17 May, 2012
AND THE TWELFTH PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM WILL BE...
Musselburgh Athletic play their final East Superleague match of the season on Saturday, when they visit Hill of Beath Hawthorn. The Burgh are currently second bottom on nineteen points and their target is third bottom Bathgate’s final total of twenty-one points; Musselburgh’s goal difference is fourteen goals better than Bathgate’s.
Also with a fourteen goals advantage over Bathgate is bottom club Carnoustie Panmure, who have eighteen points. This Saturday, in the first of two opportunities to win the three points they need, the Gowfers host the visit of Bo’ness United.
Tonight at Beechwood Park, Sauchie Juniors drew 1-1 at home to Oakley United. The result ended Oakley's very slim hopes of gaining one of the two promotion places but was enough to ensure Sauchie will join Broxburn Athletic in next sesason's Superleague.
Sauchie now need to gain four points from their last two matches to go up as Premier League champions.
16 May, 2012
DALKEITH THISTLE PROMOTED TO THE PREMIER
The most unpredictable of all the East Region divisions, the South Division, has finally been settled.
Last night, Dalkeith Thistle had a 5-2 home victory over Fauldhouse United to give the Jags an unmatchable sixty points. Dalkeith Thistle thus become the eleventh known participants in next season’s Premier League.
15 May, 2012
FRASERBURGH FINISH SIXTH IN HIGHLAND LEAGUE
Broughty Athletic's 'Friends in the North', Fraserburgh FC, finished sixth in the Press and Journal Highland Football League, seventeen points behind champions Forres Mechanics, but just seven points behind runners-up Cove Rangers.
Thirty-eight of the Broch’s fifty-nine points were gained at home but only five away wins were recorded, the poorest return by far of any of the top six teams. That’s obviously one reason for Fraserburgh not finishing even higher but ‘63’ listed in the Goals Against column, a bottom-half-of-the-table-figure, was also a big contributory factor.
Scott Barbour finished the Broch's top scorer with eighteen goals, netting on average once every game and a half. Barbour’s scoring exploits were rewarded when he was named as the Sunday Post Highland League Young Player of the Year.
It was welcome recognition not only for the twenty year old but also for the club. However the highlight of the season was the capture of the Aberdeenshire Shield when the Broch defeated Banks O’ Dee 5-0 in the final.
Dennis Martin, one of a number of daily visitors to the Broughty Athletic website, has been a St Andrews United fanatic since his late father first took him to Recreation Park way back in 1958. He is now a life member of both the football and social clubs and is the St Andrews United unofficial statistician.
“I was treasurer/registration secretary from 1976 until 1994,” Dennis told the Fed website. “My interest in football statistics has led me to record every Fife Junior football result since 1962, with only a few years from the late 60's/early 70's missing. I have also recorded all the Super, Premier and Central results since the change of league set ups.
“This season St Andrews United’s No. 1 aim was to stay in the Super League. We have managed to do this, although it was tricky at times. The Scottish Cup run was a bonus and we reached the quarter final stage for the first time since 1965. Unfortunately we did not turn up against Shotts Bon Accord and lost 1-0. In my opinion we had beaten three better teams, (Carnoustie Panmure, Cumnock and Kilbirnie Ladeside) in the previous rounds, but as usual it’s all about what happens on the day.
“An interesting stat from this season was the number of home draws we have had in cup ties – nine out of nine! We were at home in all five rounds of the Scottish Junior Cup and were also first out of the hat if we had reached the semi-final.
“In the East of Scotland Cup we had a bye in the first round due to Scone Thistle going into abeyance. Then we had home draws in the next three rounds. In the Fife & Lothians Cup we had a home draw (plus home ties in the subsequent two rounds, had we progressed). In all my years of watching the club we have never had so many consecutive home draws.
Dennis finished his chat with the website on an optimistic note: “We have only Bonnyrigg Rose to play in the East of Scotland Cup on 19 May; I fancy us to win this one!”
Our thanks to Dennis – a true Junior football man if ever there was one.
Three dates for the diary: 1. The Broughty Athletic Player of the Year awards will take place at Whitton Park on Friday 1 June - 7pm for 7.30pm. 2. Pre season training will commence on Saturday 23 June; a full training schedule and friendly dates will be published as soon as possible. 3. The annual Newcastle Races weekend trip will take place on 30 June; arrangements to follow.
13 May, 2012
SAUCHIE HAVE THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN THEIR SIGHTS
This Wednesday, 16 May, Sauchie Juniors play Oakley United in the first of the former's three remaining fixtures. A point gained from any of these matches will clinch promotion for the “wee county” team; six points from the available nine will mean they go up as champions.
13 May, 2012
JEANFIELD SWIFTS PROMOTED TO THE PREMIER
Jeanfield Swifts’s 2-2 home draw yesterday, with sole remaining promotion challengers Dundonald Bluebell, means that the Swifts now have an unassailable 62 points so it’s the Perth club who will be moving up from the Central Division to the Premier League - the tenth known participants so far.
Six players yesterday extended their contracts with the club. They are: Alan Cormack, Graeme Dailly, Andy Torrance, Mark Brash, Iain MacLeod, and Graeme Allan.
"That is now everyone signed up once again for the forthcoming season and beyond and this will again give us continuity with the squad at Broughty," explained KC "We will however be looking to strengthen once again and talks are ongoing with a number of players with a view to signing."
The manager promises that www.broughtyathleticfc.com will, as always, be first to know the details!
Broxburn Athletic gained promotion to the Superleague this afternoon when they won 2-0 in today's top-of-the-table Premier League match with Penicuik Athletic at Albyn Park. The result means that Sauchie Juniors are all but promoted - and could go up as champions..
In the meantime our congratulations go to Broxburn Athletic.
During Channel Five's coverage of the all-Spanish Europa League final on Wednesday evening summariser Stan Collymore provided this piece of professional insight: "'Athletic Bilbao have a corner in a very good position."
11 May, 2012
OUR THANKS TO ST ANDREWS UNITED FAN DENNIS
St Andrews United fan Dennis Martin had some good news and some bad news when he contacted the website yesterday evening.
The good news is that he thinks the Broughty website is excellent. “I have to confess I read it every day”, Dennis tells us.
The bad news is that he had to point out a couple of factual errors in our recent item about the make-up of next season’s Premier League. In particular we got the Superleague relegation issue badly wrong!
It’s now corrected, so our thanks to Dennis for taking the trouble to write.
10 May, 2012
JUNIORS' ODDS FROM MCBOOKIE.COM FOR SAT 12 MAY 2012
This weekend’s odds from McBookie.com, for fixtures to be played on Saturday 12 May, are now available as a download. Please see the side menu on this site.
10 May, 2012
WHO WILL BE IN THE PREMIER NEXT SEASON?
It says much for the competitiveness of the East Region’s five divisions that only seven clubs can be confirmed as Premier League participants next season.
Any of the bottom three Superleague clubs - Bathgate Thistle, Musselburgh Athletic or Carnoustie Panmure - could yet be relegated whilst this Saturday could decide which two from Broxburn Athletic, Penicuik Athletic and Sauchie Juniors make the step up from the Premier.
Jeanfield Swifts look most likely to triumph in the Central Division but the South Division is as unpredictable as ever.
10 May, 2012
SOME FED FIGURES FROM THE 2011-12 SEASON
Kevin Garrick made the most starts (38) and came on once as substitute. Kevin’s thirty-nine appearances were equalled by Graeme Dailly (37 + 2).
Lee Bertie, Barry Myles, John Farquharson and Gary Ogilvie also made over thirty appearances in the starting line-up
Ross Lunan was the highest scorer (17), two ahead of last season’s top marksman Graeme Daily. Ten goal Mark Brash was the third player to hit double figures for the Fed.
08 May, 2012
JUNIORS' ODDS FROM WILLIAM HILL FOR WEEK COMMENCING 9 MAY 2012
This week’s Juniors’ odds from William Hill, for fixtures and cup ties to be played over the next seven days, are now available as A download. Please see the side menu on this site.
We have been asked to remind you that the search for the Scottish FA's 2012 grassroots heroes has started and the Association, together with partners McDonald's and the Sunday Mail, are now taking nominations for five categories as follows:
Best volunteer in... Youth football Adult Football Girls' and Women's football Schools football Disability football
There will be winners selected regionally for each of these categories with awards in August. Winners will then go forward to form the shortlist for the National Awards which will take place in early October.
In the Broughty Athletic programme for the 2011 Lyall Murdoch Memorial Trophy tournament, under the heading, Dundee FC – Top Team This Time?, an attempt was made to anticipate the outcome of this season’s First Division from a Dark Blues’ perspective. Just how accurate were those predictions in this always competitive Division?
"Dundee Football Club will soon be beginning their seventh consecutive season in the First Division and for the first time in that period, after all the agonies of 2010-11, it is fair to say that most Dens fans are just pleased to still be in a position to mount a challenge for promotion to the top league.
"That’s not to say there is any lessening of ambition amongst Dark Blues’ supporters but the very real threat of relegation (or worse) not only produced a post-administration resurgence of enthusiasm but a new realism.
"The acceptance of a need to continually balance the books is not confined to Dens Park of course, with most clubs in the division having trimmed their budgets.
"Last season’s runners-up Raith Rovers have experienced big changes to their squad and consequently the Kirkcaldy team are not expected to provide a similar challenge at the top this season." Raith finished seventh on 44 points.
"Such is the impact of Falkirk’s own financial constraints that a mainly young and inexperienced set of players will represent the Bairns this season. A mid-table finish, rather than a return to the SPL, is the probable outcome." Falkirk finished slightly better than mid-table - third on 52 points.
"It’s a similar story in north west Glasgow. Partick Thistle may be the old unpredictables of Scottish football but the future for the Firhill faithfull looks all too easy to prophesise. There will be no Partick promotion push in 2011-12 as long as debt reduction, not investment, continues to be the unavoidable business plan for Maryhill’s finest." Thistle finished sixth on 47 points.
"Ayr United’s two back-to-back promotions have taken the Honest Men back to the second tier. However, no-one expects the Ayr advancement to be extended to three-in-a-row and there’s more chance of the Somerset Park men fighting to remain in the First Division." Ayr finished ninth on 38 points and will need to triumph in the forthcoming play-offs to avoid relegation.
"The same might have been said of Queen of the South until the appointment of Gus MacPherson as manager. Surprisingly sacked by St. Mirren, he’s re-emerged in Dumfries and by all accounts has been warmly welcomed by the Doonhamers. The new boss is almost starting from scratch at Palmerston, but his record suggests he knows what he’s doing. Queens won’t be a threat to Dundee but they should do all right." Completely wrong! Queens finished tenth on 32 points and have been relegated!
"Hamilton Academical will do more than all right. Whilst it’s true that very few clubs bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt, the Accies have in Billy Reid a manager who is terrific at negotiating loan deals to augment the New Douglas Park conveyor belt of young talent – and he’s someone who knows how to compete at this level.
"Hamilton should thus be in contention for a swift return to the Premier and some of First Division’s less fashionable sides could be the ones to join the Lanarkshire club in pushing Dundee for the top spot." Not quite. The Accies finished fourth on 49 points – 30 points behind ‘the top spot’. "The return of Derek Adams and his backroom staff to Victoria Park should be nothing but good news for Ross County. Adams has been successful there before and he knows precisely what it takes to assemble a competitive County side." County - runaway winners under Derek Adams – with 79 points, 14 more than second-placed Dundee.
"Morton, firmly established in the First Division these days after many painfully difficult years, finished quite strongly last season and while there is a feeling that there are plenty of goals in this season’s squad there’s slightly less confidence that the midfield will be good enough to provide the chances. Despite this reservation the ‘Ton could be near the top. "Could be near the top", but weren’t! Morton finished eighth on 42 points
"Runaway Division Two champions Livingston could be the season’s surprise packets. With some real skill in their squad, there appears to be a feel-good factor around Almondvale just now and that’s certainly not the case everywhere else." No surpise packet from West Lothian. Livi finished fifth on 48 points.
"So Hamilton, Livingston, Morton and Ross County are the teams Dundee will have to fear most, according to this commentator, but no team in the division appears to have a player pool with strength-in-depth so injuries and suspensions could yet be a deciding factor in the destination of the championship." Only Morton failed to take on the role of predicted top-of-the-table challengers – and the Staggies were spectacularly underestimated!
"The loss of midfielders Craig Forsyth to Watford and Gary Harkins to Kilmarnock, two of the First Division’s better players last season, means Dundee may be deprived of some creativity and goal threat but the defence is expected to be mainly undisturbed, and being hard to beat is half the battle in what promises to be nothing less than a series of hard fought fixtures for the next eight months.
"It’s been observed that ‘to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive’. Dundee supporters might beg to differ. For them, after seven years, there will be nothing better at the end of their journey, than to arrive in the SPL. Let’s hope they make it this time." The article in question was about Dundee’s challengers so there was no prediction about the Dees.
