists, it needn't - there are so few. The ground consists of a rusty steel shelter along one length of the pitch over concrete terracing. A dated stand that seats around 100 people occupies the other length of the pitch, alongside a portakabin from which a kiosk is run. One goalmouth end is simply a grass embankment in which wooden terracing once existed, this however is now overgrown and off limits to spectators. The remainder of the perimeter of the ground is surrounded by a very high stone wall that gives the feeling that the match is being played indoors, on a sunny day, like today, it felt like being inside the local sports hall. Despite their team's lowly position, the supporters of "the Shiree" are brilliant, they seem to accept their position and are only ever supportive of their players. There was one fan next to us who knew every player's name and shouted messages of encouragement to each of them individually in turn for the entire 90 minutes, I've never witnessed this kind of fanaticism before, however as great as he was for his cause, we had to move away from him, he was highly irritating.

For East Fife, it was a poor result, but it was still an enjoyable day for me. Although I have a season ticket for Celtic, I like going to East Fife games. With Celtic, seeing my team winning is the quintessential reason for attending matches, any result other than a comfortable win by the most attractive style of football is deemed failure, but this stinks of professionalism. The shenanigans associated with East Fife and the unpredictable results make for exciting if sometimes disappointing viewings. I enjoyed going to a ground I'd never been to before today, even if it was the most bleak I've ever visited, I must note, however, the staff in the kiosk offered the best service at a football match I have ever experienced, not for the range of food and drinks served, but their general politeness and helpfulness is possibly unparalleled. The "Down with Brown" campaign struck a blow at the despised East Fife board when some supporters made club directors accept a copy of today's Scotsman newspaper which carries a damning article of the club's dire state. These supporters were then forcibly ejected from the ground.

I'm not really a protester, I stand alongside them, I share their views but I'm certainly not as confrontational and vocal as the majority but I don't agree with the apathy shown by other supporters towards the miserable state the club finds itself in, at least the protesters are showing some form of compassion.

I took my camera along to the match; after the power station picture of last week, of which everyone is raving over, I'm going to carry my camera more often. I hope to be as good as Dave Gorman one day, but most of my photos today were poor, however, I managed to salvage some action shots and one of some zany protesters.