LATEST NEWS
For previous news articles see the monthly archive at the foot of this page.
DON'T GIVE UP THE DAY JOB 30th September 2001
Des McKeown has had his book, 'Don't give up the day job', published, most fans of part-time sides will enjoy the book as it gives a fascinating insight into the life of a part-time footballer.

It is on sale now at £9.99 and can be purchased from the Club Shop on matchdays or from a number of bookshops, if you can't find it locally try ordering it using the reference number ISBN 1-84018-455-8. Or buy online from www.mainstreampublishing.com and search on 'mckeown' to find the book.
REACTION 29th September 2001
John Connolly expressed his satisfaction at this afternoon's result, although admitted that if the strikers had taken their chances then the winning margin would have been a good few more. However with such an experienced Alloa side with a previously unbeaten away record he was happy to settle for the winning margin that was recorded.

After two tough matches John is also pleased that there is now a short break from competitive matches whilst the Scotland national side takes centre stage next weekend.
TEAM NEWS 27th September 2001
The latest news from the training ground this evening is that there will be no changes to the squad for this Saturday's game versus Alloa, although there is a chance that Jim Thomson may be added if has recovered well enough from his trip to the middle east. Both Warren Hawke and Paddy Atkinson remain on the injured list.

OUT

OUT

POSSIBLE
MAN OF THE MATCH 27th September 2001
It's no surprise that livewire striker Craig Feroz wins the internet fans vote for man of the match after his goalscoring performance against SPL side Aberdeen on Tuesday evening. On-loan Feroz scored an enormous 8.51 average with his closest rival being Joe McAlpine(again), third this week went to the ever reliable Alan Gray who again turned in an excellent performance.

Craig Feroz consolidates his position at the top of the Player of the Season league table and Joe McAlpine moves into second place, check the latest tabel via the Man of the Match link. The rest of the side scored as follows:
Scott
Rating: 7.08
Allan
Rating: 6.76
Crawford
Rating: 7.00
Aitken
Rating: 7.16
Gray
Rating: 7.33
S1
Connelly
Rating: 6.73
O'Neill
Rating: 7.25
S2
Connell
Rating: 6.82
McAlpine
Rating: 7.94
Weatherson
Rating: 7.22
1
Feroz
Rating: 8.51
SUBSTITUTES
S1 75m
Sunderland
Rating: 4.90
S2 87m
Davidson
McKeown
Armstrong
Campbell
TRACKER 24th September 2001
A few of our former players have been spotted around the North East this weekend, Jarrod Suddick is now at Spennymoor along with Stephen Pickering whilst both Gareth McGie and Alan Hogg are now at Ashington.
TEAM NEWS 24th September 2001
The main team news ahead of tomorrow evenings clash with Aberdeen in the CIS Insurance Cup is that Craig Feroz, at lunchtime today, re-signed on another months loan from Livingston, John Connolly was delighted to have secured the tricky forwards services and is pleased that he will have another month to have a good look at Craig.

The other news is that both Warren Hawke and Paddy Atkinson are still ruled out due to injury and Jim Thomson is still overseas, everyone else, though, is fit and available for selection.
MAN OF THE MATCH 24th September 2001
Joe McAlpine has certainly made an impression in the five games that he has featured in so far for the Doonhamers, in every game he has been in the top three and in this weeks voting he hits the top with an impressive 7.56, having played in five Joe now features in the Player of the Season voting and sits third just behind this weeks second place man John O'Neill with Craig Feroz still top. Third place on Saturday went to Peter Weatherson who is putting in the performances but not the goals as yet.

The rest of the voting went as follows and the Player of the Season league table has been updated, you can find it via the Man of the Match link.
Scott
Rating: 5.73
Allan
Rating: 6.88
Crawford
Rating: 7.12
Aitken
Rating: 7.12
Gray
Rating: 6.69
1
Connelly
Rating: 7.12
S2 2
O'Neill
Rating: 7.50
Connell
Rating: 6.44
S3
McAlpine
Rating: 7.56
S1
Weatherson
Rating: 7.20
Feroz
Rating: 6.88
SUBSTITUTES
S1 83m
Armstrong
S2 86m
Davidson
S3 86m
McKeown
Sunderland
Campbell
TEAM NEWS 20th September 2001
The latest team news from Palmerston today ahead of the Berwick Rangers encounter at Shilefield on Saturday and subject to tonight's training session is as follow:

Paddy Atkinson, Stuart Davidson and Peter Weatherson are all back in the squad, as previosuly reported Jim Thomson is out of the country and out of the match. Derek Allan and Andy Aitken are both fully fit and both are keen to take the place of Jim Thomson on Saturday. Finally Craig Feroz will play his last match for the Doonhamers as Livvie are reluctant to extend his loan deal any further, the front man has certainly made an impact in his time at Palmerston with his memorable hat-trick versus East Stirling in the CIS Cup undoubtedly the highlight.


IN

IN

IN

OUT
GOAL 17th September 2001
Congratulations to big Chris Doig tonight, the defender notched his first league goal for Forest to give his side a two goal-lead against Rotherham.
MAN OF THE MATCH 17th September 2001
The Internet Fan Club members were split on who turned in the top performance at the weekend in the 1-1 draw at Central Park against Cowdenbeath, the voting produced a shared award with penalty scorer John O'Neill and penalty winner Craig Feroz being ranked equally. Second place went to the impressive Joe McAlpine who notches up his fourth top three finish in four appearances whilst Jon Sunderland also made it into the top three.

The Player of the Season League Table, see the Man of the Match link, has also been updated and the scores for everyone else were as follows:
Scott
Rating: 6.06
Gray
Rating: 5.44
Thomson
Rating: 6.06
Crawford
Rating: 5.56
Sunderland
Rating: 6.31
Connelly
Rating: 5.88
1
O'Neill
Rating: 6.62
Connell
Rating: 6.06
McAlpine
Rating: 6.50
S1
Connolly
Rating: 4.38
Feroz
Rating: 6.62
SUBSTITUTES
S1 76m
Armstrong
Rating: 5.62
Allan
Aitken
McKeown
Campbell
JT KO 16th September 2001
Bad news for the Doonhamers today as Jim Thomson makes himself unavailable for the next three matches due to his work commitments. This will undoubtedly be a blow to the side but with a players of the calibre of Andy Aitken and Derek Allan itching to get back into the side the defence should still be pretty tight.

In other news John Connolly has told us that Carlisle United forward Ian Stevens will not be joining the side following his discussions with the Lancastrian on Friday. Stevens would rather play for a side closer to his home in the Preston area.

Midfielder Mark Patterson has parted company with the club after finding himself more of a squad player than a regular.
THOMMO HAT-TRICK 15th September 2001
Nice to see that Andy Thomson is hitting the back of the net regularly, this afternoon he notched a hat-trick for QPR against Port Vale.
LATEST TEAM NEWS 14th September 2001
The side for tomorrows match versus Cowdenbeath at Central Park will have at least one change. Peter Weatherson misses out after receiving a red card for violent conduct on Tuesday evening, Warren Hawke remains sidelined and Paddy Atkinson had to sit out part of last nights training after taking a knock to the thigh, it is hoped however that Paddy will be ready for Saturday. On the plus side Stuart Davidson came through a full and rigourous training session unscathed and may be in a position to force himself back into the squad.


OUT

PROBABLE

OUT

DOUBTFUL
ABERDEEN TIE DETAILS 14th September 2001
The CIS Insurance League Cup second round tie against Aberdeen will take place on Tuesday 25th September with a 7.45pm kick-off. The entrance fee will be £12 for adults and £6 for OAP's and children all pay at the gate. The Dons are expected to bring up to 1000 fans with them.
PLAYER TALKS 14th September 2001
John Connolly tells us that he is in discussions with Carlisle United and their striker Ian Stevens about the possibility of the frontman signing for the Doonhamers.
MAN OF THE MATCH 13th September 2001
Craig Feroz comfortably won the man of the match voting from Tuesday evenings 3-0 victory over East Stirling with his match-winning hat-trick performance. In second place was Joe McAlpine, his third match and his third finish in the top three performers whilst third place was claimed by the ever solid Jon Crawford

Check out the latest standings in the Player of the Season League Table via the MoM link, the rest of the voting went as follows.
Scott
Rating: 6.3
Gray
Rating: 6.2
Thomson
Rating: 6.5
Crawford
Rating: 6.7
S1
Atkinson
Rating: 6.3
O'Neill
Rating: 6.0
Connell
Rating: 6.2
Connelly
Rating: 6.6
McAlpine
Rating: 6.8
Weatherson
Rating: 6.6
S2 3
Feroz
Rating: 8.3
SUBSTITUTES
S1 68m
Sunderland
Rating: 6.0
S2 81m
Connolly
Aitken
Allan
Campbell
HOME DRAW AT LAST 13th September 2001
Queens fans will be able to watch their first home cup game of the season when Aberdeen visit for the second round of the CIS Insurance League Cup on the 25th or 26th September. It will be the first competitive meeting between the sides since we met in the League Cup of season 1972/73 when it was a mini-league, the Dons winning both matches, 2-1 at Pittordrie and 4-0 at Palmerston. We have met each other a couple of times in friendlies since then, the most recent being pre-season 1999-00 when a Stevie Mallan hat-trick helped to beat the Dons 3-1, the most notable event of the day though was the injury to David Mathieson that saw him miss the bulk of the season and never quite regain top form.

Expect a high scoring game against the Dons as we have played them twelve times in the League Cup and those twelve games have produced an amazing total of 56 goals.
FIRST TREBLE 11th September 2001
Surprisingly last nights' three goals constituted the first senior level hat-trick for frontman Craig Feroz, the on-loan Livvie striker was delighted with his tally and hopes to increase on it for the Doonhamers soon. At the moment Craig's loan spell means that we will have him available for this weekend and next, anything after that would have to be subject to another deal.

The draw for the next round of the CIS Cup will take place in Glasgow tomorrow morning, we will have news of the draw that Queen's are given tomorrow evening.
MAN OF THE MATCH 10th September 2001
John O'Neill is certainly the man on form at the moment, with six goals in four starts the midfielder is certainly showing the front men the way to goal. Paddy Atkinson grabbed second place and claimed in today's press that he intended for his corner to be taken in by that gust of wind, close behind Paddy was impressive wing back Joe McAlpine making only his second appearance and taking his second placing in the voting.

The full voting went as follows and serves to consolidate John O'Neill's place at the head of the Player of the Season League Table particularly with JT scoring so lowly this week, check the table via the Man of the Match link.
Scott
Rating: 6.24
Gray
Rating: 6.18
Thomson
Rating: 5.65
Crawford
Rating: 6.47
1
Atkinson
Rating: 6.82
1
O'Neill
Rating: 7.12
Connell
Rating: 6.18
Connelly
Rating: 6.24
McAlpine
Rating: 6.65
Weatherson
Rating: 6.06
Feroz
Rating: 6.29
SUBSTITUTES
Allan
Connolly
Aitken
Sunderland
Campbell
CIS CUP TEAM NEWS 9th September 2001
Everyone came through yesterday's encounter with Stranraer scratch-free and all, including on-loan frontman Craig Feroz will be available for selection for the match versus East Stirlingshire on Tuesday evening at Firs Park.

Both Stuart Davidson and Warren Hawke remain on the long-term injury list whilst Derek Allan and Des McKeown are still less than 100% fit.
UPDATED TEAM NEWS 7th September 2001
John O'Neill has confirmed that he will be available for selection tomorrow as the knock picked up last night has not come to anything and he is fully fit.
TEAM NEWS 7th September 2001
Some good news and some bad news on the team selection front for John Connelly this weekend ahead of the local derby clash against Stranraer at Stair Park tomorrow.

Both Warren Hawke and Stuart Davidson remain on the sidelines with their respective injuries. Jon Sunderland has a sickness bug, which is doing the rounds in Newcastle at the moment and potentially the worst news is that on-form goalscorer John O'Neill may miss out following Thursday night training where he picked up a leg injury and had to miss out on a good part of the evenings work.

The only bit of good news is that Des McKeown is back in contention after playing for sixty minutes on Tuesday evening in the friendly game with Irvine Meadow.

As for Stranraer they have Ian Harty sidelined as he starts a two match suspension and of course last season's tormentor of Queens in chief Paul Walker is now at Partick, club captain Billy McDonald is also doubtful. Some smart signings by Billy McLaren though will make up for the players missing and ensure that Stranraer are challengers again this year with Kevin Finlayson, (two goals against us last term) and George Shaw amongst the re-enforcement's brought in.


OUT

OUT

IN

DOUBTFUL

DOUBTFUL
NEW DIRECTOR JOINS THE BOARD 5th September 2001
Queen of the South FC have co-opted a new director to the club, he is David Rae from Hightae, a retired farmer who is a life long supporter of the club and who hopes to be able to assist now he has the time available.

Mr. Rae was a guest in the Directors box at the Stenhousemuir match on Sunday.
SNIPPETS 5th September 2001
Queens beat Irvine Meadow 4-1 last night in a friendly encounter with Graeme Armstrong notching two.

The 'Kings of the League' lapel badge recently on sale sold out in just one day.
The Queen of the South Fan Club lapel badge is presently on sale for £3.00, see any committee member.

BLW
MAN OF THE MATCH 4th September 2001
It wasn't hard to pick out this weekend's man of the match, two goal hero John O'Neill was the clear choice scoring an impressive 8.1 average, his closest rivals coming in with a dead 7.0 each were Jim Thomson and new signing Joe McAlpine, the former Everton and Airdrie wing back. The final place went to Alan Gray for yet another rock solid performance.

The Player of the Season League Table has a new leader this week as JT is displaced for the first time this season, check it out via the Man of the Match link, the full scores from Saturday were as follows:
Scott
Rating: 6.45
Gray
Rating: 6.93
Thomson
Rating: 7.00
Crawford
Rating: 6.89
S1
Atkinson
Rating: 6.57
Connelly
Rating: 6.28
2
O'Neill
Rating: 8.10
Connell
Rating: 6.41
McAlpine(t)
Rating: 7.00
Weatherson
Rating: 6.66
S2
Feroz
Rating: 6.14
SUBSTITUTES
S1-79mins
Allan
Rating: 5.41
S2-84mins
Connolly
Aitken
Sunderland
Campbell
AFTER MATCH REACTION 2nd September 2001
John Connolly
"We are all delighted to have followed up last weeks performance with another victory. Our home form was a problem last season but that is now two wins on the trot at Palmerston with no goals conceeded. It also sets us up nicely for next weekends local derby away at Stranraer."

John O'Neill
"I am just delighted to have grabbed another two goals, I was in the right place at the right time and for the first I was lucky that I'd let my hair grow a bit longer as I might not have got the touch otherwise"
JOINERS AND LEAVERS 2nd September 2001
A new face in the side today, listed as a trialist until the SFL offices open on Monday, was nineteen year old left sided midfielder Joseph McAlpine. The youngster was formerly with Everton and Airdrie.

Both Alan Hogg and Gareth McGhie have parted company with the club, Hoggy was finding it too difficult to balance work commitments and Gareth felt that he may have a better chance of first team football elsewhere. Both players leave with the clubs best wishes.
EARLY TEAM NEWS 29th August 2001
The early team news ahead of Sunday's re-arranged fixture versus Stenhousemuir is as follows.

Firstly the bad news, Warren Hawke will be out for at least another two weeks and Des McKeown has had a recurrence of his hamstring injury and will also miss out.

Now the good news, the Craig Feroz deal was signed and sealed just before kick-off on Saturday so we should have him available until the end of September, Derek Allan is now fit again and will be included in the squad and John O'Neill returns from his one match suspension to take his place in the squad.


OUT

IN

OUT

IN

IN
JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER
DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY
CURRENT MONTH


[Back to Queens front page]