We opened two weeks ago and what a two weeks.  It was supposed to be a “soft” launch…yet we have had nearly 2000 players enjoy the pitches and the excellent changing rooms.  Everyone without fail has marvelled at the facilities…the changing rooms, club room and of course the surface on the two Field Turf pitches. 

We have catered for a wide range of age groups and levels.  The most rewarding has been the regular group of over 50 local youngsters who hang about each evening for the chance of some play.  When it comes about it’s like a step back in time…street football…15 a side, ten+ year age gaps between the players, self refereeing, smallest player in goals, clothes sodden with the rain but the pitches full of laughter, energy and passion.   We had a visit from the local Police yesterday who have noticed a marked reduction in their workload. 

The SRU Under 21 squad held their first training session of a series this week, full contact under the coaching of ex Lions John Jeffrey, Tom Smith and Craig Chalmers.  They enjoyed it so much that pro team Edinburgh Rugby  were then straight on the phone to book some day time sessions over the Festive period.

Kenny Cameron our Development Officer continues his great work.  In schools he has been planning two new programmes to be rolled out In January.  First The Spartans “Read and White Army” a literacy programme aimed at helping youngsters improve their skills by reading and writing about football.  Secondly a Primary One programme helping with Oral Hygiene, Spartans toothbrushes and Dental Floss combined with football drills and skills aimed at reminding the children on the importance of looking after their teeth.  

The cafe did well last weekend and the bar opens this weekend for the first time. The Pinot Grigio is being chilled for Wheelie Jim ready for tomorrow afternoon!!

The full time team of Douglas Samuel, Colin Hutchison, Dan Gerrard and Kenny have done a fantastic job, well done to them all.  We are all very proud of the effort and commitment you have put in.  There was a “snagging” list of some 33 pages so there’s loads more to do to make it how we would like it. Watch out for Sky TV arriving and the decor work starting over the coming few weeks!   The Spartans family has really kicked in with support as well…businesses run by Terry Burns, Keith McLeod, Kevin Wilson, Iain Kirkpatrick, Gary Hucknell and Andy Gray have all made a big contribution.  Thanks to them all, and those who will continue to help over the coming weeks.

The heavy rain over the last few days has put tomorrow’s fixtures in trouble.  The 2nd XI East of Scotland Round 3 match away to Plean has already been postponed.

The 1st XI game against Lothian Thistle is subject to a mid morning inspection.  The forecast is for the rain to stop later this evening.  Hopefully the wind will remain strong and dry the pitch out at City Park.  The ko is 1.45pm.  The bar at the academy will be open for the first time tomorrow from lunchtime and for hospitality for both teams after the game.  The Spartans squad is along the usual lines with only Scott Livingston and Struan Preston out injured.  The squad is Flockhart, O’Donnel, Hoskins, Fowlie, Gerrard, Archibald, Malin, King, Manson, Walker, Hair, Woods, McLeod, Kader, Henretty, Devlin. 

Co-manager Mike Lawson is looking forward to the game “we are likely to freshen up the starting Xi for tomorrow, our squad is small but all the players can stake a claim for a starting position.  Lets hope the game is on, we are keen to keep on playing over the festive season”.

A postscript from Monday.  Elgin “scored” when it was 1 – 1 but the linesman spotted a handball and it was disallowed…well done to the ref and some excellent photography from Robert Crombie the Elgin City FC photographer.

 

 

Have you seen the brand new Spartans merchandise on sale at The Football Nation, Edinburgh?

Since November, the Lothian Road store has been busy with Spartan Army members eager to buy the latest strips, t-shirts, fleeces, hats and for the first time ever, Spartans scarves. Football Nation manager Steven Dow commented

“We have been overwhelmed with the demand for Spartans football merchandise since we launched the product range last year. The strips regularly selling out and the new leisure clothing continues to grow in popularity. This year we have introduced pink t-shirts to the range which have proven popular, not only with the girls but also with the boys that have an eye for fashion!!”

It seems it is not just Edinburgh based fans buying the new club clothing, Steven told us customers have been using Football Nations online services to have merchandise delivered all round the globe.

“We also have considerable demand for Spartans merchandise from all over the world. So far we have shipped merchandise to France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, America and as far as Australia. Not forgetting we frequently send orders to all corners of the UK. It would appear that the Spartans family is growing, not just within Edinburgh, but all over the world.”

Spartans midfielder and scorer of the goal that put us into the forth round of the Scottish Cup, Gavin Malin, recently visited the store to buy some of our latest items as Christmas presents. Steven added that the combination of Christmas and our Scottish Cup forth round tie against Airdrie United, has seen sales increase further.

“Clearly the upcoming Scottish Cup tie with Airdrie United is already catching the imagination with demand for hats, scarves and shirts increasing every day”.

Football Nation are offering a 10% discount to all Spartans fans until the 24th of December. Please print this page with the coupon below to ensure your Spartan saving!!

Our Blyth colleagues beat Bournemouth 1 – 0 tonight with a last gasp winner.  They go through to play Blackburn Rovers in Round 3 in January….can you imagine it…Santa Cruz playing on a pitch once graced by Paulo and Kenny Skiv! 

Blyth are lined up for their fourth live game of their campaign with the tie due for coverage on Monday 5th January.

To the delight of a small band of fans in Elgin and many hundreds more keeping tabs on the score via text, Setanta, Sky, BBC radio and various websites it was a long last 15 minutes after Gavin scored.  It was actually a more even game than the one ten days ago.  We had fewer chances and Elgin played a bigger stronger team which caused us problems.  At the end of the game our pace just edged it.  Many thanks to the hospitality again from the Elgin committee.  They have a great vision for the club.  They are committed to bringing through local youngsters and are in the early years of a very good Youth set up.  We are sure they have the infrastructure and committee to move up the table and in due course out of SFL3.

Thanks to Keith Anderson and the News for the following report.

SPARTANS’ roller-coaster ride in this season’s Homecoming Scottish Cup is still very much alive after their two young students, Omar Kader and Gavin Malin, notched the goals to ensure a 2-1 victory against Third Division side Elgin City. (more…)