With one cup tie played and won it was time for a more difficult cup assignment this weekend as Jocky Scott’s team made the short trip to North Lanarkshire to take on Airdrie United. Due to cash concerns the Diamonds were forced down the youth road last season and did remarkably well to finish in mid-table with nearly 50 points. Most of last seasons squad is still in place at the Excelsior and with experienced lads like David Lilley and Derek Holmes being brought in it augurs well for another solid campaign for Jimmy Boyle’s charges. With the SPL clubs entering the League Cup in a couple of rounds the chance was there to earn some much needed income. However, first and foremost Stirling would have to pull out all the stops to get past their hosts this afternoon. A tough 90 minutes was sure to be in store. Team [... more]

The shadow boxing is over. The gloves are off. Use whatever cliché you like but the bottom line was that pre-season was over and the competitive action started this afternoon. Some may not place much importance in the Ramsdens Cup but for the players, fans and management of Stirling Albion the long trip North to Banff was one to look forward to. With a completely new team in place nobody could really be sure what the Beanos would produce. Deveronvale are one of the strongest teams in the Highland League and were sure to be up for causing a surprise in what would be their first appearance in the competition. The XI named by Jocky Scott was along roughly expected lines based on what was witnessed in the Rangers and Cliftonville games. Maybe the only eyebrow raiser was the appearance of big Gavin Macpherson on the right wing, but the [... more]

Stirling played their third and final public pre-season friendly on Saturday afternoon as Northern Ireland outfit Cliftonville visited the DDS. The match was officially the Ladbrokes Cup, a one off game between two of the nations fan owned teams. Cliftonville defeated FC United of Manchester last year so came to Scotland as holders. That said the game was still expected to be the usual pre-season fare with the managers looking to give trialists a go and signed players another fitness boost. As it turned out the 90 minutes that followed was perhaps one of the more competitive friendlies this scribe has seen in many a year. For whatever reason none of the players were listed as trialists on the team sheet even though it’s obvious that several were not signed players. The ones who I think were still trialists are marked as such: Stirling Albion: 1. Sam Filler (Trialist) , [... more]

Following defeat at Allan Park against Highland League side Cove the Beanos returned to Forthbank to play one of only two home pre-season clashes. The opposition was a young Rangers XI and as well as being a friendly encounter the match also doubled as  a well merited testimonial for long time owner and chairman Peter McKenzie. Usual mix of signed players and trialists on display again this evening. Official team lines from tonight’s game were: Stirling Albion: 1. Sam Filler (Trialist), 2. Devon Jacobs, 3. John Crawley (Trialist), 4. Shaun Fagan, 5. Brian Allison,  6. Gary Thom (Trialist), 7. Lewis Bonar, 8. Dale McSorley, 9. Scott Davidson, 10. Marc McCulloch (Trialist), 11. Gary Brass – Subs Used: Andy Hunter, Paul Scott, Danny Ashe + 2 unknown trialists Rangers XI: 1. Alan Smith, 2. Kyle McAusland, 3. Tom Skogsrvd, 4. Kim Skogsrvd, 5. Chris Hegarty, 6. Darren Cole, 7. Andy Mitchell, [... more]

In their first public friendly of the season the Albion headed north to take on Highland League outfit Cove Rangers. The match at Allan Park would give the Stirling faithful an early opportunity to cast their gaze over the team being assembled by manager Jocky Scott and assistant John Blackley. As ever with pre-season matches there was bound to be a few trialists on display hoping to impress the watching coaching staff. Team lines are fairly scratchy at the moment. We will try to confirm later but the best we have just now is that the defence featured Brian Allison and Devon Jacobs with trialist Mark Peat in goals. Midfield saw Danny Ashe and Sean Fagan on display with Lewis Bonar up front. I’m sure the “So You Think You’re Good Enough” lads will have been in attendance and indeed it looks as if Paul Scott was one of the [... more]