Former Hull KR and Hull FC coach Arthur Bunting has died, aged 80.

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Bunting was a Rovers player before taking up a coaching post at Craven Park but it was across the city at Hull FC where he was most successful.
He built a team containing stars such as David Topliss, Peter Sterling, Gary Kemble and James Leuluai, winning numerous honours.
"This is a very sad day for everyone connected with the club," Hull FC executive director James Clark said.
"We lose one of the finest people to ever be associated with Hull FC. His record as a coach speaks for itself, unprecedented success and deservedly recognised as the man responsible for overseeing a golden era in the club's history.
"However, for all those who knew him around the club, his close friends and former team mates, he is remembered as the perfect gentleman, kind and supportive, and a genuine rugby league fan with a brilliant sense of humour. He had a smile for everyone."
Much like Colin Hutton, who died in February, Bunting's career was spread between the two Hull clubs.
He was part of Rovers' 1964 Challenge Cup defeat by Widnes at Wembley, during a nine-year playing spell with the Robins and then spent another four years as head coach during the mid-1970s.
Yet it was as a coach where Bunting enjoyed huge success, taking over at Hull in 1978 and going onto establish the Airlie Birds as one of the most successful sides of the late 1970s through to the middle of the 1980s.
Pontefract-born Bunting was in charge when Hull met their city rivals in the first and only all-Hull Challenge Cup final in 1980. His side lost 10-5.
After guiding Hull to promotion in world-record fashion in 1979 with 26 wins from 26 games, he pioneered the signing of top Kiwi players, with Kemble and Leuluai joined by Dane O'Hara and Fred Ah Kuoi, as well as the later stellar acquisition of Sterling - an Australia Test half-back and State of Origin representative.
Those players under Bunting's coaching were part of perhaps the greatest Challenge Cup final of all time, when Wigan featuring Sterling's Parramatta teammate Brett Kenny, edged out Hull in the 1985 classic.
The Black and Whites claimed the championship in 1983, lost three consecutive Premiership finals between 1981 and 1983, appeared at Wembley four times in six years in the Challenge Cup - winning the 1982 final against Widnes after a replay at Elland Road.
There were also Yorkshire Cup, John Player Trophy and Floodlit Trophy successes during his career before he departed in December 1985.
Hull FC will mark the passing in their matches against Salford and Castleford.


Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, has agreed to invest 1.1bn euros ($1.4bn; Â£850m) in one of its key equipment suppliers in a bid to cut costs.

Under the deal, it will invest 276m euro in ASML to develop tools to make smaller, more cost-effective chips.
This comes just weeks after Intel signed a similar agreement with ASML.
Dutch firm ASML makes machines used to print circuit patterns onto chips.
Shang-yi Chiang, TSMC's co-chief operating officer, said that one of the biggest challenges facing the industry was "how to effectively control the escalating wafer manufacturing cost".
He said the co-investment programme with ASML to develop future technology will help keep the costs in check in the long run.
The Taiwanese chipmaker will also invest 838m euro to acquire a 5% stake in the firm.
TSMC said that it was hopeful that an increased investment in research will help ASML develop equipment that can handle a larger size of circular wafers from which chips are cut.
Chipmakers across the globe have been trying to increase the size of the wafers to 450mm, from the current size of 300mm.
The shift in the size of these wafers is expected to result in substantial cost savings for the chipmakers as more chips can be cut from them.
"The transition from one wafer size to the next has historically delivered a 30 to 40% reduction in die cost and we expect the shift from today's standard 300mm wafers to larger 450mm wafers to offer similar benefits," Brian Krzanich, Intel's chief operating officer said after the firm signed its agreement with ASML.
"The faster we do this, the sooner we can gain the benefit of productivity improvements, which creates tremendous value for customers and shareholders."
At the same time, TSMC and Intel have both said that their investment ASML will also help in faster development of extreme ultraviolet lithography, a new way of printing circuit patterns onto silicon wafers.
The technique is considered by many analysts as key to further reduction in the size of the chips.


The criminal courts charge is to be scrapped from 24 December, Justice Secretary Michael Gove has announced.

Since April, convicted criminals in England and Wales have had to pay a charge of between £150 and £1,200 towards the cost of their case.
But Mr Gove said "while the intention behind the policy was honourable in reality that intent has fallen short".
MPs had called for it to be axed and the Magistrates Association said the decision was "tremendously welcome".
The charge is paid on top of fines, compensation orders and defendants' own legal charges, and is higher for those convicted after pleading not guilty.
It is set according to the type of case, with the minimum charge for magistrates' courts and the maximum level for crown court cases.
In March, the then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said the fee would ensure that criminals "pay their way".
But MPs on the Justice Committee published a report in November in which they said the fee, which is not means-tested, created "serious problems" and was often "grossly disproportionate".
The cross-party group's chairman, Conservative MP Bob Neill, said they evidence they had received raised "grave misgivings" about the fee's benefits and whether it was "compatible with the principles of justice".
He said it created "perverse incentives - not only for defendants to plead guilty but for sentencers to reduce awards of compensation and prosecution costs".
Mr Gove, Mr Grayling's successor as justice secretary, announced it was being dropped, during a meeting of the Magistrates' Association Council.
The Magistrates' Association's national chairman, Malcolm Richardson said: "This is an enormous success for the MA (Magistrates' Association) but most importantly for justice in our criminal courts system.
"In my 26 years as a magistrate I have never seen such a powerful reaction from my colleagues on the bench and Michael Gove's announcement is therefore tremendously welcome."
Justice Select Committee chairman Bob Neill said it was "good" Mr Gove was "willing to respond so swiftly to take account of the inquiry we carried out and the evidence submitted to us".
"We will watch with interest the review which Michael Gove has announced into the whole panoply of financial impositions on offenders," he added.
The Howard League for Penal Reform - which has called for the fee policy to be suspended - also welcomed the news, saying the charge was "simply unfair".
Its chief executive, Frances Crook said: "This is a victory for justice. It augurs well for changes being made to the courts and penal systems, which both need radical reform."
Meanwhile, Labour said it had warned from the start that the "mandatory nature of the fee could lead to miscarriages of justice" and welcomed that it "has finally been scrapped".
Mr Gove told Parliament in November that the charge was generating revenue and helping to "ensure that the taxpayer is not the first port of call for supporting the way in which our courts operate, but it is important that we balance all the criteria in making a judgment on the review of the charge".


Southampton's Shane Long will miss out after breaking his metatarsal at Middlesbrough last week.

Cedric Soares faces a fitness test after limping off in midweek and Ryan Bertrand is also a doubt.
Stoke's Marko Arnautovic is doubtful because of an elbow problem sustained in last weekend's defeat by Arsenal.
Ibrahim Afellay is still recuperating from knee surgery last month, while Stephen Ireland remains out with a long-term leg injury.
Tony Husband: "The most boring team ever!" shouted one Southampton fan on Thursday when I asked his views on the season.
"It seems a harsh assessment for a side which has reached a cup final, narrowly missed out on the Europa League knockout stages, and currently lies eighth in the Premier League.
"But while the stats should give Claude Puel plenty of comfort at the end of his first season, he's still fighting for his job, with Southampton seemingly doing little to dampen the speculation.
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"If Saints fans feel underwhelmed, then the same probably applies to Stoke, who are at the bottom end of a mass of mediocrity in 14th.
"But Mark Hughes does appear to have the backing to reshape the squad this summer.
"It's a job security of which Puel must be envious."
Southampton manager Claude Puel: "After a long season, our players have a good focus about this last game. We can finish strong."
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes: "It's fair to say that we haven't hit our targets this season, so it is disappointing. It isn't disastrous though, I don't feel.
"Everybody wants to be stimulated by progressive seasons, and of the four I have been here this is the first that we have fallen short."
Stoke's form has been heading in a downhill direction for a while now but the nature of the last day of the season always throws up some unexpected results, and I think this game will provide one of them.
Prediction: 1-2
Lawro's full predictions v rock band Royal Blood
Head-to-head
Southampton
Stoke City
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.


A tiny studio flat that was being offered for rent for Â£737 per month in north London has been removed after pressure from Islington Council.

A picture of the room, which features a bed, wardrobe, kitchen units and a sink, was posted on social media as an example of the London housing market.
A spokesman said earlier this week that the council would be investigating whether the apartment was fit to rent.
Inspectors have now decided it cannot be marketed in its current state.
Cllr James Murray, Islington Council's executive member for housing, told Newsbeat: "This place is a shoebox, not a flat, so we're serving a prohibition order to stop it being rented out again.
"We are also urgently inspecting the other flats in this block to see if they are flouting the rules too.
"It shows how grim London's housing crisis has become when tenants can be exploited like this - and yet down the road, new properties are being snapped up by investors and often sitting empty."
The flat was described as a "modern studio apartment" but Murray said it was not possible to open the door of the cupboard under the sink because the bed was in the way.
Find out where you can afford to live using the BBC News interactive tool
On Wednesday, the landlord of the flat Andrew Panayi told the Guardian: "The property does have planning. It's been checked several times by the environmental health and the planning department. We have not subdivided units."
He blamed his estate agent, Relocate Me, for not choosing a photograph that did "justice" to the flat.
"They didn't photograph the bathroom or the [communal] roof terrace," he said.
They also failed to mention the fact that central heating, internet and unlimited hot water were included in the price, he added.
A request for a formal statement from Relocate Me has yet to be returned.
According to Islington Borough Council the apartment was originally given planning permission to be used as student accommodation.
Cllr Murray suggested the rooms, which had once been solely used as bedrooms, had been re-purposed as self-contained studio flats.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the government that increasing house prices pose a threat to the UK's economic recovery.
Many commentators have warned of a London "housing bubble".
In London, prices rose by 17% in the last year. In north-west England, they were up by 3.1%.
They say this has had a knock-on effect on the London rental market, with average prices also rising.
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Shutter Speed overcame rain-softened ground to win the Musidora Stakes at York under Frankie Dettori and will now be aimed at next month's French Oaks.

Trainer John Gosden let the unbeaten 4-7 favourite race after he walked the course and she beat runner-up Vintage Folly by a length and three quarters.
She goes to Chantilly next rather than the Oaks at Epsom, in which stablemates Enable and Coronet are top contenders.
Tasleet (14-1) took the Duke of York Stakes for trainer William Haggas.
Jim Crowley's mount won comfortably from Magical Memory in second, with Comicas third.
Shutter Speed, whose last run at Newbury saw her beat Enable into third, brought a fifth Musidora win for both Gosden and Dettori.
"We got away with it. The ground was very soft. It was hard work for her," said Dettori.
"She'll be a better horse on better ground. She's top drawer. Everything she does is very classy."
Gosden is concerned about the ground for his colt Cracksman in Thursday's Dante Stakes and will again walk the course before deciding whether he runs in the Derby trial.
BBC Sport horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght
Shutter Speed's clearly in very good order and she coped well with the soggy conditions.
She'll be off to France's Oaks, staged over 'her distance' of a mile and a quarter, and Gosden will rely on Enable and Coronet in the longer Epsom Oaks.
The trainer said he was pleased to now have a month to prepare Shutter Speed for Chantilly.
Meanwhile, the gap between Thursday's Dante Stakes and the Derby is just 16 days, so Gosden's colt Cracksman may not be asked to line up in what's sure to be an examining Dante, in terms of both quality and going.


Glasgow City Council has dropped plans to convert six public holidays into annual leave for some of its staff.

Members of the GMB at Glasgow City Council had voted in favour of industrial action in protest at the proposal.
The union claimed staff who regularly receive enhanced payments would lose out by Â£500 a year on average.
The council said it withdrew the plan after making "significant" progress in achieving Â£130m of savings.
The holiday changes were put forward as a way of saving money in the council's budget in March.
The council's executive member for personnel, Martin Rhodes said: "The council is facing the greatest budget cuts in its history from the Scottish government.
However, our staff are making considerable progress in delivering the reforms and efficiencies that are required to protect frontline services.
"As a result, we are now in a position to withdraw proposals to make alterations to public holidays. This progress on budget savings will also allow the council to improve some elements of frontline services further in the near future."
GMB Scotland Officer Benny Rankin said: "We are pleased the council has listened to the concerns of our members and climbed-down from its imposition plan, which could have plunged thousands of low paid workers into the ranks of the working poor.
"Our campaign of resistance has protected our members interests but there can be no doubt that the swingeing cuts to local government funding means the road ahead will be tough for all local government workers across Scotland.
"GMB Scotland is calling on all our councils to engage positively with trade unions and their members and work with us to find alternatives to an austerity agenda that is punishing working people and their communities."


DJ and broadcaster Graeme Park, a lecturer at Wrexham's Glyndwr University, helped open this year's Glastonbury Festival on the main Pyramid stage.

He performed in Hacienda Classical with Mike Pickering and Manchester Camerata.
It is a new spin on Manchester club scene music from the 1980s as both had worked as DJs at the Hacienda at that time.
After the gig, Park tweeted it was an "amazing" experience.
Paul Davies, from Manchester Camerata, tweeted it had been a "proud, proud moment".


Thousands of fans gathered in Huddersfield town to celebrate promotion to the Premier League.

31 May 2017 Last updated at 08:37 BST
The team beat Reading on penalties to secure promotion next season.
Fans watched the play-off trophy go through the streets on an open top bus, and some of them told Newsround how they're feeling.


The Piccadilly Line will become the latest route to begin a Night Tube service later.

It follows the launch of 24-hour services on the Central, Victoria, Jubilee and Northern lines.
The RMT union has called for the launch to be delayed due to "on-going safety concerns" connected to wet leaves damaging train wheels.
Transport for London (TfL) has insisted "there are no safety concerns" and the launch will go ahead as planned.
Commuters have faced disruption on the Piccadilly Line since last month when half its trains were taken out of service after the wheels were damaged.
Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary, said: "The fleet consists of 43-year-old trains that have recently had their wheels replaced, leading to serious problems.
"It is utter madness that while the service on the Piccadilly Line is at breaking point the company plan to run trains right through from 0500 [GMT] Friday morning until 0030 [GMT] Sunday."
A  spokesperson for TfL said: "There aren't any safety issues. If there were we wouldn't be launching".
TfL added that despite having only 80% of operational trains running during its daytime Piccadilly service, it did have the necessary 25 trains needed to run the reduced night schedule.
The latest Night Tube service will run every 10 minutes between Cockfosters and Heathrow Terminal 5, barring Terminal 4, on Fridays and Saturdays.


Greece would struggle to find creditors outside the EU and IMF, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said.

He said it would be welcome to try to find investment from Beijing or Moscow, but may have difficulties.
His warning came after fears of a Greek debt default saw its borrowing costs jump 3.5 percentage points to 27%.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said his government refuses to consider leaving the EU: "Toying with Grexit... is profoundly anti-European."
He also promised to "compromise, compromise, compromise without being compromised" to satisfy current creditors.
Both men were speaking at talks in Washington.
On Wednesday, ratings agency S&P downgraded Greece's credit rating.
Yields also rose on longer-term Greek borrowing, with the 10-year bond yield - the amount investors demand for lending - rising one percentage point to 13%.
Mr Schaeuble said that the Greek government needs to find creditors.
"The Europeans have said, OK, we are ready to do it [lend money] until 2020... If you find someone else, whether it's in Beijing, in Moscow, in Washington DC, or in New York who will lend you money, ok, fine, we would be happy. But it's difficult to find someone who is lending you in this situation amounts [of] â‚¬200bn."
He added that Greece must focus on increasing its competitiveness and primary surplus.
Mr Schaeuble was speaking after the Greek government's borrowing costs surged on Thursday.
The Financial Times had earlier reported that Greece had made an "informal approach" to the International Monetary Fund to have its bailout repayments delayed, but had been rebuffed.
But the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, said at the World Bank spring meeting in Washington: "We have never had an advanced economy asking for payment delays.
"Payment delays are analysed as additional financing granted to that country. Additional financing means additional contribution by the international community - some of which are in much direr situations than the country eventually seeking those delays.
"Payment delays had not been granted by the board of the IMF in the last 30 years and it was eventually granted to a couple of developing countries and that delay was not followed by very productive results.
"It's clearly not a course of action that would actually fit or be recommendable in the current situation."
Greece owes the IMF some â‚¬1bn (Â£720m, $1.06bn) in repayments next month.
Many in the markets think the Greek government will struggle to make those payments if it does not agree an economic reform package with European creditors soon.
Failure to agree a plan with creditors will mean that the country will default, a development that could force the government to put limits on money transfers and even lead the country to leave the euro.
EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas said on Thursday that the EU was "not satisfied with the level of progress made so far" in debt negotiations.
BBC economics editor Robert Peston said if Greece misses a debt payment, that does not necessarily mean it will leave the euro.
"The government could follow the example of Cyprus and impose restrictions on the export of capital from the country, to conserve as much cash as possible in a banking system too close to collapse for comfort," he said.
"And it could create its own IOUs, a sort of parallel domestic currency interchangeable with euros, to pay its employees and trade creditors."
Mr Schaeuble had warned that he did not expect an agreement between Athens and its creditors in the next week.
But Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Thursday said he was "firmly optimistic" the Greek government could reach a deal with its creditors.
"Despite the cacophony and erratic leaks and statements in recent days from the other side, I remain firmly optimistic that there will be an agreement by the end of the month," Mr Tsipras said.
According to Mr Tsipras, several points of agreement had been found since talks first started, including on areas such as tax collection, corruption and initiatives to distribute the tax burden on those who have the ability to pay.
But he said the two sides still disagreed on four areas: labour issues, pension reform, an increase in value-added taxes and privatisations, which he referred to as "development of state property".
In a later tweet, he said he was "certain that Europe will choose the path to democracy".


North Wales Police has renewed an appeal for witnesses following a road accident in which Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman's mother died.

Carol Boardman sustained serious injuries after a collision with a pick-up truck as she was cycling in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, on Saturday.
She later died in hospital.
Ch Insp Darren Wareing said: "A full investigation is now under way, which will include a forensic examination of the scene, vehicle and bike.
"We have already spoken with a number of people, including the driver of the Mitsubishi pick-up, however I'd like to ask again if you were in the area at the time and witnessed the collision or any events leading up to it, to contact the Roads Policing Unit on 101 or via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 and quote RC1610 4385."
Chris Boardman said his mother was "the most positive, outgoing person you could ever hope to meet".
The 47-year-old, who won a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, tweeted a photograph alongside a tribute to his mother, who he said "never lost her love of the bike or competing".
He also wrote about her "generosity of spirit" and love of the outdoors, recalling fond childhood memories of walking and exploring as a family in north Wales.
"We love you Carol, may the wind be ever at your back," he said.


Britain's Andy Murray said he had "not let anyone down" after losing to Japan's Kei Nishikori in the US Open quarter-finals.

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Sixth seed Nishikori won 1-6 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-5 to inflict an earliest Grand Slam defeat of the season on Murray.
The Scot, 29, finished runner-up at the Australian and French Opens before winning Wimbledon and Olympic gold.
"I tried my best. I fought as hard as I could with what I had today," said the world number two.
"I pushed myself as hard as I could over the last few months and I'm very proud of how I've done."
The defeat was only the second in 28 matches for Murray, who had reached the final of his previous seven tournaments, stretching back to the Madrid Open in May.
That run brought him his first Italian Open, fifth Queen's Club, second Wimbledon and second Olympic titles.
"If someone had offered me the summer that I have had before Wimbledon, I probably would have signed for that," said Murray.
"After a few days away, I would imagine I'd be very happy with how I've done and learn from this match and the summer as a whole, because it's been tough.
"I'm happy how it's gone. There's just a few things I could do differently next time."
Murray let a two-sets-to-one lead slip against Nishikori and became embroiled in an argument with the umpire and tournament referee after play was halted when the stadium sound system emitted a loud noise, with the Scot holding break point.
"They stopped the point and I was just curious why that was and that was it," said Murray, who went on to lose seven games in a row.
"Did it affect me? Definitely I would say to 4-1.
"I didn't play a good game after I got out of the change of ends and then he held pretty comfortably the next game. But after that I don't think so."
Murray's form dipped after an impressive first set, with conditions changing when rain prompted the roof to be closed in the second set.
The roof remained shut despite the weather improving at Flushing Meadows.
"We were told at the beginning of the event and also today that if the forecast's good they will open the roof during the match if that's the case,"  said Murray.
"Why that didn't happen today I don't know. It's not really for me to say."
Murray will next head to Glasgow for Britain's Davis Cup semi-final against Argentina, which begins on 16 September.
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller:
"Early in the fourth set, with Murray leading by two sets to one and a break point up - and in control of the rally - a let was called as a sound like a gong was heard under the closed roof. Murray allowed himself to be distracted for too long as Nishikori ran away with the set to take the match the distance.
"A hugely successful summer started to take its toll on Murray here in New York. But having already won Wimbledon and Olympic gold, this may be a disappointment that is not that hard to swallow."


Holders Toulon came from behind to inflict a fourth straight Champions Cup defeat on Leinster, whose slim hopes of reaching the quarter-finals were ended.

Three-time European champions Leinster held a 16-5 lead thanks to a penalty try and four Johnny Sexton kicks.
But Toulon earned their own penalty try, adding to Juan Smith's score, to cut the deficit to four points.
Anthony Etrillard went over and Tom Taylor kicked a penalty to win it for the French side.
The results means Toulon move up to second in Pool Five, level on points with third-placed Bath and trailing leaders Wasps by six points.
Leinster, meanwhile, remain bottom with two losing bonus points on the board and miss out on the knockout stages in Europe for only the second time in 12 years.
The Dubliners had lost 24-9 in the reverse fixture last week but were in control at half-time at the Aviva Stadium, with Sexton rediscovering his form with the boot to kick his team into an early lead.
Toulon lost Duane Vermeulen to the sin-bin after 12 minutes for an offside infringement, and soon Leinster were awarded a penalty try after the scrum was hauled down.
Smith crashed over for the visitors to make it 10-5 but fly-half Sexton kicked two penalties to give Leinster a healthy lead.
Toulon responded brilliantly in the second half and the Leinster defence finally gave way.
Referee Wayne Barnes awarded a penalty try to Toulon, which Taylor converted, and, with 15 minutes to go, a powerful drive ended with Etrillard touching down.
Taylor added a conversion and penalty, before Leinster lost Jordi Murphy to the sin-bin, and a knock-on denied Mamuka Gorgodze a late bonus point try at the death.
Leinster: R Kearney; D Kearney, Te'o, Fitzgerald, Nacewa (capt); Sexton, Reddan; McGrath, Strauss, Ross; Toner, McCarthy; Ruddock, Van der Flier, Heaslip.
Replacements:  Moore for Ross (24), Madigan for Te'o (37), Cronin for Strauss (46), Healey for McGrath (46), Denton for M McCarthy (56), Kirchner for Sexton (66), Murphy for Heaslip (69), N McCarthy for Reddan (76).
Sin Bin: Murphy (76).
Toulon: D Armitage; Habana, Bastareaud, Nonu, Mitchell; Giteau, Escande; Fresia, Guirado, Stevens; Suta, Taofifenua; Smith, S Armitage, Vermeulen.
Replacements: Taylor for D. Armitage (46), Tillous-Borde for Escande (46), Chiocci for Fresia (46), Etrillard for Guirado (49), Chilachava for Stevens (46), Gorgodze for Suta (66), Mikautadze for Taofifenua (50), Fernandez Lobbe for J. Smith (56).
Sin Bin: Vermeulen (12).


As Iraqi special forces enter the city of Mosul for the first time since the start of the campaign to retake it from so-called Islamic State, a BBC team embedded with the troops is tweeting from the front line as the battle unfolds.

The BBC's Ian Pannell said the jihadists were putting up a hard fight.
BBC producers Joan Soley and Peter Emmerson are also embedded with the Iraqi troops.
BBC Arabic's Feras Kilani caught in crossfire.
This picture from Feras Kilani shows the destruction of a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city.
There are thought to be up to 1.5 million civilians in Mosul, trapped between IS and Iraqi forces.
The team were with the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) when it retook Bazwaya, about 3km (2 miles) east of Mosul, on Monday.


A local football match took on significant meaning for supporters this weekend - as war-torn Aleppo saw its first live game in five years.

Local side Al-Ittihad beat their city rivals Hurriya 2-1 on Saturday.
There has been no professional football in Aleppo since it was divided between the army and rebel forces in 2011.
But the government regained complete control of the city last month in a major offensive.
The grass was brown and weathered from the winter cold, and the stadium had clearly been damaged by the war's bombing campaigns - but the atmosphere was like any local football game elsewhere.
The only hints of the division that plagued the city were a prominent banner in the stands showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the police in riot gear standing on the sidelines.
But the crowd remained upbeat, chanting to the sound of drumbeats and waving flags in their team colours.
"I can't tell you how it feels to return to the pitch (in Aleppo) after five years," Ittihad player Omar Hamidi told reporters before the game.
"My heart's beating so fast," he said.
Hurriya player Firas Al-Ahmad said travelling to the game from the coastal city of Latakia - where his team has been playing this season - had hurt their performance. However, he said he was happy to be back home.
"It is our right to play in Aleppo. And we play better in Aleppo. When we play on our ground with our fans our performance improves.
"We want to make Aleppo's name high," he said.
The return of football to Aleppo is likely to ease organisational problems for the football league - which has only been able to hold games in two major cities.


The actors' union Equity has hit out at the decision to remove two of Mull's best-known creative directors from their posts.

Alasdair McCrone, of Mull Theatre, and Gordon McLean, of the arts centre An Tobar, were among three directors of the umbrella body Comar.
It looks after a number of arts organisations on the island.
Comar's board said funding restrictions made it necessary to reduce three posts to one.
It said the three existing directorial posts - in theatre/dance, visual arts/film and music/literature - would be replaced by one artistic director who would lead the entire creative programme
Comar, which was created two years ago, said it hoped to continue to work with both Mr McCrone and McLean.
Equity blames poor business planning and is calling on the board to resign.
A public meeting about the decision is to be held in Tobermory next week.
High-profile Scottish actor Alan Cumming tweeted: "This makes me so sad.  Another example of the accountants take over at the expense of the art. And in Mull too."
Former Scottish culture secretary and SNP MSP for Argyll and Bute, Michael Russell, tweeted: "Making Alasdair & Gordon redundant is an extraordinary wrong-headed decision and must be opposed."


The chief executive of an east Belfast organisation given nearly Â£2m of public money has apologised for making a foul-mouthed attack on the government.

Dee Stitt of Charter NI, who is a leading UDA member, was the focus of criticism for remarks made to The Guardian.
In a statement, the board of Charter NI said it was "deeply disappointed with and greatly concerned" by the article.
However, it said it was "addressing this matter internally".
In The Guardian article, Mr Stitt described loyalist band North Down Defenders as "our homeland security" and said the government does not care about Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Executive awarded a Â£1.7m grant to Charter NI, a community-based organisation.
The money came from the executive's social investment fund.
SDLP MLA Nichola Mallon said on Wednesday that Mr Stitt's position with Charter NI was no longer tenable and that "he needs to go as soon as possible".
"It is clear from the statement issued by Charter NI that Dee Stitt remains their CEO," she said.
"Their CEO needs to go, he needs to resign and there needs to be an immediate suspension of public money to Charter NI now, until there is a full, thorough and external investigation of all of their governance arrangements.
"The first minister and deputy first minister need to urgently make a public statement on this matter because if they don't it will be perceived that they are standing with Dee Stitt."
Pressure has been mounting on Dee Stitt since his controversial comments.
The DUP MP, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said it was his understanding that Mr Stitt had now stepped aside as Charter NI's chief executive.
But in a statement, the organisation referred to Mr Stitt as still being its chief executive, saying it was addressing the matter internally.
The board said Mr Stitt had expressed sincere apologies for his lack of judgement on this occasion and for the impact it had on the organisation.
Asked directly if Mr Stitt was still in post, a spokeswoman said she could not comment.
The DUP's, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said last week that if he was in charge of the organisation, Mr Stitt would not be in post.
"I would not have him as my chief executive in light of these comments," said the Lagan Valley MP.
He told the BBC's Nolan Show that any change to Mr Stitt's position was a matter for Charter NI.
Mr Stitt had previously challenged allegations that he was a UDA commander.
"To the best of my knowledge, none of these allegations has been supported by evidence being presented to the PSNI," he told the Nolan Show.


An Ethiopian opposition leader, who was sentenced to death while in exile for plotting a coup, has been extradited from Yemen to Ethiopia, his group says.

Andargachew Tsege, who is also a British national, is secretary-general of the banned Ginbot 7 movement.
The Ethiopian government allegedly requested his extradition after he was arrested in Yemen last month.
European MEP Ana Gomes told the BBC the UK needed to use its political leverage to ensure his release.
The Ethiopian government has not commented on the alleged extradition.
US-based Ginbot 7 spokesman Ephrem Madebo told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme that Mr Andargachew had been on his way from the United Arab Emirates to Eritrea when he was detained during a stopover at Sanaa airport.
Mr Ephrem said that he had spoken to Mr Andargachew's family who had been contacted by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Thursday.
British officials told the family that the Yemeni ambassador to the UK had informed them that Mr Andargachew had been handed over to Ethiopia, Mr Ephrem said.
In a statement the UK Foreign Office said it was aware that Mr Andargachew had been missing in Yemen since 24 June.
"Since then UK officials have pressed the Yemeni authorities at senior levels to establish his whereabouts, including meeting with the Yemeni ambassador in London this week," a Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement.
"We are aware of reports that he may now be in Ethiopia and we are urgently seeking confirmation from the relevant authorities given our deep concerns about the case. We are continuing to provide consular assistance to his family."
Ms Gomes, who led the European Union observer mission to Ethiopia during the 2005 elections, said she had written to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague about the case.
"If the British government is not complicit with this kidnapping and this rendition of Mr Andargachew Tsigue to the Ethiopian regime - [which] will obviously torture him, accuse him of all sorts of things and eventually kill him - then the British government has to get immediately the release of Mr Andargachew," she told BBC Focus on Africa.
"If there is a country that is extremely influential in Ethiopia, it is Britain - it's a major donor and it's a major political backer of the regime in Ethiopia."
Mr Ephrem said that the UK government should have intervened in the case earlier.
"The UK government looks like a collaborator because the UK government never acted," he said, adding that it was ridiculous to consider Mr Andergachew a terrorist.
"To the Ethiopian government even bloggers are terrorists [and] journalists are terrorists," he said.
Ginbot 7 (15 May) was named after the date of the 2005 elections, which were marred by protests over alleged fraud that led to the deaths of about 200 people.
In 2009, the year before the last elections, Mr Andergachew was among a group of Ginbot 7 leaders sentenced to death in absentia for planning to assassinate government officials; they denied the charges.


Police investigating the rape of a woman said her screams as she and her toddler were forced into a car would have been heard.

The woman, in her 30s, and the child were abducted by two men from Redcar seafront at lunchtime on Friday.
The pair were taken about four miles to Longbeck Lane, near Yearby, where the woman was raped by both men.
They were made to get out of the car six hours later in another area of Redcar.
Det Ch Insp Steve Young, of the Cleveland and North Yorkshire Major Investigation Team, said: "The area was busy at the time of the incident as people walked by with their dogs and local workers may have been on their lunch break.
"The victim was screaming for help as she was forced into the car. Someone must have seen or heard her. Anyone at all with information is urged to call police."
The force is also appealing for information about the two men in a dark-coloured saloon.
The driver, in his late 20s or early 30s, was white, with short, brown hair and a large build, police said. He had the word "love" tattooed across his knuckles.
The other man was white, in his early 20s, of shorter height and medium build, with brown hair.


Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says one of its hospitals in northern Yemen has been destroyed by several air strikes.

The first, which occurred around 22:30 (19:30 GMT) on Monday, hit part of the facility in Saada province that was not being used, according to the charity.
All staff and patients had been evacuated by the time the second strike hit about 10 minutes later.
However, the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthi rebel movement denied that it had bombed the hospital.
Asked by the Reuters news agency if he knew what had caused the blasts, spokesman Brig-Gen Ahmed al-Asiri said: "We cannot tell without investigation."
Gen Asiri has previously said the coalition has destroyed every fighter jet in Yemen.
The conflict in Yemen has left more than 5,600 people dead, including 2,615 civilians, since the coalition air campaign began in late March.
About two-thirds of the civilian deaths were caused by coalition air strikes, and the rest by the rebels and their allies, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Tuesday.
More than 15,000 people wounded in air strikes and fighting on the ground have been treated in MSF-supported hospitals in the past seven months.
The charity's hospital in Saada's Haydan district served 200,000 people and was the only life-saving facility in the region, receiving 150 emergency cases a week.
An MSF statement said that all staff on duty and two in-patients managed to escape between the first and second air strikes on Monday night.
The facility's director was slightly injured during the evacuation.
After visiting the site on Tuesday morning, MSF's project co-ordinator in Saada, Miriam Czech, said: "I was not able to go inside as we believed there were remaining bombs that have not exploded, but I can confirm that the facility is 99% destroyed."
The facility's director said that only the x-ray department and staffroom remained.
"It could be a mistake, but the fact of the matter is it's a war crime," MSF country director Hassan Boucenine told the Reuters news agency.
"There's no reason to target a hospital. We provided [the coalition] with all of our GPS co-ordinates about two weeks ago," he added.
This is the second attack this month on an MSF facility.
On 3 October, US aircraft bombed a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, killing at least 22 people.
MSF has demanded an independent international investigation into the bombing, which it says was a war crime. The US has said the hospital was bombed by mistake and President Barack Obama has apologised.


Friends of the Earth (FOE) has been accused of deliberately misleading people about the dangers of fracking in a fundraising leaflet.

The circular showed a picture of Grasmere in Cumbria saying: "Don't let fracking destroy this" and claimed that fracking chemicals could cause cancer.
A former geologist and energy firm Cuadrilla complained to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) saying the leaflet was "wholly inaccurate".
FOE denied "misleading" the public.
Cuadrilla said it was lodging an official complaint to the ASA and the Fundraising Standards Board about the leaflet, which it said included "numerous misleading assertions".
The Oil and Gas Authority announced in August locations in England where licences to frack for shale oil and gas would be offered and Grasmere was not included.
Cuadrilla confirmed there were no licences to drill in Cumbria.
The Reverend Michael Roberts, the former geologist who has also complained to the ASA, said he had received a copy of the leaflet in a magazine in the past week.
He wrote on his blog the leaflet's inclusion of Grasmere was "very odd, as these rocks, being volcanic contain no carbon-rich material whether coal, oil or gas".
Tony Bosworth, climate and energy campaigner for Friends of the Earth said: "The leaflet is not misleading. The picture of Grasmere is illustrative of the sorts of areas which the government is opening up for fracking.
"Worryingly, companies were invited to express interest in oil and gas exploration in parts of the Lake District National Park earlier this year, along with the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and Peak District."
The leaflet also claimed 25% of chemicals used during the fracking process could cause cancer.
There was a high chance chemicals would contaminate drinking water, it inferred.
A Cuadrilla spokesman said: "As Friends of the Earth is well aware, the UK Environment Agency does not permit the use of 'a toxic cocktail of chemicals' in fracking fluid for use in the UK and, in fact, only permits fracking fluid that it has assessed and tested as non-hazardous to groundwater.
Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.
"FOE's assertion is wholly inaccurate in respect of fracking in the UK and in respect of Cuadrilla. As such, the leaflet is likely to materially mislead readers," the firm added.
The Rev Roberts said "there is no science to support that statement that frack fluid could end up in your drinking water".
He said the leaflet's presentation of fracking was "inaccurate, flawed and misleading, along with its attack on Cuadrilla."
Mr Bosworth said the Environment Agency had approved the use, by Cuadrilla, of a chemical called polyacrylamide, which he claimed contained acrylamide, a "probable carcinogen".
He said there was a "growing body of evidence" showing "negative health and environmental impacts" from fracking and the process had been "put on hold" in areas like France and New York State because of these risks.
Cuadrilla has appealed against a decision, made by Lancashire County Council in August, which refused permission to drill and frack at two sites in the county.


A passenger plane has landed safely at Manchester Airport after flames were reportedly seen coming from an engine.

Passengers said they heard a banging sound as the Jet2 aircraft prepared to land and were were then told to brace for impact.
The flight from Barcelona with 144 people on board, landed 30 minutes late at 14:40 BST.
The pilot called for assistance citing a "technical indication", the company said.
Passenger Rowan Franks said: "There was a large banging from the engine and vibrations throughout the aircraft and then we could see some flames coming from behind the engine.
"The pilot told us to get into the brace position. I was trying to keep calm and keep my girlfriend calm.
"There were a few panicked faces around and few tears here and there."
Another holidaymaker Laura Benson said: "There was quite a lot of banging when we were flying, the captain came on saying he wasn't sure what was happening.
"We were circling for about half an hour. He said we were going to try to land. The crew were going up and down telling us how to get into brace position.
"Everything just flashed before you. We were obviously panicking but (the pilot) sounded calm which was quite reassuring.
"I'm still shaking. I'm happy to be here and my dad is happy he's got his brandy so it's fine."


Salisbury and South Wiltshire MP John Glen is to donate his blood stem cells to a cancer patient.

The Conservative MP joined the Delete Blood Cancer UK register in July 2013 to raise awareness of the need for blood stem cell donation.
Speaking of the donation, Mr Glen said: "On signing myself up I never thought I would hear from them again but now I have this amazing opportunity."
The transfer will take place at a London clinic on Wednesday morning.
The donations help people with blood cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma where cancerous cells are replaced with healthy cells from the donor.
This can be a life-saving treatment for patients.
Due to patient confidentiality rules, no details will be released about the donor recipient.
Deirdre Taylor from Blood Cancer UK said: "Less than half of those in the UK in need of a lifesaving blood stem cell donation find a matching donor.
"Therefore the patient who John is donating some of his blood stem cells to today is very lucky that he took a few minutes a year and a half ago to register to donate some of his.
"That patient needs them for their survival and John is likely to be the only person registered who had a matching tissue type to the patient."


Forest Green Rovers have "unfinished business" in the National League after their loss in Sunday's promotion final, says midfielder Darren Carter.

Rovers, who finished second in the regular season behind champions Cheltenham Town, lost 3-1 to Grimsby at Wembley to remain in non-league.
They had won their first nine league games in 2015-16, a fifth-tier record.
"It hurts. It hurts deep. We feel like we have got unfinished business now," Carter told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
"We feel we should have finished in top spot - that went. Then we just couldn't quite get over the hurdle (at Wembley).
"The raw emotion of it at the moment is complete frustration. You feel like you've let the fans down. But we'll come again."
Promotion to League Two would have made Forest Green's home town of Nailsworth the smallest settlement to ever host a Football League club.
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Captain Aaran Racine added: "It's still an achievement to get here, but it's just gutting.
"Next year it's obviously got to be promotion. Whether we do it automatically or in the play-offs, we've got to get promoted next year.
"Every year we're progressing. We've got a relatively young squad still. It's all a learning curve for all of us. As long as we keep progressing each year we're doing well."
Meanwhile, the club have announced that David Pipe, James Jennings, Clovis Kamdjo, Delano Sam-Yorke, Brett Williams, Lenny Pidgeley and Dale Eve will all be released at the end of the season.
But negotiations are ongoing regarding new deals for Racine, Carter, Steve Arnold, Dale Bennett, Sam Wedgbury and Marcus Kelly.
And the Gloucestershire club have extended the contracts of Elliott Frear, Charlie Clough, Kurtis Guthrie and Rob Sinclair, exercising the options of an extra year on their existing deals.


If George Williams had been a bus driver in Milton Keynes, he would have had to cope with 124 roundabouts.

It is perhaps not surprising then, that as a footballer, his career has come full circle, and seen him handed a return ticket back to MK Dons, the club that showed him the door as a teenager.
The odds were stacked high against Williams.
According to League Football Education, 99% of the apprentices at EFL clubs released over the past five years have not gone on to have a career in professional football.
So you can imagine how Williams felt in 2012 when he was told by then Dons boss Karl Robinson that he could leave the club he had been at since under-14 level.
"I remember the whole day and how it unfolded," he told BBC Three Counties Radio. "I was quietly confident I may get a professional contract or some other kind of deal because I felt like I was playing quite well.
"When I found out I wasn't getting one, I was absolutely gutted. I remember calling my dad and I was really down about it."
Unlike some academy dropouts, Williams, now 23, had a back-up plan if his football career hit a bump, and had already been offered a place at four universities.
"You're one of thousands with the same CV - 18 years old, played no professional games and been released," he said.
"I knew going on trials probably wasn't going to be the best for me. I was very aware a manager isn't going to look at an 18-year-old with no league football and say 'get him in'. Managers look for experience."
After a coffee shop meeting with his parents, during which options including going to the United States were thrown into the mix, Williams decided on Loughborough University.
Loughborough often take on young footballers coming out of academies, generally from League One and below, and give them a chance to rebuild their career, while also furthering their education.
"I remember meeting the head coach Stuart McLaren before getting to university and it was almost like a professional club set-up," said Williams.
"They had a new stadium being built, there was training pretty much every day, they were in both the Midlands Alliance and a university league, so it was kind of like being back in full-time football again."
McLaren remembers the day Williams first arrived on the scene, during pre-season.
"You could see that George had something extra about him," he told BBC Sport.
"He was very strong, very quick, had exceptional stamina, but also in terms of his personality, it's not easy for young guys to deal with the rejection that comes with not being offered a professional contract.
"Sometimes the bigger job in the higher education sector is to build people up from the psychological perspective rather than technical or tactical development.
"But George wasn't like that at all. You could see he had taken it in his stride and that he was going to make the most of his time at university.
"All we did was facilitate and guide George through the process. Anything he's gone onto achieve is almost entirely down to himself."
McLaren now works in a grassroots development role with the Scottish Football Association, and met current MK Dons boss Robbie Neilson, who took over from Robinson earlier this season, while they were studying for Uefa coaching badges.
"I told him to keep an eye out for the boy Williams, he won't let you down," he said.
"I'm delighted that George has backed up that recommendation. He's been performing quite well of the last couple of months."
Williams never gave up hope that he would get back into the full-time game while studying for his Sports Science degree, despite telling people he would "see what the degree can get me if that (football) doesn't work out".
After playing for and captaining the university side for two years, Williams joined National League North side Worcester City while in his final year at Loughborough.
And he was a member of the side which created club history by beating League One Coventry City in the FA Cup first round and causing pandemonium at the Ricoh Arena.
Despite being knocked out in the next round by Scunthorpe United after a breathless replay and record-breaking 14-13 penalty shoot-out, Williams' stock was high.
"I think that FA Cup run gave managers that might have been interested a chance to see me against League One opposition," he recalled.
"The Scunthorpe game was on a Wednesday, I got a call for Barnsley on the Thursday and signed for them on Monday."
But more adversity was to follow as Danny Wilson, the manager who signed him for Barnsley in January 2015, was sacked within a few weeks of his arrival and he did not fit into new boss Lee Johnson's plans.
Williams finished off his degree but was not involved in Barnsley's pre-season trip in the summer of 2015, and was sent out on loan to National League side Barrow.
There was, however, light at the end of the tunnel after he returned to Oakwell.
"Lee Johnson played me at left-back in a reserve game because there was a lot of injuries there," said Williams.
"Then I started the next game, put my foot down in the team and didn't look back."
He went on to help Barnsley lift two trophies at Wembley, winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final and earning promotion to the Championship with a play-off win over Millwall.
Despite that, he was released by the Tykes during the summer and decided to seek a move back down south.
He had offers from other League One clubs, but his mind was quickly made up when he heard of interest from the manager that had released him four years previously.
"I met Karl, he was really honest with me. There was no bitter feelings or anything, that's the job, this is a business," Williams said.
"Looking back, I probably wasn't ready to get a professional contract when I was 18, and I am now."
Because of his route back into football and the poor prospects for players released by academies, Williams now has his eye on helping those who find themselves in similar situations to him.
"It's something that later in my career I'd want to do, helping 18-year-olds that get released, making sure that they've got a platform to do other things so if football doesn't work out, they have other options," he said.
"And on the flipside, they've got another way to play a good standard of football, rather than not play at all."


Thousands of apprenticeships in England should be reserved for young people coming out of care, a charity says.

Barnardo's is calling on ministers to reserve 20,000 apprenticeships for 16-18 year olds from the care system.
Care leavers' potential and not only their entry qualifications should be taken into account, Barnardo's says.
The Department for Education said it was "improving the lives of care leavers and helping them make a successful transition to adulthood".
According to the government's care leaver strategy 2013, around 10,000 youngsters aged between 16 and 18 leave care in England every year.
The strategy says there is a significant gap between the educational achievements of care leavers and their peers.
In June, the Prison Reform Trust launched an independent review to examine why so many children in care in England and Wales end up in the criminal justice system.
The trust says children aged 10 to 17 and in care are more than five times as likely to be in trouble than others.
In Chancellor George Osborne's Budget in July, the government pledged that three million new apprenticeships would be created by 2020, funded by a tax on large firms.
Now Barnardo's wants to see a tranche of these reserved for those coming out of the care system to redress some of the inequalities they face.
Instead of apprenticeships depending on entry qualifications only, care leavers' potential should also be taken into account, the charity says.
It adds that intensive support throughout an apprenticeship would help the young people get the qualifications they need to go on to successfully establish a career.
Barnardo's chief executive Javed Khan said: "Young people leaving the care system have ambition and talents. They want to work, to be financially independent and contribute to the country's economy.
"But too often, care leavers find the door to employment is closed. Getting an apprenticeship and proving themselves in work can open up the door to a successful career instead of a dependence on benefits.
"Young people are the future of Britain's economy. They must be invested in and given the right support to get into work."
A spokesman for the DfE said: "We are improving the lives of care leavers and helping them make a successful transition to adulthood.
"A good apprenticeship can help support this, and that is why we're fully funding apprenticeships training for eligible care leavers aged 19-23.
"We have also changed the law so young people can live with their foster family after they turn 18, and given every child who leaves care a personal adviser."


Police are investigating the unexplained death of a 32-year-old man in Stranraer.

The man was found unconscious at a flat in Caledonia Court on Wednesday.
He was treated at the scene and taken to Galloway Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Police Scotland said there were no apparent suspicious circumstances and the procurator fiscal had been informed.


There are times, still, when James Fowler feels awkward when he is called "gaffer".

He is 34 and only appeared in his last game in October, but he has already moved beyond the reputation of his consistently dependable playing career.
He has become a much-admired manager, having guided Queen of the South into the play-offs for the Premiership.
That achievement alone is impressive, yet the season also contained 2-0 and 3-0 victories over Rangers at Palmerston, two 1-0 wins over Hibernian and knocking St Johnstone out of the Scottish Cup.
The campaign still has the potential to be even more significant, which is a further test of Fowler's abilities.
He took over a strong, stable squad when Jim McIntyre left Palmerston for Ross County last September, and Fowler did more than simply maintain those qualities. He built on them.
Now Rangers come to Dumfries on Saturday looking to kick start their own promotion hopes yet also worried about what the occasion might bring.
Their previous visits this season have been chastening, and the experiences may shape how Stuart McCall sets up his team, since Queens skewered them on the cutting edge of their counter-attacks.
The artificial surface might also have created anxieties for Rangers, with McCall not even keen for his players to train on a similar surface at their Murray Park training base.
Fowler would rather not dwell further on the merits or otherwise of the Palmerston pitch, not least because he feels it is unfair to the efforts of his players. They did, after all, draw with Rangers at Ibrox this season and defeat and draw with Hibernian, the other play-off contender from the Championship, at Easter Road.
"I wasn't going to answer any questions on the pitch," Fowler said. "It takes away from the players' achievements. The majority of teams have got an advantage when they play at home.
"If it's a distraction or looking to work an angle that's fine, but it's something that we're not going to comment on any more.
"It's not really been mentioned that we're in the top four for most of the season, people were expecting Falkirk to be there at the end, so we maybe didn't get the credit.
"People are taking a bit more notice now but still writing us off. That's fine, we know how good we are on our day and if we can slip under the radar then we're quite happy with that."
Fowler manages to be both bullish and polite. He is not a forceful personality, yet had the strength of character to hold his own as a young player in a Kilmarnock team managed by the ferocious pair of Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown.
There is an inner assertiveness to Fowler that has served him well in his first months as a manager.
He could have been overwhelmed by the job, since there was a clear ambition to finish in the top four but only one other full-time member of staff when he took over; physio Ross Goodwin.
Fowler has had to adapt to management - he is still registered as a player - but also come to terms with the demands that come with working at a club with Queens' resources. His office, for instance, is the referees' room at Broadwood, since Queens train at Clyde's stadium during the week.
He has also worked without an assistant manager, which has added to his workload, but even that is a reflection of his single-mindedness because he wants to make the right appointment rather than a timely one.
"You're doing all the bits and pieces and you're learning all the time," Fowler said. "You get an opportunity and it's not going to be perfect, but you make the most of it.
"I also think it works for Queen of the South, the players training near Glasgow, in terms of who we can attract.
"Although we're not in Dumfries, where we train is only 10 minutes from my house, which makes it easier in terms of getting to see the family. If we were training in Dumfries full-time, I'd need to move house.
"It's been tough and constant, you don't realise the hours involved, and the whole assistant thing at the moment has probably added to my workload.
"The chairman's really keen, now that we're in the top four, for promotion. That's good, you need that ambition. The long-term plan is to get promotion, be in a good financial state, improve the income streams, to try to improve the club from top to bottom."
Much of that is reliant on Fowler. There is a sense that Rangers and Hibs need promotion more than Queens, since they were long-established as top-flight clubs, but there will be no underdog status amongst the home players at Palmerston.
The team is well-organised, strong and combative at the back, capable of crisp passing football, and able to call upon Gavin Reilly and Derek Lyle up front, two of the Championship's top five goalscorers.
Fowler discusses decisions with senior players, but still has the calm, natural authority to not feel a loss of leadership. He is also deeply reflective, and pores over his decisions.
"When you lose, the first person you look at is yourself," he said. "Did I pick the right team? Did I use the right tactics? Where did I go wrong? I did that self-analysis as a player, and as a manager I want to rectify it as soon as I can and you want to go in on a Monday nice and bubbly, not with your face tripping you.
"You're planning most of the week for the game, so I'll get very little sleep in the coming days. It's important that the players know their jobs and take confidence from the previous games."
Even if the odds are against his team, Fowler will still believe his team can prevail.


Controversy over the ownership of an isolated islet in the north Atlantic could re-emerge between Ireland the UK after Brexit, it has been claimed.

Rockall is fewer than 300 miles from the western coasts of the Republic of Ireland and Scotland.
The UK claimed Rockall in 1955, but Ireland, Iceland and Denmark have previously challenged that claim.
Sovereignty over the islet was settled in the UK's favour in 2014.
However, some in the Republic have warned that the UK's exit from the EU could cause Britain to "pull up the drawbridge" on international use of the area.
"It could raise the age-old controversy over ownership of Rockall which was more or less resolved between the UK and Ireland in 2014," said Jane Morrice, a former European Commission representative in Northern Ireland.
"The fact that the rock outcrop in the north Atlantic is claimed by the UK as part of Scotland could make it a small but serious point in future negotiations."
She said talks over fishing rights would require a complicated agreement that could make or break Northern Ireland's fishing industry.
Éamon Ó Cuív, the island affairs spokesman for Fianna Fáil, the Republic's biggest opposition party, said there would be a strong desire among many in the UK fishing industry to "pull up the drawbridge" and ban non-UK fishing boats in UK waters in the event of a hard Brexit.
Sean O'Donoghue, chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation in County Donegal on the north-west coast, said ownership of the actual rock would not be in dispute but there would be an issue over access to the waters.
"We can fish at the minute at Rockall as we have fishing rights there but when the UK leaves they will no longer be part of the Common Fisheries Policy and there will have to be some detailed discussions around the fisheries which are very difficult to resolve."


Organisers of the Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival say they will "definitely" not stage the event again and they have begun selling off its assets.

The two-day event last took place in 2012, but bad weather meant they had to spend their contingency fund.
Organisers have not been able to raise the £60,000 contingency fund needed to stage the show this year.
Paul Bayfield, from the organisers, said: "It feels like a bereavement as we think it was very, very special."
The event cost about £300,000 in total to stage and it attracted up to 240,000 people when the weather was favourable.
The Lowestoft Vision business group tried to raise the £60,000 to save the festival, but ran out of time and admitted defeat in October.
Waveney District Council handed over the organisation of the event to a community interest company called Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival Ltd in 2004.
They did not charge an entry fee, but people visiting the seafront were asked to make voluntary donations.
Mr Bayfield, who is managing director of the company, said: "The public could have supported us better and so could some of the local businesses, because the people who made the most from the air show contributed the least.
"But that is definitely it now. We rent a store and for us to carry on in the vain hope that someone may come along and give us a bit of backing is not realistic.
"We will sell-off our weather vane, air traffic control shed, buoys and other equipment and all the money that is left we will distribute between the various charities that have helped us."


What do you think about democracy in the modern world?

On Tuesday 20 January, the BBC marked the 750th anniversary of the first elected parliament at Westminster and 800 years since the signing of Magna Carta with Democracy Day - a day of live events, discussions and debate, thrown into sharp relief recently by the Paris shootings, Hong Kong protests and Scottish Referendum.
As part of this we hosted two conversations on our multilingual @viabbc account on Twitter with prominent speakers Anas Altikriti and Marta Lagos.
Between 1200-1300 GMT
Anas Altikriti is chairman of the Muslim Association of Britain and president of the Cordoba Foundation, a think tank focusing on Islamic issues.
He answered your questions around the topic of 'Has democracy failed the Arab world?'.
The British Islamist intellectual and lobbyist for the Muslim Brotherhood will be in the BBC's London office and will take questions from all over the world.
Catch up on the conversation here.
Between 1400-1500 GMT
Marta Lagos, founding director of opinion poll organisation Latinobarometro corporation.
She is also the author of Barometro CERC which monitored Chilean transition to democracy from 1987 to the present.
She answered your questions on the topic 'Who needs democracy anyway?' from her base in Chile.
Follow up on the conversation here.


Three World Cup football matches being played in Brazil this summer will be streamed in ultra high-definition (UHD), the BBC has announced.

The format, also known as 4K, offers four times the resolution of 1080p high definition video.
The matches - including a quarter final and the final - mark one of the first times a live event has been streamed over the air in UHD in the UK.
They will only be made available to a limited number of TVs at BBC sites.
But it could pave the way for more widespread use of the technology.
One of the biggest challenges of distributing UHD TV to the home is how to make it compatible with existing broadcast and broadband capacities.
Users need speeds of around 20Mbps (megabits per second) in order to watch 4K content without glitches, experts say.
"It's a good idea for the BBC to trial these things and the results on a large screen look impressive but it also needs to be realistic about the potential to push this across current broadcast networks," said Toby Syfret, an analyst at Enders research group.
Previously the BBC has worked with Japanese broadcaster NHK on such trials. Rival broadcaster Sky has also run 4K trials.
The live streams will be sent via satellite from Brazil, and then distributed via Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) and Internet Protocol (IP) but only to a handful of UHD TV sets in selected BBC Research and Development facilities.
Matthew Postgate, controller of BBC Research and Development said: "The trials will prove hugely valuable in furthering our understanding of UHD technology, and potential distribution models for the future."
4K is the next great hope for TV manufacturers hoping to persuade viewers to upgrade their sets but like any fledging technology it has experienced teething problems.
There is not a great deal of content available yet in the format and the costs of 4K TV sets remain high.
Netflix recently made some of its TV shows - including House of Cards and Breaking Bad - available in the new technology but the decoder required to view the content was not compatible with some early 4K televisions.


Sussex beat Derbyshire by 10 wickets to secure their first victory of the season in Division Two.

Resuming 102 behind on 195-6, the hosts lost Matt Critchley for 20 to Steve Magoffin (2-44), while Shiv Thakor (81) added 23 to his overnight score.
Tom Taylor fell to Ollie Robinson (4-110), but Tony Palladino (29 not out) and Ben Cotton's (26) last-wicket stand of 51 made Sussex bat again.
Needing 11 to win, the visitors wrapped up victory inside the first over.
Sussex move on to 70 points from six matches, while Derbyshire are on 52 points but still looking for their first win of the campaign.


The first headline acts have been announced for the Common People festivals in Southampton and Oxford.

Pop musician Craig David returns to perform in his hometown as the opening headliner at the Southampton event, organisers said.
Scottish rockers Primal Scream have been revealed as the Sunday night headliners for the new Oxford festival next year.
Both artists will swap venues to play as each other's support acts.
Public Enemy, Gaz Coombes, Ghostpoet and Chas and Dave will also play at both venues over the weekend.
The festivals take place on 28 and 29 May on Southampton Common and in Oxford's South Park.
They are being organised by Rob da Bank, a DJ who started Bestival on the Isle of Wight and also runs Camp Bestival in Dorset.


Chad has suspended all operations of a Chinese state-run oil firm for causing environmental damage, Chad's oil minister has told the BBC.

Djerassem Le Bemadjiel said the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) was to blame for an oil spill in several sites near a forest.
He said the situation was "intolerable" but did not make it clear how long the suspension would last.
The company also runs an oil refinery in the capital, N'Djamena.
Chad became an oil-producing nation in 2003 with the completion of a $4bn (Â£2.6bn) pipeline linking its oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast.
The oil minister took the decision after officials visited Koudalwa, some 200km (125 miles) south of N'Djamena, where CNPC was exploring for oil, the AFP news agency reports.
"It's a very serious situation, it's intolerable," Mr Le Bemadjiel told the BBC French Service, describing how trees had been destroyed.
He said such violations were a crime, adding: "In the oil sector you don't do this."
The minister told AFP that the Chinese exploration unit had dug huge trenches and let oil flow into them, and then had it removed by local workers without protective gear.
Managers at the company would be held responsible for the violations, he told AFP.
The BBC's former Chad correspondent Celeste Hicks says the CNPC refinery, Djermaya, deals with about 15,000 barrels of oil a day from its operations in Koudalwa, producing fuel for the local market.
It has been closed twice before in disputes between the government and CNPC over pricing, she says.


A man whose lawyer wife was gunned down on a busy Philippines street is seeking to meet with top-ranking officials to try to bring her killers to justice.

Mia Mascarinas-Green was killed in her car in Tagbilaran City with their three children in the back seat.
Stuart Green, from Hertfordshire, was living with his family in Bohol province when his wife was shot.
After shooting Mia the killers turned the gun on the children but the gun jammed, Mr Green said.
"If not for the miracle of the gun jamming it was highly likely that I would have returned to four coffins," Mr Green added.
Mrs Mascarinas-Green was forced to stop at about 16:45 on 16 February when a motorbike swerved in front of the car she was driving.
Witnesses said two men walked over to the car and put a bullet in the engine, before firing a total of 28 bullets at Mrs Mascarinas-Green - nine of which lodged into the back of her neck, killing her.
Mia Mascarinas-Green was a prominent environmental and human rights lawyer, whose funeral was attended by thousands of people.
Mr Green, a marine biologist, met his wife in 1990 at a conference in the Philippines and the country was their home, but since his wife's murder the family has returned to Hertfordshire.
He believes the motive for his wife's death is due to a dispute involving a minor case she had undertaken involving the ownership of a holiday hotel.
"Mia was just doing her job. This was not an environmental case or children or women's work. This was just a small case," Mr Green said.
"I feel a burning need to ensure that these people are never able to put any other human being, or family through this heart wrenching and life-shattering experience ever again," he added.
Mr Green is planning to meet with Bohol's governor, the head of the national police and other officials for an update on the investigation.
Friends of the couple have set up an education foundation for the children.


Helicopter firms are carrying out unauthorised sightseeing flights over the upper reaches of Mount Everest, Nepalese officials say.

Sherpas have expressed concerns that vibrations caused by the helicopters could trigger avalanches.
Tourist flights are not allowed to places above Base Camp which is at an altitude of 5,364 metres (17,600ft).
But helicopter companies say they only overfly sights like the Khumbu Icefall and their flights are allowed.
There has been no expedition on Everest for the past two years because of a series of disasters.
Sixteen Sherpas died on their way to Camp One in an icefall in 2014. At least 18 climbers died at Base Camp after a major earthquake triggered a huge avalanche last year.
After the 2014 disaster, authorities moved the climbing route to the middle of the Khumbu Icefall.
It is a treacherous section that mountaineers must cross on their way up to the summit of Everest.
Sherpas are currently transporting expedition equipment to higher camps for the current climbing season.
"The sightseeing helicopters are hovering above the Khumbu Icefall and making things difficult for us," said Pasang Kaji Sherpa, a mountain guide with a military expedition team now on Everest.
"We worry that the vibrations caused by helicopters can crack ice blocks and snow packs on mountains overlooking the Khumbu Icefall.
"There is a deep-seated fear among Sherpa porters that they may be hit by avalanches this year as well and these helicopters are increasing fears," Pasang Kaji Sherpa added.
After the BBC started to investigate whether sightseeing helicopters were permitted to fly to places like the Khumbu Icefall, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) issued a circular to all airlines warning them not to conduct such flights.
"We have made it clear in the circular that sightseeing flights are simply not allowed in places higher than the base camp," said Rajan Pokhrel, Deputy Director General of CAAN.
"Only rescue flights during emergencies are allowed in those areas and sometimes we allow special projects like skydiving when recommended by other government authorities."
Mr Pokhrel said his office had also heard the Sherpas' concerns.
However, airline officials say there is no such danger.
"We fly 2,340 feet from above the ground and maintain at least 1km distance from the mountains so there is no way the vibration can cause avalanche," said Pabitra Karki, chairman of Airlines Operators Association Nepal (AOAN).
"We use the French-made Ecureil helicopters for sightseeing which are very light and we carry two to three passengers in each flight."
AOAN officials say there are around half a dozen sightseeing flights per week during the climbing season.
But other sources at Base Camp said such flights were becoming more frequent.
About 20 helicopters are operated by six companies in Nepal but only a handful of pilots are qualified to fly to high altitudes.
"For Sherpa climbers, especially those carrying equipment for expedition teams, helicopters flying overhead in higher areas is a mentally torturous experience," says Phurba Namgyal Sherpa, general secretary of Nepal National Mountain Guides Association.
"The fragile snow and ice conditions could be disturbed at any time by the rotors of helicopters and that could spell disaster for us.
"This is an issue we have been discussing for quite some time now but we are not sure where to lodge the complaint."
Scaling Mount Everest is the dream of many climbers who are prepared to pay a lot of money to reach the summit
Aviation experts say part of the problem is how such flights are policed by the authorities.
Officials from CAAN admitted they were not on the ground to monitor such flights but relied on other government agencies based there.
"Just because we are not there does not mean we don't get to know what happens up there," Mr Pokhrel cautioned.
In addition, the Department of Tourism has allowed helicopters to transport ropes and other gear up to Camp One to fix the route, after expedition operators complained that the earthquake had made the Khumbu Icefall more difficult to cross.
"We fear that such a concession may be misused for more sightseeing and other commercial purposes and increase the risk of avalanche in the region," said Phurba Namgyal Sherpa.


The boss of BNP Paribas has written to staff warning that the French banking giant will be fined heavily by US authorities.

"I want to be clear, we will be punished severely," Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said in the internal memo.
The bank could be fined $8.9bn (£5.2bn) for allegedly violating sanctions rules as early as Monday, reports suggest.
The Financial Times and New York Times also report that the bank will, unusually, admit guilt.
The bank is accused of breaking sanctions against Iran, Sudan and Cuba between 2002 and 2009.
"This is good news for all staff and for our clients," Mr Bonnafe said.
"It will enable us to remove the current uncertainties that are weighing on our group. We will be able to put behind us these problems, which belong to the past.
"The difficulties that we are currently experiencing must not affect our future plans."
There have been months of speculation about the fine, which could force BNP to slash its dividends and issue billions of euros of bonds, reports say.
In April, BNP Paribas said it had set aside $1.1bn to cover the cost of US penalties, but warned that the "amount of the fines could be far in excess of the amount of the provision".
The bank's share price has fallen more than 15% since the beginning of April.
If the latest reports are correct, the fine could almost wipe out BNP's entire 2013 pre-tax income of about $11.2bn.
Earlier this month, one of the European Union's top officials intervened in the controversy.
Michel Barnier, the EU's internal markets commissioner, said any penalty on the giant French bank must be "fair and objective". Reports at the time suggested the fine would be in the region of $10bn.
France's President Francois Hollande has also raised the matter with US President Barack Obama.
As part of the deal with US authorities, BNP may be suspended from converting foreign currencies into dollars, reports suggest, which would hit its ability to operate in international wholesale banking markets.
Reports say US authorities are keen to make an announcement on the settlement on Monday afternoon.


How is the concept of seven-day routine services across the NHS being discussed around the UK?

In England, the health secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he wants the NHS to offer a seven-day service. That means GP surgeries opening at weekends and more hospital services available as well.
While the debate heats up in England, our correspondents describe what is happening on the ground in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Scottish Government announced it was going to increase the number of consultants on duty out-of-hours two years ago.  It was a plan supported by senior doctors and medical colleges.
There have been some pilot schemes but no widespread evidence that the number of consultants has increased - in fact vacancy rates have just gone up.
An interesting study was published from data at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary in 2013.  It found that even after more consultants were put on shift out-of-hours, there were still higher death rates on bank holidays.
The authors said it could be that people wait until their symptoms are more severe before coming to a hospital on a bank holiday or that although there were more doctors, there still weren't enough supporting staff.
The staffing of hospitals during the evenings, weekends and holidays is currently under review.  A taskforce is looking at every part of the way a hospital works - whether patients can get MRI and CT scans, whether they can be discharged quickly (so that new patients can be admitted) and even whether they should be there at all.
Surveys conducted in Scotland and elsewhere indicate that around a quarter of patients in emergency beds in the morning no longer need that kind of care.
Meanwhile the UK's biggest critical care complex has just opened in Glasgow. The 1,100 bed, 14-storey "super-hospital" was designed to make seven-day working easier by merging staff in several hospitals on to one big rota.
So far, though, the hospital has been plagued by problems - not least the fact that the staff can't find anywhere to park.
According to the BMA, Welsh hospitals struggle to offer a full five-day service, so the prospect of being open all hours, seven days a week remains very distant.
Instead, the mood music here is all about consolidation and prioritisation. That means making sure emergency units and critical care centres are fully staffed to deal with the most urgent cases, 365 days a year.
There are moves to introduce more weekend access to diagnostic tests, pharmacies and therapies - helping to discharge patients earlier and ease the bottlenecks that have built up on medical wards.
But don't expect the doors to open wide for elective treatment on Saturdays and Sundays.
Part of the problem is the very real shortage of doctors in Wales - at the start of 2015 there were 400 unfilled training places.
Rural health boards in particular struggle to recruit specialist staff. There's also a problem on the horizon with Welsh GPs because nearly a quarter are expected to retire in the next five years.
This landscape helps explain why the Welsh Government isn't pushing for the same sort of changes as in England - and it could well argue that there isn't the same public appetite.
According to the government's own annual survey, a staggering 96% of patients are satisfied with their overall experience of the Welsh NHS.
That doesn't offer much impetus for attempting difficult, fundamental changes in order to create a seven-day service.
A report produced by the BMA in February 2015 said there needed to be 46 more GPs trained per year in Northern Ireland in order to meet gaps in the workforce.
So dire is the situation across the region, that in July the BMA described things as being at "crisis point".
Six surgeries are at high risk of collapse this year, with a further 20 expected to close next year, and most practices are reporting waiting lists of up to several weeks.
According to GPs, part of the problem is that the workforce is simply too lean. It's also made up of an older generation of doctors who see predominately older patients with chronic health problems.
While the BMA says funding has been focused too much on hospitals, and that needs to be reversed, health officials argue that practices need to be run differently, offering evening and weekend appointments.
GPs in Northern Ireland say there is a need for radical change - and strong leadership - even if it doesn't win votes.
The seven-day working debate triggered by Jeremy Hunt really struck a chord.
Hospital consultants and union representatives all hit back arguing that a majority of services are available at weekends, albeit reduced compared to weekdays.
Many consultants I spoke to said that without the support of X-rays, pharmacies and even social care services in the community, their efforts to tackle caseloads at the weekend are futile.  They were also insulted at the assertion that they avoided weekend work.
Northern Ireland already spends millions per year using locums to fill the rota and unions argue this money would be better invested in long-term workforce planning.
Simon Hamilton, Northern Ireland's Health Minister, says he backs the Secretary of State's call for seven-day working.
Meanwhile, all the health unions are calling for greater investment in staffing, reconfiguration of hospitals and buildings and more focus on workforce planning.
As it all comes down to resources, there's little optimism this will happen any time soon.


Powerful Typhoon Soudelor is battering the island nation Taiwan, off the coast of China, with strong winds and heavy rain.

The storm hit the eastern coast early on Saturday and is now moving across the island.
It is ripping up trees and tearing down billboards, and triggered a landslide in at least one village.
About two million households have been left without electricity and four people have died.
Rail services and flights have been cancelled and all schools and offices are closed.
Ahead of Soudelour's arrival, the authorities made thousands of people leave their homes for safety.
The storm is later expected to move into the Taiwan Strait and on to mainland China.
Find out more about typhoons with our guide.


More than 600 junior soldiers have taken part in a graduation parade at an army college in Harrogate.

The soldiers, aged between 16 and 18 years old, paraded at Uniacke barracks in the town's Army Foundation College.
It was watched by a crowd of 3,000 including family and friends.
Lieutenant Colonel Oz Lane, the commanding officer, said the soldiers were "the future of the British Army" and should be "proud of their achievements".
The parade is only exceeded in size by Trooping the Colour in London, the college said.
Junior soldiers work on their leadership and team skills as part of the college's leadership and initiative training package.
They undertake a number of training activities, physical and mental challenges including a 30-hour challenge patrol across the Yorkshire Dales.
The college opened in 1998 and trains more than 1,300 soldiers for the Army.


A generation after Robert Millar mesmerised British TV viewers with his assaults on Pyrenean peaks in mid-1980s Tours de France, a sportive in his honour will test riders on the roads on which he trained.

The event on 27 May offers 46- or 95-mile routes snaking through the scenic Trossachs and the Campsie Fells north of Glasgow.
The ride will raise money to develop young Scottish cycling talent acknowledge the fabulous contribution made to Scottish and British cycling by Millar, who was born in Glasgow in 1958.
His fourth-placed finish in the 1984 Tour de France was a record for a British rider and has since been matched only by Bradley Wiggins in 2009.
For three of the organisers, the sportive is the perfect way to celebrate Millar's achievements. They hope it will safeguard his legacy.
Billy Bilsland, Brian Smith and David Lang are respected figures in the Scottish cycling scene.
Millar was a pupil of Bilsland's at his circuit training classes in Glasgow in the late 1970s.
A veteran of the professional continental racing circuit, Bilsland and fellow Glasgow Wheelers stalwart Arthur Campbell helped nurture the fiercely ambitious Millar and set him on his way to France.
Smith, now manager of the Endura racing team, trained with Millar when his hero returned home from racing across mainland Europe.
He picked up the Scots pro baton that was handed from Bilsland to Millar and raced in the same Motorola team as Lance Armstrong.
He is a trusted friend of the enigmatic Scot - and a cycling nut.
"Didn't I see you win the Glasgow-Dunoon race in the '80s?" I wondered.
Smith, from Paisley and now based in Kent, replied that he had indeed won, aged 18 and at his first attempt - and he could even remember the gear combination he used in the final 25-mile section.
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Lang, who captains Millar's former club, the Glasgow Wheelers, said: "In my opinion, he is definitely the best stage rider that Britain has ever produced.
"Yet I'm sure if you stopped most people in the street and asked them who Robert Millar is, most Glaswegians wouldn't know.
"So we looked at the possibility of setting up a sportive in Robert's honour.
"He did a lot of his training over the Crow Road, between Lennoxtown and Fintry, and that is the final climb.
"The circuit also goes over the Tak Me Doon from Kilsyth, which is tough as well."
Millar's steely determination and aggressive climbing skills saw him finish fourth in the 1984 Tour de France, as well as securing second places in the Tours of Spain (twice) and Italy.
And then there were apparent contradictions: self-deprecating and shy or self-assured; pony-tailed waif or tough as teak; proud of his roots or occasionally dismissive - "the Caledonian antisyzygy" on two wheels.
Lang put it thus: "Robert was very much a loner. He was determined to be a world-class cyclist and it didn't really matter who he upset to get there."
Bilsland, to whom Millar gifted his 1984 King of the Mountains polka dot jersey which now hangs on the wall of his bike shop, added: "Robert was special.
"He was focused on what he was about. He believed in himself. When he attacked, he attacked to win.
"I think he was one of the few Scotsmen who ever got their photograph on the front cover of L'Equipe.
"I believe if he had the backing of the Sky team now, he would have won the Tour.
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"When he was with Peugeot, a lot of the French guys didn't want to ride for him. A lot of the victories he got on his own merit."
The sportive, Lang believes, is the first time Millar has allowed his name to be used for a cycling event.
The intensely private Millar gave his permission to Smith as long as proceeds went to the Glasgow Wheelers' development squad for young riders and the Braveheart Fund, which Smith established a decade ago to improve young Scottish cyclists' prospects.
"He was one of my idols," said Smith. "He used to come back in the winter to Glasgow. Every year he came round to the house and gave me a jersey.
"I was fortunate then; I was just as small as him so I could use them.
"And now, to have a Robert Millar Sportive is fantastic because the legacy of the name will go on.
"Every hill that you go over will remind you how difficult it was to become King of the Mountains in the biggest annual sporting event in the world."


Burnley have signed Brentford striker Andre Gray for an undisclosed club-record fee, believed to be £9m.

The 24-year-old striker has signed a three-year contract with the Championship club.
Gray turned down a move to Bristol City after they made a similar bid, while Hull City were also interested.
The former Luton player scored 18 goals last term as Brentford reached the Championship play-offs, and has netted in both games so far this season.
"Andre is a player who we have been aware of since his Hinckley Town days in non-league," manager Sean Dyche told the club website.
"He has worked very, very hard to get to the level he's at. He has risen up the ladder and, in many ways, had a similar pathway to two former strikers here - Danny Ings and Charlie Austin.
"In that respect there is a rawness, a hunger and a great desire from him to continue his education and go even further, and we intend that to be with us in the immediacy and also in the future."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


President Barack Obama has said that he has the authority to widen military action against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria without the approval of Congress.

He will still ask Congress to approve the arming of Syrian opposition forces.
Mr Obama is due to give a speech on Wednesday night in which he will outline his anti-IS strategy.
IS militants have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq in recent months and have declared a "caliphate".
In the past month, IS militants have beheaded two US journalists in protest against American airstrikes on its forces in Iraq.
Mr Obama's moves come as Secretary of State John Kerry goes to the Middle East in an effort to build up regional support for a coalition to combat IS.
Mr Kerry is travelling to Jordan and Saudi Arabia for talks with officials from 10 Arab states and Turkey.
Meanwhile the Saudi ambassador in London, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, rejected suggestions that his government was supporting or funding IS.
"It is the lack of international involvement that has paved the way for terrorist-affiliated movements to breed within Syria, and now Iraq," he said in a statement.
"We have previously urged the international community to take an in-depth look at the financial backing and organisational structure of this terrorist organisation.
"Had this been carried out it would have been revealed that rather than being the instigator of such terrorist network Saudi Arabia is in fact the main target."
Mr Obama discussed his anti-IS strategy with leaders from both parties at the White House on Tuesday. A spokesman said the talks were "productive".
The meeting with Congressional leaders came a year after lawmakers blocked Mr Obama's previous plans for missile strikes against Syria.
Mr Obama has ruled out the possibility of a US ground operation against IS but has signalled he may expand airstrikes to include Syria.
"Over the course of months, we are going to be able to not just blunt the momentum of [IS]," he said on Sunday. "We are going to systematically degrade their capabilities; we're going to shrink the territory that they control; and, ultimately, we're going to defeat them."
At the White House on Tuesday, he met Democrats Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Republicans John Boehner, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader.
The White House said Mr Obama had told the congressional leaders he welcomed action from Congress in support of the effort and pledged "continuing extensive consultation".
But Mr Obama's aides suggested he would not seek new authorisation from Congress for military action.
"The president told the leaders that he has the authority he needs to take action against [IS] in accordance with the mission he will lay out in his address tomorrow night," the White House said.
Mr Obama will make a televised speech from the White House at 21:00 local time on Wednesday (01:00 GMT Thursday).
Mr Boehner, one of Mr Obama's chief political adversaries, told the president he would back a US military deployment to train and advise the Iraqi security forces and assist in the targeting of IS leaders, an aide to the House speaker said in a statement to the BBC.
According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, a large majority of the American public views Islamic State as a serious threat to the US and widely supports air strikes in Iraq and Syria.
About 100 Americans are believed to have joined the militants and the US state department has tried to counter this by making a hard-hitting video that tries to dissuade potential recruits.
Meanwhile, France has announced it will host an international conference on Iraq on 15 September and President Francois Hollande will visit the country later this week.


A £50m arts and innovation centre in Gwynedd has sold more than 76,000 tickets in its first year.

Work on the Pontio centre at Bangor University began in 2012 and it opened last year after a delay which cost £1m.
The university said it was also liaising with contractors over concerns about holes in the roof.
But Pontio directors said they had a successful first 12 months and they were confident they could build on their experiences.
They told the Newyddion 9 programme ticket sales for their first year saw about 35,000 sold for live performances, 39,000 for its cinema and about 2,500 for conferences and other events.