Archive for December, 2008
« Previous EntriesVictory for 1st XI in first game on the FieldTurf
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 The 1st XI beat Newtongrange Star 2 – 0 tonight in a friendly under the lights at the Academy. Daryl Devlin and Alex King scoring the goals. There was a large crowd of nearly 200 in the first half but it reduced in the second half as the the bitterly cold conditions meant the lure of the cafe and SkySports became more popular. The team was Flockhart, Hair (Song), Hoskins, Fowlie, Archibald, Gerrard, King, Manson, Walker, Devlin, Kader (Opati).
Alex - scored second from 20 yards
The view from the Grandstand
Earlier in the evening the 2nd XI lost 1 – 0 to Civil Service Strollers from the EoS league in a friendly.
The grass pitch under the lights tonight
Craig with the strips ready for tonights 1st Xi fixture
Tomorrow we have two Youth games, an 11am ko for a game between our two under 15 squads and then a 12.30 ko for our 17s who take on Currie Star
The Scottish Cup build up and this week’s Academy programme
Monday, December 29th, 2008
In preparation for our Scottish Cup game on 10th January the 1st XI play two friendlies this week on our FieldTurf pitch. Firstly tomorow at 8pm there is a friendly against Newtongrange Star and then on Saturday a 12 noon kick off against Civil Service Strollers. We expect a big turn out tomorrow after Saturday’s postponement. The cafe/bar will be open and Sky TV was switched on today so Hull City vs Aston Villa will be on the big screens.
Looking ahead to the Airdrie trip the clubs have agreed that the admission will be £10 for adults and £5 for concession, a reduction of £5 on normal Airdrie prices. We’re looking forward to a big Spartans turn out.
Also tomorrow the 2nd XI play Civil Service Strollers (yes they visit us twice in a week) with a 6.15ko before playing Wishaw HSFP on Saturday in a critical league league with a 3pm ko.
We also have a couple of friendlies on the FieldTurf on Wednesday with our Under 15s in action at 11am and then our Under 17s in action at 12.30am.
We have hosted the Scotland Under 21 national rugby squad and Edinburgh’s pro rugby team for sessions over the last ten days. Edinburgh’s preparation paid off with a big win over Glasgow on Boxing Day. They play again on Friday 2nd and again in preparation we host them most days this week for a couple of hours including New Year’s Day.
Book your bus seat now!!!
Sunday, December 28th, 2008 We have now filled our first two supporters buses for the game against Airdrie United on January 10th. We will be running more than this however there are limits to the number of buses we can have.To ensure you don’t miss out on a seat please click the banner above to book your seat or e-mail Cameron Hobbs – Cameron_hobbs@blueyonder.co.uk
We hope to have the Spartan Army out in numbers for this game which is the latest in a fantastic cup campaign this season. Book your seat now and be there for this great away day.
Sunday 28th Dec at the Academy
Saturday, December 27th, 2008 We have the Scotland Under 21 rugby squad with two training sessions…9 till 11 and then 1 till 3.At their first break we revert to football with a game between our two 19s squads. At 3 we then have a further friendly between our 2nd XI at 15s and our 1st XI at 14s.
Game off – Frost claims Capital Derby
Saturday, December 27th, 2008 Todays eagerly anticipated derby between Spartans and Edinburgh City has unfortunately fallen foul of the frosty weather, with City Park being deemed unplayable and the game called off.For those of you needing a festive football fix, Spartans will take on top Junior side Newtongrange Star in a friendly on the synthetic pitch at the new Academy on Tuesday evening (30th) with an 8pm kick off.
Welcoming Edinburgh City to City Park tomorrow
Friday, December 26th, 2008 Tomorrow we host the only fixture in the East of Scotland League when Edinburgh City come to City Park. It is a 1.45pm kick off. Co-managers Mike Lawson and Sam Lynch have a few injury worries ahead of the game. Struan Preston and Scott Livingston are definitely out. Sam Woods is unlikely to make it as his rib injury is taking time to heal. Donal Henretty has resorted to acupuncture to help his back complaint while Ross Archibald has had the flu all week and Keith McLeod’s groin pull means he is 50:50 at best. Gavin Malin will travel up from his home in Lytham to play. Hopefully he can stop his run of consecutive bookings.
Donal - acupuncture
Edinburgh City are also light in numbers with suspension keeping out three players. Co-manager Mike Lawson is looking forward to the game, “it’s great to have a competitive game to look forward to. With the poor weather earlier in the year we need to get games played. We threw away two points against City earlier in the season after being 3 – 0 up but they fought back well against us that day and will have spotted a couple of weaknesses in how we played. Hopefully we will get another good crowd, there was a good atmosphere last Saturday. We’ve been losing too many goals recently and we really need to tighten up”.
The squad is Flockhart, Archibald, O’Donnel, Fowlie, Hoskins, Kader, Manson, McLeod, Devlin, Hair, Walker, Henretty, Malin, King, Smart, Gerrard
Dan - has been in commanding form recently
The cafe/bar at the academy will be open again after the game for both teams and for supporters.
While we are on the Academy – Edinburgh Rugby had a big win over Glasgow tonight in the Magners League after spending a few days training at the Academy last week…our 1st XI and Brechin City both enjoyed the facilities today…hopefully Edinburgh’s success will rub off tomorrow for us and Brechin.
Lammy’s Half Term Report
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 Spartans 2nd 11 the season so farIt’s half time in the 2nd 11 season so far and the pre season on the sunny Granton shore line seems a long way off. In the time since joining the club in July 2008 my team have exceeded expectation and currently sit with a played 16 , won 14 , lost 2 set of statistics. In real terms it should have been only lost one, but unfortunately the satellite phone from Cyprus was not working too well and the Chairman managed to interpret 4-4-2 as 1-1-8 in an attacking formation that left us a bit shy at the back. Not too worry, a few weeks on the Paul Ince coaching course will sort him out!
As we all know statistics can tell a multitude of stories and the “real “story is of a team playing attractive, free flowing football. Unfortunately, we don’t have anybody from Brazil, but Boysie hanging about on the beach at the Ferry gives us our Copacabana influence.
Continuing on the continental theme our own “Holy Goalie” has had an outstanding season so far. Unlike his more famous namesake he is still having nae luck wi the lassies, although he is giving Lammy an easier time than wee Gordon Strachan keeping him oot the nightclubs.
At this point it would be appropriate to say a word about our sponsors. At last I can reveal the real truth behind how Jim Rae still gets a game. The last sets of strips have guaranteed out own Mr Perma tan a run till the end of the season. Hopefully, we will get a few more free kicks and penalties in the second half of the season, although the refs are getting issued with sunglasses after his latest sun bed session.
However, the greatest achievement of the season to date, must be keeping ASBO Perry on the park on a regular basis. Admittedly, there is a downside to this, as he still refuses to shower after every game, in the fear that his electronic tag might rust up!
No mid term report could fail to forget our Irish Hitman Nick Reid or Mozam Beak as he is affectionately known. I can exclusively reveal that our in depth post match video analysis can advise that his 14 goals to date have been scored with left foot 1, right foot 1, head 2 and nose 10.
And so to the legendary Burnsie our captain and Spartans stalwart of the last 15 years. He has been outstanding this season and it is particularly apt that he is getting a testimonial in the coming year. I would like to offer my own testimonial to Burnsie ….” your a true Spartan “
More disturbingly, I can report that Spartans second X1 still hold the all time record for having the hairiest man in Scottish football. I am sad to report that the boozers up the town are going bankrupt coz Paulo decided to have a night at training instead of his usual form of exercise.
All in all it has been a good season so far with us sitting top of the league, in the fifth round of the Scottish and in the 3rd round of the East of Scotland. The hopes are high for the second half of the season and the “real” work at the business end of matters is fast approaching. On this note, I need a greater commitment to training and self improvement to ensure we get our just rewards at the end of the season for our excellent efforts to date.
I am very hopeful for the rest of the season and will be active in the coming weeks to strengthen the squad to help in our push towards success. I was looking around the fantastic facilities we have the other day and thought it would be good to get that trophy cabinet filed up by the end of the season. C,mon boys lets give the Chairman a headache with his brasso budget.
Mike’s programme notes and some Spartans History
Monday, December 22nd, 2008 Given that the festive period is upon us, it is unlikely that there will be a printed programme at Saturdays derby match against Edinburgh City.With that in mind, Mike Lawson has provided us with his pre-match programme notes slightly earlier this week and we’ve made them into a downloadable PDF file for your reading pleasure.
With the Scottish Cup tie against Airdrie a matter of weeks away, we’ve also included some match reports and photographs from the 2003 Scottish Cup replay victory against Alloa Athletic which took place 5 years ago this weekend.
If that doesn’t get you fired up for the Airdrie game then nothing will.
Download the programme notes here.
Sunday’s scores from the Academy
Sunday, December 21st, 2008 Our Under 19s won a remarkable game against Civil Service Strollers in the league Cup today with a 6 – 5 scoreline. Our goals came from Michael Kirkland who scored four, Chris Smith and an own goal.In the Sunday Scottish Amateur Cup our local team The FootBall Club of Edinburgh unfortunately lost 2 – 1 to Dundee Argyle.
Earlier in the day our Under 13 Colts lost 5 -2 to Dunbar Utd Colts.
Club Forum launched
Saturday, December 20th, 2008 A new official Spartans message board has now been set up. The forum can be found at:- http://www.spartansfc.com/forum/Please feel free to visit the forum and register. Hopefully the forum will generate some lively debate amongst Spartans and non-Spartans fans alike.
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