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Tonight’s pre-season friendly with Rapid București has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch at the Grangemouth Stadium.

An incredible amount of rain has fallen on Central Scotland in recent weeks and despite the best efforts of the groundstaff at the stadium, the pitch was deemed unplayable at 3pm today by a local referee.

Anyone who has purchased a ticket for the match can claim a refund at the Fir Park Ticket Office at their earliest convenience.

Keith Lasley expects a baptism of fire against Romanian heavyweights Rapid București in the first pre-season match of the new campaign.

The Steelmen get their preparations underway against high-quality opposition who have already made short work of Greenock Morton and Stenhousemuir in previous matches.

It will be the fifth time in five years the Steelmen have matched up against Romanian opposition, having previously faced Dinamo București, Steaua București, CFR Cluj and the now defunct Unirea Urziceni.

And the veteran midfielder is under no illusions just how big a test against a side with over fifteen international players in their squad.

[pullquote]In my experience, teams from Romanian are normally very talented and technically very good.[/pullquote]

He said: “It’s sure to be a stiff test – the key will be the style of football we are likely to face.

“There is no doubt that it’s a different style and a different pace; we’ve found that over the last few years in Europe. In my experience, teams from Romanian are normally very talented and technically very good.

“We are looking forward to it though, being our first match. We have put in a lot of running and fitness work over the last ten days so it will be good to get some time on the ball.

“Coming up against a team of this calibre will hopefully stand us in good stead going in to the Champions League game at the end of the month.”

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON MFC TV-

Assistant boss Kenny Black reckons the week spent on the south coast of Portugal has given the player a great platform for the season ahead.

The Steelmen swapped the torrential rain of West Central Scotland for the heat and humidity of the Algarve for a week of intense training.

Now back home, Black hopes being away will serve as ideal preparation for the round of pre-season matches that will kick-off tomorrow night against talented Romanians Rapid București.

[pullquote]The facilities were first class. It was a marvellous opportunity for us to get together as a group and work on things and build the players fitness.[/pullquote]

“We managed to get three sessions in per day in extremely hot conditions,” he said.

“The facilities were first class. It was a marvellous opportunity for us to get together as a group and work on things and build the players fitness.

“We had some problems with the weather when we returned for pre-season so to go there and have the pitches in such good condition; I am sure all the players enjoyed it. 

“It was a great base for us to start from and the job of the players is to kick on with the pre-season matches now upon us.”

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON MFC TV-

The Motherwell players touched down in the UK last night after a five-day intense training camp in the south of Portugal.

Scottish Sun photographer Keith Campbell has kindly supplied a selection of images from the week.

[svgallery name=”portugaltraining070712″]

Motherwell Football Club today launched ‘Steelmen Forever’, a campaign designed at focusing fans, sponsors and well-wishers behind one banner.

Chief Executive Leeann Dempster said, “There has been plenty of negativity around the game in recent months but the new landscape of Scottish Football provides hope and opportunity.

“I believe we are about half way through our journey to being a truly sustainable fan owned club. 

“A club working toward a secure financial base, underpinning a community and talent development model.  I see the early and encouraging results that are happening because of the changes we made four years ago – a strategic decision that moved to fully focus the club wholly on family, on community and on local people.

“Our gates are up again this year and importantly we are seeing more young people in the stadium now than at any time in our recent past, this can only bode well for the future.  The average attendances at Fir Park were up last year by 13% to 5,948 – non Old Firm attendance averages were up even higher at 19% last season. 

“It shows that when you offer the very best value you can, when you invest in supporter relationships and when there is entertainment to be had on the field, that supporters can and will flock back to the game.

“Recent events though have moved out with our control and if we do not act, we could face a material risk to our club.  Scottish football is currently in crisis and we need to face up to this challenge by uniting as clubs and as supporters to get every club through these difficult time.

“Today we are launching ‘Steelmen Forever’.

“A campaign designed at focusing fans, sponsors and well-wishers behind one banner. This is the first club campaign and we know other clubs will be joining us to promote and protect our game. We will work closely with our SPL partners to help each other but our first focus is Motherwell.

“We have six key asks and five key pledges that form the basis of how the club plans to navigate this difficult period.  These will change with time and progress and with your help we’ll devise more.  We ask everyone who cares about what we are about to help. There is a real chance for the fans in this country to rescue the game and we want you to play a big part in that.

“We need you now more than ever – football supporters and the wider Lanarkshire community to help us bridge that gap and keep us on our progression path.”

CLICK HERE for more information on ‘Steelmen Forever’

Following the outcome of the ballot of ‘Well Society members, the Club today voted to reject the transfer of an SPL share to a ‘Newco’ Rangers.

As we have stated previously, the situation has potential serious financial consequences for the club.  It is a matter of huge regret that we are put at risk through no fault of our own but must work in every way possible to protect the club.

We will be asking our supporters to do whatever they can to assist the club in these extremely difficult time, further details will follow in the next few days.

As a club, we will wait to hear the outcome of the ongoing discussions between the games governing bodies before making any further comment.

At today’s General Meeting, SPL clubs voted overwhelmingly to reject the application from Rangers newco to join the SPL.

The Board of Motherwell FC asked members of the ‘Well Society and shareholders to vote on the question of whether Motherwell should vote to allow a ‘Newco Rangers’ to remain in the SPL in 2012/13 season.

The results of the ballots returned were are as follows:

Yes: 119 (18%)
No: 542 (82%)

Votes not returned: 247

The club have put Champions League Third Qualifying Round tickets on sale to Season Ticket Holders and ‘Well Society members.

The draw isn’t made until 20th July, leaving the club just eleven days to make the relevant match preparations.

However, It is hoped that by extending the selling period, it will ensure a quicker and easier process for fans wishing to attend the match.

Fans should note that the days allotted for the Third Qualifying Round is 31st July / 1st August for the first leg and 7th / 8th August for the return leg.

Obviously it is still not known when the match will take place at Fir Park so anyone buying prior to the draw being made (20th July) should be able to attend on any of those four dates.

Tickets will initially go on sale for 2012/13 Season Ticket Holders and ‘Well Society members up until Friday 6th July before they go on full general sale on Saturday 7th July.

Prices for the match have been set at:

*Concessions are listed as Over 60s and Full Time Students with a valid matriculation.
*Juveniles are listed as Under 16s.
*Fans wishing to sit in the Phil O’Donnell Stand should note that the club has a ground inspection tomorrow (Wednesday 4th July). Only after that will it know the full status of the stand and what areas UEFA will allow tickets to be sold.

The club has been advised by Derek Weir that he will be stepping down from the role of Vice Chairman.

Over the past two years Derek has dedicated a significant amount of his personal time to working on club issues and representing the club on the SPL board.

As a result of the number of extremely difficult and complex issues currently facing the game, Derek feels he is no longer able to make the time commitment required to properly fulfill the role at the club and that he needs to refocus on his other business and family matters.

He has also advised the Executive of the SPL that he will not be seeking re-election to the Board at the AGM on July 16th.

Derek has agreed to remain a Director of Motherwell FC and will continue to assist the Chief Executive and other Board members in what is an extremely difficult period for the club.

We would like to thank Derek for the significant contribution he has made to the club in his role as Vice Chairman during the past two years.