Well, good news because after a lengthy wait which had us all suffering through the European Championships, Wimbledon, the Tour de France (aka "Junkies on Bikes"), not to mention the upcoming horror that is the Olympics, the Scottish football season finally kicks off with games in the First, Second and Third Divisions (the SPL start next Saturday). We look ahead to tomorrow's fixtures and try to do the impossible: predict a result. There's a lot to get through, so let's get started!
In a repeat of last seasons opening day fixture, Clyde will be hoping to do better than they did on the 4th August last year when they lost 3-2 to Morton at Cappielow. Clyde have had a pretty good pre-season so far, their only loss in six games coming against a Rangers XI. A comfortable 2-0 win over new boys Annan Athletic in the Challenge Cup was followed by a 3-0 win over a Hibs side featuring Stephen Fletcher and new signing David van Zanten. Morton's pre-season has seen them play St Mirren, Hartlepool United and Ayr United, posting indifferent results along the way. But they're only pre-season games so we shouldn't read too much into that right? The form guide tells us that of the four games played between these two last season, Clyde lost 2, won 1 and drew 1. There wasn't much to separate the two sides last season, as Clyde finished ninth and Morton finished eighth. Based on their pre-season performances, we go for a 2-0 win for Clyde. Get all the team news via the BBC site.
Like Morton and Clyde, Partick Thistle and Dunfermline finished the season next to each other in sixth and fifth place respectively; Dunfermline had six more points mind you. There where five games between the two sides last season, with Dunfermline edging out Thistle in the league, but Thistle dumped the Pars out of the Scottish Cup in January this year. Both sides progressed through to the next round of the Challenge Cup at the expense of Queens Park and Stirling Albion and will be looking to build on that in the first game of the season. For Thistle, forward Liam Buchanan is the obvious threat, netting eleven goals last season. Dunfermline's top scorer Marc Burchill was sold to Rotherham at the end of last season so the Pars will be looking again to Stephen Glass and Kevin Harper to provide the goods. Another one of those tight games, we give home advantage to the Jags in a 2-1 win. Get all the team news via the BBC site.
European football in Dumfries is about as rare as a team other than Rangers or Celtic winning the SPL so they should enjoy it while they can, while Airdrie United make an unexpected return to the First Division thanks to the demise of another Dumfries side (Gretna). Looking at pre-season form as a guide to how well we think the teams will perform, Queen of the South are on cracking form: 20 goals scored in six games with only three conceded. Keeping true to form for the First Division teams, the Doonhamers also posted a win in the Challenge Cup, beating Berwick Rangers 5-1. Stewart Kean and former Dundee United player Sean O'Connor have been getting ready for the new season by scoring in all games played so far. Airdrie's pre-season has been a bit of a mixture: they beat Hamilton, but then lost heavily to Third Division Stenhousemuir and scraped past another Third Division side, Dumbarton to get to the next round of the Challenge Cup; the loss of top scorer Allan Russell to Kilmarnock might be telling come the end of the season. Looking at the form guide, the last time these two played in the same division (season 2006/07) a win each and two draws was how it ended. We predict a win for Queen of the South: 3-0. Get all the team news via the BBC site.
Ross County, like close neighbours Inverness Caley spent most of their pre-season in the Highlands racking up rugby scores against a series of hapless opponents: Holm where dispatched 11-0, an Orkney Select was beaten 8-0 while Forres Mechanics where crushed 7-1. All in all a nice exercise in finding the net which held them in good stead when they beat Inverness Caley 3-2 in a friendly and then knock fellow First Division side St Johnstone out of the Challenge Cup - the score was a respectable 2-1. Dundee on the other hand had a pretty uneventful pre-season, pretty much what you'd expect from a team that finished second in the division last year. About the only thing worthy of note was their elimination from the Challenge Cup by Alloa Athletic, a result so bad it prompted an apology from manager Alex Rae to "the fans who travelled to support us, that performance was unacceptable". Quite. Form guide from previous seasons have Ross County coming out on top, but the Staggies might need a game or two to get used to the pace of the First Division. Dundee will be fired up for the game and as we have the Dee's winning the title this year, it's got to be an away win in this game: Dundee to win 0-1. Get all the team news via the BBC site.
ivingston 
If ever there was a one-sided affair between two sides last season, it was this one. St Johnstone won every one of the four games they played against the Livi Lions, racking up fourteen goals and conceding four. Interestingly enough, the season before that one -2006/07- had Livingston winning every game which goes to show once again what a strange game football really is. Livingston are under new management this season so we'll have to see how the team performs - it's got to be better than last season when they finished in seventh place. Their impressive Challenge Cup win against Stranraer saw this summers four new signings (goalkeeper Pierre Martini, defenders Jason Talbot and Chris Innes, midfielder Anthony McParland and former Olympique Lyonnais striker Jean-Jose Cuenca) making their debuts and should ease the pain for Livingston fans for the the loss of Graham Dorrans (West Bromwich Albion) and Robert Snodgrass (Leeds). For St Johnstone, the signing of striker Derek Holmes (120 goals in 214 appearances for a variety of teams including Rotherham, Carlisle and Hearts) will add some more firepower alongside Andy Jackso and Paul Sheerin. We'll go for another home win here, 2-1 for St Johnstone. Get all the team news via the BBC site.
So this is how we see the first day in the First Division ending
Clyde 2-0 Morton
Partick 2-1 Dunfermline
Q ot South 3-0 Airdrie United
Ross County 0-1 Dundee
St Johnstone 2-1 Livingston
We'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the fixtures in Division 2 and Division 3, as well as a look ahead to the game of the day in the Highland league: can Fort William win a game?
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