SANDI THOM FRONTRUNNER FOR SCOTLAND WORLD CUP

Photo from Sandi Thom Insta 

Scots singer Sandi Thom looks like a front runner to record the official Scotland team football anthem after she played her new track at a secret gathering in the First Minister’s official residence.
The Banff-born star, 44, was invited to Bute House in Edinburgh by John Swinney for an intimate evening celebrating the charity efforts of mental health campaigner Craig Ferguson, who is walking from Los Angeles to Boston for SAMH.
As well as key figures from the Scottish Government, the guest list included senior officials and representatives from the world of Scottish football, giving Sandi the perfect chance to pitch her song as the nation’s next big terrace tune.
Sandi, who shot to fame in 2006 when her debut single I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) knocked Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy off the top of the charts and went to number one in seven countries, performed a new track called ‘Oh I’m Proud To Be From Scotland’.
The tune is a love letter to the beautiful game north of the Border.
It traces Scottish football history from the Seventies right up to today and namechecks some of the biggest legends ever to pull on the dark blue jersey.
One guest at Bute House told the Daily Record: “Sandi played her song to the party after being invited as one of the special guests. It’s a chronology of Scottish football history, name dropping all the key players from the 1970s to present day and it's called ‘Oh I’m Proud To Be From Scotland’.
“It went down really well. Everyone in the room could picture it being sung by Scotland fans. It’s got a rousing chorus that the Tartan Army will love.”
Another insider added: “Scottish football is part of who we are. To have a song that celebrates that history and to hear people singing it back is a winning formula.” 
Sandi also played the track on her phone privately for Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell in a bid to secure official approval for the song to become Scotland’s team anthem for the 2026 World Cup campaign.
If it gets the green light, it will join a proud tradition of Scottish footie anthems including 1998’s Don’t Come Home Too Soon by Del Amitri, 1986’s Big Trip To Mexico by the Scotland World Cup Squad and 1978’s Ally’s Tartan Army by Andy Cameron.
This time, competition for the coveted slot is fierce. 
Other contenders include We Are Scotland… World Cup 2026 by Martin Considine, Calum MacPhail’s as-yet-unnamed 2026 song and a new Scotland track being lined up by Scottish boyband Just The Brave.
For Sandi, the chance to represent her country on the world stage comes at a pivotal moment in her life and career.
The singer became one of the UK’s first viral music stars when she livestreamed a series of gigs from her basement flat and built a global fanbase online.
That surprise success led to major label backing and a worldwide distribution deal despite the fact she had no traditional sales history before Punk Rocker exploded.
In 2016, after the birth of her son Logan Cali with former husband Matt Benson, Sandi made the decision to step back from the spotlight to focus on motherhood and her passion for animal welfare.
She has since devoted herself to volunteer work and has helped rehome hundreds of street dogs.
Sandi describes herself as ‘somewhat of a rebel with a cause’ and has never lost her connection with her audience. Her music has now wracked up over 70 million streams on Spotify alone, and she regularly hears from fans who discovered Punk Rocker as teenagers and are now returning to her songs as adults.
With Logan now ten, Sandi says she feels ready to return to her first love performing and writing with a fresh sense of purpose.
Landing the Scotland anthem would be the perfect way to mark that comeback.
This year is already shaping up to be one of the most important of her career.
Sandi is celebrating the 20th anniversary of I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker with a packed schedule of live dates.
She is set to appear on the main stage at both Heartland and Party At The Palace festivals and will hit the road for a 25-date UK tour, revisiting the song that changed her life.

EX RANGERS PLAYER GORDON SMITH CLEANS UP WITH NEW BUSINESS

Exclusive 

Beverley Lyons 

FORMER SFA chief exec Gordon Smith and ex Celtic forward Jim Melrose are hoping to clean up with their new business idea - quite literally. 

The two former Manchester City players have teamed up to score in the disinfectant business and are even planning to approach the Scottish government with their plans to start selling their long lasting germ busting formula. 

 Gordon, a director at Rangers before it went into administration, who declared bankruptcy shortly after, believes their Bacoban product will revolutionise the way people sanitise products. 

Speaking at the launch of Falkirk’s Envisage Dentist surgery where he showed off his new product he said: “I’ve set up a company called Bacoban with Jim Melrose, a former teammate at Manchester City. We’ve been friends for years and he told he was getting a license for the uk for this German made product and I thought it looked very good. It’s really unique. Normally when you clean something it can become reinfected  in an hour but Bacoban lasts for a week to ten days which means you have security for that amount of time which  is fantastic.”

I think it’s going to take off. It’s not long on the market but it has all the licenses and certifications now. It kills most of the infections out there.”

The product which comes as spray or wipe can be used on door handles of toilets and public places and it’s also available as a smaller spray for shoes or football boots. 

Jim said: “You can’t buy it off the shelves yet. We have a lot of infections in this country and this kills all known infections and all the flu viruses. It’s ideal in certain environments like schools, hospitals, airports, transport and hotels. I believe it will be of major benefit to people in this country.” 

Gordon laughed: “The Germans are very good at creating things. You can trust their products and manufacturing and never ever come out with anything less than 100 per cent of what they say it is. The Germans were very good at football and still are. They win world cups and we don’t.” 

The two men are scouring the UK market for sales and hope to pitch it to government ministers in a few weeks. 

Gordon said: “The government should be looking at this. People tell us that the government looks at cures rather than prevention and that has been a problem and we are trying to get beyond that and say we really should be looking at prevention first. This will make a big impact to prevent major illnesses and infections coming into Scotland.

I’ll be speaking to the minister of health or education in weeks to come about this because I do want to get to a high level on it.”

Gordon added that it was difficult to change career paths after football and said he wouldn’t rule out going back into the game. 

He said: “I’ve not applied for the new SFA job but I never rule anything out. It’s hard when you give up the game and such a fantastic lifestyle. I’ve been an agent and assistant manager and always had plans to do coaching but it didn’t happen until I was out of the game for three years, working as a financial advisor. I’ve had a few offers since to be back in football as a coach and assistant manager of other clubs  even down in England and I haven’t taken them cause everything was going well with my business and what I had.”