Salvo Montalbano

They aren't falling apart although there is a lot of give in the structure and I guess there is a reason that they are temporary and usually only seen at golf events etc where they are very shirt term. It also seems a bit of a con to allow Inverness to build "temporary" stands that are still there a decade or so later. I think most assumed a the time that they were allowed to do so to allow them to move back to Inverness from Pittodrie, and since they were the first to not have to comply with the ridiculous 10,000 seat rule they've certainly dodged a financial bullet twice if they don't ever have to build a permanent structure. Now I'm not suggesting that Inverness go out and spend more money for the sake of evening things our with teams that have been forced to build "proper" stands and I also enjoy a game up there. But given there is no longer an all seated rule in the SPFL I'd like them to build something permanent and ideally that could be a covered terrace.

Not sure what you mean by temporary in regards to EEP? The North Stand is a "proper" stand in that it has solid foundations, proper concrete steps (installed so that the rake is a proper seated rake rather than simply bolting seats onto a standing terrace) and facilities built in. I suppose it could be said to be temporary in that the foundation piles were built in such a way that the roof can be removed and a second tier of seating and cantilevered roof can be added, but that is never going to happen. The end stands at Inverness are definitely temporary as they were advertised as such at the time and have that scaffolding feel to them. I'm surprised they are allowed to keep them in that state tbh.

After yesterday's cockup by Sky it was a standard bunch sprint today only livened up by the Tinkoff rider who went on a late dash for the line only to be slowed down to a crawl by (yep, you've guessed it) a TV motorbike. Poor show yet again. In the Tour of Britain, the World Tour teams seem to be taking it pretty seriously with Griepel leading the points race and Cummings, Swift, Roche and Dan Martin amongst those in the break today. Decent crowds too, as there were in the Glasgow to Castle Douglas stage.

Aye, Peterhead was who I had in mind. It's a bit cheeky of them since it's the only real accommodation they have - the terracing isn't terracing as such but just a path round the side of the park. Some junior grounds have more, even if it was just a step or two. Having said that, I did enjoy my trips to Balmoor and seem to remember that the catering was very nice. I think they sold chips which is always a welcome addition to a pie stall menu.

Yeah, you have to think Nairo has it in the bag now unless he has a crash or a really bad day and one of the others can get a couple of minutes up the road. Sky clearly weren't expecting Movistar to go with the Contador break that was expected, Konig was 5th before today and ended up nearly an hour down on the leaders FFS. Don't know if that was Brailsford, Froome or whoever but they've messed up big time today. If anything, they've got a fight on their hands to keep Froome in 2nd.

Some great racing in this Vuelta. When I saw the Parcours I thought that it was pretty tough, with loads of climbing even though it's a Vuelta and not a Tour but the organisers seem to have it spot on. Even the often derided Team TT made things interesting with Bertie having to play catch up from the get go. A lot of this is due to Orica having a great race though and becoming a genuine third force to Sky and Movistar. With Tinkoff folding, they will have a lot to say in the future. Both Yates brothers and Chaves in the same team could give them so many options and they are clearly tactically astute. I was surprised Sky and Movistar didn't react sooner to them having so many in the breakaway but it made for some great racing and with Movistar getting 2 up the road too it forced Sky to really put in the work for the first time. Froome is still probably favourite but there are plenty of other riders who can win this. Great stuff.

I only remember going to Muirton Park once, and we sat in the stand. My Dad sent me down for some refreshments at half time - a wooden hut in the away end if I remember correctly; I had to go down the stairs from the stand to the enclosure then up to the terrace behind the goal - and got my two teas and a pie. Took one bite of the pie and nearly threw up as it was a steak and kidney pie! Was that a thing at Murton back then or was I just unlucky?

Weren't Livingston's corners done to just creep over the crazy 10,000 seat rule? I'm sure their capacity was given as 10,004 - although given you'd need segregation in the stand opposite the Main Stand, the actual working capacity must have been a bit less?

Am I right in saying that Caley's ground isn't/wasn't that far away from Clach's? Never got the chance to visit either Caley or Thistle's grounds sadly.

If you're classing Tannadice as having an in-filled corner then Raith have one too as the Main Stand goes round the corner just as the Main Stand at Tannadice does. Livingston is as close to an English style bowl as we have though, Celtic Park apart.

Last season in League One Stranraer had to go to Peterhead twice in the league and both were midweek. One was rearranged due to Peterhead playing in the Challenge Cup but still that's a hellish journey at the best of times.

Was that Gala stand the first cantilevered stand at a football ground in the UK? I think Scunthorpe or somewhere equally random had the first in senior football.

Great to see the two favourites slugging it out on the climb. Good efforts from Valverde and Konig to keep their men up there too and they're both having good races. On the power meter thing, am I just imagining this or did they have a stage in the TdF several years ago where team radios were banned? They only had the motorbikes with the chalk boards on to tell them their progress. I think the Olympics is like this too?

The roof on that stand at Gala is crazy. Looks like there's no way it should be balanced like that.

Is he still "Scottish" or has he played for someone else yet?

Well remembered - couldn't recall why we had it.

Not a quirk as such but that view of Somerset reminds me of being there for a Pars game last season where there was a minutes silence for some reason and the burger van to the right of the camera is was blasting out some cheesy Europop tune that was on their radio during it while also shouting that people could get their sugar for their coffee at the end of the bar.

OK, buy an away end ticket; sit in a seat with a restricted view (and again, not just a pillar like at the othet grounds you mention but a wall where you can't see a significant part of the pitch) then try and move. Come back to us when you've tried. The walk through the cemetery to East End Park was my favoured route when I used to get the bus into town. It took you to the away end but I always enjoyed that walk rather than getting the bus in further and walking along Piggie's Lane. Also on East End Park (after a fashion), before Cowdenbeath moved to Central Park they used to play at West End Park in Cowdenbeath, behind the library. West End Park of course is several miles East of East End Park and vice versa which despite them being in different towns amused me for the almost but not quite symmetry.

Interesting username for a Par! On Williamson, he gets the crowd excited when he beats a man but he doesn't ever do it with ease as has been claimed - he kicks it by then and hopes to run past them before it goes out of play for a bye. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When it does, it's rare that anything comes from it. Twice on Saturday there he did the hard part then shanked it out for a bye. The way some folk go on about him is incredible considering he's a decent pacy attacking full back and nothing more. Defensively he's average and he still gets brushed off the ball easily. I like him but let's not kid ourselves.

You think wrong. In fact Dunfermline are one of the few in our league who don't do that as far as I know. Raith and Dumbarton certainly do anyway. As for the main thread, one of the worst things about the all seated rule has been that a lot of those quirks (the Broomfield Pavilion, the window at Brockville, the bench seating et al) have been lost forever. Even some of the old stands are no more.

Always hard to judge just on ascent of the climb given that in different years there will be different approaches, different weather, different tactics, riders working together or not etc. Even today, Quintana and Contador were attacking each other and accelerating and recovering while Froome went at a fairly steady pace albeit with two domestiques for company on the lower slopes.

Agreed. And those stands usually havr one or two pillars that block one line of the pitch rather than whole sections . The other problem at Celtic Park with the restricted views is that the Stewards seem intent on stopping you moving to a seat where you can see the full pitch. That Turriff stand is crazy. Is it just that they've plonked seats onto an existing social club or something? Some of the grounds in the Highland League are quirky. I liked visiting Clach's ground with its large unused terrace at one end, the social club at the other end and a wee stand on one side. And when I was there, a young lad bouncing on a trampoline who saw a second of the game every two seconds or so for about 30 minutes from the gardens behind the hedge on the other side.

Another great stage - maybe the TdF organisers need to look at doing something to encourage teams to animate the race a bit more. Quintana looks like he's in great nick and Froome has it all to do even with a good chance to make up time in the individual TT later. Sky still looked decent though with Konig and Kennaught doing big turns to help Froome out and will need to do the same in the second week you'd think. Think this will go all the way.

Always thought Kilbowie and Pittodrie had a bit of a cheek claiming to be all seated when they had those benches. Not that I didn't enjoy a trip there with the Pars. Although we had an awful record at Aberdeen when the Beach end was bench seating.

I take it Aberdeen being in the Scottish Southern League Cup was to allow Dumbarton to be in the North Section of the BetFred Cup? The two best areas for away fans at Cappilow are shown above - the uncovered bench seating (where I stood in the sunshine to see Dunfermline win the Division One title) and the terracing with seating opposite the Main Stand (where we stood one night a season or so later and had a good view, was close to the turnstiles and "toilets" - a wall with a gutter) and being next to the Morton fans meant there was a bit of atmosphere. I don't understand why away fans don't get to stand there more often rather than having their knees dislocated sitting in the Main Stand.