In the same week the SPL signs a record £125m deal with Setanta Sports to broadcast Scottish games, we've finally figured out who the new team in the league will be and England are now just one place ahead of Scotland in the FIFA World Rankings. European football kicks off tomorrow when Hibernian meet Swedish side IF Elfsborg in the second round of the InterToto Cup at Easter Road, while Aberdeen sign Mark Kerr from Dundee United and former Scotland striker Paul Dickov is released by Manchester City.
The party will probably be dying down in Annan about now. The town, which lies on the A75 between Dumfries and Gretna has been celebrating the election of it's football team to the Scottish Football League. Annan Athletic now only have a month to prepare for their first game as a senior league club when they visit Clyde in the first round of the Challenge Cup on the 26th July.
Annan where elected after three rounds of voting, being the first team to make it past the 15-vote post. The voting per round was as follows:
Round 1: Annan 14, Cove 8, Spartans 5, Edinburgh 1, Preston 1
Round 2: Annan 14, Cove 9, Spartans 6
Round 3: Annan 17, Cove 12
For the other four clubs, life goes on. Spartans, who had the backing of former Hearts captain Steven Pressley are disappointed to have finished in third place in the election last Thursday, but insist that there's a lot to look forward to as they start another season in the East of Scotland League. For one, their soccer academy is due to open soon, and their challenge for the East of Scotland League title has been strengthened with the addition of goalkeeper Chris Flockhart and midfielder Robbie Manson, who both join from Berwick Rangers while Nicky Walker signs from Stirling Albion and Daryl Devlin signs from junior side Civil Service Strollers.
Edinburgh City, along with Preston Athletic (who would have changed their name to East Lothian FC had they been successful) are pinning their hopes for eventual promotion to the senior ranks to a change in the league structure. Both teams are keen to see the league adopt a pyramid structure which would see the introduction of promotion from the three leagues that sit directly underneath the Football League (The East of Scotland League, The South of Scotland League and the Highland League) to Third Division.
The Highland League must be grateful that champions Cove Rangers didn't make it into the Scottish League. Following a series of defections in the last six years, keeping the Aberdeenshire team in their league is surely good news for Britain's most northerly senior league. The Highland League are now themselves looking to expand. Proposals are being put forward to attract a sixteenth team into the league. They are investigating relaxing their entry criteria (dressing room criteria, turnstiles, seated areas, toilet facilities inside the ground and floodlights) following discussions with a series of potential recruits and are hoping to get the new team in place for the 2009/10 season.
Motherwell's friendly against Villareal, scheduled for the 2nd August has been cancelled. The Spanish side have instead agreed to play Aston Villa on the same day. Prior to the game the main stand at Fir Park was to be named after captain Phil O'Donnell, who passed away last December. Motherwell are now lining up Athletic Bilbao and Royal Antwerp as possible alternatives.
Not just one candidate, but two have emerged for the vacant managerial position at Heart of Midlothian. Laszlo Csaba claims that Vladimir Romanov is keen to bring the 44-year-old to Edinburgh. The Romanian is currently coaching the Ugandan national side, who have gone from 167th to 97th in the FIFA World Rankings since Csaba's arrival. It all seems too good to be true - a successful manager who speaks English and who is aware of the 'issues' his potential boss has had with previous incumbents. The potential fly in the ointment is the £120,000 compensation the Ugandan FA are demanding should Csaba leave for Edinburgh.
Earlier this week Anton Joore - the Dutch former FBK Kaunas coach - also put himself forward for the job at Tynecastle. Currently unemployed, he's had spells at ADO Den Haag, Kazakhstan club FK Almati and Al Arabi of Qatar.
With former caretaker manager Stephen Frail still on gardening leave, Angel Chervenkov has returned to the club to assist with first team training in preparation for the new season, now only five weeks away.
That's it for now, back on Monday with more news. If you're going to the Hibernian game tomorrow afternoon, drop us a note telling us how the game went when you get back. Comments to the usual place!
Another great report - well done Seb.
ReplyDeleteForgive me asking more questions - I'm a keen learner! - but you say Preston Athletic would have changed their name had they been elected. Was that to avoid confusion with Preston North End, do you know?
Preston Athletic play in a catchment area of about 100,000. The reason for the name change would have been to make the team more relevant to the area (East Lothian) rather than just the town of Prestonpans alone. It would been like Plymouth changing their name to FC Devon.
ReplyDeleteApart from Edinburgh 11 miles up the coast, that part of Scotland has no senior League representation between Prestonpans and Berwick Rangers. Apparently they had already registered the name "East Lothian Football Club Ltd", so confident where they. Sadly, they only got 1 vote and went out in the first round ..