Latest News

Wing-wizard Chris Humphrey told MFC TV he can’t wait to get his International career underway as he prepares to fly out to Jamaica.

The 24-year old has been selected for the Reggae Boyz by boss Theodore Whitmore for the friendly double-header against Panama in the next ten days.

He will join up with teammate Omar Daley in the squad hoping to make his full debut for the country of his birth and play his way into contention for the CONCACAF 2014 World Cup Group A Qualifiers against Guatemala on June 8th and Antigua & Barbuda on June 12th.

[pullquote]I’ve always dreamed of being an International player and that has come true. My aim is to go over there, hopefully give a good account of myself and see where it goes.[/pullquote]

The former Shrewsbury Town man has waited almost eighteen months for his International future to be confirmed and admitted it is a relief to finally take the next step in his career.

“I am absolutely delighted things have been sorted; it is such a relief,” he said.

“There has been a lot of waiting but now the day has finally come for me to meet up with the squad, there’s a bit of stress been taken off my shoulders. It’s finally going to happen and I can’t wait.

“I’ve always dreamed of being an International player and that has come true. My aim is to go over there, hopefully give a good account of myself and see where it goes. First of all there are two challenge matches and hopefully I can get some game time there. If that goes well, then my aim is to be included in the squad for the games against Guatemala and Antigua.

“These are big games – the World Cup groups are so tight and both ourselves and the USA will have identified these games as must win if we are to top the group so it’s a big couple of weeks for everyone.

“I just can’t wait to get on the plane, get over there and get involved.”

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV-

Chris will keep a diary of his International exploits on motherwellfc.co.uk over the next few weeks, sharing stories and pictures of how he gets on.

Motherwell will take on Lanarkshire neighbours Hamilton Accies in a pre-season friendly match at New Douglas Park on Tuesday 24th July.

The match will kick-off at 7pm as Stuart McCall’s men prepare for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

“We have been working for some time now to get our pre-season plans confirmed as early as possible,” McCall told motherwellfc.co.uk

“It is great news that we will play a Lanarkshire derby against Hamilton on their own patch, it will be a real tester as they are very decent side with talented players.

“I am sure both sets of fans will enjoy it given we missed that match in the SPL last season.”

Ticketing information for the match will be confirmed at a later date. Additional pre-season matches will be announced on the official website as soon as they are confirmed.

Motherwell FC are delighted to confirm Stevie Hammell has this evening signed a two-year contract extension.

Hammell, 30, has played thirteen seasons in the first-team at Fir Park, racking up an incredible 426 games. 368 of those appearances have came in the Scottish Premier League – the highest of any player since the competition started in 1998.

The left-back broke into the Motherwell first-team back in 2000 and, aside from an 18-month spell with then Championship club Southend United, he has been a virtual ever present since.

This season has arguably been amongst his best, playing 41 games in a season when the Steelmen confirmed Champions League football for the first time in the clubs’ history.

Speaking exclusively to MFC TV, Hammell said, “I am absolutely delighted to have signed.

“It dragged on a little longer than I would have wanted but I can now look forward to next season. The Champions League is probably the best achievement I have managed in my time at Fir Park and we are all looking forward to it.

“Hopefully we can get the rest of the boys signed up, keep this squad together, and go on to have another excellent campaign.”

-WATCH STEVIE HAMMELL’S REACTION EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV-

Retiring Motherwell captain Stephen Craigan lined up alongside his wife Elaine and children at Noble Primary School to launch the brand new www.tescobankfootballchallenge.com kids’ website.

Mrs Craigan is a teacher at the Bellshill school, located just four miles from her husband’s Fir Park base, the home of Motherwell Football Club.

The website has thousands of pictures from festivals up and down the country, accessible via a child-friendly search function, plus a TV channel with coverage of some of the best events.

Designed in the style of Bobby the Ball’s magical football world, with some of his other friends making appearances it uses cutting edge HTML 5 technology making it accessible across all browsers and most tablets.

As well as news and comprehensive information for parents and carers, the www.tescboankfootballchallenge.com has lots of useful information about playing football and living an active and healthy lifestyle. It’s been created for children at Primary 2 and 3 age groups, the current target for the Tesco Bank Football Challenge.

The new website is also an excellent tool for teachers using the Tesco Bank Football Challenge as a way of inspiring healthy living, within the parameters of the Curriculum for Excellence which promotes lifelong learning in inspiring, creative contexts.

Noble Primary School is set to become the latest to join the Scottish FA’s flagship football participation programme at the start of next session.

The Tesco Bank Football Challenge is a four-year community programme run in partnership with the Scottish FA. The project introduces football to Primary 2 and Primary 3 children (six to eight years old) across Scotland to help get them engaged in a healthy and active lifestyle.

Overall, more than 36,000 children across Scotland will have been involved in the Tesco Bank Football Challenge by June 2012.

Tesco Bank Football Challenge ambassador Stephen Craigan said: “I’m hugely impressed with the website. Its brilliant fun for the kids and includes lots of relevant content, all of which is extremely inspiring. Connecting digital media, so commonly used by children, to sport is a simple but incredibly good idea – the latest in what is a brilliant programme.”

Scottish FA head of regional football development Andy Gould commented: “I’m delighted to see Tesco Bank reinforce their commitment to the Tesco Bank Football Challenge with the launch of www.tescobankfootballchallenge.com. It’s a brilliantly inspiring way to promote playing the game, all through the eyes of the programme’s very popular mascot, Bobby the Ball”

Adele Mills, Community Investment Manager at Tesco Bank added: “We’ve worked extremely hard to create a website which is inspiring, child focused, and rich in content that children, parents, carers, teachers and volunteers can all enjoy, part of Tesco Bank’s commitment to provide the communities in which we work the opportunity to make healthy choices.”

Councillor Jim Logue, Convener of Learning and Leisure Services with North Lanarkshire Council added: “This is an exciting time for football in North Lanarkshire with Braidhurst High School recently being announced as an ‘Elite Performance Academy’ as part of the SFA’s Performance Strategy.

“As a council, we have invested heavily in our football facilities including the magnificent Ravenscraig sports centre and we are committed to encouraging all our pupils to get more involved in sport and lead healthier lifestyles. We are delighted to be working with the Tesco Bank Football Challenge, and the launch of this new website is a further exciting development in this initiative.”

“In the first year of the programme 479 schools across Scotland’s 32 local authorities participated in the programme, involving 19,061 boys and girls. There were 74 regional festivals and over 1000 teachers and volunteers went through the Scottish FA’s in-service programme.

Further to Saturday’s announcement regarding player contracts, the club can confirm the latest details.

Young winger Josh Watt has penned a new one-year deal to be a part of our 2012/13 Under 20’s squad, joining Lee Erwin and Euan Murray.

The following contracts have been offered to current out-of-contract players.

Although the 2011/2012 SPL season concluded last Sunday, preparations for the new season is already well underway at Fir Park.

Not only is the pitch at the stadium getting replaced, the Astro behind the East Stand is getting torn up with a new 3G surface taking its place and the Reading Garden adjacent to the South Stand is nearing completion.

Head Groundsman Mikey Ellis and his team have been busy not only on the pitch, but all around the ground.

-WATCH THE UPDATE ON MFC TV-

[svgallery name=”groundworksummer2012gal01″]

Stuart McCall has lauded his players efforts over the season after Sunday’s defeat to Dundee United failed to take any shine off a magnificent season.

The Steelmen had already secured third place going into the encounter with the Arabs but were looking to finish on a high note with Fir Park in full party atmosphere. However, Johnny Russell and John Daly had other ideas and handed their side the victory at Fir Park.

Manager Stuart McCall was relived that the fight for 3rd position did not go the distance to the last game of the season and said, “We wanted to come out and finish on a flourish but that just didn’t happen.

Dundee united started well but after that I thought we controlled the game up to half time and second half we huffed and puffed really, so I have no complaints about the result.

Firpark was in full song throughout the match and created a lively atmosphere for the players and for the retiring Stephen Craigan who have had acheived beyond all expectations this season. Stuart added ” I’ve got to look the on the postive side the season as a whole has be terrific from a terrific group of players who  have given their all for the club and they deserve all the credit that they are getting”

Stephen Craigan, who took his professional bow, played 75mins with great youth and endevour. Stuart praised his final performance by saying “I thought Stephen controlled everything. Stephen has had an outstanding career and he’s been a great pro since I’ve been at the club, led by example on the training groud and in the dressing room he has been exellent, and he is a true servant to the club.”

The Well manager is keen for his players to get a good rest over the pre season break after a demanding season, “The boys are going to have about six weeks off. Our first game will be a Champions League game out here outwith pre-season friendlies believe it or not. They’ve enjoyed the season and they deserve a break but they have got to come back here focused. We said last season we wanted to better finishing 6th and getting to a Scottish Cup Final so I think we’ve almosted eclipsed that.

“What we do to follow that I dont know but we will be looking forward to it. The players and supporters deserve it , so does the club.

-CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE AFTER MATCH CELEBRATIONS-

Pictures from the 0-2 defeat to Dundee United in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League at Fir Park.

These action shots and more are available to buy online at www.motherwellpics.com.

[svgallery name=”dundeeutd130512″]