Auchinleck Talbot have taken the “difficult and extremely disappointing” decision to move their Scottish Cup fourth round tie against Celtic to Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park.
The West of Scotland League Premier Division side say there were concerns over whether surrounding infrastructure could cope with such a high-profile event, having taken advice from the Scottish FA and Police Scotland.
The Ayrshire club’s Beechwood Park ground holds 4,000 people, compared to the 15,000-capacity stadium 15 miles up the A76.
The tie between the sixth-tier outfit and the 42-time champions will take place on Sunday, 18 January and will be broadcast live on Premier Sports.
In a statement, Auchinleck Talbot said: “Following various meetings and lengthy discussions involving East Ayrshire Council, Police Scotland, and the Scottish Football Association, the club has taken the difficult and extremely disappointing decision to relocate our Men’s Scottish Cup fourth round tie against Celtic to Rugby Park.
“Although Beechwood Park meets and goes beyond the SFA Club Licensing Entry Level criteria in certain areas, various concerns the club could not ignore arose in relation to the ability of the surrounding infrastructure to cope with such a high-profile event that has brought worldwide interest to the village of Auchinleck and Auchinleck Talbot F.C.
“The club thanks East Ayrshire Council Events & Resilience, Police Scotland, Scottish Football Association, Celtic F.C. & Kilmarnock F.C. for their input and assistance during this process.”
Meanwhile, BBC Scotland will broadcast two fourth-round ties.
30 November
1 December
Scottish Cup fourth round ties live on BBC
Dunfermline Athletic v Hibernian – Saturday, 17 January (12:30)
Aberdeen v Raith Rovers – Sunday, 18 January (14:30)
Comic actor Stanley Baxter in character as James Bond circa 1974.(Image: TV Times/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
For decades he was one of the biggest stars on television. And no wonder. A gifted mimic, comedian and actor, Stanley Baxter, who has died at the age of 99, commanded audiences of 20 million with his shows for both ITV and the BBC during the 1970s and 80s.
In the end, TV executives pulled the plug on them – in a changing world they simply became too expensive to produce.
But those standalone extravaganzas, which saw Stanley spoof everything from Dallas and Upstairs, Downstairs to the Queen’s Christmas message, stand as a reminder of a different age when the nation sat down together to be entertained.
Yesterday, as tributes poured in for the Glasgow-born star, who died on Thursday at a London care home for entertainment figures, his friend and biographer Brian Beacom described him as “one of the most entertaining people I’ve ever met”.
READ MORE: ‘Swooning over Jason Donovan in The Woolpack was no act,’ says Emmerdale’s Karen Blick
“He was funny, he was mischievous, he was always incredibly clever and able to come up with comedy in a way that few people could even consider. But just as importantly, he was a terrific friend. He had an incredible warmth and consideration for other people and it’s no surprise that he was an entertainer from the 1930s onwards and he never upset a single soul.”
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney called him ‘a giant of Scottish entertainment.’ “He brought incredible joy to generations,” he added. Meanwhile Scottish radio and TV broadcaster Robin Galloway said his death was a loss of ‘a true original’ and a ‘comic visionary’ while BAFTA said it was ‘saddened’ to hear of his death.
Stanley Baxter was born on May 24, 1926. He inherited a love of the theatre and performing from his mum, Bessie, who encouraged his talent for mimicry. At just six and dressed in a sailor suit, he would bring the house down with impersonations of Laurel and Hardy, and Mae West.
He made his professional debut at the age of 14 on the Scottish edition of the BBCs Children’s Hour, but world events intervened and during World War Two he was conscripted to work in the Lanarkshire coal mines as a ‘Bevan Boy’.
By 1945 he had his call up papers for National Service and joined the Combined Services Entertainment Unit, honing his skills by entertaining the troops. It was there he met Carry On Star Kenneth Williams – who became a lifelong friend. By the late 1940s he was back in Glasgow, enjoying success in variety theatre, in particular as a panto dame and on radio.
He made his TV debut in the BBC’s variety show Shop Window in 1952, but his major screen break came with the satirical On The Bright Side in 1959. It was here he performed his famous ‘Parliamo Glasgow’ sketch – a spoof language programme where, as a supposed scholar, he endeavours to teach the world how to speak like a Glaswegian.
With his star on the rise, films offers also came in, including Very Important Person (1961), in which he played a fiercely nationalistic Scot, as well as Geordie (1955), The Fast Lady (1962) and And Father Came Too! (1963). In 1963 his hard work was finally rewarded – and his reputation as an entertainer cemented – with the arrival on our screens of The Stanley Baxter Show. It ran for eight years and catapulted him to stardom.
But while his professional life was taking off, his private life was in turmoil. Having known as a teenager he was gay, Stanley Baxter struggled with his sexuality for most of his life and battled to repress his feelings. He married his wife Moira, a fellow actor, in 1951. They lived apart from the 1970s onwards.
Meanwhile, his career went from strength to strength. A number of TV spectaculars followed, including Stanley Baxter’s Christmas Box. One of his – and his audiences’ – favourite conceits was to recreate scenes from well known big budget Hollywood movies for comic effect, with Stanley playing multiple roles.
He was also bold enough to mimic the Pope and even the Queen – a move which left the nation breathless with both shock and laughter. His shows were hugely popular, won him awards and attracted audiences of millions, thrilled by his comedic skill and attention to detail – he would frequently spend an entire year working on the programmes. The cost in time, sets and staffing was enormous, though, and led to his contracts being terminated early both by the BBC and by London Weekend Television.
Undaunted by the setbacks, he branched out and away from sketch shows and impressions, to perform in Joe Orton’s controversial farce, What The Butler Saw, in the West End alongside Sir Ralph Richardson. He guest-starred in one of the episodes of The Goodies and later appeared in the lead role of Mr Majeika, a children’s show about a magic teacher expelled from Walpurgis, the wizard land, for failing his wizarding exams.
After his retirement, he appeared in 2004 in a series of three half-hour radio sitcoms for BBC Radio 4, entitled Stanley Baxter And Friends. He also lent his voice to the animated children’s film Arabian Knight and the TV series Meeow. Later Channel 4 also screened two specials combining old highlights with new material and from 2006 he went on to record a number of plays, The Stanley Baxter Playhouse, for Radio 4.
He received several awards during his career, including a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards and two TV tribute programmes. Bafta Scotland also presented Baxter with their Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television Award in December 2020. A well read and private man, Stanley Baxter remained married to Moira until her death in 1997, despite them both knowing he was gay. They never divorced and had lunch together daily.
In 2020 he released a co-written biography, The Real Stanley Baxter, in which revealed he was gay and had told his wife before they married. In the book he recalls: “I never wanted to be gay. I still don’t.” Stanley Baxter leaves a younger sister, Alice Warwick, along with her son Tony and daughter Zoe. His long-term partner Louis died in 2017. At his own request, his funeral will be a small private ceremony in the company of family and close friends, and there will be no memorial service or memorial plaques.
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Democrats in the United States Congress have released a new batch of photos from the estate of the late sex offender Jeffry Epstein, featuring rich and powerful public figures, including President Donald Trump.
The minority on the House Oversight Committee made 19 photos public on Friday, calling for Trump to end what they called a “cover-up” in the case.
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The pictures showed Trump, his former adviser Steve Bannon, ex-President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, billionaire businessman Bill Gates and film director Woody Allen.
“It is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends,” Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the panel, said in a statement.
“These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW.”
One photo showed Trump flanked by three young women on each side with his hand clutching the waist of the woman to his right.
Progressive Congresswoman Pramila Jaypal called the pictures “repulsive”.
These images are repulsive. The Trump administration needs to stop their cover-up and release ALL of the Epstein Files. https://t.co/dyFf0hPa1m
Trump has repeatedly denied any close ties to Epstein, saying that he only knew the sex offender as a neighbour in Palm Beach, Florida, and eventually kicked him out of his Mar-a-Lago resort for being a “creep”.
Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal published what it said was a birthday card with sexual connotations that Trump sent to Epstein with a message written inside of a drawing of a naked woman.
Trump denied writing or drawing the card and sued the newspaper over the allegation.
Last month, Congress passed a law to compel the Trump administration to release all government documents related to Epstein while protecting the victims’ identities.
Epstein ran a sex abuse ring of girls and young women.
Trump’s top aides previously opposed making the files public, saying that they would amount to “child pornography”.
But after mounting pressure, including from segments of his own base, Trump – who can authorise releasing the records without congressional intervention – lifted his opposition to the “Epstein files” bill, allowing it to pass.
An undated photo released by the US House Oversight Committee from Jeffry Epstein’s estate shows Donald Trump surrounded by six women whose identity has been concealed [US House Oversight Committee]
The law requires the Justice Department to release the file by December 19.
Epstein first pled guilty to charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008 and was given a lenient sentence that critics describe as a sweetheart deal that did not match the severity of the offence.
After the Miami Herald investigated the prosecution against Epstein, federal authorities reopened the case against him, arrested him and charged him with sex trafficking of minors in 2019.
Two months later, he was found dead in his jail cell in New York City. His death was ruled a suicide.
Epstein’s associates included Clinton, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew.
Undated photo released by the US House Oversight Committee shows former President Bill Clinton, centre, posing for a picture with Jeffry Epstein and his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been convicted of sex trafficking [US House Oversight Committee]
The scandal and the manner in which Epstein died have fuelled speculations that he may have been working for foreign or domestic intelligence services – particularly Israel’s Mossad.
Thailand and Cambodia have agreed “to cease all shooting” effective Friday, according to United States President Donald Trump.
Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media post following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Friday.
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“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours this week has killed at least 20 people and displaced about half a million on both sides of the disputed border.
The original ceasefire between the two nations in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed.
It was formalised in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
However, Thailand suspended the agreement in November after Thai soldiers were wounded by landmines at the border.
Both sides have continued a propaganda war, repeatedly blaming the other for reigniting a long-running conflict over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) border.
The latest flare-up in violence began when a Thai engineering team was allegedly fired on by Cambodian troops.
The fighting entered its fifth day on Friday, with Thailand upping air strikes in recent days.
Neither Thailand nor Cambodia have independently confirmed the latest deal.
However, earlier in the day, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he told Trump that the onus was on Cambodia to end the violence.
Anutin said Trump had voiced his support for a ceasefire during a call.
“I replied that he’d better tell that to our friend,” Anutin added, referring to Cambodia.
“It needs to be announced to the world that Cambodia is going to comply with the ceasefire.”
Reporting from Washington, DC, on Friday, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said Trump appeared to be using the announcement to again burnish his self-styled image as a global “peacemaker”.
“The US president has invested himself personally in all of this. And as a result, he really is keen to see this truce that was brokered in July resume,” Halkett said.
“He keeps repeatedly saying, ‘I’ve solved eight wars’. He is desperate to position himself and to position his legacy as being one of a peacemaker and a global deal maker, and the fact that this unravelled so quickly, obviously eroded that,” she added.
The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims stemming from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate.
Oasis guitarist Gem Archer has revealed that there may be more tour dates from the legendary Britpop band after Noel Gallagher dropped a huge clue about what could come in the future
Daniel Bird Assistant Celebrity and Entertainment Editor
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Could Oasis be planning more dates in the future?(Image: Variety via Getty Images)
Noel Gallagher has dropped a huge clue about the future of Oasis. The legendary Britpop band fronted by Noel and his younger brother, Liam Gallagher, sent the world into a frenzy when they finally returned to the stage in July, 16 years after the once-warring brothers fell out.
Performing across the globe in cities such as Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, New York, Los Angeles and ending their tour in São Paulo, Brazil, last month, millions of fans were treated to the concert they never thought they would see.
However, as the euphoric tour drew to a close, speculation had arisen that the band might continue and possibly secure dates at either their beloved Manchester City stadium, the Etihad, or Knebworth. Now, guitarist Gem Archer has given a fresh insight into the future of Oasis and Noel’s very cryptic comment.
Gem admits that the past few months have been a “blur” for the group, but they will take some time next year to sit and properly go over the buzz they experienced. “Anything could happen, which could include nothing,” he said of the future of the band. Speaking to NME, Gem continued: “But this was quite a thing… if stuff was happening, I think I might already know about it, if you know what I mean? It’s not something you just flick on.”
But, he went on to reveal that Noel gave a cryptic insight, explaining: “Noel has said, ‘No rest for the immensely talented,’ so take that how you want.” Meanwhile, Liam recently stated that there would be no new dates for Oasis next year.
However, he did imply that there could be news for 2027 after the band takes a well-deserved break. When denying that they will play Knebworth, Liam said: “I don’t [have] snizzle to do until 2027 I mean happy Christmas.”
He had previously hinted that the band had been planning on adding extra dates in the future. When a fan asked whether he was “sad that the tour is ending soon,” the Mancunian icon replied: “I’m not actually as I know things you don’t.”
Before teasing news on social media, Liam also hinted that the band had a future while performing at London’s Wembley Stadium in September. He told fans: “See you next year,” before he jokingly slapped himself on the wrist for revealing the news.
Just last month, the band informed fans that following the success of the tour, there would be a “pause for a period of reflection”. In a statement shared online, the group said: “And so it came to pass. The most damaging pop cultural force in recent British history found its way into the hearts and minds of a new generation. From Gallagher Hill to the River Plate, from Croke Park on the banks of the Royal Canal to the City Of Angels, the love, joy, tears and euphoria will never be forgotten.
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“There will now be a pause for a period of reflection.” However, sources close to the band have said that the Oasis Live ’25 tour would be the only chance to see the band perform.
It’s estimated that the tour generated around £1 billion for the UK economy alone, and was projected to earn the group around £400 million from ticket sales and merchandise alone, according to Dr Charles Nimoh, macroeconomic expert at the University of Salford.
Supporters are continuing to speak of their frustration at the astronomical cost of following the 2026 World Cup.
The Football Supporters’ Association has called ticket prices a “laughable insult” to fans.
For some smaller nations, the cost of group-stage tickets is going to be higher than a month’s wages in that country. And that is before factoring in travel and accommodation.
One Ghana fan told the BBC of “anger and disappointment” that Black Stars supporters might now be forced to cancel their plans.
Fifa’s ticket price policy was revealed on Thursday, with group-stage tickets up to three times the prices of those for Qatar in 2022. The cheapest ticket for the final will cost £3,119.
Ticket prices outstrip wages for many countries
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“It’s a chance to qualify. It is a chance to participate in a big event,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino declared in January 2017.
The Fifa Council had just unanimously voted to expand the World Cup to 48 teams. Nations who had never or rarely reached the finals were being given hope.
Infantino added: “Football is more than Europe and South America. Football is global.
“The football fever you have in a country that qualifies for the World Cup is the most powerful tool you can have, in those nine months before qualifying and the finals.”
Yet that “football fever” is falling a little flat after the ticket prices were released.
While the players will be there, the price of tickets could outstrip wages.
Take Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. The average wage in the Caribbean nation is around $147 (£110) a month.
The cheapest tickets for Haiti’s first game at the World Cup in 42 years, against Scotland, cost $180 (£135).
To attend all three matches – they also play Brazil and Morocco – would cost $625 (£467). That’s more than four months’ salary for the average Haitian, just to get into the ground.
It’s a similar story for Ghana, where the average monthly salary is around $254 (£190).
Ghana supporter Jojo Quansah told BBC World Service that fans would have to cancel their plans.
“It’s a bit of a disappointment for those who, for the last three-and-a-half years, have been trying to put some money away in the hope that they can have their first World Cup experience,” he said.
“Fifa themselves have gone ahead to increase the number of teams so a lot more smaller football nations will get a chance to have themselves and their fans represented.
“It’s been overshadowed by pricing those same fans out of a chance to watch their country play at the World Cup.
“I have a feeling that quite a number of people within the next couple of months, are going to drop out of that desire to be at the next World Cup. Sadly. So sadly.”
You’ve bought your tickets, how about the flights?
Any fan wanting to follow their team from the first game to the final – if they get there – will spend a minimum of £5,200 on tickets.
There there’s travel. For an England fan planning to attend the group stage, current prices show flights from London to Dallas to Boston to New York/New Jersey and then home are £1,300. Add on £526 if you get the cheapest match tickets.
It gets a lot more expensive if you want to go for the whole tournament. If they were winners of Group L, England would have to go from Atalanta to Mexico City and then to Miami. Those two flights alone would cost £800.
Flights across the tournament could cost £2,600. Add on the cheapest match tickets, and it is £7,800.
What about Scotland fans travelling from Glasgow? Flights across the group stage would cost £1,675 each, with the lowest ticket price bracket £500 on top.
If Scotland were to win Group C, flights through to the final would be £2,357. With tickets that is £7,567.
What England and Scotland fans are saying
Paul Clegg (61), from Blackburn, says: “This will be my fifth World Cup. I haven’t missed a game since 2014.
“I’m in contact with England fans all over the country. I’m a top capper.
“We all plan to boycott games after the group stage.
“Football is dead.”
Anne-Marie Carr (54), from York, says: “I have diligently attended England matches so that I can earn the caps to get tickets for major tournaments only to then find that I, as so many others, are being priced out.
“WC 26 will be for the few, the sponsors and the glory hunters who’ve got the money to attend the big matches when they come along.”
Katie, from Glasgow, says: “Buy a ticket, you must be joking!
“These prices are not for the real fans, these are for corporates, bigwigs, sponsors. The real fans cannot afford those glorified prices.”
Ian, from Glenrothes, says: “Not sure why anyone is surprised.
“One of the reasons I’m not going, as much as I would want to see my country at a World Cup, is that there are too many practical things negating it.
“Airline and hotel greed, and now ticket prices.
Ticket prices have soared since the bid document
Every nation that wants to host the World Cup has to present its case from stadiums, to sustainability, to ticket prices.
The world has changed a lot since the United States, Mexico and Canada set out its plan in 2017.
Covid has placed a great deal of inflationary strain across the globe. But not this much.
In fairness, the ticket prices for the group stage are not vastly higher. For games such as Scotland v Haiti ($180) the prices for the cheapest tickets are in line with the $174 in the bid document.
It’s for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final where Fifa has massively increased the prices.
How do World Cup ticket prices compare to other major events in the United States?
The biggest sporting event of the year in the United States is the Super Bowl – the finale to the NFL season.
Super Bowl tickets are not released for sale to the general public but can be bought via official resale sites.
According to Forbes, tickets for the 2025 Super Bowl started at around £3,500 – £5,000 each.
Basketball’s NBA finals are not priced as high. Last year, tickets at Oklahoma City Thunder started at £52 in the top tier of their Paycom Center home as they won their first NBA Championship.
Away from sport, tickets for next year’s WWE Wrestlemania in Las Vegas are available for between £250 and £1,000.
