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The Motherwell Supporters Trust will be hosting an exclusive Fans Forum at Fir Park on Thursday 16th December. 

There has been an understandable change to the initial line up but the four guests will give the audience a fascinating insight into the current football scene in Scotland and in Motherwell.

Craig Paterson, now working as a BBC pundit, is best known to Motherwell fans for the huge contribution he made to our successful Scottish Cup run in 1991.  After spells at Hibs and Rangers he joined us in 1986 and in his five year stint he played more games for Motherwell than for any other team in his career (158).  His thoughtful insights have helped him to become one of the mainstays of BBC Scotland’s football team.

Neil Doncaster took over the hot seat at the SPL in July 2009 following eight years as chief executive at Norwich City.  He has been polling clubs and other interested bodies with a view to delivering a set of proposals for reforming the top division.  Will we get a glimpse of the way ahead.  His views of the disciplinary system and on the McLeish proposals are bound to be probed by the audience.

Bill Leckie is a well known journalist, author and broadcaster.  Although he is a St Mirren fan we’ll still welcome him to Fir Park and look forward to his thoughts on the beautiful game.

Leeann Dempster is Chief Executive of Motherwell FC.  She joined the club in September 2008 after a year with the ill fated Zoom Airlines.  Before that she had worked in the marketing and advertising industry.  She has been the driver behind much of the effort to make Motherwell the best community club in Scotland.

The panel will discuss a mixture of pre-selected questions (email them to fansforum@mstonline.net) on the burning football topics of the day, followed by an open forum where the audience will be able to pose their own questions directly. The evening will be ably chaired by Scottish Sun sports journalist and lifelong Motherwell fan Andy Devlin.

The doors open at 7pm for what promises to be a lively and engaging night of football discussion.  Proceedings start at 7.30pm in the Centenary Suite, Fir Park, Motherwell on Thursday 16th December. Entry will be on a first come, first served basis, the bar will be open and a good night in the company of ‘Well fans is guaranteed.  Entry is free for Trust members and £3 for others.  Non members can join on the night for a fiver and make a saving.

Motherwell have managed to secure an additional one hundred £5 tickets for this Saturday’s clash at Pittodrie.

Tickets are extremely limited and are available now, from the Fir Park Ticket Office, on a first-come-first-served up until Friday 17th December.

If you don’t purchase on or before that day (17/12/2010), or the tickets sell out, then standard admission prices* will apply on the turnstile at Pittodrie.

*STANDARD ADMISSION PRICES:

• Adult: £22
• Concession: £16
• Under 12: £9

* Concessions are listed as Under-18s, 60s and over as well as full time students with valid matriculation card.

* Fans requiring Wheelchair Accessible Area tickets should contact the club at tickets@motherwellfc.co.uk or telephone 01698 338068.

If you’re still looking for last minute Christmas gift ideas for the ‘Well fans in your life, look no further than Fir Park.

GIFT VOUCHERS

If you are unsure as to what the ‘Well fans in your life would like from Fir Park, why not take out the worry with our new fantastic personalised gift vouchers?

Available to redeem against anything at Fir Park (including tickets, hospitality, buy a brick, claret and amber club, venue hire etc) and at any value, our new vouchers are the fantastic gift alternative.

Visit the Ticket Office or phone 01698 333333 to arrange ahead of this Friday.

BUY A BRICK

The club is at the heart of the Lanarkshire community and our fans connection with the club is a source of huge pride. Now you have a fantastic opportunity to make permanent your love of your club by leaving a lasting impression or message on The Davie Cooper Wall.

Although the deadline for having the actual brick on the wall has now passed, you can still have the certificate for the big day by calling the club and speaking to Wendy McFarlane on 01698 333333 or emailing buyabrick@motherwellfc.co.uk.

HALF SEASON TICKETS

Half Season Tickets are the ideal opportunity to follow the Steelmen for the remainder of the 2010/11 campaign. You or the ‘Well fans in your life  could be in attendance for the Steelmen’s home clashes against Rangers on Boxing Day and the Lanarkshire Derby with Hamilton Accies in February, plus the business end of the season when trophies are won and lost.

Purchasing your Half Season Ticket is easy and seats are available from as little as £140 for Adults and £45 for Juveniles.

For a full price breakdown along with our terms and conditions, please click the link below.

2010/11 HALF SEASON TICKET PRICE BREAKDOWN

Caretaker boss Gordon Young put the players through their paces at Toryglen this morning as ‘Well prepare for life after Craig Brown. As always, our friends at SNS were there to capture the best of the action.

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Motherwell Football Club tonight (Thursday) released the following statement on the resignation of both Craig Brown and Archie Knox.

“We are surprised and disappointed by the decision of our management team to leave the club at this time and in this way. But it is not in our ethos as a club to stand in anyone’s way that wanted to be somewhere else. We also have far too much respect for Craig and Archie and what they have achieved in the game to do anything other than wish them happiness in what they are setting out to do and to thank them for their efforts in the last year. It is very difficult to understand their decision but we must respect it.

“We have done absolutely everything we could to keep them and to support their personal ambitions and demands for a bigger player budget. We now turn our focus to the future and to securing a management team that can build on the platform we have with a talented squad, strong league challenge and the potential for Cup success.

“Separately we do wish to make clear that as a board we believe that the conduct of the board of Aberdeen in this matter has been wholly inappropriate and in clear breach of SPL rules as well as basic courtesy. At no point did they inform us or seek our permission to speak to critical employees of our club and to seek to entice them to leave our employment.

“We realise the desperation they are feeling and the pressure they are under from their fans for their own performance as a board but to go about their business in this way is a matter of gross discourtesy. It is also conduct which is beneath the integrity we would expect of a club of Aberdeen’s stature. We hope Aberdeen’s fans will reflect on that and understand our need to do something about it. We have raised this matter with the SPL and will pursue the matter vigorously and by all means.

“To all Motherwell fans everywhere we ask for you to rally round the club as you always do and we will work together to keep punching above our weight and obtaining the success we all seek. This club is bigger than any manager and for that matter any board. As fans we will always be the people who care most about this club for the long term. Loyalty is clearly all too rare in football but we know we have it in ourselves for the club we love. Motherwell is a special club from a special place as anyone touched by us knows well.”

Motherwell’s game with Dundee United, scheduled for this Saturday at Tannadice, has been postponed on the advice of local Police.

Heavy snow and ice have made conditions all over Scotland hazardous and, after a Health and Safety inspection at Tannadice, it was deemed unsafe.

Celtic’s game with Kilmarnock at Celtic Park has also fallen victim to the weather with a call to be made on Hamilton’s New Douglas Park tomorrow.

On the announcement, Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive of the SPL, said: “I am slightly surprised that the Police have issued advice so early, especially when a substantial thaw is forecast over the next two days. However, when Police advice is on the grounds of safety, we have no choice but to postpone the games.”

New dates for the fixtures will be announced in due course.

Motherwell Football Club today (Wednesday) released the following statement in relation to speculation surrounding Craig Brown and Archie Knox.

Commenting, Chief Executive Leeann Dempster said, “Given the fantastic on-field success in 2010, it is not surprising that other clubs are taking an interest in our management team.

“With that in mind, we can confirm that representatives from Aberdeen Football Club met briefly with both Craig Brown and Archie Knox yesterday afternoon.

“However, both have decided to reject any approach and reiterated their commitment to Motherwell Football Club. We look forward to continued success under both men in the future.”

Do you want to become a Motherwell Football Club Volunteer Community Coach?

We are in the middle of a major revamp of our community programme, bringing forward a huge expansion of our Mini SteelKids and Soccer School coaching courses, which will include for the first time ever a dedicated School of Goalkeeping and Community Teams.

Our aim is to encourage more and more young people to ‘Learn to Play the Motherwell Way’. However, to make this happen, we need YOUR help NOW!

To accommodate these exciting new developments, and help us achieve our ambitions to become  the best community club in Scotland, and ultimately the UK we are on the look out for volunteer coaches – both male and female – to work with young people engaging with our programmes

In return for a minimum of two hours coaching a week we will provide you with a full Motherwell FC community coach training kit, and two free tickets for all Motherwell FC home games.

Ideally, you will have a passion for football, and will have experience of working with young people. You will be a good communicator and it would be great if you already have coaching certificates. However, if you don’t and we feel you are the person for the job, we will put you through them.

If you feel becoming a volunteer community coach with Motherwell Football Club is something you would be interested in then telephone us on 01698 239 926 and tell us about it. We will then take it from there.

Look forward to hearing from you – soon!

Referee for this Saturday’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Dundee Utd at Tannadice is the experienced Iain Brines.

Brines will be taking charge of his third ‘Well game of the current SPL campaign, having been the man in the middle for the games against St Johnstone in early September and St Mirren at Fir Park one month later.

A Nick Blackman wonder strike and an own-goal from Kevin Rutkiewicz was enough to earn the Steelmen all three points in Perth and late goals from Tom Hateley and Jamie Murphy gave ‘Well a 3-1 against Danny Lennon’s men.

To his credit, Brines was excellent in both matches with the game at McDiarmid Park passing off without a single caution; a rarity in modern football.

He will be a more than familiar face to ‘Well fans over the years. Last season, he looked after the games at Easter Road in December (2-0 defeat), the 1-0 home win against Kilmarnock in February and the 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park in April.

The 43-year-old, who has been a top-flight official for a decade and amongst FIFA’s elite group for five years, has had a busy campaign with Saturday being his tenth SPL fixture of the season.

However, despite his long top-flight career, Brines has never taken charge of a Motherwell and Dundee Utd game at Tannadice.

He did handle the 1-2 defeat at Fir Park back in November 2002 when a Jim Hamilton double cancelled out Dirk Lehman’s goal for ‘Well. He also oversaw the 4-2 win in September 2004 courtesy of goals from David Clarkson, Alex Burns and a Scott McDonald brace and, most recently, the 2-1 win in March 2009 when strikes from John Sutton and David Clarkson gave the Steelmen all three points.

His overall record in charge of the Steelmen is a bit of a mix bag. Of the 25 games he has taken charge of, Motherwell have won nine, draw four and lost twelve.

In those games, 95 players have seen yellow, 44 of which in claret and amber, while three have been sent for an early bath.

Iain will be assisted by Alasdair Ross and Ross Haswell with Frank McDermott on fourth official duties.

This time last year fans favourite Keith Lasley admits he had grown sick of the club he loves.

The Motherwell midfielder’s relationship with boss Jim Gannon was damaged beyond repair and Lasley was on the verge of quitting the club he loved.

Then Gannon left and Craig Brown was put in charge of the Steelmen.

Overnight, Lasley’s luck changed for the better.

The 31-year-old found himself back in a team that was winning again. Weeks later he signed a new long-term deal and the rest is history.

Lasley recalled: “A year ago I’d had enough. Honestly, I had become so disillusioned with what was happening at the club that I was looking for a move.

“I wasn’t in the manager’s plans and for the sake of my career I had to get out. It would have been a massive wrench to leave Motherwell but I felt I had to.

“It was really getting to me and I felt I had no choice. Luckily for me the management team left and Craig and Archie joined.

“Almost overnight everything changed for the better. Within a wee while I had even signed a new contract. It’s amazing looking back when you realise how quickly things changed for me.”

It’s almost 12 months since Well chairman John Boyle handed the reins to Brown and his No2 Archie Knox.

Seen as a gamble at the time, Lasley reckons there is no reason why the veteran management duo can’t go on for another few years at least.

He added: “I got a feeling straight away with the manager. This time last year this wasn’t a nice place to be.
“The fun had gone out of it and no one was enjoying their football. Craig and Archie changed all that and brought with them so much experience. They got us playing as a team together. It was a shock I suppose that they got the job because Craig had been out of football for a while.

“But when you look at it now it made perfect sense.

“They both have so much experience and it was exactly what we needed. They turned the whole place around. There was a lack of morale around the place and they galvanised the whole club. They got our instant respect. There’s no doubt in my mind they can go on for a few years yet. I certainly hope they do as they’ve been brilliant for me and the club.”

Lasley has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since October, now the weather is stopping him making his first-team return.

He said: “I’m beginning to wonder when it’s going to happen for me. I almost made it back for the Hibs game but I tweaked my hamstring again, as sometimes can happen, and that set me back another couple of weeks.

“Being out injured is not a great feeling at the best of times but I’m fit now and can’t get games.

“There’s nothing that can be done and what it does give me is another couple of weeks to get this sorted. I always try and look at the positives and hopefully long term it will be good for me.”

Lasley’s influence has been hugely missed in Motherwell’s midfield. He’d been playing arguably the best football of his career when injury struck against Dundee United.

“This injury was especially tough to take as I was enjoying my football and the team was playing well,” he said.

“It’s frustrating because I don’t like missing games. When you can’t play your part it does get to you but again I look at the positives. There are a lot of games coming up and I want to make sure I’m back fit and able to do my bit.”