Mr Blobby

Good effort Chief! Thanks for the conformation. Sounds promising.

Spartans' Team Sheets are a doddle but how about a glimpse of that Ainslie Park scoop in the programme when you get a minute before anyone goes to press with the news?

And you missed the unconfirmed 'alleged' scoop in the Spartans programme that City have applied to play at Ainslie Park next season with Hiberian Ladies. (Not on the same day I'm assuming )

I leave it to you then. Let me know what he says. Cheers.

Ross is the sitting image of Josh Walker. (That's who we thought it was at the Oriam until Ouzy See told us it was the assistant manager showing off his ball skills with a shimmy here and a neat nutmeg there followed by a cracking goal past Calum Antell. (sadly missed by my GoPro Session that decided to pack up at the crucial moment) Ross and Josh are both in a race and in the running now to see who gets fit first for a crack at a key midfield position.

Now that Edinburgh City have hit the big time again, has anyone at Livingston considered applying to enter the East Of Scotland (City) Cup again? Maybe too late for this season to arrange but 2017/18 might prove an attractive prospect for the semi-finals draw with Livingston, Berwick Rangers, Edinburgh City and the winners of the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup going in to the hat together. What would be the pros and cons? Any ideas folks?

There you go then. Nothing official from Edinburgh City yet though. I think I'd prefer the Oriam Centre as a temporary home for The Citizens next season instead of Ainslie Park. Nice little Café up in the stand too. It could work as long as all the matches were made all ticket. The training match at the Oriam finished at 13.30. So it could have been the big boss looking down on you.

Little bit of footage from the Edinburgh City training match at the Oriam centre today after the Cowdenbeath match was cancelled.

Bit of a blurry shot from today's Edinburgh City training session at the Oriam Centre. This was taken with an old 5.1 Mega Pixels Sony Cyber-Shot camera but the batteries died after only 2 takes.

Ouzy See in action on the ball at the Oriam Centre today. Still too soon for Josh Walker though. He wasn't there.

The Citizens game with Cowdenbeath was cancelled due to frost at Central Park so we went over to watch the Edinburgh City squad play a nine-a-side training match on the full size pitch at the Oriam Centre in Riccarton from around 12.45 to 13.15. The area was sectioned off in 2 quarters. One for Edinburgh City and the other for Edinburgh United. The other half of the pitch was given over to several women's frisbee teams. Man of the Match was assistant manager Ross MacNamara (at least I think it was him) who zigzagged through the defence and shot a cracking goal past Calum Antell. Fair to say Stobie also lost a goal at the other end and was none to pleased about it. Good work out. There's seating for 500 (in only 3 rows) on one side of the pitch which gives the viewer an idea of how the New Meadowbank Stadium would look if present plans are accepted (not). Just had a thought. I had a vision of Alick Milne here at the Oriam Centre next year sitting at a table with a tin box collecting the entrance fee from supporters on match days and selling the Citizen programmes. (Could work as an option and no worries about games called off due to the inclement weather

HaHa. You don't miss much.. Yes, from the Oscar Wilde sketch of course

I never did find out what the story with the ****** was.... I think MBEP Issue 3 never appeared so nobody found out in the end.

Nico was on the bench for the Annan and Cowdenbeath games back in November (12th and 19th). I think he was almost ready to come back after the long injury but then disappeared from view again. It was only when we spotted Nico on crutches, walking on the pitch and around the ground last Saturday that we knew something was wrong. Didn't notice any write-up about him in the Citizen. We had a chat outside the entrance but the lighting was too poor for the GoPro Session though. Only Mr Blobby could shine out like a shaft of gold when all around is dark.

I think you're right. In Issue 5 on the 1st October for the game against Arbroath (3-3), Stobie was featured in the player profiles page but referred to as "In the Picture" and Nico Gibson, who we spoke to last Saturday after the match against Arbroath (0-2), was "In Focus". The term "Pin Up" like the others mentioned above are all derived from Meadowbank Thistle Fanzines of yore. "Pin Up" being the preferred title for player profiles in Mr Bismarck's Electric Pickelhaube. (Berwick Rangers manager John Coughlin being the most memorable "Pin Up" in Issue 2 with the story of his stag do and the case of the ******.) As a footnote on striker Nico Gibson. Nico tells us he'll probably be out of action until March, as he banged into a cabinet at work and damaged his knee.

I wrote this on my profile page today. It's, the story so far, kind of thing. Our Motto: "Let 2016/17 be the season where you perform the ‘reverse-Trump’: let’s take down the walls and build some bridges". The half way stage in the Scottish League 2 is a fitting place to take stock, as the nights draw in, the cold weather begins to bite and games are inevitably called off. It seems such a long time ago now since we took up the Mark Bradley Fan Experience Challenge and became mystery fans in July 2016. See here http://bradleyprojects.com/blog.php?id=62 and here http://bradleyprojects.com/blog.php?id=67 for some explanations. Mark sent us all the tools we needed to build up a persona and left the rest to our imagination. We picked newly promoted Edinburgh City FC in Scottish League 2 and took the unusual decision to follow them, not for just a few games - as is the case in most Mark Bradley Fan Experience Projects, but for the whole of the season in 2016/17. Having read through 'Ten Ways To Grow Attendances' we focused on item Number 9 - Be Different. ' 'So what makes your club unique? Is it an aspect of the club’s history, the industrial heritage of the town, a local food item or a story? I recall AFC Telford United celebrating the local village of Dawley by resurrecting connected icons (Captain Webb, Fatty Foulkes, George Cadbury and the Pig on the Wall – don’t ask) and featuring them on that match day. Lewes FC does it through imaginative promotional posters and a match day experience aligned to something much more abstract than a simple game of football, but few others even consider this. If you’re not going to be sweeping all before you on the pitch, then what’s making you different off it? Make 2016/17 the year you discover niche marketing.' Edinburgh City FC had a lot going for it in the 'unique' department. It was a relatively new club with a small fan base working out of the large Meadowbank Stadium, the venue for two previous Commonwealth Games competitions - not to mention events like the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and various concerts and gatherings. There was also the loose connection with a team formally known as Meadowbank Thistle and all the history that went with it, like Mr Blobby and the club's fanzines. So what better than to start our journey in the Betfred Scottish League Cup Group stage on Wednesday 20 July 2016 at 19:45 in the Meadowbank Sports Centre. Edinburgh City v Livingston - the Scottish equivalent of AFC Wimbledon v MK Dons. We took along a blow-up Mr Blobby and the idea of creating a fanzine for Edinburgh City germinated when we accidentally met 4 former Meadowbank Thistle fans outside the stadium - David Baxter, Colin McPherson and two who's names are as yet unknown to me. The 0-3 result was the start of a losing streak that went on for some considerable time for Edinburgh City until a 1-1 draw away to Stirling Albion on 10th September brought some relief. Two more draws followed. 1-1 away to Annan Athletic on 24th September and a 3-3 home draw with Arbroath at Meadowbank on 1st October. But it was not until Edinburgh City beat Forfar 1-0 in the Scottish Cup on 1st November at Station Park that they recorded their first win of the season and then went on an unbeaten run that saw them soar up the League table winning plaudits, and awards, as they went. The saga continues at Central Park, Cowdenbeath on Saturday. (Weather permitting)

Thanks for the update. That's bad news - was really looking forward to this visit. Missed it first time around. Overnight frost was forecast for Friday too.

Congratulations to Andrew Stobie for winning Ladbrokes Player of the Month. By coincidence Andrew is our PIn Up next week.

Hopefully the game will go ahead on Saturday. Mr Blobby has dug out his shovel tonight to help clear the snow off the pitch at central park ...

I don't think badger gets it. He must be sett in his ways.

My lips are sealed....... (Watch this space as they say)

With Meadowbank due for demolition this summer, took this winter snap of the ground from Marionville Road on the way in to the match

Some of the fans are wearing the Orange Thistle scarf. What year did that come out? That should help with a date.

I like the writing on the L A scoreboard. Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger". Could be something Edinburgh City FC think about adopting as their motto as they climb up to the play-off spots in the springtime. Grant Collie, who's claim to fame is that he was the brother of the Corrie who didn't write the famous song, I'm assured is in this picture below.