A View From The Terrace: What are the boys looking forward to in lower-leagues?

We've waited since March but now both Scotland's lower leagues and A View From The Terrace are back.

The boys return with their third series on Friday so, with the Championship, League 1 and League 2 starting this weekend, BBC Scotland asked them what they are looking forward to in the truncated 27-game campaign.

Lower-league football is state of mind

Craig Fowler

What I am most looking forward to cannot be described, because I have no idea at the moment what it is specifically that I'm looking forward to. All I know is that it will definitely happen.

It won't be an incredibly drunk man running onto the field to disrupt a penalty. It won't be a goalkeeper being attacked by a cow. It won't be a club tweeting Kim Kardashian. It won't be a mascot sledding down a stand. It won't be a manager asking a club employee if he can count.

It will be none of these things because they've already occurred, but it will be something along the same level of hilarious imperfection. The more football is treated as 'Serious Business', the more the charming chaos of the lower leagues brings a gust of refreshing realism.

Queen's Park, Scotland's best-dressed side

Craig G Telfer

The ambitious Queen's Park have tasked Mr Raymond McKinnon with winning this season's League 2 title and, supported by the generosity of Lord Willie Haughey, the manager has assembled a professional squad to do just that, as well as compete in next year's third tier.

McKinnon's troupe are made up of bottom-of-the-barrel jobbers who were unlikely to find full-time football elsewhere, but they should have the wherewithal to navigate their way out of the basement division.

Queen's Park should also win League 2 as the best-dressed team in Scotland. Their new away kit - a lurid combination of green, red and orange dots, commemorating every win, loss and draw in the club's history - is mind-bendingly glorious, like some absurd magic eye illusion brought to life.

League One, Scotland's most exciting division

Shaughan McGuigan

League One was the most fascinating division in Scotland last season, and I'd be extremely surprised if this campaign doesn't pan out in the exact same manner.

Like last term, the title will presumably be duked out by two sides punching below their weight. Partick Thistle, just a few seasons after a top-six Premiership finish, and Falkirk, who narrowly missed out last term, are the only full-time teams in the division and will be expected to lead the way.

But we shouldn't necessarily discount a clutch of others. At points last season, Airdrie, Montrose and East Fife were all giving as good as they got, and for the bulk of the campaign, you could have flung a dish towel over the top five. Add a Cove Rangers team who powered through League Two, and you have all the ingredients for another tremendous third tier tear up.

The beauty of Scotland's stadiums

Joel Sked

In the lower leagues you find real beauty. Amphitheatres of amusement. Some fans will see them as places of worship, others somewhere to escape, while some may view them as their very own comforting coliseum. Places where they can release, emote, shout and moan.

But supporters will have to do so at a distance for a while yet. They can look but not yet touch. At Gayfield, the North Sea won't have any spectators to chuck a bucket of water at. Palmerston's wonderful terracing won't be warmed by joyous, anxious or angry feet. Somerset Park will be darker and moodier than normal, as if it is starring in a film noir.

Give it time and we'll be back, but with the lower-league returning, so do some of the best statues Scotland has to offer.

Gripes and grievances

Robert Borthwick

Let's hope the lower leagues are the gravy to complement the top flight's dry turkey. While there is a distinct lack of storylines in the Premiership, the bottom three tiers promises a plethora of underlying revenge quests and interesting narratives.

In the Championship you have recently demoted (correct term) Heart of Midlothian looking to right some wrongs in what is hopefully like Liam Neeson's trip to Paris in the film Taken. In League One, Thistle and Falkirk still feel wronged by the summer's shenanigans. And in League Two, Brechin City seem to be The Worst Team in Scotland going by results in the League Cup.

These are just a taster, an hors d'oeuvre of what's to come as the teams who bring more excitement and generally more fun return to playing league football. And who knows, maybe Albion Rovers will tweet a Phil Mitchell kaleidoscope again. We live in hope.