To see our huge range of football books, click on "Kindle Store" and search for DESERT ISLAND SPORT.‘Who can break the Old Firm monopoly?’ That was Scottish football’s recurring cry throughout the 1920s. For over a quarter of a century, since 1904, either Celtic or Rangers had lifted the Scottish League Championship. By 1931, Rangers were determined to win their sixth title in a row, and so equal Celtic, who had established the record before the First World War.Motherwell, a provincial club which had narrowly escaped relegation in 1925, would be the unlikely spoilers. Manager John ‘Sailor’ Hunter’s years of patient team-building bore fruit when his side finished in Scotland’s top three for eight glorious seasons.With a blend of ‘promising juniors’ and a sprinkling of experienced First Division men, Hunter built a star-studded line-up. The Motherwell board rejected offers of English gold in order to retain the club’s prize assets. Not even a blank cheque could capture Motherwell’s sensational left-wing partnership of George Stevenson and Bob Ferrier. Hunter also transformed utility man Willie McFadyen into a record-breaking centre-forward whose goals would shoot Motherwell to the top of the League.In the dark days of the Depression, when unemployment and real poverty dogged industrial Lanarkshire, Motherwell brought excitement, colour and a sweet savour of success into the daily lives of many. Following Motherwell’s triumph, it would be another sixteen long years before anyone else broke that Old Firm stranglehold.Poignant, funny, profound – Motherwell’s achievement is a classic tale of a triumph against the odds. Motherwell were Champions of Scotland.