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Stirling Albion Season 24/25 Thread


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After GTF day it looks like our thread is not being transferred over, so time for a fresh one and a summary of where we are right now.

So far Darren Young has retained all of last season squad, except for Danny Denholm, and has added Dale Hilston from Arbroath and Mark Weir from Bonnyrigg (who was on loan at the tail end of the season). He has mentioned in various interviews that he is looking to add "3 or 4 players, whether signed or on loan" before the season starts so there won't be anything major happening on the playing front. Full list of players signed so far below.

Off the field, there has been no announcements yet on strips or Season Tickets, however the club listened to the vote of the fans and will vote NO for the Conference League proposals. The club underwent a change of board last season, some fans were in favour and others were not, so without digging all that up again, there's an air or "wait and see" with regards to the clubs running, off the pitch. That said, with promotion and the attitude of the players and management staff throughout last season, there is also an air of optimism sand over the past 5-6 months, attendances have risen greatly, so lets hope this remains the case in League 1.

Squad so far:

Goalkeepers: Blair Currie, Mark Weir and Callum Law

Defenders: Paul McLean, Ross McGeachie, Jordon McGregor, Adam Cummins, Cameron Clark, Aaron Dunsmore

Midfielders: Kyle Banner, Ross Davidson, Jack Leitch, Kieran Moore, Josh Cooper

Strikers: Dale Carrick, Robert Thomson, Greig Spence, Dale Hilston

 

 

Edited by BB_Bino
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5 minutes ago, BB_Bino said:

After GTF day it looks like our thread is not being transferred over, so time for a fresh one and a summary of where we are right now.

So far Darren Young has retained all of last season squad, except for Danny Denholm, and has added Dale Hilston from Arbroath and Mark Weir from Bonnyrigg (who was on loan at the tail end of the season). He has mentioned in various interviews that he is looking to add "3 or 4 players, whether signed or on loan" before the season starts so there won't be anything major happening on the playing front. Full list of players signed so far below.

Off the field, there has been no announcements yet on strips or Season Tickets, however the club listened to the vote of the fans and will vote NO for the Conference League proposals. The club underwent a change of board last season, some fans were in favour and others were not, so without digging all that up again, there's an air or "wait and see" with regards to the clubs running, off the pitch. That said, with promotion and the attitude of the players and management staff throughout last season, there is also an air of optimism sand over the past 5-6 months, attendances have risen greatly, so lets hope this remains the case in League 1.

Squad so far:

Goalkeepers: Blair Currie, Mark Weir and Callum Law

Defenders: Paul McLean, Ross McGeachie, Jordon McGregor, Adam Cummins, Cameron Clark, Aaron Dunsmore

Midfielders: Kyle Banner, Ross Davidson, Jack Leitch, Kieran Moore, Josh Cooper

Strikers: Dale Carrick, Robert Thomson, Greig Spence, Dale Hilston

Welcome to L1 Binos!  Queens and Albion don't seem to have tangled often during recent seasons, looking forward to it as a nice change and hopefully will make it over to Forthbank.  We're hoping Queens might be competitive next season, but our optimism tends to fail soon after the first quarter - still, fingers crossed, eh?

NB - I think you've signed Dale Hilson (not Hilston) from Arbroath (he's also played for Queens in the distant past).

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Good summary BB Bino

Optimism indeed circles the club at the moment on the playing side, hope the players can kick on this season and secure a comfortable mid table finish in the league which in my opinion should be the aim for the forthcoming season. Avoiding relegation is obviously the priority and whilst sneaking into the playoffs at the other end of the table would be amazing, I don't think anyone will be expecting that. Consolidating ourselves for a couple of seasons in this league would be absolutely fine as we look to build and stabilise off the park.

As BB mentions, there is alot of work to be done off the park for the club. I have no doubt the wheels are in motion but we have yet to hear from our new club board at all.

Brian Hamilton has been our new 'Operations Director' for two months now and we have heard absolutely nothing from him - no video, no interview, no social media, not even a statement on the website. Assuming he is the person 'leading' our club from the playing side of things, he has been an absolute ghost so far. I'm giving benefit of the doubt so far that he is waiting until new season before springing alive and coming into the foray. Would be nice to hear from him and have regular club updates.

There has been zero updates regarding season tickets, pricing, strips, merchandise, pre season friendlies etc. Again, I'm sure all is well in hand but communication is a little bit lacking at the moment. I would have expected to be bombarded with emails trying to sell me stuff at this time of season whilst morale is at an all time high. I get the feeling at times, we probably have one poor lad who does the social media that gets drip fed bits and pieces to put out. The least said about the website the better, its an abomination that I suspect Robert Clubb (our IT Director) will have made a priority.

If the above sounds like a whinge, it isn't really. I think we are on the right track and relying on volunteers to get a number of things sorted and that of course takes time.

Looking forward to the new season 🙂

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The fact there hasn't been a peep from the club since the end of the season other than the Hilson signing is disgraceful. Club should be going full pelt at this point to get as many season tickets sold as possible to increase the budget for the playing staff. It's starting to take the shine off the wonderful end to the season. This is the new board's first close season, its vital they get things right here, otherwise our visit to this league could be a short one. 

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47 minutes ago, StewartyMac said:

The fact there hasn't been a peep from the club since the end of the season other than the Hilson signing is disgraceful. Club should be going full pelt at this point to get as many season tickets sold as possible to increase the budget for the playing staff. It's starting to take the shine off the wonderful end to the season. This is the new board's first close season, its vital they get things right here, otherwise our visit to this league could be a short one. 

What are you looking for at this point out of interest? 

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13 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

What are you looking for at this point out of interest? 

We have someone new in running the day to day of the club and we haven't heard a word from them at all about anything! Literally nothing from the new club board. 

At the moment they have a little bit of grace from me because they have just been put together and I'm sure it's a bit if a shambles getting everything in order but even a statement saying things are being done and these are key dates for release of things would be appreciated.

I understand Stewarts frustration and do agree that they really should be striking before the iron cools off.

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I kind of agree. There was huge momentum towards the end of the season. We were drawing in new fans and I'd never seen us sell so much merchandise at games.

Season tickets should have been out sharpish while that feel good feeling was there. New kit ready to go too. You don't win championships every year and its something that should be capitalised on.

It's been unbelievably quiet on all fronts 

 

 

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I'm with you on that one @StewartyMac, for me that's what identifies us as us, red body with white sleeves. For sales reasons as well, I would think the club would shift more kits of that design than the plain red that we have had over the last few seasons. It was said at the time that the plain red was Pru's request, so I suppose that's where the club is stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I would prefer to see the white sleeves return. 

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Obviously not pleased the bairns are yet again in the 3rd tier of Scottish football, however I am glad that my local club Stirling Albion are back in the same league again.

Always enjoyed games at forthbank, a tidy stadium to watch a game of football. Looking forward to getting along to both games this season.

Good luck, except in games against us of course 

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8 minutes ago, bridge of allan bairn said:

Obviously not pleased the bairns are yet again in the 3rd tier of Scottish football, however I am glad that my local club Stirling Albion are back in the same league again.

Always enjoyed games at forthbank, a tidy stadium to watch a game of football. Looking forward to getting along to both games this season.

Good luck, except in games against us of course 

Same for me, just round the corner.

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22 hours ago, BB_Bino said:

Midfielders: Kyle Banner

How has young Banner been doing? I seem to remember he scored his first league goal against my lot and I've seen his name in the team regularly since. Pretty rare and really great to see a laddie play consistently for a team in the lower leagues for that long.

Also, good luck for the coming season. I would have liked to have been in the same league, I really enjoy a trip to Forthbank!

Edited by Brian Carrigan
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1 hour ago, Brian Carrigan said:

How has young Banner been doing? I seem to remember he scored his first league goal against my lot and I've seen his name in the team regularly since. Pretty rare and really great to see a laddie play consistently for a team in the lower leagues for that long.

Also, good luck for the coming season. I would have liked to have been in the same league, I really enjoy a trip to Forthbank!

He's become a very good player for us and as last season progressed, probably became the main Ball Winner in the middle of the park. When he first broke through, he was played as a Centre Back and I'm not sure if it was him out of position or just simply being a youngster playing pro football, but he had some "cover the eyes" moments. It's funny because we signed big Duffy from Clyde to be the Midfield enforcer and he was pretty rank for us, but when he was injured/suspended, Banner came in and really looked the part. Since then he has gone from strength to strength and has grown into the role. Can't sing the lads praises high enough.

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2017/18 - 8 appearances, no goals, 1 assist

2018/19 - 34 appearances, 1 goal, 0 assists

2019/20 - 20 appearances, 0 goals, no assists

2020/21 - 25 appearances, 1 goal, 0 assists

2021/22 - 37 appearances, 1 goal, 0 assists

2022/23 - 38 appearances, 3 goals, 1 assist

Crazy to think that Kyle Banner is going into his seventh season with us and he is only 23 years old. A very useful squad player for sure and has come on loads since his move to midfield. Had he continued at centre back I don't think he would still be at the club.

Along with Ross McGeachie (who is in his testimonial year with us at 29 years old) he is among our most successful youth players to come through to the first team in a long time. An important player and I'm glad he has signed on for the new season.

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4 hours ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

Any thoughts on young Reuben Lamont, in the 20's?

He's a pal of my son, and got boosted up from the 18s last year I think.

Don't think he has had an appearance for the first team yet, certainly not the season just gone.

We had 10 youth players make their debut this season (albeit mostly once the league was already won) and he wasn't one of them so that may indicate he isn't that close to first team action yet but honestly not a clue.

It wasn't a particularly great season for our under 20s team as we finished third from bottom.

Screenshot_20230607_002356_Twitter.jpg

Edited by Quentin Taranbino
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