Okay, it's taken a while, but what can I
say? It's been a busy few weeks, but at least all this travel
eventually makes it on here as part of our popular mini-guides
(Moldova this month, an update to the Germany one next month).
This month sees a photographic extravaganza
- no less than four new galleries await for your viewing pleasure.
This is in part due to my writers block, but the Moldova and
Germany diaries will follow, hopefully in time for the next
update.
What I can promise you is yet another look-alikes
gallery, as the nominations have been coming in thick and
fast! Keep 'em coming - there's plenty of room!
Finally, and on a serious note, NATA wishes
Walter Smith every success as Scotland's new manager. Whilst
not a universally popular choice for many fans, it's time
to give the man a chance to rescue our faltering World Cup
bid. Having just returned from a trip to Germany, I really
don't want to miss out in the summer of 2006!
Six new quotes, four from Germany and two courtesy of Gary
Macdonald, have been added to the infamous quotes page...
more
STOP PRESS: Tues 30th
Nov 2004
Happy St Andrews Day! Sorry, but the next
update is still a few weeks away. In the meantime, the strong
rumours suggest that Walter Smith will be confirmed as manager
in the next day or two, and that he is unlikely to want a
friendly in February.
We'll be back before Christmas (promise!).
EDITORIAL: Tues 25th October
2004
Okay, so this is much earlier than anticipated,
but we have BIG plans, so needed to get a move on.
And yes, I know there's nothing on Moldova!
Patience, young padawans, patience. The next update, hopefully
in mid-November, should boast not just the photos and diary,
but an in-depth guide to the place, should you be hurrying
back.
Anyway, live for the moment! What we have
brought should be enough to be getting on with - some storming
quotes, an in-depth update to our travel plans, and some stunning
new Look-alikes.
Finally, watch this space for a unique opportunity
to be immortalised in Tartan Army folklore.
No less than twelve stunning quotes, fresh from the mouths
of drunkards, now adorn the Quotes Page... more.
EDITORIAL: Sun 3rd October
2004
A photo frenzy awaits in this update of
NATA Online. And not someone else's this time either, oh no!
Feel free to tell us what you think of it
- but look! - our email addresses have changed due to the
mountain of spam that engulfed NATA HQ every day.
Also fresh for your surfing pleasure, we
have the Spain diary account. To the best of my knowledge,
this is the first time the website has been 100% up-to-date
with all away games covered by both diary accounts and photos!
Shame it will only last a week or so, then!
Our Moldova trip involves no less than 6
days in Chisinau (a man's got to practice his Russian!), and
then a further 3 days "re-acclimitisation" in Budapest...
bragging? No (well, maybe), just warning everyone not to hold
their breath for the next update.
And in a departure from the norm, I even managed to remember
to take photos at the last couple of home mactches against
Hungary and Slovenia
EDITORIAL: Sun 12th September
2004
I don't know what all the fuss is about - everyone moaning
I'm getting behind with the website, when I updated less then
a month ago! Anyway, we're back in business, complete with
the Estonia Diary, loads of new quotes and someone else's
holiday snaps.
And what's more, we hope to have the Spain Diary, the Spain
photos and a few snaps from the last two home matches up and
online in the next few weeks and in time for the Norway/Moldova
double-header.
Cheating a wee bit here, but there is a signfiicant NATA
presence in some of fellow Loony Alba member Bruce Cairns'
Spain photos. Our own will be here soon - promise!
Photos of two consecutive weekends in July are now on my
personal site - photos from the Innsbruck
weekend and the day in London
on the London Eye.
EDITORIAL: Sun 15th August
2004
Here we are again. This is where I need to make a wee confession
- of the four new articles on the right, two have sprung from
external contributors (big thanks to Neil and Donny), and
one is no less than six years old! A big spare room clear
out turned up my disks from my Uni days, and my dissertation
on Scottish National Identity has resurfaced and has been
stored on my own site for posterity.
So what is new? Certainly not the Hong Kong photos - Donny
sent them to me in March 2003, but I managed to lose the email!
Anyway, here they are now - witness the chicken and re-live
the story that promises to pass into TA urban legend!
Lots and lots of travel has been piling up the pressure for
fresh material, but has at least led to the creation of an
Innsbruck guide.
Lots of forthcoming Scotland-related travel (taking up the
next 4 weekends) will mean that a new update is a good few
weeks off, but you never know, we should actually have the
Estonia diary ready by then!? Until then, enjoy the start
of the new season...
Innsbruck is a surprising treasure-trove of top notch bars
in an Alpine Valley setting. Gen up on them now, before we're
eliminated from Euro 2008... more
Back in 1998, right before the World Cup, I knocked out this
8,000 word dissertation for my Politics degree. It's pretty
meaty, and some of the argument is fundamentally flawed, but
nonetheless, here it is on my own site for your reading pleasure...
more
EDITORIAL: Sun 18th July
2004
We're all off to Sunny Spain... well, hopefully at least!
The long-rumoured friendly has been un-officially confirmed
by the SFA, so has been duly added to the Travel section.
The other big change here in NATA-land is the launch of our
new club crest - after 5 years without an actual badge, we've
spent the last 6 months making the dream a reality. Well,
designing a badge, at least. You can now see a preview of
the fruits of our labour - expect it to take more of a starring
role as time goes by.
The other theme of this update is Estonia - a camera disaster
had led to a delay in getting thephotos online, however they're
now up with the guide. The diary should follow in the next
update.
Speaking of which, we expect to have flowered anew in around
a month's time. Feel free to have a look at my own site (www.paulallison.co.uk)
in the meantime, as a few odds and end are beginning to surface
there.
Almost 200 photos of the week in Estonia are now online!
Just think yourself lucky my camera battery gave up on the
Tuesday, or there could have been far more! ...more
It's been over six months in the making, but the new NATA
crest is finally ready to be unveiled to an adoring public,
no doubt moist with anticipation ...more
Okay, so it's not been fully confirmed, but safe in the knowledge
that we won't be the only idiots in kilts in Valencia for
no discernable reason, we've gone and booked for the Spain
game ...more
After such a superb time in Pärnu and Tallinn, Estonia
has now been promoted from a mere footnote of the Baltics
guide to it's very own page of travel tips ...more
EDITORIAL: Sat 26th June
2004
A long-awaited, and much delayed, update is finally here.
Frustratingly, almost everything was ready to go until I came
back from Estonia with a swollen tongue and an unspecified
virus! Anyway, now it’s here, there’s a bumper
update to get your teeth into, with no less then eight different
things to float your boat!
From the stories of Hong Kong, including the infamous chicken
episode (that have been no less than 2 years in the making!),
through to a travel guide to one of Europe’s undiscovered
gems. There’s also some non-TA related galleries with
photos of Washington and Clydebank, and pictures of our two
sponsor boards (don’t go asking us for any money, mind!).
However, this is just the side dish… the main course
is our completely revamped and resized look-alikes galleries
– enjoy.
I’ve also updated the Links page with some new entries,
including the Sons of Scotland website. If your site is Tartan
Army related, and is missing, please drop me a line. Remember
if you do drop in here, and there hasn’t been an update,
you can always follow some of the links on here to other TA
websites. The CODTA website (www.crackofdawn.co.uk) is always
worth a visit for original and humorous material.
The next Scotland game is at home to Hungary in August, a
warm-up for the home fixture against their neighbours from
Slovenia the following month. It’s not yet certain if
there will be a travelling NATA presence at the Hungary game
(Ally will be there, but that doesn’t count!), but you
can rest assured we will bounce back well before the WC2006
Qualifying campaign kicks off in earnest.
Expect a new, Estonia-themed update within the next couple
of weeks. We hope to bring you a diary update, a couple of
photo galleries, and a comprehensive pub guide to both Parnu
and Tallinn.
Getting the Hong Kong report done has pretty much brought
us right back to the present (save for Estonia)… who
knows, I may even get a chance to finish that game I’ve
been designing for the past 2 years? In the meantime, have
a great summer!
Another long-awaited update – the NATA Look-alike Galleries
are back, with all-new (well, some, anyway) larger photos,
and many more victims. Now across four (count ‘em) galleries,
these will amaze, will shock, will stupefy… more
As promised, here’s the lowdown on this great wee capital
in Central Europe. Go now, before word gets out! And make
sure you spend some quality drinking time in KGB whilst you’re
there! … more
Well, it’s only taken two years, but we can now finally
bring you the long-awaited NATA saga of Hong Kong in 2002.
Unfortunately, it’s a sad tale of a fat man struggling
with the heat and humidity and repeatedly failing to get drunk…
more
What do you mean “the diary wasn’t that interesting”?
Well, it’s a good job that there are footsoliders out
there determined to take depravity to new lows. Check out
The Hong Kong Chicken & Other Stories… more
Photos from Paul and Helen’s trip to DC for Dave &
Ellen’s wedding are now online on Paul’s own site.
They’re a pleasing mixture of famous sites and random
American drunks… more
Netley Abbey Tartan Army have been the proud sponsors of
advertising hoardings at two well-supported non-league clubs
this season – Worthing
FC and Clydebank FC…
more
Not only that, but Paul actually went up to Clydebank for
the last home game of the season, and watched the Bankies
win 5-0 to clinch the Abercorn Division Two title. The photos
from the day are now online on Paul’s own site…
more
Editorial: Wed 12th May
2004
Many of us left the game in Copenhagen with
renewed optimism - despite the 1-0 defeat, several players
who would previously have been considered "stand-ins"
played superbly. A defeat, nonetheless, but far more encourgaing
than our last two away games. The photos and diary account
for this trip are online already, in what must be record time!
Straight after the Denmark game, we were
off to the States for Dave and Ellen's wedding (congratulatons!),
and hot off the press we can bring you a mini-guide to DC.
There's also a very short list of top Barcelona pubs as well.
So, only a few weeks until the end of our
international season, with a trip to Estonia and a bizarre
friendly against Trinidad & Tobago in Edinburgh. Our next
update should be (relatively!) hot on the heels of our return
from the Baltics.
I've been asked many a time to nominate good pubs in Barcelona,
and fresh from adding these to the TAMB earlier this week,
thought I best capture them here for posterity too... more.
Only two quotes emerged from Denmark, but nonetheless they've
been added to the list... more.
Editorial: Sun 25th April
2004
Another mixed-bag of an update, feauturing
some new material, and some updates of older pages - check
out the revamped Meet NATA page for a more in-depth look at
the misfits that make up the Netley Abbey Tartan Army.
We can also bring you a look at the Slovakian
capital Bratislava, a truly great place for a city break.
Although the photos are on the paulallison.co.uk site (being
non-TA), consider them a pre-cursor to the Mini Travel Guide
that will follow shortly.
So why no Romania home match photos? Well,
I was there, and I did have my camera with me, but for some
reason I just forgot to take any photos!
Expect a new update in Mid May, a few weeks
after this week's Denmark trip and ahead of the Estonia game.
As well as Danish photos and reaction, we hope to resurrect
the Look-alikes section as well.
We now know the USA tour is off, but at least we have the
delights of Tallinn as ample compensation. Check out the NATA
Travel Details page to see what we're up to...
An Easter break to the Slovakian capital Bratislava has led
to over 130 photos being published on my paulallison.co.uk
mini-site. Feel free to cast your eye over them - a Travel
Guide will follow suit in due course... more.
The fact-finding mission to Bratislava has also led to the
corresponding entries on the Drunks
and Women of the World guides.
Editorial: Sun 28th March
2004
Two updates in a month... NATA are back!
With a few trips on the horizon (Scotland for the Romania
game, Denmark at the end of April, and Bratislava for a cheeky
city break at Easter weekend), normal service will be resumed
next month, however, in the meantime...
In addition to new material in the shape
of the Wales diary and the relevant additions to the Drunks
and Women of the World pages, we've also started turning our
attention to bringing other sections of the site into line.
Check that you're packing the right pieces with our Joy of
Talc page, and see what you're missing on the Solent coast
with our Netley Guide.
Our next update is due shortly after Easter,
when you can expect the usual mix of morsels, including (we
hope) some Romania pictures and some brand new Look-alikes!
A shorter trip has led to a shorter diary account, but hopefully
it won't disappoint too much! Read all about the shame, the
pain and the Brains... more
The drunks and beauties of the valleys have been added to
these invaluable guides to the Drunks
and Women of the World.
Editorial: Fri 19th March
2004
Things are slowly, but surely, getting back
to business as usual here. Obviously, the 4-0 drubbing by
Wales took a little adjusting to, as did the recent extraction
of my wisdom tooth, but this update should get things back
to an even keel.
In keeping with the habit of staggering
the photos and diaries (and it's not intentional, honest!),
we can bring you the Wales Gallery in an all-new format for
2004. In addition, we've taken a step back to try and look
at how people use this website, and we've introduced a User
Guide to try and ease newcomers in. Finally, the travel section
has also been expanded with possibly the only online Faroes
pub guide!
Our next update shouldn't be too far away
- remember to sign up for the Newsletter to keep abreast of
all new developments.
A new year, a new look and feel to the NATA gallery pages
- the new set up starts with the Wales
gallery, and allows you to click through the photos in
a slide-show style... more
In response to the ever-expanding amount of content on here,
this new User Guide is intended
to help first-time visitors get to grips with site, rather
than run off screaming to the hills... more
In light of the continued growth of NATA Online, and my commitment
to helping other would-be web designers wherever possible,
I've updated the Website Info page.
Editorial: Sun 22nd February
2004
Okay, okay... not the biggest content update
we've ever had, BUT... there's a lot been going on behind
the scenes. And besides, after the 4-0 drubbing in Cardiff,
I'm hardly champing at the bit to stir myself into detailing
my adventures there.
Anyway, we can bring you five all-new quotes,
plus photographic evidence of my pub-crawl holiday in Prague
back in January. You may even notice a new "look and
feel" around the Prague gallery - this is all part of
my continuing plan to conquer the entire World Wide Web with
the pallison.co.uk web empire!
And fear not, the next update is but a few
short weeks away, when you can expect to see a Wales diary
and photos, and get the lowdown on travel to the North Atlantic
capitals of Reykjavik and Torshavn.
Until then, try not to dwell on the state
of Scottish football!
As an accompaniment to the Prague
Pub guide, work up a thirst for Staropramen as you feast
your eyes on these photos from January 2004... more
Editorial: Sun 1st February
2004
Two weeks later than planned, but then twice
the size of what it was going to be! For one reason and another,
it's been a sluggish start to the year at NATA towers, but
now we're off the starting blocks, we know we'll be bringing
you the usual additions throughout the year.
This has been a very travel-flavoured update,
with a Prague Pub guide, plus lots of fixture information
and travel details for Moldova. We've also brought the diary
section a little more up-to-date with the Germany account
- just Hong Kong to go now!
We'll be back again in a few weeks with
some travel info on the North Atlantic capitals (Torshavn
and Reykjavik), and maybe even some Wales photos and stories.
An exhaustively researched, and very up-to-date (Jan 2004)
guide to the watering holes of Prague. An extablished Tartan
Army favourite, and a possible stop-over for several of our
upcoming away games, this guide may prove invaluable... more
Now the fixtures for our World Cup qualifying group are known,
more concrete plans can be laid down for the other upcoming
games. For a complete list of known and rumoured fixtures,
check out the Travel Details page.
The World Cup Travel Guide has also been updated in light
of the draw, particularly with information on our first destination
- Moldova.
STOP PRESS: Thurs 28th
Jan 2004
Happy New Year! Sorry I've not been sharper
with an update - there's plenty planned, but putting it all
together is what's taking the time. Come back in a week or
two (if the Worthing game is off this weekend, it should be
done then!).