COMEDIAN Des Clarke says facing his latest audience left him sweating.
But he’s hoping his efforts will literally have Scotland in with a shout of footie glory.
Des, who hosts BBC Radio Scotland’s Breaking The News panel show, has come up with a series of chants for the nation’s women’s team.
They have qualified for Euro 2017, their first major finals, and kick off on July 19 with a clash against England.
“I’ve done chants for the team and the individual players,” Des, 36, told The Sunday Post.
“I went to see them play and also met them off the pitch to get to know them a bit.
“They’re a really talented bunch and I had to come up with just little two or four-line chants for the crowd.
“I had to go back and see what they thought and I’d have had a real struggle if they didn’t like them. I’ve only ever had that really nervous moment before at big stand-up gigs.
“It’s like when you don’t know if an audience are going to laugh at the routine.”
The women are in Group D in the Netherlands, with the subsequent matches against Portugal and Spain.
Des has been working with team sponsor Vauxhall as part of their #GetIN campaign to inspire the nation to back the women. And although it’s seen as a bit of a ‘group of death’, he reckons being underdogs suits us best.
“It’s been frustrating for Scottish football fans not to be part of a big tournament since 1998,” says Des. “That’s almost 20 years and now our women’s team are there instead of the guys, the whole country should get behind them.
“When I was a kid we were kind of spoiled in that we always seemed to be there. The first one I remember was 1986 in Mexico.
“I was five and I collected the stickers. I wasn’t sure if wee Gordon Strachan was a player or a mascot and all the talk was about Maradona and the ‘hand of God’.
“Now we’ve got a golden era for the women’s game and I’ll be there in Holland to see the England game.”
It’s far from his first time taking in a clash with the Auld Enemy, having been to games at both Hampden and Wembley.
“There were 20,000 of us down in London a few years ago and there wasn’t a single arrest.
“We took over Trafalgar Square and filled the fountain with Fairy Liquid and bubble bath.”
Meanwhile, Breaking The News is about to have a full series of shows each week from the Edinburgh Fringe. And Des revealed that the hit radio show could be set for a switch to our TV screens.
“The ratings are amazing and it’s really hard to get a ticket now,” added Des, who also hosts the Capital Scotland Breakfast Show. “Rory Bremner, who’s with us at the Fringe, obviously knows something about panel shows and he’s our biggest fan.
“It’s a real possibility that we’ll make the move to the telly and I’ll definitely be pushing for that. In just two years it’s become massive and I love it.”
Learn them, shout them, support them at vauxhallfootball.co.uk/scotland
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