(25/2/05)

Match Off
Tomorrows match against East Fife at Cliftonhill has been postponed due to a frozen pitch.

(23/2/05)

Reserve Fixtures
Tomorrow sees Rovers reserves play at Gretna with a 2pm kick-off. On Tue 1st March Rovers play what is technically a home game at Petershill also with a 2pm kick-off, the opposition are Partick Thistle.

Hugh McBride
We hear that the Cliftonhill groundsman enters hospital tomorrow for his much delayed operation. He'll be out of action for up to 8 weeks following the procedure.

(19/2/05)

Rovers Derby Triumph
An amazing 5 minute spell saw Rovers score all 3 of their goals from set-pieces in their win at Hampden this afternoon. Mercer scored the first in 31 minutes following a Stirling free-kick from close to the corner flag. In 33 minutes it was John Bradford who scored following a Stirling corner and in 35 minutes it was Mercer who scored from the Stirling corner.

Rovers are now 10 points ahead of East Stirlingshire at the foot of the table and just 4 points behind Montrose in 8th place.

A full match report will be on the site tomorrow.

(16/2/05)

Reserves Lose
Rovers reserves lost 2-0 to Queen's Park at New Lesser Hampden last night with goals in 26 and 77 minutes.

(15/2/05)

Gordon Signs On
Striker Wayne Gordon who scored the winner on Saturday at Cowdenbeath has signed until the end of the season, this is Jimmy Lindsay's second signing.

Matches Rescheduled
The matches postponed in January have been rescheduled. The league have however set dates different to the ones pencilled in by the club.

Rovers v Queen's Park    Tuesday 1st March 7.30 kick-off.

Rovers v Stenhousemuir  Tuesday 8th March 7.30 kick-off.

This gives Rovers no less than four home matches in two weeks.

Reserves
Rovers reserves play Queen's Park at New Lesser Hampden tonight and we understand Jimmy Lindsay will be checking out at least one potential signing target.

Damage
We hear that the strong winds yesterday took their toll on Cliftonhill yesterday with the roof of the women's toilet being damaged as well as some Perspex window panels at the Coatbridge end of the stand.

Bus
The bus to Hampden this Saturday will leave Owen's at 1.30pm, cost £5.

(12/2/05)

Rally Continues
Despite Danny Black heading the opposition ahead Rovers managed to win 2-1 with goals from Kerr Potter and trialist Wayne Gordon sealing the victory. The unbeaten run under caretaker boss Jimmy Lindsay reached 4 matches. The Cowden 'keeper was red carded seconds before the final whistle for handling outside his area.

A full match report will be on the site tomorrow.

(5/2/05)

All Square
The 6 pointer between East Stirlingshire and Rovers ended 1 each. Rovers were perhaps lucky to gain the point as 'Shire had some near misses. New boys Gordon and Wilson both featured but it was John Bradford who scored the equaliser just a couple of minutes after 'Shire took the lead.

A full match report will be on the site at latest tomorrow.

Trust
The first meeting of the supporters trust steering group took place before today's match and a lot of inspired suggestions were forthcoming.

(4/2/05)

Discipline
As is usual around this time of year the SFA has sent each club a summary of their disciplinary record to date. Rovers came 3rd top for good discipline in the 3rd division with Gretna and Peterhead being the top two. In our division Cowdenbeath, East Fife and Elgin City were all warned that they face £1000 fines at the end of the season if their discipline doesn't radically improve by May.

Suspensions
Mark Peat shall of course not be available on Saturday due to his red card in the reserve match at Falkirk this week. The club have been informed that Marc McKenzie shall be suspended for the Cowdenbeath match on 12th February.

New Kit
As the club have played in the same kit for 3 seasons general manager John Reynolds is currently considering a replacement. As the supporters trust is on its way to being formed he wonders if they should actually choose which to have next term.

Signing
Contrary to press reports saying otherwise Wayne Gordon has not signed for Rovers but is likely to play as a trialist tomorrow against East Stirlingshire.

Reserves
Rovers have a home reserve match scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon. The opposition will be Greenock Morton, kick-off time is 2.00 pm.

Scouts
Rovers aren't happy at the large number of scouts (no, not boy scouts - football ones) turning up at Cliftonhill and are trying to do something about them turning up and getting in for free expecting hospitality too. To this end the club have written to all the other teams in the division asking their opinions before deciding to insist scouts pay in and claim the price back from their own club.

The letter cites a midweek match at Cliftonhill last season which was the only game on in the west of Scotland that night and 32 "scouts" (4 of whom brought their sons with them) turned up to see. An unnamed SPL side have had a scout at almost every home game for the last few seasons despite that team never signing a single player from a 3rd division club in that time.

Although not mentioned in the letter we understand that one club had no less than 100, yes one hundred "scouts" at one of their home matches. The club realise that scouts looking at a particular player or nominated people from opposition sides giving Rovers a once-over before playing them the next week is reasonable.

Around half of 3rd division clubs have responded to the letter, all positively so it seems that the gravy-train is soon to come to an end for these so called scouts.

Rearranged Matches
Although pencilled in for March as previously informed, the SFL have not yet given permission to play Queen's Park and Stenhousemuir on the suggested dates.

(3/2/05)

Trust Meeting
The initial meeting to discuss the proposed formation of Albion Rovers Supporters Trust took place tonight at Corsewall Street Community Centre. A very creditable 40 fans turned up for the meeting arranged by Eddie Hagerty and Frank Meade. In attendance was James Proctor of Supporters Direct which is a Scottish Executive funded organisation which advises on how to set up trusts and funds some of the costs involved.

After introductions James Proctor spoke about his organisation and its goals. The first trust was formed by Northampton Town fans when a "White Knight" failed to appear to bail them out of their financial woes, there are now over 120 such trusts in Britain (28 in Scotland). The Scottish Executive fund the Scottish arm to the extent of £95,000 a year.

It was explained that a trust can be very flexible in it's activities. As long as activities are based locally and vaguely to do with Albion Rovers and/or other community activity (running youth competitions or supplying equipment etc.) there are no real restrictions. The organisation would be an Industrial and Provident Society - effectively a cooperative which basically operates like a non-profit making company. Of course the trust would hopefully make a profit which is ploughed back into it's activities.

Some questions as to what the trust can do were taken from the floor of the meeting. The trust can hold shares should it wish to and set any objectives for it's future activity (such as staying in Coatbridge). Supporters Direct supply draft constitutions for trusts which can be suitably amended to take into account local circumstances and members desires.

Next to speak was fan Frank Meade. He pointed out that with the amount of cash being raised by the trust (something in the order of £200 if all the people at the meeting signed up at the possible minimum subscription of £5 per month) it was not a viable option to take control of the club in the short term. It's likely that an annual membership fee will be set, possibly at £5 with under 16's being given free membership. A minimum commitment to subscribing for one, two or three years will also be considered. It was made clear that payment of subscriptions will be by standing order direct from members bank accounts rather than in cash.

Frank pointed to the board of directors being open to investment and (constructive) suggestions from the trust and indeed fans in general. He went on to give some details of the Clyde Supporters Trust which he has studied in some detail. He hopes that the trust will engage the local community to raise funds via various routes such as advertising at the club with boards and in the programme. Other possible fundraising events such as dinners were mentioned as Clyde have raised substantial amounts for their club in that way.

Franks stated that it's likely that all members of the trust would have exactly one vote however much they contribute monthly and that the trust was to be an inclusive rather than exclusive organisation.

Volunteers from the floor of the meeting were requested to join the steering committee to oversee the practicalities of writing the constitution and setting fees etc. The members of the committee shall be David Crichton (your humble webmaster), Bill Walker (programme editor), John McGoogan (bus convener), Frank Meade, Colin Millar, Donald Ashwood, David Herd.

New Signings
Rovers have signed 22 year old striker Lee Wilson from Dunipace Juniors. Former Rovers manager Tom Spence was his boss at the Denny based club and apparently rated him very highly. The club have also signed striker Wayne Gordon from Gretna who paid off his contract to allow him to move on.

(1/2/05)

Peat Sees Red In Reserves
Rovers reserves lost 1-0 away at Falkirk this afternoon. 'Keeper Mark Peat was sent off in what the Falkirk website described as "Perhaps a harsh decision" when he rushed out of his goal colliding with Mark Ramsay just after the start of the 2nd half. The goal came in 68 minutes from Brent Rahim. We presume that Peat will be banned for this week's clash against East Stirlingshire so hope that Chris Fahey shall not need replacing between the sticks!

Click to enlarge

Info and pics courtesy of www.FalkirkFC.co.uk

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