The start of the season is only a few weeks away now, thank God. I’m not sure how much more cricket, Tour de France, Formula 1, Wimbledon or other assorted non-sports I can endure. Even the Confederations Cup, this summer’s only real football action, was not particularly worth watching.
No, it’s Scottish football we’re interested in; the cold summer wind blowing through dilapidated stadiums, embarrassing pre-season defeats on foreign soil, the disappointment (but not surprise) when you hear of your prospective big-name signing preferring to play for a League 2 outfit, the pain of squeezing yourself into your team’s new kit. It seems like an eternity since we walked out of the ground back in May, but the wait is almost over.
With the players returned from their holidays, teams up and down the country get ready for the new season with a series of friendlies. Well, not everyone is playing friendlies of course. Two of our finest, Falkirk and Motherwell are in European action this week.
On Thursday, Falkirk take on FC Vaduz at the Falkirk Stadium in their Second Round Europa League game. Vaduz are the undisputed Big Boys of the Liechtenstein football, having won their national title no less than 38 times and are currently going for their 14th title-in-a-row. Stick that up yer jumpers Rangers and Celtic! Still, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We’d hope that Scottish football is somewhere further along the football evolutionary slope than it is in Liechtenstein so we’re expecting Falkirk to deliver a pumping to be proud of to make that tricky return leg a mere formality. For new manager Eddie May it will be his first competitive game in charge of the Bairns.
Another manager who broke his cherry is Jim Gannon of “the ‘Well”. His team overcame a 1-0 deficit against Welsh champions Llanelli to win 3-0 and this secure themselves a second round game against Albanian side Flamurtari. Like Motherwell, Flamurtari have only won their domestic league once, back in 1992 (we have to go back to 1932 for Motherwell’s league win). Unlike Motherwell however, they have a bit of European pedigree, once going out on away goals in 1987’s UEFA Cup to Spanish giants Barcelona. They even have a Brazilian playing for them, Flavio Beck Junior, so they’re probably quite good. Better than Llanelli anyway. Hmm, expect much more arse-clenching action in that game.
Thursday, 16 July 2009, Europa League qualifying
Falkirk v FC Vaduz
Flamurtari v Motherwell
Meanwhile, back at home, we have a few interesting games coming up.
On Monday, Annan Athletic take on Gretna. Not the Gretna now, they’re gone. This is Gretna 2008, the team that arose out of the ashes of the other Gretna, late of the SPL. It was Annan Athletic that took Gretna’s place in the Third division last year of course. This will be Annan’s fourth warm-up game of the season which included a 6-1 win over Gala Fairydean and a creditable 1-1 draw at Morton.
On Tuesday, three promoted teams are in action. Stenhousemuir take on fellow Second Division outfit Alloa, while Dumbarton reach a little higher when they welcome First Division side and local rivals Partick Thistle to the town. Raith Rovers, Second Division champions last season will play English League 1 outfit Norwich City.
Clyde’s rebuilding continues on Thursday as Partick Thistle provide the opposition. The Bully Wee lost their entire squad during the off-season due to financial problems. Manager John Brown held open trails to find a new squad as they prepare for life in the Second Division: that squad had its first game yesterday when they lost 7-2 to a Celtic reserve side. Another match against Queen’s Park will take place tomorrow, but the game against Partick will be the first official friendly of the season.
The full list of fixtures for the week ahead is as follows
Monday, 13 July
Gretna v Annan Athletic
Morton v Crawley Town
Tuesday 14th July
Alloa v Stenhousemuir
Deveronvale v Ross County
Dumbarton v Partick
Dunfermline v Dundee Utd
East Fife v St Mirren
Raith v Norwich
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Ayr v St Mirren
Berwick v Hibernian XI
Clyde v Partick
Dumbarton v Stenhousemuir
Durham City v East Fife
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Dunfermline v Hibernian
Stirling v Dundee Utd
Related posts:
- The Week in Scottish Football
- Scottish Football’s Four to Follow – Week 42
- The Week in Scottish Football
- Scottish Football Week in Review
- The Scottish Football Weekender (13 Feb)
Tags: Match Programme, SFL, SPL