Mince & Tatties: only 67 days to go!

Another weekend has come and gone, which means another 2 days closer to the start of the Scottish football season which kicks off again on the 9th August.  Yes, there's the European Championships to endure first but it's only a few weeks and once it's over there will only be 40 days to go before we get back on the terraces, eat the greasy pies and the scalding hot soup and sing songs questioning the parentage of the referee and the housing conditions of the opposition team and their fans. Ah yes, I cant wait.

In the meantime, there's plenty to keep the teams occupied once they all return from their summer holidays. There's the Challenge Cup, for example.

For the teams in the lower divisions, the first round of the Challenge Cup starts on the 26th July. For those of you ignorant of the ways of Scottish cup competitions, the Challenge Cup is a competition open to all members of the lower divisions and has run since 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League. The current holders are St Johnstone. Current SPL team Falkirk have won the competition on three occasions, and SPL new boys Hamilton have win it twice. In a straight knockout competition, the draw for the first round is as follows:

Ross County     v St. Johnstone
Alloa Athletic  v Dundee
Arbroath        v Forfar Athletic
Brechin City    v East Fife
Dunfermline     v Stirling Albion
Peterhead       v Montrose
Elgin City      v Cowdenbeath
East Stirling   v Ayr United
Clyde           v Gretna
Stenhousemuir   v Albion Rovers
Partick Thistle v Queen's Park
Berwick Rangers v Queen of the South
Livingston      v Stranraer
Airdrie United  v Dumbarton 

In the SPL, Motherwell begin their pre-season with games against Wolves and Bradford. Kilmarnock also play Wolves, this time on the 26th. Celtic take on Southampton in the Klaus Lundekvan testimonal (yes, I had to look him up as well) on the 18th of July before they play Fulham, Middelsborough and Cardiff City before a 'what if?' game when they take on Porto in Portugal on the 26th July. Just before the season starts, they'll also be taking part in the Feyenoord Jubilee tournament from the 1st to the 3rd of August. Other entrants include Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund and Feyenoord (obviously).

And while we're in Holland, both Aberdeen (FC Zwolle, Go Ahead Eagles and Vitesse Arnhem) as well as Falkirk (Sc Cambuur, Veendam and Heerenveen) are off to Holland for their pre-season jolly-ups. The Dons also have the Gothenburg centenary match against Manchester United to come (the only tenuous link between the two being Alex Ferguson - surely Real Madrid would have been more appropriate?) as well as games against Dundee, Peterhead, Brechin and Inverurie Locos.

As reported earlier, Barcelona will be coming to Edinburgh and Dundee. Both teams are hoping to emulate success in the past against the Catalan giants. Dundee United have beaten them four times in a variety of competitions. In their last run-out, they lost to a Thierry Henry penalty 2 minutes from time and should have had a draw when a Barry Robson goal was incorrectly disallowed. Still, only a friendly though eh? Hibernian will play their game not at Easter Road but at Murrayfield, for some reason. Oh yes, cynical exploitation, that’s what it was.

Down in the First Division, Partick Thistle have arranged a pre-season itinerary that would make Rangers blush; no less than 7 games in 14 days for the Jags including games against Ayr, Brechin, Stirling Albion, Carlisle, Burnley and Queens Park. Ross County keep it local, playing Orkney power-houses Holm and Kirkwall. A return to the mainland then sees them in a variety of Highland League teams including Nairn, Elgin City and Forres Mechanics. Funny how Fort William are not being singled out. I mean, if you want to give your strikers that feel-good feeling before the start of the season, then that's where I'd be heading. Ross County also take on Inverness, Crawley Town and Falkirk.

Clyde will play Albion Rovers, Rangers and Hibs. And possibly Gretna, but more on that later! Dundee also take on Wolves and Bradford in their games, while Stenhousemuir take to the road with games against Fleetwood Town and Skelmersdale United. Kilmarnock is their last game before they play Albion Rovers in the first round of the Challenge Cup. East Fife travel to Northern Ireland for games against Loughall and Newry. Lastly, current FM2008 team Dumbarton will take it up against Queens Park, Blythe Spartans, Morton, Hamilton and a Rangers XI.

Phew, that's a lot of typing. For more details on any of these games, check the various club websites.

One team that probably wont be worrying about preseason games is Gretna. Look, stick with this ok, I've only got two more stories on Gretna; this one, and the one when they officially go out of business on Wednesday (and I've already written that one). It would appear that the only deal for the club on the table has fallen through and Gretna now face a sticky end. Paul Davies' rescue package was based on Gretna being a First Division side, but since the league demoted the team to the Third, it is no longer considered a viable proposition to invest in the club.

First Division champions Hamilton Accies did well at this years SFL awards bash, walking off with Team Of The Season, as well as a Manager Of The Season award for Billy Reid. First Division Player Of The Year went to 21-goal striker Richard Offiong. James McCarthy, the 17 year-old midfielder who turned down a move to Liverpool last year and who is being monitored by Chelsea, won the SFL Young Player Of The Season award.

Queen of the South manager Gordon Chisholm received the Achievement Of The Season award for guiding the First Division side to the Scottish Cup final.

Second Division winners Ross County picked up two prizes: Derek Adams collecting the Manager Of The Season prize and Second Division Player Of The Year went to Andy Barrowman.  East Fife's Dave Baikie won Third Division Manager Of The Year, and Jonathan smart who scored eight goals despite being a defender won Player Of The Season.

Prizes for all concerned (a years supply of sugary drinks with a taste the origins of which are hard to place) came courtesy of league’s sponsors Irn-Bru.  Ok, that's your lot for today. Comments and feedback to the usual place!