DATES IN THE DIARY PLEASE
Binos well equipped to begin season
Discussions are ongoing between the SPFL and clubs in Leagues 1 and 2 over a potential start date for next season.
The Premiership is due to kick off on August 1 and the Championship is set to begin on October 17, with clubs playing 27 games rather than the usual 36.
The Scottish Government are now moving into phase two of their routemap out of lockdown but it is still unclear when fans will be allowed back in stadiums and closeddoor fixtures are unlikely to be viable for the majority of lower-league clubs.
In more normal times, the fixures for 2020/21 would have been published this week and the Binos would have been looking forward to a Betfred Cup opener on July 11.
It’s now a waiting game for the club due to the coronavirus pandemic but they are in a good position to get going when football does return.
Manager Kevin Rutkiewicz already has 11 players signed up for the new campaign and has a number of targets on the radar as he looks to put together a squad capable of achieving promotion.
The club have also shown ambition by boosting their backroom staff and David Peat was this week announced as the head of scouting after spells with Blackpool, Willem II and Dundee United. His arrival follows that of Bill Orr, who joined from Queen’s Park as head of performance analysis.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Nicky Hogarth has signed a new one-year deal with Rangers after impressing on loan at Forthbank last season. The teenager – who is the son of former Stirling Albion keeper Myles Hogarth – was brought to the club in January following injuries to Blair Currie and Cammy Binnie.
Stirling Albion will donate all the money raised from their Donate-A-Ticket Scottish Cup semi-final to The Gambinos – the Gambian football side with whom the club has close ties. The draw is scheduled for this weekend.
The club have already donated to Start Up Stirling and Strathcarron Hospice in earlier rounds and will now support their friends in Africa, with 100 per cent of the money raised going to help villagers in Mandinari, Gambia.
For more information visit donateaticket.com