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Estonian sharpshooter Henrik Ojamaa hopes to make his full international debut as his country gears up for four big friendly matches in the next fortnight.

Tarmo Rüütli’s side will face Croatia in Rijeka tomorrow before taking on Ukraine on Monday. The Sinisärgid will be back on home soil on June 1st to take on Finland before rounding off their group of games with a glamour tie against the French in Le Mans on June 5th.

Ojamaa, who has been capped several times as a youth, told motherwellfc.co.uk of his pride at representing his country at senior level.

“I am very proud to have this opportunity to represent my nation and test myself against some of Europe´s top players,” he said.

“I have been involved in every youth international level in my career and that has led up to being involved with the full squad at the age of 21, so I am really looking forward to it.

“It’s quite a tight schedule over next twelve days and the coach has said he will make full use of the squad. We travelled to Croatia today (Thursday) with our strongest line-up looking to give a talented side a good game.”

It has been a whirlwind five months for the youngster who first appeared at Fir Park on trial towards the tail end of 2011.

[pullquote]I have been involved in all the games from January onward and I feel in good shape. I took a lot of confidence from the success I enjoyed with Motherwell; joining the club has been great for my career.[/pullquote]

Stuart McCall seen enough in the striker to offer him a short-term deal but few could have predicted the impact he would have.

9 goals in 14 starts, a new two-and-a-half year deal and numerous awards made him an instant hit with the Fir Park faithful and Ojamaa is quick to acknowledge what joining Motherwell has done for his career.

He continued: “It has been a great season both for Motherwell and me and I feel really good going into these matches.

“I have been involved in all the games from January onward and I feel in good shape. I took a lot of confidence from the success I enjoyed with Motherwell; joining the club has been great for my career.

“I had been searching for a club where the style of play would give me the best possible platform to showcase my talent and improve as a player. Also the manager showed a lot of trust in me which gave me the confidence to go out and play at the best of my ability.

“The prospect of also being involved in Champions League with Motherwell makes it a very interesting summer for me; every good player wants to test himself against the very best and this gives me a great opportunity to see where I am at with my development.

“It’s going to be fascinating to see how far we can go as a team because after such a successful season, confidence is high and everyone is looking forward to the new season.”

Photography courtesy of: Toomas Huik/Postimees

Following numerous enquiries as to the clubs’ position on the situation at Rangers FC from both supporters and members of the media, the board has issued the following statement.

“The club continues to actively participate in the discussions being held at the SPL in relation to the current issues at Rangers Football Club.

“To date we have seen no proposals to transfer a share in the SPL to a “Newco” and have therefore made no decision on how we would vote if such a scenario did arise. We have purposefully avoided making any public statements to date given the uncertainty of the situation and the lack of any clarity on what, if anything, we will be required to vote on.

“Once we have full information we will be able to decide our position. Any speculation on the basis of conjecture only adds to the damage to the game and all of our interests.

“We are well progressed with a plan that is designed to bring both fan ownership and long term financial stability to the club, without reliance on funding from either a bank or a benefactor. We do not believe we can separate the sporting integrity of our league from the sustainable future of our club; the two go hand in hand.

“Any decisions we take as a Board are made in the best interests of the club with a view to achieving our stated aims for ownership and funding.

“In the event that a “Newco” proposal is presented to us, we intend to fully discuss with representatives of our supporters groups, prior to making any decision.”

‘Well boss Stuart McCall has today confirmed to motherwellfc.co.uk that Tim Clancy will depart the club after rejecting a new contract.

The club had offered the 27-year old former Kilmarnock defender a two-year extension but both his agent and the player himself have informed the manager his intent to pursue his career elsewhere.

McCall said, “Both Tim and his agent, Kevin Drinkell, have kept me up-to-date on his situation and have confirmed he will take up other options.

“Tim was keen to stress how much he enjoyed his time at Fir Park in what was probably one of the best seasons of his career. It was a short-term deal that really worked for both parties.

“Obviously we are a little disappointed that we won’t have him about the place next season but I respect his decision. We obviously have alternative plans which we will now pursue.”

Clancy told the motherwellfc.co.uk, “It was a very hard decision for me to leave as I loved my time at the club so much.

“I have read online that I have been quoted as saying that any move away would be a ‘step up’ – I said nothing of the sort and have no idea where it has came from. I have too much respect for the club, the manager and the fans for that.

“I want thank everyone for making me feel so welcome and I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for the boys when they embark on their European run in July.”

Everyone at the club would like to thank Tim for all his efforts in his eight months at Fir Park and wish him every success in his future career.

Motherwell Football Club are delighted to showcase the new PUMA third kit for the 2012/2013 season.

It is Motherwell’s third year with manufacturing giants and the second with principle sponsors Cash Converters.

The kit is a celebration of the 100th anniversary (1913) of Motherwell changing from our original blue colour to the now traditional Claret and Amber, so widely recognised in British football.

Motherwell’s retail manager Alan Provan from PSL said, “We have a huge depth of talented designers in our support and we used their ideas and design suggestions, along with the skills of the Puma design department, to come up with what we believe is a very stylish kit.

“The idea was to use the original blue, or as close to it as possible, whilst maintaining the key colours of Claret and Amber that we changed to nearly 100 years ago. We saw several draft designs before deciding on this one. Even after the graphics had been agreed we still had to wait for the finished sample to arrive.

“When it did, everyone at the Club was absolutely delighted with the result. I believe it’s one of the most striking kits we have been involved with here at Fir Park. I’m also extremely pleased that there had been considerable fan input into this design. The guys on the messageboard forum may not have known it at the time but their conversations contributed to this landmark kit which I know the players in particular are delighted with.

“We are looking forward to getting the shirts on sale long before we venture into Europe at the star of a very exciting season for the Club.”

Roger Harrison, PUMA UK Marketing Director comments: “This is our third season with Motherwell and we’re really pleased to continue our partnership into 2012/13. Working with Motherwell isn’t just about the exposure for PUMA as an already successful, but growing brand; it allows us to demonstrate our ability to deliver a strong service to an equally successful club, its team and supporters.

“Our relationship and commitment to Motherwell is key to PUMA’s strategy to expand our position in the global football market.”
 
The relationship between brand and Club will be managed and delivered by www.GenesisSports.co.uk. Genesis Sports Sales Director, Russell Thomas said: “As the brand’s exclusive licensee for PUMA Pro Teamsports, Genesis is delighted to be chosen to supply Motherwell’s kit for the new season.

“It’s a great partnership with a fantastic club, delivering the full range of Technical Kit and training wear for both players and supporters.”

The full kit will go on sale from Friday 8th June 2012 but you can pre-order the kit now from Motherwell Direct by clicking the link below.

-PRE ORDER YOUR 2012/2013 MOTHERWELL THIRD KIT NOW-

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-

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