IT STARTED at the weekend.

Whisper it quietly but Scottish football is back, with pre-season friendlies already kicking off and training well under way.

It does not matter if last season was a massive let down for your club, with poor performances or relegation. You might have leaked more goals than anyone in the league, but it is a time of optimism, when whatever came last season is banished into history and the thought of challenging for something, be it a cup, top six or the league title, gleams bright.

I was at a friendly between Stranraer and Bangor, from Northern Ireland, last Saturday and saw Stranraer take on Wigtown and Bladnoch (one team, not two) over the weekend.

The quality was not great but each year without fail you are hankering to see the new signings or to catch a glimpse of the much-travelled enigma known only as ‘Trialist’.

For some reason (blind faith, most likely), you are confident your team can be up there challenging.

If it is a home friendly, the sun is shining and you turn up in a t-shirt eagerly awaiting your team. They run out onto a pristine pitch and there is only one feeling: hope.

Alternatively, they could be away on tour.

I’m heading south this weekend to see Stranraer take on the English superpowers that are Shildon and Blyth Spartans. Granted, I needed to consult a road map to see exactly where they were but there is just something inexplicable about being there.

The World Cup in Brazil and Wimbledon have only just finished, with the Commonwealth Games just round the corner, but it is not the same.

I would much rather be at a game than watching it on the television.

If someone offered me the choice between Alloa v Queen of the South in person or watching West Ham v Spurs on the television, there would only be one winner.

My girlfriend will attest to this and how the two really don’t compare for me.

She can tolerate watching the odd game on television and would quite ‘happily’ watch the World Cup.

However, come early to mid-July she can tell I am raring to get back to the real thing.

So, please, please, please can the 11 players on the pitch give me a reason to keep this optimism for the opening 45 minutes, at least?