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STIRLING ALBION F.C. OFFICIAL MAGAZINE I MARCH 2015
ISSUE #36 I £3.00
BATTLE AGAINST THE DROP BINOS IN REAL FIGHT TO STAY IN LEAGUE ONE
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Editor’s Notes Hello and welcome to the March edition of the Albion magazine. It seems like just last week we were producing February’s! Results continue to disappoint for the club, and it is looking like now or never to start transforming some good performances into points if the club are to stay in the league. However, Stuart McLaren has clearly developed a style since coming in and occasionally in football you need to ride out some rough results in order to learn. The next time we go to print it could be mathematically possible to climb off bottom - or we could be consigned to League Two next year. Either way, it’s time to tune the voices and get behind the club in its battle against the drop. This month’s magazine contains your regular match reports of the past months games and previews
of the upcoming fixtures against Stranraer, Dunfermline, Peterhead and Forfar.
Commercial Director John Hunter
We also find out more about the Falkirk and Central Scotland Samaritans, who offer an important service for those that need help. Please read this feature and spread the word.
Physiotherapist Jenna Orr
I hope you enjoy today’s game. ’Mon the Binos!
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Administrator Neil Mackay Football Management Manager Stuart McLaren Assistant Manager Martyn Corrigan
Goalkeeping Coach David Westwood Club Doctor Michael Beyer Heads of Youth Stewart Taylor (Admin) Blair Cremin (Coaching) Under 19 Coaches Graeme Donald David Binnie
Club Mascot Bino the Bear Club Chaplain Duncan Strathdee (0778 991 2259)
MAR. 2015 I #36
03. INSIDE THE BOX 04. ALBION NEWS 06. VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT 12. THE LOCKER ROOM
FALKIRK & CENTRAL SCOTLAND SAMARITANS
Members Graham Douglas Jim Thomson
Modern Apprentice Stephen Al-Sayed
REGULAR FEATURES:
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Director David McFarlane
Community Engagement Manager Andrew Todd
@DavidJChalmers magazine@stirlingalbionfc.co.uk
HOME PREVIEW: STRANRAER
Finance Director Alan Christie
David Binnie talks to us about the clubs youth team, how they are getting on in this years restructured U20s league, and about how important it is for a club to value their youth players with the potential for impact they can make. He rightly references the transition of Ross McGeachie, Lee Hamilton and Sandy Cunningham into first team players as important for the fans. I’m sure you’ll agree.
David Chalmers Editor & Head of Design
CONTENTS
Club Executive Team Chair and Operations Director Stuart Brown
04. INSIDE THE BOX 05. ALBION NEWS 06. VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT 07. MATCH REPORT VS. AYR UNITED 08. MATCH REPORT VS. BRECHIN CITY 09. MATCH REPORT VS. AIRDRIEONIANS 10. MATCH REPORT VS. MORTON 12. THE LOCKER ROOM: DAVID BINNIE 14. HOME PREVIEW: STRANRAER 16. AWAY PREVIEW: DUNFERMLINE 24. HOME PREVIEW: PETERHEAD 26. AWAY PREVIEW: FORFAR 28. FALKIRK AND CENTRAL SCOTLAND SAMARITANS 32. COMMUNITY CORNER 34. JUNIOR BINOS 35. START-UP STIRLING 36. SQUAD AND SPONSOR PROFILES
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THE ALBION MAGAZINE Editors: David Chalmers & Ben Ramage Contributors: Jim Thomson, Ben Ramage, Andy Todd, Stuart Brown, Niels Bootsma, Stuart McLaren Thanks to: David Binnie, Vikki Wilson, Falkirk and Central Scotland Samaritans, Stuart McLaren, Stuart Brown, Andy Todd, Jim Thomson, Alan Christie, David Brown, Neil Mackay, Start-Up Stirling Photography: Niels Bootsma, Colin Poultney, Tony Fimister, Prudential, Daily Record, BBC, Andy Todd, SNS Group, The Scotsman, The Herald, David Sargent, Getty Images, Brechin City FC, Airdrieonians FC, Robert Dalzell, Jim Thomson, Ayr United FC, Greenock Morton FC Design: David Chalmers Printing: Mailboxes Etc. Stirling Contact: magazine@stirlingalbionfc.co.uk Interact: T| 01786 450399 E| office@stirlingalbionfc.co.uk W| stirlingalbionfc.co.uk CLUB HONOURS C Division Champions 1946/47 B Division Champions 1952/53 Second Division Champions 1957/58, 1976/77, 1990/91, 1995/96, 2009/10 Division One Play-off Winners 2006/07 League Two Play-off Winners 2013/14 Stirlingshire Cup Winners 1953/54, 54/55, 58/59, 71/72, 73/74, 76/77, 77/78, 83/84, 88/89, 91/92, 98/99, 2003/04, 04/05, 05/06 facebook.com/thealbionmagazine facebook.com/stirlingalbionfc twitter.com/StirAlbionMag twitter.com/Stirling_Albion
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INSIDE THE BOX
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No one is hurting more than Stuart and Martyn and the suggestion offered by a small (ill-informed) minority that the players don’t care is frankly preposterous.
Up early to get this month’s Inside The Box written in time to meet the publishing deadline and never has it been harder to get the right words to express how I and I’m sure many others are feeling. Jim Duffy (Morton’s Manager) best summarised last night’s game in his post-match comments – “It was a travesty that Stirling went in at half time one down. If it wasn’t for our goalkeeper and one breakaway chance we could easily have gone in three or four down”. Ultimately, however, the full time score tells a different story and combined with the news from Ochilview, no one at Forthbank is in any doubt that the magnitude of our quest to avoid relegation has grown to monumental proportions. That said, there’s 27 points to play for and whilst the fat lady may be gargling, arithmetically she’s got a fair bit to go before hitting her first note. I can assure our supporters that everyone at the Club remains focussed and will be working tirelessly to turn things around. No one is hurting more than Stuart (McLaren) and Martyn (Corrigan) and the suggestion offered by a small (ill-informed) minority that the players don’t care is frankly preposterous. No one is happy about the way things are at
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STUART BROWN
present and whilst I fully understand and indeed share the frustration fans are feeling, I would ask that everyone with Stirling Albion at heart gets behind the Management and players for the remainder of the season - and beyond. As Stuart (McLaren) has mentioned in his notes, the Board and the Management Team share a common vision of where the Club should be and the culture we should operate within and work is ongoing and tireless to ensure we give it our very best shot in getting there. In closing, I offer up a quote I received in a text from our Club Chaplain, Duncan Strathdee, last Saturday evening, following our game at Airdrie –
“Tough times never last but tough people do”. Robert H Schuller. As well as providing personal encouragement, it served to remind me that there are a lot of tough people behind the scenes at the Club and each and every one of them is fully committed to the SAFC cause. Thanks, Duncan!
Stuart Brown Chairman SAFC 4 / MA R C H 2 0 1 5 / W W W .S T IR L I N G A L BI ONF C. CO. UK
ALBION NEWS NEW LOAN SIGNINGS We would like to welcome loan signings Andy Stirling and Adam Cummins to the club, with both players having made their debuts against Airdrie at the end of February. Motherwell defender Adam, 22, began his career as a youngster with Everton before moving to Fir Park in 2011. He spent time on loan at Dundee last year and had a brief spell with Ayr United earlier this season. Adam has made in excess of 30 firstteam appearances for the Steelmen. Dunfermline winger Andy Stirling, 25, is a former Stenhousemuir and East Stirlingshire player, who started out as a youngster with St Mirren. He helped Stranraer reach the League 1 play-offs last year before moving to East End Park in the summer. Andy, who also had a spell playing college football in the United States earlier in his career, has made 15 league appearances for the Pars in 2014/15 - seven starts and eight as a substitute - and one of his two goals came against the Binos in November. WELCOME BACK DARREN Darren Lee Smith made a welcome return from injury in our recent game against Airdrieonians at the Excelsior Stadium after four months out with a knee problem that required surgery. Steven Doris and Graham Weir remain on the sidelines at the time of writing. NEW AWAY STRIP Members of the Stirling Albion Supporters Trust had the chance to vote for our away jersey for the next two seasons from a shortlist of four possible options. We now have a winner and a yellow and blue design
will be our change top for 2015/16 and 2016/17. Thanks to all those who took part in the vote. Our current home strip will again be used for next season. HAT-TRICK FOR PATON Striker Chris Paton, who has been involved in the first-team squad on a number of occasions this season, hit a hat-trick for our U20 side in the recent 5-0 win over East Stirlingshire in the SPFL Development League East. SCOTTISH CUP ANNIVERSARY It’s hard to believe that it’s now 25 years since we last graced the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup. In March 1990, on the same day that Scotland famously beat England at Murrayfield to win the Grand Slam, John Brogan’s side outplayed Clydebank at Kilbowie Park but we had to settle for a 1-1 draw and lost the replay 1-0 at Brockville, with Annfield out of commission for cup ties due to the plastic pitch. We just missed out on promotion that season and played some superb football, which included a 6-2 win over Inverness Caley to set up those meetings with Clydebank. DINNER DATE The annual Stirling Albion fundraising dinner takes place at the Golden Lion Hotel on Friday March 27. John Morgan is MC for the night and the speakers are John Gahagan and John McKelvie. It promises to be a great evening so to book your place contact the club on 01786 450399 or via e-mail office@stirlingalbionfc.co.uk
TOP SCORERS 8 Gordon Smith 6 Steven Doris 5 Sandy Cunningham 3 Darren Lee Smith 3 Craig Wedderburn 2 Phil Johnston 2 Ross McGeachie 2 Chris Smith 1 Angus Beith 1 Craig Comrie 1 Dale Fulton 1 Graham Weir LEAGUE ONE TABLE (04/03/2015) P Pts 1 Morton 27 51 2 Stranraer 27 49 3 Brechin City 26 46 4 Forfar Athletic 26 45 5 Dunfermline 27 37 6 Peterhead 25 37 7 Airdrieonians 26 36 8 Ayr United 26 26 9 Stenhousemuir 27 24 10 Stirling Albion 27 13 APRIL FIXTURES We begin next month with a home game against Airdrieonians then travel to Glebe Park to play Brechin City on April 11. Morton come to Forthbank on April 18 and we end the month against Ayr United at Somerset Park. The season concludes with a home fixture against Stenhousemuir on Saturday May 2. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER We now have in excess of 5,650 Twitter followers – if you are not already following remember you can do so @Stirling_Albion for all the latest news from the club and for updates from our games.
FIXTURES 26 Jul 2 Aug 9 Aug 16 Aug 19 Aug 23 Aug 30 Aug 13 Sep 20 Sep 27 Sep 4 Oct 11 Oct 18 Oct 25 Oct 1 Nov
PTC R1 Elgin City LC R1 Alloa L1 Peterhead L1 Ayr United PTC R2 Alloa L1 Stenhousemuir L1 Airdrieonians L1 Brechin City L1 Forfar Athletic L1 Stranraer L1 Dunfermline L1 Morton L1 Stenhousemuir L1 Airdrieonians SC Hurlford United
3-0 0-1 1-1 1-3 1-2 5-4 0-0 0-5 2-2 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-4 2-2 1-1
8 Nov SC Hurlford United 2-2 (AET: Stirling win 13-12 on penalties) 11 Nov L1 Brechin City 1-2 15 Nov L1 Stranraer 1-1 22 Nov L1 Dunfermline 0-4 29 Nov SC Raith Rovers 0-2 6 Dec L1 Peterhead 2-3 13 Dec L1 Forfar Athletic 1-2 20 Dec L1 Ayr United 2-2 27 Dec L1 Morton 3-4 3 Jan L1 Stenhousemuir 2-1 10 Jan L1 Dunfermline 2-2 17 Jan L1 Peterhead 1-2 24 Jan L1 Forfar Athletic 0-1 31 Jan L1 Stranraer 0-1
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14 Feb L1 21 Feb L1 28 Feb L1 3 Mar L1 7 Mar L1 14 Mar L1 21 Mar L1 28 Mar L1 4 Apr L1 11 Apr L1 18 Apr L1 25 Apr L1 2 May L1
Ayr United Brechin City Airdrieonians Morton Stranraer Dunfermline Peterhead Forfar Athletic Airdrieonians Brechin City Morton Ayr United Stenhousemuir
1-4 0-1 1-4 0-4
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
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If we can take the fight down to the last fixture of the league campaign at home to Brown Ferguson’s team then I believe we can take that play-off position.
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t the risk of stating the obvious it is clear that results have not been what we have hoped for in recent games. This combined with Stenhousemuir earning a result against Stranraer on the same night we lost away at Morton makes our task of avoiding relegation from SPFL League 1 all the more difficult. This, I must make clear to all of our supporters, will not prevent us from doing everything within our control to string together some victories of our own and bridge the gap to our closest rivals. If we can take the fight down to the last fixture of the league campaign at home to Brown Ferguson’s team then I believe we can take that play-off position. At times like these it is important to look for positives and seek to gain some belief or confidence from those. In regards to that we have performed well against Forfar, Stranraer & Brechin in narrow defeats. We also played very well in the first half of the recent away match at Morton to the point where we could/should have been two or three goals up at the break. This to me demonstrates the capability of the squad but we must strive to reduce our errors and take more of our chances in order to gain results. To help us in our cause we have brought Andy Stirling and Adam Cummins in on loan from Dunfermline and Motherwell respectively. Both players have
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STUART MCLAREN
settled in to the club very well and have shown the kind of quality, commitment, and desire that we will need over the last nine games of the season. On the injury front we have welcomed back Darren Smith and are confident that he can make a positive contribution in the next two months. Graham Weir has also resumed training but unfortunately Steven Doris requires surgery for an abdominal injury and will not feature again this season. Whilst winning games in what remains of the 2014/15 season is our immediate priority I would like to point out that attention is being paid to season 2015/16 and beyond. The Board and I share a strong view on where we would like the club to be, what it needs to do to get there, and tied into that what Stirling Albion F.C. should represent. In the fullness of time we will create a culture that will bring success on the pitch and make all stakeholders proud to be associated with the club. Now there are a number of well known phrases that could be rolled out at this time but I’ll choose “Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy” as the most appropriate. It will take some time, we will all experience some pain and disappointments along the way, but I can assure everybody that with the right kind of support and patience we will succeed. Enjoy the game and as always thanks for your support.
Stuart McLaren
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MATCH REPORT
AYR PUNISH ALBION MISTAKES AT FORTHBANK LEFT: Lee Hamilton in action
PHOTO: Niels Bootsma
1 STIRLING ALBION JOHNSTON 54
4 AYR UNITED ROBERTSON 12, G. SMITH OG 15, BEATTIE 74, PRESTON 83
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yr cruised to their first win since October to move out of the bottom two and leave us eight points adrift of Stenhousemuir at the foot of League 1. Ian McCall’s men made a strong start at Forthbank and were two goals ahead inside 15 minutes thanks to midfielder David Robertson and a Gordon Smith own goal as they capitalised on some poor defending. Phil Johnston gave us hope with his second goal of the season early in the second half but substitute Craig Beattie and Jordan Preston – one of five recent signings in the Ayr line-up – sealed an emphatic away victory. We were soon under pressure as Ayr seized the initiative and Robbie Crawford headed against the post before Robertson, on his debut after moving from Livingston, tucked the ball home after another
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LEAGUE ONE SAT 14TH FEB 2015
Paterson McGeachie McKinley Beith Hamilton C. Smith Johnston Comrie Coult G. Smith Shepherd (56)
Hutton Devlin Blakeman Robertson (46) Neill McGovern Murray Crawford (68) Preston Forrest (87) Donald
Subs: Reidford Wedderburn Herron Robertson Paton Cunningham (56)
Subs: Newman McCracken Muir (68) Donnelly Nisbet (87) Beattie (46)
ATT: 785
effort had rebounded from the woodwork. Three minutes later Gordon Smith could only head Adam Blakeman’s cross into his own net, just 30 seconds after keeper Greg Paterson had done well to keep out a Craig Murray effort. We began to cause Ayr some problems and Shepherd was thwarted by keeper David Hutton before Angus Beith set up Lewis Coult, whose shot came back off the post. Johnston cut in from the left to drill a low drive into the corner nine minutes into the second half but we were unable to put the visitors under any sustained pressure. Beattie was left unmarked to head in Ayr’s third goal from a corner and he then teed up Preston, on loan from Blackburn Rovers, for the fourth with seven minutes left.
Phil Johnston gave us hope with his second goal of the season early in the second half but substitute Craig Beattie and Jordan Preston sealed an emphatic away victory.
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MATCH REPORT
TROUTEN PENALTY SEES BRECHIN EDGE IT OVER ALBION LEFT: Lee Hamilton playing at Forthbank in another game
PHOTO: Niels Bootsma
0 STIRLING ALBION 1 BRECHIN CITY TROUTEN PEN 61
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ur wait for a home win in League 1 goes on after in-form Brechin edged a tight encounter of few chances. We were the better team in the first half but the visitors improved after the break and Alan Trouten’s 61stminute penalty was decisive at Forthbank. The result lifted Ray McKinnon’s men into the playoff places, and extended their unbeaten league run to 13 games, while we remain eight points adrift of Stenhousemuir at the foot of the table. Binos boss Stuart McLaren made two changes to the team beaten 4-1 by Ayr United the previous week, with skipper Ross Forsyth replacing Lee Hamilton and Sandy Cunningham restored to the side in place of on-loan Falkirk forward Scott Shepherd. We started the game well – Cunningham forced a good save from Graeme Smith and Craig Comrie had a shot blocked before Gordon Smith’s header from
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LEAGUE ONE SAT 21ST FEB 2015 ATT: 568
Paterson McGeachie Forsyth Beith McKinlay C. Smith Johnston (65) Comrie Coult G. Smith Cunningham
Smith McLean Hamilton McCormack McLauchlan Fusco (59) Trouten Molloy A. Jackson (80) Thomson Barr
Subs: Reidford Wedderburn Hamilton Herron Robertson Paton Shepherd (65)
Subs: O’Neil McNeil Ferguson Storie (59) Durojaiye (80) Tapping S. Jackson
an Angus Beith free-kick was tipped over. Brechin, captained by ex-Bino Craig Molloy, looked flat and Greg Paterson was rarely tested in the first half but the visitors came out stronger after the interval and defender Paul McLean blazed over from a good position. The key moment came just after the hour mark when Trouten latched on to an Andy Jackson header from a corner and was tripped by full-back Kevin McKinlay. There was no doubt about the award and the former Queen’s Park player, who scored twice in a 5-0 win for Brechin here in September, coolly slotted home the spot-kick. City defended well and we rarely looked like getting back on level terms. Colin Hamilton had the ball in the net for the Glebe Park side with nine minutes left but the whistle had gone for a foul on keeper Paterson as we slipped to a fifth straight defeat.
The key moment came just after the hour mark when Trouten latched on to an Andy Jackson header from a corner and was tripped by full-back Kevin McKinlay.
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MATCH REPORT
SECOND-HALF COLLAPSE SEES AIRDRIE SCORE FOUR LEFT: Steven Doris in action earlier this season
PHOTO: Niels Bootsma
4 AIRDRIEONIANS PRUNTY PEN 58, 63, LISTER 59. 80
1 STIRLING ALBION MCGEACHIE 3
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second-half collapse saw Albion suffer a sixth straight defeat at a rain-lashed Excelsior Stadium. Ross McGeachie gave us the lead after just three minutes but doubles from Bryan Prunty and Jim Lister extended Airdrie’s good run to one loss in the last 12 matches. Stuart McLaren’s men remained eight points adrift of Stenhousemuir as we prepared to face inform Morton at Cappielow in a rearranged game on Tuesday night. There were debuts for new loan signings Adam Cummins and Andy Stirling as Chris Smith missed out due to illness and Sandy Cunningham dropped to the bench. Darren Lee Smith was back in the squad after four months out with a knee injury and returned to action as a late substitute but Steven Doris and Graham Weir remain out. We got off to a dream start when McGeachie forced the ball home from close range after Lewis Coult’s header from Angus Beith’s corner had come back off the post. Airdrie hit back and had a penalty appeal turned
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LEAGUE ONE SAT 28TH FEB 2015 ATT: 779
McNeil Bain Boyle Gilfillan (73) Gasparotto Lindsay Docherty (49) Fitzpatrick Lister (85) Fraser Prunty
Paterson McGeachie McKinlay Beith Cummins Forsyth Johnston (80) Comrie (66) Coult (46) G. Smith Stirling
Subs: Garden Blockley Morton O’Neil Gray (73) Watt (49) Boyle (85)
Subs: Reidford Wedderburn Hamilton Robertson D.L. Smith (80) Cunningham (66) Shepherd (46)
down – Beith appeared to catch Scott Fraser – before Lister headed wide and another effort was cleared off the line. Ahead at the interval – at a venue where we earned our last shut-out back in August – you wondered if this might be our day but instead it all went wrong in the second half. Prunty equalised from the spot in 58 minutes after Lister had gone down under a challenge from Greg Paterson and 60 seconds later Lister’s ball in from the left was missed by everyone and ended up in the net. We never recovered from that double blow and Paterson did well to tip a Prunty drive on to and over the bar, with Fraser rattling the woodwork direct from the corner. It was all over 10 minutes from time when we carelessly gave the ball away and Lister got on the end of a cross from the right to score from close range. Prunty added the fourth after Paterson had spilled a shot from the edge of the box and the woodwork denied the Diamonds a fifth goal in stoppage time.
MATCH REPORT
MCCLUSKEY TREBLE SEES OFF STAUNCH BINOS PERFORMANCE LEFT: Beith, Cunningham and Doris standing over the ball in another game PHOTO: Niels Bootsma
4 GREENOCK MORTON MCCLUSKEY 35, 62, 79 MCMANUS 82
0 STIRLING ALBION
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Stefan McCluskey hat-trick and a goal from Declan McManus moved Morton to the top of League 1 as we suffered a seventh straight
defeat. A good first-half performance at Cappielow ultimately counted for nothing and we now trail second-bottom Stenhousemuir by 11 points. It was a cold Tuesday night in Greenock and Morton almost opened the scoring within a minute, but they fired over from a corner instead of ripping the net. Andy Stirling made a great run but his cross was just yards away from Craig Comrie at the back post. Gordon Smith almost opened the scoring pouncing on a rebound but Derek Gasotn recovered to save well. Good work from loanee Stirling again set up Angus Beith but the Hearts youngster fired
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LEAGUE ONE TUE 3RD MAR 2015 ATT: 1037
Gaston Kilday (75) Crighton Milojevic Bjekovic Russell McCluskley McKee (23) O’Ware Forbes McManus Caldwell (68)
Paterson McGeachie Cummins C. Smith Forsyth Johnston (59) Comrie (74) Beith Robertson (85) Stirling G. Smith
Subs: McCluskey MacDonald Lamie Miller Pepper Scullion Caraux
Subs: Reidford Wedderburn Hamilton (85) D.L. Smith Cunningham (59) Shepherd Coult (74)
high, and Smith followed minutes later with a 25yard effort tipped over by Gaston. The ’Ton got their first when Stefan McCluskey arrived at the near post to convert Declan McManus’s cross past Greg Paterson just after the half hour mark. Stirling and Beith combined again just before half time but the latter put his shot wide and it went into the break 1-0 Morton. Greg Paterson did well to deny Ross Caldwell on the break but the home side doubled their lead when McCluskey was set=up by Ross Caldwell and he fired a lwo drive past Paterson. The midfielder completed his hat=trick after somehow sneaking one in at the near post. McManus rounded off the win with a superb 20yard effort with ten minutes left, leaving no chance for Paterson to get a hand on it.
McManus rounded off the win with a superb 20-yard effort with ten minutes left, leaving no chance for Paterson to get a hand on it.
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THE LOCKER ROOM
YOUTH COACH DAVID BINNIE CAUGHT UP WITH EDITOR DAVID CHALMERS TO SPEAK ABOUT THE PROGRESS OF THE SQUAD DC: Tell us a bit about the set-up this year, has there been a lot of new boys coming in or is it largely a group who’ve been here a while? DB: Fortunately, we had a very good group of players promoted from the U17’s. Because of the SPFL restructuring their development league from U19’s to U20’s, we were able to retain some of the remaining squad and integrate them all together into, what we feel, is a very talented group. We added three new players to the group; two forwards and a very talented youngster from Cumbernauld Colts, so it was great to have the basis of a settled squad going into pre-season. How do you feel the boys have developed over the year? The SPFL U20 Development League is to all intents purposes a reserve league. It was designed by the outgoing SFA performance director, Mark Wotte, and was set up so all clubs to could field five overage players in matches alongside the U20’s. For us, that has been a big challenge given that we are such a young squad. But, it’s been a challenge we have wholeheartedly embraced and whilst we have not won as many games as we have in recent seasons in the U19 Division, it’s been a great learning environment for our players to come up against senior players from around the league. We have largely used our whole U20 team so far, only occasionally using our senior players. On the other hand, it’s been noticeable that the majority of the other sides have used their full compliment of seniors. We have chosen to see this as a positive. Our young players have had to learn quickly against senior players, and it has been great to see them develop at a faster rate than in recent years for this very reason. What I should add, is that on a purely footballing level, the players have gone toe to toe with opponents and have not been found wanting. I cast my mind back to one game in particular this season when we were 1-0 down to a very experienced Raith Rovers team at Starks Park. We were really up against it in the 1st half, but came out in the 2nd half and really took the game to them. We went 2-1
ahead and only a last minute free-kick earned our hosts the draw. The players game management on the night, coupled with real character was a real indicator that they are growing up quickly and properly. Greig McDonald of course left the club earlier in the season - has Stuart McLaren spoken to yourself and your squad about first team opportunities? It’s been a busy start for the new manager and he is in the midst of a real relegation dogfight, so his immediate priorities are trying to maintain the clubs place in League One. On that basis, he can be forgiven for being somewhat pre-occupied with the task at hand. Graeme Donald and myself have had some brief conversations with him and Martyn Corrigan about how we all see the U20 squad resourcing his efforts and we would hope that a longer term strategy for promoting players from within can become a regular feature of the clubs policy. A couple of the boys have been included in the match day squads recently - with a few current first team players coming through the youth set-up it’s clearly not a bad club to be at to get your chance is it? We are always heartened when we see members of our U20 squad called up for first team duties and it does give the lads a real boost when that happens. That said, we would much rather see them make the next step and actually earn themselves minutes on the pitch before we can properly see their development come to fruition. My personal belief is that every successful, small community club should be focused on producing their own players. I think the fans enjoy seeing one of our own come into the senior side from the youth ranks and guys like Ross McGeachie, Lee Hamilton and Sandy Cunningham prove that. Youngster Alistair Roy left the set-up to join Hearts and has made a couple of first-team appearances. 12 / MA R C H 2 0 1 5 / W W W .S T IR L I N G A L BI ONF C. CO. UK
THE LOCKER ROOM Do the coaches take pride in stories like Alistair’s? Or would you you much rather they stayed with the club! There is no doubt that young Alistair Roy is a talent. Should he have been involved in the senior squad before going to Hearts? I think we can all debate that one. But, the top and bottom of it is that his move to Hearts must also be seen as a success for our youth program. He was being monitored by a number of full-time clubs and Hearts moved quickly to secure him after only a few games with our U19’s last season. Ambitious young players will always look to go full-time if the opportunity arises and Alistair was no different. Shortly after making his senior debut, he sent a lovely letter to Stewart Taylor and the staff thanking everyone for the hard work that went in to help him realise his ambitions. It goes without saying that we would have loved to have seen him pull on a Stirling Albion jersey in the 1st team, but on this occasion it wasn’t to be. Hopefully we can all look on with pride if he goes on to become a Hearts regular.
Alistair Roy
Was it important for the club to be re-accredited with the Standard Quality Mark Award from the SFA, and what steps need to be taken to claim the Development Award? I think it’s always very important for the club to rank highly on the SFA’s Club Award system. My understanding is that we are fully compliant and satisfy all of the Standard Quality Mark criteria. As for going a step further and meeting criteria for the Development Club Award, I believe this is something the club, and in particular Andy Todd, is working towards with his strategy for developing the clubs provision at age groups below our current U13’s. If a structure from the very bottom age groups up the way can be achieved then there is definitely optimism that we can achieve the Development Award status. 13 / M A R CH 2015 / W W W . STI R L I N G ALB I O N F C. CO . U K
The club lost heavily to Cowdenbeath in early February, but have won two in a row afterwards. Do you have to get that reaction from the boys or do they more or less do it themselves? Thanks for reminding me! It was a truly awful night. One fit substitute, and various players having to play out of position with a few of them carrying knocks. Going down to ten men and losing a goal from the resulting free-kick inside the first five minutes was really just the tip of the ice-berg. We could look for excuses and probably find them, but that would only mask, what was, a very poor team performance on the night. Fortunately, it’s not something we have ever experienced before, but heavy defeats like that do inevitably come around at some point in a player/ coach’s career and it’s not something any of us are keen to see repeated. We had a long, open and frank discussion in the changing room afterwards and the boys were obviously a bit shell-shocked at that point. The reaction is always the most important aspect of a defeat like that and by coming out the following week and knocking five past an experienced East Stirlingshire team then going up to face a very good Forfar Athletic side on their own patch and grinding out a really hard fought 1-0 win suggests to me that we have plenty of strong characters in our team. To answer your question; there are always mitigating circumstances and there are always ways in which a coach can analyse performances both individually and in a team sense. Of course, there are buttons we can press and changes we can make, but ultimately, a positive reaction has to come from the players themselves and hopefully they have proved that they have reacted positively to a very bad result. Tell us a bit about the match with Livingston on Tuesday The lads produced a terrific performance to win by 2-0 against a very strong Livingston side which featured a full compliment of 1st team players including former Rangers and Scotland U21 defender Darren Cole. We included three of our U17 players, with two of them coming on in the game to make their debuts at that level. Sam Davidson and Aidan Stevenson grabbed the goals in each half. We were of course tremendously proud of the players and with this being our third straight win and third straight clean sheet since the previously mentioned Cowdenbeath defeat, I am confident that the team has taken yet another stride forward. I would also like to make mention that both Connor MacKenzie & Daniel Wilcox will be representing Scotland Schools U18’s against Wales this week.
MATCH PREVIEW
STIRLING ALBION VS. STRANRAER LEAGUE ONE SAT 7TH MARCH 2015 15:00 KO FORTHBANK
STRANRAER FACTFILE FOUNDED: 1870 CAPACITY: 2,988
NICKNAME: THE BLUES STADIUM: STAIR PARK CURRENT MANAGER: STEPHEN AITKEN
BEN RAMAGE
T
he Albion face a daunting task when welcoming title-chasing Stranraer to the Forthbank in their first home match of a hugely important month. The Blues have had a very impressive season, not least when they went unbeaten throughout the whole of September, October and November, a run which would be the envy of almost any side. They also put together a very solid cup run, making it all the way to the 5th round of the Scottish Cup, eventually losing out to Dundee United 3 - 0 at home early in February. And while they will have been upset to have missed out on a glamour quarter-final tie with SPL title favourites Celtic, promotion to the Championship is very much at the forefront of young manager Stephen Aitkin’s mind. The title-contenders have endured a few hiccups in recent weeks though, losing ground to title rivals Greenock Morton when they lost there at the Cappielow last month. They also surprisingly lost at relegation
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candidates Stenhousemuir, much to the dissatisfaction of Binos fans everywhere, which saw them overtaken at the top by the Ton. This has left Stranraer in a position where they cannot afford any slip-ups, and they will be desperate to take all three points back to Dumfries and Galloway from the Forthbank. Aitkin has been a steady presence at the helm of the Blues so far despite his young age since taking over after a spell as assistant manager to former boss Keith Knox. He will be looking to further enhance his managerial credentials with a promotion this season. There are several familiar faces in the Stranraer side which will be welcomed back to the Forthbank, with defender Steven Bell and midfielders Chris Aitkin and Scott Robinson all having turned out for the Albion in recent years. Meanwhile, the Blues boast a potent forward line, with prolific strikers Jamie Longworth and Craig Malcolm both into double figures already this season. The Stirling defence will have to be at its very best to hold resolute and keep out this strong Stranraer side in what is now a hugely important fixture.
McLaren’s men will have plenty to worry about with Craig Malcolm, Jamie Longworth, Danny Stoney, Stephen Stirling and Sean Winter all in goalscoring form.
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14 / MA R C H 2 0 1 5 / W W W .S T IR L I N G A L BI ONF C. CO. UK
FIXTURES
SQUAD LIST Goalkeepers: David Mitchell Daniel Tobin
STIRLING ALBION vs STRANRAER MAR 7th | LEAGUE ONE | FORTHBANK
Defenders: Barry Russell Jackson Longridge Scott Rumsby Craig Pettigrew
Frank McKeown Scott Robertson
Sam McCloskey Willie Gibson
Midfielders: Grant Gallagher Chris Aitken Sean Winter Steven Bell Stephen Stirling
Forwards: Jon McShane Danny Stoney Adam Forde Jamie Longworth Craig Malcolm
FORFAR vs STRANRAER MAR 14th | LEAGUE ONE | STATION PARK
STRANRAER vs AIRDRIEONIANS MAR 22nd | LEAGUE ONE | STAIR PARK
THE GAFFER STEPHEN AITKEN Thirty-eight year old Stephen Aitkin took over the managerial reins for the first time at Stair Park in October 2012, having formerly been assistant manager to Keith Knox. Aitkin was born and raised in Glasgow and played for the Blues for six years during his playing career as a midfielder, appearing over 150 times for the club. He started his career at Greenock Morton, and also enjoyed a brief spell at Stenhousmuir before returning to Stranraer.
KEY PLAYER JAMIE LONGWORTH Bellshill born Jamie Longworth has fired Stranraer’s title charge so far this season, notching an impressive 10 goals already this campaign. Top scorer for the Blues last season with 22 strikes, the prolific forward began his career proper at Queen’s Park, scoring 43 goals in three seasons for the Glaswegian outfit. The forward is equally effective playing up front or behind the front two, making his attacking prowess particularly hard to nullify.
LAST TIME LEAGUE ONE SAT 31ST JAN 2015 ATT: 387
1 STRANRAER MCKEOWN 85
0 STIRLING ALBION
The Albion gave the then league leaders a scare in a cagey affair when the sides met in January at Stair Park. The Blues dominated the first half, with a host of missed chances allowing Stirling to rather fortunately stay in the game. The Bino’s improved in the second half, and may have even taken three points had on loan Hearts midfielder Angus Beith made more of Lewis Coult’s excellent lay off. Even so, a vital away point looked on the cards but again it was late heartbreak for the Albion. Stranraer’s captain Frank McKeown rescued his side with only five minutes remaining, the centre-back firing home from close range to keep all three points in Dumfries.
15 / M A R CH 2015 / W W W .STI R L I N G ALB I O N F C. CO . U K
MATCH PREVIEW
DUNFERMLINE VS. STIRLING ALBION LEAGUE ONE SAT 14TH MARCH 2015 15:00 KO EAST END PARK
DUNFERMLINE FACTFILE FOUNDED: 1885 NICKNAME: THE PARS STADIUM: EAST END PARK CAPACITY: 11,480 CURRENT MANAGER: JIM JEFFERIES BEN RAMAGE
S
tirling travel to Fife in the middle of March to take on John Potter’s play-off chasing Dunfermline. With every game now hugely important given the gap between the Albion and second-bottom placed Stenhousemuir, the Binos will have to look to take all three points from East End Park. The Pars finished 2nd last season, but lost out to Cowdenbeath in the race to the championship 5 - 2 on aggregate, losing out in the playoff’s to the Blue Brazil. They will have to finish the season strongly to reach the playoff’s again this time around though, finding themselves a way short of fourth place at the beginning of the month, particularly after drawing with fellow promotion hopefuls Brechin City. The Pars will have to regain some of their early season form to switch their momentum, having only won once and lost three in February. It will
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be interesting to see how the side’s young defence copes now they find themselves at the business end of the season, having done well so far but recently faltered. Young Irish keeper Ryan Scully, on loan from Partick Thistle, has excelled between the sticks while young Scots’ Gregor Buchanan and Ross Millen have similarly impressed. It has been up front that the Pars have really struggled, with strikers El-Bakhtaoui and Michael Moffat only managing a meagre four goals each so far this season. Moffat has endured an underwhelming first season at East End Park, which is hugely surprising given he bagged an impressive 27 goals last season in the same division for Ayr United. Pars fans will be hoping he regains his scoring form in time for one final push for a play-off spot, as Dunfermline try once again to escape League One and return to the Championship for the first time since they went into administration.
The Pars will have to regain some of their early season form to switch their momentum, having only won once and lost three in February.
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16 / MA R C H 2 0 1 5 / W W W .S T IR L I N G A L BI ONF C. CO. UK
FIXTURES
SQUAD LIST Goalkeepers: Ryan Goodfellow Ryan Scully
DUNFERMLINE vs AYR UNITED MAR 7th | LEAGUE ONE | EAST END PARK
Defenders: Gregor Buchanan Lewis Martin Ross Millen Jonathan Page Jim Paterson Ryan Williamson
Stuart Urquhart Midfielders: Shaun Byrne Josh Falkingham Paul George Andy Geggan Kyle McAusland Lewis Spence Andy Stirling Ryan Thomson
Ryan Wallace Alex Whittle Forwards: David Hopkirk Lewis Allan Andy Barrowman Faissal El Bakhtaoui Michael Moffat Allan Smith
DUNFERMLINE vs STIRLING ALBION MAR 14th | LEAGUE ONE | EAST END PARK
STENHOUSEMUIR vs DUNFERMLINE MAR 21st | LEAGUE ONE | OCHILVIEW
THE GAFFER JOHN POTTER John Potter took the reins from Jim Jeffries earlier this season, this being his first managerial spell having previously coached the Par’s under 20’s side. The 35-year old was born in Dunfermline, and spent two separate spells playing for the Fife side as a defender, as well as turning out for Clyde, St. Mirren and Queen of the South. Potter started his footballing career at Celtic, notably captaining their reserve side and was highly rated before a managerial change scuppered his chances in Glasgow.
KEY PLAYER JOSH FALKINGHAM Josh Falkingham has been instrumental again in the middle of the pitch for Dunfermline. The 24 year-old has been club captain of the Pars since April 2013, taking over the armband after the side went into Administration at the age of just 22. Josh is a firm fan favourite due to his skill on the ball, his range of passing and his strong work ethic. He started his youth career at Leeds United, before spells at St Johnstone and Arbroath, where he won the Player of the Year award.
LAST TIME LEAGUE ONE SAT 10TH JAN 2015 ATT: 1,152
2 STIRLING ALBION C SMITH 60, WEDDERBURN 79
2 DUNFERMLINE SMITH 42, MARTIN 90
Lewis Martin scored with virtually the last kick of the ball to deny us our first home League 1 win of the season. Allan Smith fired the Pars ahead just before half-time - four minutes after Lewis Coult had been sent off by referee Crawford Allan for what was deemed to be a dangerous tackle on Martin. Captain Chris Smith headed the equaliser from a Craig Comrie corner on the hour mark and fellow central defender Craig Wedderburn scrambled home the second goal from close range with 11 minutes left. We were set for a vital and deserved win until Martin blasted the ball home following a corner two minutes into stoppage time to break Albion hearts. The visitors missed a couple of good early chances and there was another escape when Shaun Byrne lashed a shot narrowly over but we threatened through a Phil Johnston drive that was well saved by Ryan Scully and a Ross McGeachie header that was cleared off the line. Coult’s red card came in 38 minutes when he lunged in on Martin and Dunfermline soon took advantage - young striker Smith got in behind the defence and squeezed a low shot past Greg Paterson. Chris Smith equalised on the hour mark with a precise header from Comrie’s corner for his second goal of the season - the other was at Hurlford in the Scottish Cup. An unlikely comeback then looked to be completed by another unlikely scorer when Wedderburn did well to force the ball in from close range after Scully had been unable to hold on to a whipped free-kick from Angus Beith. When we survived an incredible scramble in stoppage time, a first win over the Pars since 2007 was looming but right at the end, and with keeper Scully forward for a corner, Scotland U19 defender Martin rescued a point for John Potter’s team.
17 / M A R CH 2015 / W W W .STI R L I N G ALB I O N F C. CO . U K
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MATCH PREVIEW
STIRLING ALBION VS. PETERHEAD LEAGUE ONE SAT 21ST MARCH 2015 15:00 KO FORTHBANK
PETERHEAD FACTFILE FOUNDED: 1891 CAPACITY: 3,150
NICKNAME: THE BLUE TOON STADIUM: BALMOOR CURRENT MANAGER: JIM MCINALLY
DAVID CHALMERS
F
ollowing an undefeated January, which included a late 2-1 victory over the Binos, Peterhead have saw their form drop off considerably with the northern club registering just one win in their last five fixtures. With two games in hand on Dunfermline, whom they are level on points with, Jim McInally will be motivating his squad to get their heads back on the right way round to mount a challenge for the League One play-off spots. With a game in hand on fourth-placed Forfar, they are eight points away, and nine off Brechin. They play both teams before coming to Forthbank on the 21st and also take on Brechin again before the month is out. Last year’s League Two winners have a real shot of sneaking into the fight for the Championship.
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The Binos gave the Blue Toon a good fight the last time the two met back in January and continue to search for their first home win of the season, with just two victories at Ochilview on the record for the campaign. Jim McInally could be doing Stuart McLaren a favour before coming to Forthbank with a match against Stenhousemuir on the horizon. With the gap between the Warriors and the Albion, they need the latter to start dropping points and fast. The suspended Rory McAllister is always dangerous and without his goal threat recently they have struggled. Gary McDonald and Andy Rodgers have chipped in, but it’s clear that the Blue Toon are most impressive with their star striker leading the line. Every game is a cup final for the Albion now and this one will be no different. Fans of the club will be hoping for a similar result to the 4-0 win last April. We can only hope.
Every game is a cup final for the Albion now and this one will be no different. Fans of the club will be hoping for a similar result to the 4-0 win last April.
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24 / MA R C H 2 0 1 5 / W W W .S T IR L I N G A L BI ONF C. CO. UK
FIXTURES
STENHOUSEMUIR vs PETERHEAD MAR 7th | LEAGUE ONE | OCHILVIEW
SQUAD LIST Goalkeepers: Paul Jarvie Graeme Smith
Graeme Sharp Ross Smith Ryan Strachan
Ryan McCann Jamie Redman Jamie Stevenson
Defenders: Reece Donaldson Steven Noble Callum MacDonald Dean Richardson Scott Ross
Midfielders: Greg Alexander Jordon Brown Dean Cowie Kevin Dzierzawski Bryan Gilfillan
Forwards: David Cox Rory McAllister Fraser McLaren Andy Rodgers
PETERHEAD vs FORFAR MAR 10th | LEAGUE ONE | BALMOOR
PETERHEAD vs BRECHIN MAR 14th | LEAGUE ONE | BALMOOR
THE GAFFER JIM MCINALLY Manager of the Blue Toon for four years, the 50-year-old is a former player who enjoyed a relatively succesful time with 10 caps for Scotland and almost 400 appearances for Dundee United. A midfielder in his hey-day, he also played for Celtic, Nottingham Forest, Coventry City, Raith Rovers, Sligo Rovers, East Fife and Dundee. Faces a challenge to take the club into the Championship next year with a double promotion, but a challenge he will surely relish. League One safety is secure and should build next year either way.
KEY PLAYER GARY MCDONALD With Rory McAllister suspended, new arrival Gary McDonald has bagged himself two goals since joining from St. Johnstone in the January transfer window. The 32-year-old midfielder has enjoyed a solid career with over 100 appearances for Kilmarnock, over 70 appearances for Oldham Athletic, 85 appearances for Morecambe, over 50 for Aberdeen and a Scotland B Cap. Hardly prolific with roughyl 47 goals in 450 appearances, perhaps he’ll score more at this level before the season is out.
LAST TIME LEAGUE ONE SAT 17TH JAN 2015 ATT: 566
2 PETERHEAD MCALLISTER PEN 73, STEVENSON 75
1 STIRLING ALBION WEDDERBURN 41
Peterhead came from behind to claim the points at a freezing Balmoor as we suffered our first defeat of 2015. Albion were the better team in the first half and we played some nice football, with Gordon Smith going close and Chris Smith also denied by keeper Graeme Smith. Peterhead’s more direct approach caused occasional problems and there was an escape when Ryan Strachan smacked a shot against the post following a corner. The deadlock was broken four minutes before the interval. Craig Comrie picked out Shepherd on the right flank and he beat a defender before crossing for Wedderburn to score from close range for the second week running. We had a great chance to double our lead when Phil Johnston sent Cunningham clear but the 19-year-old was unlucky to see his shot hit the post and Shepherd couldn’t convert the rebound. Peterhead had an effort disallowed for offside but we were looking fairly comfortable as the game entered the last 20 minutes. That changed when referee Stephen Finnie awarded a penalty when David Cox went down in the box under a challenge from Ross McGeachie after Stevenson had hoisted a free-kick into the area. McAllister easily converted the penalty and within a couple of minutes we were behind. The Peterhead striker seized on a slack pass from Angus Beith, outstanding since he joined on loan from Hearts, and that allowed ex-Morton man Stevenson to run clear and beat Greg Paterson with a good finish. It was a turnaround that hadn’t looked likely but Jim McInally’s men protected their lead comfortably in the closing stages and were denied a third goal when the ball was cleared off the line.
25 / M A R CH 2015 / W W W . STI R L I N G ALB I O N F C. CO . U K
MATCH PREVIEW
FORFAR ATHLETIC VS. STIRLING ALBION LEAGUE ONE SAT 28TH MARCH 2015 15:00 KO STATION PARK
FORFAR ATHLETIC FACTFILE FOUNDED: 1885 CAPACITY: 6,777
NICKNAME: THE LOONS STADIUM: STATION PARK CURRENT MANAGER: DICK CAMPBELL
DAVID CHALMERS
A
fter being one of the strongest sides of the league in 2014, the Loons have started to falter this year and their hunt for the title is now looking more hopeful than likely following unlikely defeats to the likes of Airdrieonians and Ayr United. Currently holding the last play-off spot, Dick Campbell’s side will need to stay on their toes to stave off the challenge of Peterhead, who could nick in and steal their current league position if they aren’t careful. After narrowly overcoming the Binos at Forthbank in February, they welcomed Morton to Station Park but lost 2-1 after goals from Joe McKee and Peter MacDonald either side of a Danny Denholm strike. This meant the ’Ton overtook the club in second place and the form has been inconsistent since. A 3-1 victory over Peterhead at Station Park could almost certainly have been aided by the sending off of Rory
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McAllister just before half-time. Chris Templeman had already opened up the scoring, but Gavin Swankie doubled their lead near the hour mark before Cammy Kerr pulled one back just minutes later. It remained 2-1 until the last minute when Swankie put the tie to rest with his second and Forfar’s third. It was Forfar’s turn to chase a match with a man down the week after with Gavin Malin seeing red for fouling Bryan Prunty in the box. Marc Fitzpatrick had netted early on to open the scoring before Malin’s sending off, and Prunty slotted home the penalty that he was fouled for. Scott Fraser made it three with his effort, and Michael Travis prodded a consolation in with five minutes to go. Stephen Husband scored an incredble 35-yarder in a 1-0 win over Dunfermline , but Jordan Preston scored the only goal last week in a narrow 1-0 win for Ayr against Campbell’s side. You’re not quite sure what kind of Forfar side is going to show up at the minute, but Stirling should certainly take their chances and see what happens.
You’re not quite sure what kind of Forfar side is going to show up at the minute, but Stirling should certainly take their chances and see what happens.
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26 / MA R C H 2 0 1 5 / W W W .S T IR L I N G A L BI ONF C. CO. UK
FIXTURES
SQUAD LIST Goalkeepers: Rab Douglas Ross Salmon
MORTON vs FORFAR MAR 7th | LEAGUE ONE | CAPPIELOW
Defenders: Mark Baxter Darren Dods Michael Dunlop Aaron James Stuart Malcolm
Jim Paterson Andrew Steeves Midfielders: James Dale Danny Denholm Martyn Fotheringham Stephen Husband Omar Kader Liam Keiller
Gavin Malin Craig Smith Derek Young Forwards: Dale Hilson Paul McLellan Gavin Swankie Chris Templeman
PETERHEAD vs FORFAR MAR 10th | LEAGUE ONE | BALMOOR
FORFAR vs STRANRAER MAR 14th | LEAGUE ONE | STATION PARK
THE GAFFER DICK CAMPBELL 61-year-old Dick Campbell first started his management career in the 1980s, however his spell in charge of Cowedenbeath didn’t last long. 12 years later he became a manager once again with Dunfermline Athletic following Bert Mason’s departure. Upon leaving the Pars the Scotsman enjoyed a five year spell in charge of Brechin City and then moved to Partick Thistle where his side were relegated and then won promotion via play-offs. He has been at current club Forfar for six years and continues to do well for The Loons.
KEY PLAYER GAVIN SWANKIE 31-year-old midfielder Gavin Swankie has been at Station Park for nearly three years now and has made a good impact with almost 30 goals in 80 appearances. Formerly a forward, his predatory instincts make him a goal threat within 20 yards of goal and his brace over Rangers is surely the highlight of his career thus far. Winner of the Third Division Player of the Year award in 2010-2011, his experience and talent is huge to the Loons.
LAST TIME LEAGUE ONE SAT 24TH JAN 2015 ATT: 571
0 STIRLING ALBION 1 FORFAR ATHLETIC MALIN 38
Gavin Malin’s 38th-minute goal moved Forfar to within a point of leaders Stranraer as our wait for a first home win in League 1 went on. Chris Smith was sent off just 60 seconds after the interval and we struggled to create openings against a well-organised team. Binos boss Stuart McLaren made one change to the team beaten 2-1 at Peterhead - new signing Kevin McKinlay made his debut at left-back in place of James Creaney, who was sidelined along with Steven Doris, Graham Weir, Darren Lee Smith and Lewis Coult (suspended). After a cold week, the game went ahead after two pitch inspections but there was a flat feel to the first half, with neither side creating much, although the visitors always looked the more likely to score. The deadlock was broken seven minutes before the break when Gavin Swankie made space on the left and cut the ball back for Malin and the exSpartans midfielder had a simple finish from close range. Our hopes of a comeback suffered a major blow just after the break. Skipper Chris Smith challenged Martyn Fotheringham, who had latched on to a long ball, and referee Barry Cook felt there was sufficient contact to award the free-kick and a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Forfar controlled most of the second half and lively winger Danny Denholm and Malin missed good chances to extend their lead. Visiting keeper Rab Douglas was rarely called into action but the 42-yearold did well to clutch a powerful drive from Angus Beith in stoppage time.
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COMMERCIAL FEATURE
EDITOR DAVID CHALMERS TALKS TO THE FALKIRK AND CENTRAL SCOTLAND SAMARITANS TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY DO Could you tell us a bit about the Falkirk and Central Scotland Samaritans and what they do?
given the time and space to work problems or difficulties through in confidence, people can find an inner strength and perspective,that lets them find their own way forward. Advice is ultimately subjective and based on judgement and Samaritans believes it is impossible to make judgements about individuals’ lives. What works for one person might not work for another because every person’s response to a situation is unique.
Falkirk & Central Scotland Samaritans are based in Falkirk in Orchard Street. We are one of 202 branches throughout the UK and Northern Ireland. Our branch offers support to the Falkirk, Stirling, Clackmananshire as well as all the rural areas of Stirling .We primarily provide emotional support to people in distress and at risk of dying by suicide, on the phone, face to face, by email How did the link - up arise with Stirling and letter. Samaritans believe that being Albion? listened to in confidence, without fear of being judged, can Through statistics alleviate feelings we know that This year is our 50th of distress, nationally the anniversary and we are including those male between which may lead to the ages of 30-45 celebrating 50 years of suicide. at the highest listening . We will be having are risk of suicide a few events to celebrate Samaritans and in Scotland doesn’t offer that age group this and hope to be serving advice, although is a lot younger. Falkirk, Stirling and we often discuss Statistically men Clackmananshire with our options with are three times people who more at risk than service for many years to contact us. women and with come. Samaritans that in mind we believes that wanted to target
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COMMERCIAL FEATURE
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COMMERCIAL FEATURE places that the young man would go to. We then targeted football grounds and this is how we became linked with the club. Have you had any collections at games, and how have they been going? We had a collection on January 10th 2015 . We made an amazing £473.55 which was a great boost to our local branch and helps us reach out a little further. The club also had the team warm up with our t-shirts on which in itself is a great awareness tool as we have the brightest green t shirts ever. Awareness is our main priority but the collection does help with our future advertising. How are the company involved with Stirling on a wider scale? As I said previously the Falkirk & Central Scotland branch covers a wide area with Stirling being one of our main areas of work. We are involved with local schools, universities and Cornton vale prison on an outreach bases and also making links within the NHS. We are constantly looking for new ways to reach out and serve our community. What’s the future for the link - up between
the club and the company and where is the company heading in general? As for future links with the club – Advertising is something we are very strong on continuing as we are reaching out to those that are the hardest to reach. We are not funded in any way so fund raising is very important to us as it costs between £25,000 and £30,000 per year to keep our branch open. Our vision is for a society where fewer people take their own lives by suicide. It wants to help create a society where people are able to talk about their feelings openly, and people are able to respect the feelings of others. In the short term, our goal is to make emotional health more of a mainstream issue, as well as continuing to provide confidential emotional support 24 hours a day to people in distress and at risk of suicide. This year is our 50th anniversary and we are celebrating 50 years of listening . We will be having a few events to celebrate this and hope to be serving Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmananshire with our service for many years to come.
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COMMERCIAL FEATURE
s u o T k l Ta gs are getting to you. If thin
08457 90 90 90* 01324 622066
* (UK)
Talk to us any time you like, in your own way, and off the record – about whatever’s getting to you.
A registered charity. *Please see our website for latest call charges.
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(Local)
jo@samaritans.org www.samaritans.org
COMMUNITY CORNER
MAR.
2015 EASTER CAMPS 2015!! BOOK NOW!! Our very popular Easter Camps, in partnership with Active Stirling, return in April for the two weeks of the school holidays! Children from the age of 3 up to 14 can get involved with the camps.
to take part in some half time activity at our game vs Morton (terms and conditions apply). To view the brochure and book a place, go to www. activestirling.org.uk/activekids. The link and more information can also be found in the community section of the Stirling Albion website. Book early to avoid disappointment as places will fill up fast!!
There are hour long sessions 10-11am for mini kickers (3-4 yrs) each day, 5-6 year olds can come along for morning sessions from 9am-12pm and children aged 7-14 can enjoy full day sessions from 9am-4pm!! Bino the Bear will make surprise visits at some sessions and every child attending the Easter camps will have the opportunity
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CO. UK
COMMUNITY CORNER
COWIE UTD TASTERS We have recently begun a set of taster sessions in partnership with Active Stirling and local football club, Cowie Utd. These sessions are taking place within Plean Primary School, St Margaret’s Primary School and Cowie Primary School with the main aim being to try and get more children involved and playing regularly with Cowie Utd. There will be three blocks, each lasting between 4-6 weeks, splitting the children into 3 age groups. The p13s block just started at the end of February and this will be followed by a block with the p4-5s and finally the p6-7s before summer. Stephen Al-Sayed is leading the programme as part of his apprenticeship. His SVQ requires him to take the lead on a project at some point during his yearlong apprenticeship and this seemed the ideal project for him to take on. Stephen has been involved heavily from the start in meeting with Cowie Utd and Active Stirling to get the tasters planned and set up and he will also lead the delivery of the sessions. I know Stephen is excited to find out how the programme develops and how successful it may be so we will keep updates coming on this.
GIRLS FOOTBALL It was fantastic to have the girls section down at the Brechin City game showing of their skills at half time! 33 / M A R CH 2015 / W W W. ST I R LI N G ALB I O N F C. CO . U K
The girls are pictured enjoying their day. We are still on the lookout for girls to join our expanding girls programme. The programme is being run in partnership with Central Girls and will see the girls training twice a week – on Tuesdays and Thursdays - and playing matches on a Saturday morning. If you are a girl, or you know one who is interested in taking part in regular football with Stirling Albion, please contact myself for more information via the usual channels below.
Get following us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest!!
Facebook - www.facebook.com/SAFCCommunity Twitter - @SAFCCommunity Website - www.stirlingalbionfc.co.uk/community Email - community@stirlingalbionfc.co.uk
Andy
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JUNIOR BINOS ---------------------------F M S M R A T M S Y Y O B K H N
N O Q O I X M R T N N E G R J N
H E R I N X L M M Q V A I F K Q
V T R T E I F G F Q N F E G B C
T D I A H M B E Q W P D X Z N L
K X O E L B F T D T D B R L V E
R N P C B C A E G E P W M R W W
Y C F C D S M N G O O K X U L I
P A I Y W O U T K Q L X O Y E S
K L N Z G B P G R S R B P I P C
G R D K Y S W T N A T Y K D U O
P V M V G P S E N A U A J N Z U
R A E B E H T O N I B T D U W L
R O S S F O R S Y T H Y S I Z T
Y N X Y I D P M T D T Y V V U Q
X E U L P B D Y Y C A F A U N M
CROSSWORD CHALLENGE:
WORDS TO BE FOUND: LEWIS COULT FORTHBANK STADIUM STUART MCLAREN ROSS FORSYTH ANGUS BEITH BINOS BINO THE BEAR
Look out for diagonal words and words written backwards!
STIRLING ALBION QUIZ: 1. WHAT CLUB IS ANGUS BEITH ON LOAN FROM?
2. WHO DID GOALKEEPER GREG PATERSON PLAY FOR BEFORE JOINING THE BINOS?
3. WHAT NATIONALITY IS MANAGER STUART MCLAREN?
4. WHERE DID STIRLING ALBION PLAY THEIR HOME GAMES BEFORE THEY MOVED TO FORTHBANK STADIUM?
5. THERE ARE ANOTHER 4 PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL CLUBS IN SCOTLAND/ENGLAND WHO USE “ALBION” IN THEIR NAME. WHO ARE THEY?
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Supporting local individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness, housing difficulties and in financial hardship. A huge thanks to Stirling Albion FC for supporting our work. We were delighted to kick off our involvement with the Club with the bucket-collection at the Ayr game which raised a fantastic ÂŁ446.39! All funds raised will go towards our work with local people who are in crisis. Thank you to everyone who donated on the day. What we do: Run 3 Crisis Food Banks each week 1,500 people, including 400 children, received food from our Crisis Food Banks in 2014 51,000 meals were distributed throughout 2014 Provide practical support to people who are homeless 150 Home-Starter Packs of essential household items (e.g. kettle, bedding, pots and pans, cutlery) were given to people moving out of homelessness into their own tenancy. 143 Emergency-Packs (e.g. dried foods, tea/coffee, toiletries) were distributed to people becoming homeless and moving into temporary accommodation. More people are needing our help than ever before and all support you are able to give to our work will make a real and lasting difference. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter, visit our website at www.startupstirling.org. uk, email us at joanie@startupstirling.org.uk or phone Joanie on 01786 551027 to find out how you can get involved.
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STIRLING ALBION SQUAD LIST 2014/15 COACHING STAFF
GOALKEEPER
STUART McLAREN
MARTYN CORRIGAN
CALLUM REIDFORD
GREG PATERSON
INA SHAW MBE
DRON & DICKSON LTD
SAFC SUPPORTERS TRUST BOARD
VICTOR & DEBBIE NELSON
DEFENCE
ADAM CUMMINS
LEE HAMILTON
KEVIN McKINLAY
CHRIS SMITH
BRAEHEAD TAXIS
SAFC SUPPORTERS CLUB
DEFENCE
MIDFIELD
CRAIG WEDDERBURN
ROSS FORSYTH
ROSS McGEACHIE
PHIL JOHNSTON
IAIN GLEN
PETER MCKENZIE
MCKENZIE TRAILERS LTD
ROY & SHEENA MCFARLANE
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SQUAD LIST 2014/15 STIRLING ALBION MIDFIELD
DARREN LEE SMITH
CRAIG COMRIE
CRAIG SMITH
GARRY CAIRNS JOINERY
MIDFIELD
GRAHAM WEIR
ANGUS BEITH
WILLIAM ROBERTSON ALASDAIR DUNN
FORWARD
ANDY STIRLING
VICTOR & DEBBIE NELSON
LEWIS COULT
GORDON SMITH
ROBERT MCCRINDLE
TYLAR ROWLEY
CHRIS PATON
STEVEN DORIS
FORWARD
SANDY CUNNINGHAM
SCOTT SHEPHERD
CRAIG STEWART
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BRIDGE OF ALLAN SUPPORTERS
STADIUM ADVERTISERS SPONSOR
HUNTER’S EXECUTIVE COACHES
• Guest Speakers •
• Prize Draw, Auction & Raffle •
£60 incl. vat For further details & to book contact 01786 450399 www.drondickson.com
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Prudential proudly supports Stirling Albion Best of luck for the 2014/15 season
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