Pic courtesy of Dominic Smith
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Archive Latest May
2004
(28/5/04)
Cup Draw
The draw for the first round of the Bell's
Cup was made today and it's to be a battle of the Rovers. Albion Rovers have
been drawn away to Raith Rovers, the match to be played on Saturday 31st July.
As Rovers were drawn away from home there is no clash of fixtures with Airdrie
United who were drawn at home to Queen of the South on the same day should
Rovers move to Airdrie by the date of the match.
The Kirkcaldy side are managed by Claude Anelka, brother of Manchester City striker Nicolas, he recently invested over £300,000 in the club. Paul McManus will have something to prove against his old employers when we visit Starks Park.
(26/5/04)
Stadium Update
The club has confirmed that they've
received an offer for Cliftonhill which is currently being scrutinised by
lawyers. At the same time they've also confirmed that they've lodged a bid for
New Broomfield/Excelsior stadium with Airdrieonians liquidator KPMG. One other
party has also lodged a bid for the stadium and the outcome is expected soon. In
the meantime groundsman Hugh McBride has been holding back from doing the
necessary (but expensive) repairs to the pitch which would be needed if staying
put.
The training academy project hasn't been finalised as yet but it seems that there are no significant obstacles to overcome.
Strips
General manager John Reynolds tells us that Rovers will not be changing the
strip for next season, this is due to a range of factors such as perhaps moving
out of Cliftonhill. Shirt sponsors of the last three seasons Reigart haven't yet
confirmed that they'll continue with their valuable support of the club, but
it's hoped their name shall be displayed on players chests for the forthcoming
campaign.
McGowan
Jamie McGowan was interviewed by the
Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser this week. He tells how much he's looking
forward to bolstering the Rovers defence, which was a major defect in last
years' assault on the title. He is already known to several Cliftonhill staff,
having played with Crunchie in the 1997 cup final for Falkirk in which they lost
to Kilmarnock. He also played with assistant boss Scott Crabbe at Falkirk and
more recently Alloa Athletic, at St. Mirren he played alongside Mark Yardley.
(22/5/04)
Defender Signs!
Manager Kevin McAllister has signed 33 year old defender Jamie McGowan, he was
previously with Alloa, St. Mirren, Motherwell and Falkirk. Andy Paterson has
also re-signed.
(20/5/04)
McManus Signs
The club made the following statement today : "We
are delighted to announce that Paul McManus has put pen to paper on a further
year's contract with the club. Paul is quoted as saying that he has been very
happy at the Club and has been treated better by Albion Rovers than any
Club he has been at before. He is looking forward to pre-season as his back
problem has cleared up."
The signing of Paul who was this websites player of the year so soon bodes well for the coming season.
(18/5/04)
Cliftonhill
"Sold"
Despite reports to the
contrary in the Evening
Times no deal has been done on the sale of the stadium. The club says no
offers have been accepted.
Frees
The club have now given a definitive list of players freed and offered
contracts.
Offered terms - Smith, McManus, McKenzie, McCaul, Bradford,
Sweeney, Paterson, Yardley (subject to doing a full pre-season), Silvestro,
Mercer, Stirling.
Released - Chris Kerr, Farrell, Cormack, Bennett, McCaig, Fahey has not been
offered terms until after pre-season as he is thinking of maybe going part time.
We understand that young players not mentioned are on youth contracts are should still be with the club next season.
(15/5/04)
Stranraer Blues
Stranraer won the 3rd division
championship at Stair Park today by beating Rovers 4-0. A reasonable first half
performance by Rovers resulted in a 3-0 scoreline at 45 mins! The home fans were
in party mode in the sunshine throwing toilet roll, beach balls and lilos too.
As a result of Queen's Park getting a point against Gretna they leapfrog us to
leave Rovers finishing 8th in the final table.
Departures
A couple of players took to the field for
the last time as Rovers players today, they were Neil Bennett and Peter Cormack.
Although we don't as yet have a full list Jered Stirling, Scott Crabbe, Mark
Yardley and Paul McManus have all been offered terms to stay, Chris Fahey who is
still suffering due to injury may be offered terms if he recovers
satisfactorily. On loan Tony Low shall not be offered terms along with another 6
or 7. Whether or not the players offered contracts accept them remains to be
seen, watch this space as they say!
(13/5/04)
Players Update
Paul McManus and Mark Yardley are still recovering
from injury and wont feature at Stair Park on Saturday. Captain Jim Mercer is
unlikely to play either due to injury.
Meanwhile Kevin McAllister is having talks with three players with a view to bringing them to the club for next season. We don't have any names yet!
(11/5/04)
POTY
Paul McManus (on the left) receiving his well deserved
www.albionrovers.com player of the year trophy and bottle of bubbly from your
humble webmaster - we will definitely have to get a glamorous model to present
next years!
Pic courtesy of Dominic Smith
(8/5/04)
Cowdenbeath
If this was the last competitive match at
Cliftonhill it was rather disappointing, not least because it was one of our
longest serving players that scored the final goal of the game at the wrong end.
Jordan Smith was the unfortunate one to score the o.g.
Kevin McAllister didn't make that hoped for final appearance, Paul McManus and Mark Yardley didn't appear due to injury. This sites player of the year trophy was awarded at half-time to Paul McManus (pics later). We're sorry no announcement could be made drawing fans attention to the award but the Cliftonhill sound system was kaput.
Awards
Rovers annual wards were made last night
at the sportsman's dinner. The winners were :
1st Year Apprentice winner: Kerr Potter and 2nd Year Apprentice winner:
Jamie Valentine. This site's player of the year award will be made today about 5
minutes before kick-off. The apprentices trophies were donated by Frank Meade
and Lew McWilliam.
Sportsman's Dinner
The annual event was held at Drumpellier
Golf Club tonight, the guest speakers were John McKelvie, Tom Miller and Alan
Rough all of whom were received very well by the audience. A few thousand pounds
were raised by the sale of tickets for the event, raffles, competitions and
auction of signed Chelsea, Henrik Larsson, Coventry City and Rovers jerseys.
Tribute was paid to absent friends, namely David Forrester who was a past chairman of the club and Max Crichton of this website who both died during the course of this season. Some photos of the event courtesy of club photographer Dominic Smith will appear on the website later.
A big thanks goes to club financial supremo David Wright for inviting Rovers related helpers, such as your webmaster to the dinner.
(6/5/04)
Injury Update
Paul McManus is rated very doubtful for
Saturday due to his back injury, we don't have an update about the condition of
Mark Yardley as yet.
Crunchie
It seems unlikely that Kevin McAllister
will play on Saturday although we have passed on the fans hope that he does take
to the field one final time.
Cliftonhill
General manager
John Reynolds has confirmed that the
future of the stadium still hasn't been settled. If this weeks game does
subsequently prove to be the last competitive game there a special farewell
match would be arranged.
Sportsman's Dinner
The annual event takes place tomorrow at
Drumpellier Golf Club, your webmaster will be there at the invite of the club
and shall report on the goings on (probably on Saturday as I may be worse for
wear on returning home).
POTY
The www.albionrovers.com player of the
year trophy and bottle of bubbly (kindly donated by Lew McWilliam) will be
presented shortly before kick-off on Saturday. There are no prizes for guessing
who the recipient shall be!
Gretna
The borders outfit were fined £250 by the SFA for not ensuring good conduct of spectators
when one apparently stuck his finger in the ear of referee Cammy Melville at a
recent home match against Cowdenbeath.
(1/5/04)
Silvio Returns
As predicted Chris Silvestro started
today's match at Hampden and helped the side win 1-0. From the stand the pitch
seemed in reasonable condition. Marc McKenzie made it two in two when he scored
the winner. Rather worryingly top scorer Paul McManus went off in just 8 minutes
(we presume with an injury) and Mark Yardley went off injured at half-time. The win means Rovers are 3
points ahead of Queen's with just 2 games left and have a vastly superior goal
difference. Rovers under 17 team drew with Queen's at Lesser Hampden in a game
which kicked off earlier.
A full match report will be on the site on Sunday.
Promoted
It's congratulations to
Stirling Albion and Stranraer who clinched
promotion to the second division today when they both won. Stranraer are two
points ahead at the top and could win the championship next Saturday when they
visit Stirling.
Spiders Preview
Queen's Park will still be minus much sought
after teenager Derek Carcary, who is on abroad with the Scotland Under-18s.
Kevin McAllister will be making changes to the team despite his winning 8-1 last
week. Apparently Chris Silvestro will start the game at Hampden.
The state of the pitch at the National Stadium may not suit the midfielder, when
seen last week on TV during highlights of the Scottish grid iron team Claymores
match it seemed like a quagmire.