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An update from The Well Society Board relating to the Wild Sheep Sports proposed investment in Motherwell Football Club has been released and is available here.

Bailley Collins has extended her stay at the club after agreeing a contract extension.

The defender, who has been an integral component at K-Park since signing as a free agent from Aberdeen in 2023, has put pen to paper on a one-year extension after an impressive maiden season at the club.

“Bailley has really hit the ground running,” Head coach Paul Brownlie said.

“Even during a tough run of form collectively, Bailley’s performances stood out and her importance to the squad is reflected after featuring in every SWPL game last season.

“Securing Bailley’s signature for the forthcoming season is a real statement of intent for our aspirations of a top-six finish next season.”

Collins wore claret and amber 32-times in the SWPL last season, starting on 27-occasions and netting three times from the Motherwell backline.

“I am delighted to have extended my stay at Motherwell,” Collins emphasised.

“I really enjoyed my first season at the club and am looking forward to continuing my journey here.

“I’m excited to see what we can achieve.”

• A synopsis of the HOT including the safeguards built into the agreement.
• A note on valuation and the rationale for this deal.
• A steps paper on how this would be done.
• A note from Erik and Courtney about their aspirations for MFC.

• The club cannot take on any external debt.
• No value can move to the Barmacks other than normal expenses.
• No assets, ground etc, can be sold.
• No change to the club name, colours, home ground can be made without the agreement of 75% of the shareholders.
• The existing loan from the WS to the club remain in place until the final payment is made in six years time and at that point half of the loan is forgiven.
• Given the money the WS holds at present, to meet its commitments over the next six years it needs to raise £100k per annum – 60% of what it currently achieves.

• Fan ownership still embedded at the heart of the club.
• New worlds to explore.
• And two safety nets. Buy back plus no value leaving the club for at least six years.

Which is why we are recommending it unanimously as a Board.

September kicked off with the crowning of the August player of the month. Dan Casey would win the fans vote having scored his first Motherwell goal, played every minute of every match and won a penalty against Kilmarnock. 

The new faces kept coming, with the latest addition of a young left-back called Georgie Gent joining the team on loan from Blackburn until the end of the season.

Motherwell continued their fine run of form and extended their undefeated run in the league to 10 games, with a win over Hearts at Tynecastle, their first win there in four years. Callum Slattery’s completed a wonderful team goal to secure the 1-0 win.

We took some time away from the football pitch and spent the afternoon with Blair Spittal and his dog Simba, as Spittal prepares for the arrival of his first child.

Joe Efford departed the club having joined in January 2022.

We had five players away on international duty, Bevis Mugabi hopes of reaching AFCON fell at the final hurdle after Uganda’s win over Niger wasn’t enough to secure qualification. Brodie Spencer got a call-up to the first-team Northern Ireland squad after he was initially named in the Under 21s. Lennon Miller made his first Scotland Under 19 appearance.

The return to league action seen Motherwell somehow come away with nothing against St Mirren at Fir Park.

Always an interesting time of year is the players finding out their ratings in the latest Fifa game, the boys discovered the final scores ahead of the new EAFC 24 launch.

It would be same unlucky story for Motherwell as they came away from Ibrox with nothing, after a Cyriel Dessers deflection secured a 1-0 win for Rangers, despite the ‘Well having plenty chances.

The other half of the old firm would take all three points after three goals in the last six minutes of the match at Fir Park.

The Supporter Liaison Officers (SLOs) have a new signing of their own this summer, with the addition of Chris Thomson to the team.

Chris will join Russell Hepburn and Kate Kelter who now have a season of SLO duties under their belts. The trio will be on hand home and away next season to help enhance the match day experience for fans.

Lifelong Motherwell fan Chris is proud to follow the Steelmen, and even prouder that his children have followed in his footsteps and regularly accompany him to games.

“I sit in the Cooper Stand with my family so I understand the importance of taking young ‘Well fans to the games not just at home, but away as well,” says Chris.

His work in Learning and Development means he’s well versed in supporting and working with others. He adds: “I’m always communicating, so that makes me pretty approachable.

“This role is about being a bridge between fans and the club. No matter what the feedback is I want to hear it and address the issues with the club.

“I look forward to meeting you and if you see me please come and say hello.”

Ticketing and travel information for away games will continue to be communicated through X (formerly Twitter) account: @MotherwellFCSLO. Further information is available on the SLO page of the website.

Liam Kelly has been named in the final 26-man squad that will head to EURO 2024 this summer. 

Kelly is one of three keepers who have been named in the squad.

In the last edition of the EURO’s back in 2020, Motherwell were centre stage with both Stephen O’Donnell and Declan Gallagher included.

The former Motherwell skipper will not be returning to Fir Park next season however, a contract extension was agreed between player and club that will see the Kelly remain a Motherwell player for the duration of the tournament.

Scotland will open EURO 2024 against hosts Germany on Friday 14 June.

In match day two, they take on Switzerland on Wednesday 19 June before their final group match against Hungary on Sunday 23 June.

• Germany v Scotland
• Friday 14 June
• 8pm Kick off
• Allianz Arena, Germany

• Scotland v Switzerland 
• Wednesday 19 June 
• 8pm Kick Off 
• RheinEnergieStadion, Germany 

• Scotland v Hungary 
• Sunday 23 June 
• 8pm Kick off 
• MHPArena, Germany 

We can confirm that Bevis Mugabi will be departing the club. 

Our longest serving player last year, will leave Motherwell having joined in September 2019.

With 125 appearances for the club, he leaves with everyone’s best wishes for the future.

His service to the club is immensely appreciated by everyone.

All the best, Bevis.

Well Society member Niall Kane was delighted to discover he’d won the cost of his Season Ticket in our recent competition.

Niall joined the Society last month, and bought his Season Ticket for 24/25, automatically entering the draw. He joined 48 others in the hat who had either joined, increased their monthly membership contribution or restarted payments recently.

He was refunded his £395 Season Ticket cost.

Niall said: “I’m delighted. I joined the Society because I wanted to help the Club any way I can. To win, and to get the Season Ticket cost refunded, is fantastic. Here’s to a successful 2024/25 season.”

Over the course of the initiative the Society received recurring payments which will be worth more than £4000 annually.

Sean Baillie from the Membership Workstream said: “Thanks to everyone who joined the Society, who restarted payments or who committed to increasing their monthly contribution – it all goes to supporting the Club we love. We are delighted with the additional income this will bring in annually, all of which will contribute to the future success of Motherwell FC.”

The thrill for the start of the new season was growing stronger, but just the day before the season began, Motherwell made a new addition to their forward line. 

Theo Bair joined the ranks after departing St Johnstone in the summer and would be thrust straight into the starting 11 for the first match against Dundee.

Motherwell B exited the SPFL Trust Trophy at the first hurdle, after a penalty shootout defeat to Tranent.

Stuart Kettlewell added Mika Biereth to his growing list of attacking options, with the Danish Under 21 international joining on loan from Arsenal.

The first player of the month award of the season would go to young starlet Lennon Miller after his two goals, becoming the club’s youngest goalscorer in the process, and one assist in the four Viaplay Cup games.

Bair would get off to the best possible start for his new club, netting a first-half opener against Dundee, at a rain soaked Dundee. Lyall Cameron levelled proceedings in the second-half, holding the Steelmen to an opening day draw.

Seven days later, it was time for the other new striker to make an instant impact. Having been named on the bench, Mika Biereth came on just after the hour mark. It wouldn’t take him long to make his mark, beating Louis Stevenson in the tussle before setting up Conor Wilkinson for the opener against Hibernian. He was at it again with five minutes to go, giving chase to Lennon Miller’s ball through before finishing to seal the first three points of the season.

Barry Maguire went south, joining up with Kidderminster Harriers on loan until January.

Next up, the ‘Well brought a hefty following to Paisley as they faced St Mirren in the last 16 in the Viaplay Cup. Caolan Boyd-Munce’s first half strike seen the hosts advance to the next stage.

The game would be marred with controversy as Mika Biereth picked up a serious knee injury that seen the Dane return to Arsenal for recovery.

Lennon Miller and Bevis Mugabi were called up by their countries, with Miller being named in the Under 21 Scotland squad for the first time.

There was another new face in North Lanarkshire, as Brodie Spencer joined on loan from Huddersfield until the end of the season, providing international experience to the squad.

It didn’t get much later against Kilmarnock for Brodie Spencer and Motherwell, when Harry Paton won the game with the last kick of the ball in the 98th minute to make it nine Premiership wins on the bounce. Marley Watkins opened the scoring for Killie but Dan Casey’s first ‘Well goal levelled terms.

The Women of Steel got their first Lanarkshire Derby win of the season, defeating Accies 4-0 at K-Park thanks to a hat trick from Carla Boyce and a Kaitlyn Canavan strike.

Liam Kelly made the latest Scotland squad, as the Tartan Army closed in on EURO 2024 qualification. Brodie Spencer was named in the Under 21 Northern Ireland squad after his impressive debut display in the claret and amber.

We take a trip down memory lane as we revisit some players who have worn the claret and amber between the sticks. 

Luke Daniels

A product of the Manchester United youth academy, Luke Daniels made the switch to West Brom in 2004.

He arrived at Fir Park on loan for the second half of the 2007/08 season. At the time, Graeme Smith was the number one choice keeper, so Daniels had to spend most of time in North Lanarkshire on the bench.

However, his chance came in May when Celtic visited Fir Park and Daniels was handed his debut between the sticks. Celtic came away with a narrow 2-1 win that day, but Daniels would get the nod in the final game of the season against Hibernian at Easter Road. Keeping a clean sheet, the Steelmen came away with a 2-0 win that day.

He returned to West Brom, and remained on the books there for ten years. He may have only made three appearances for the Baggies in that ten years, but Daniels would go out on loan on a number of occasions.

Loan spells with Shrewsbury Town, Tranmere Rovers, Charlton Athletic, Rochdale, Bristol Rovers and Southend United would see the shot stopper gain plenty first-team experience before he left West Brom in 2015.

He would go on to make over 100 appearances for Scunthorpe before joining Brentford and and Middlesborough. Daniels was most recently with Forest Green Rovers and has now become a free agent this summer.

With 148 appearances in League one, over 25 in the Championship and even one Premier League appearance thanks to an injury to number one West Brom keeper Ben Foster, Daniels has gone on to have a fruitful career in the game and become a reliable keeper for a number of teams.

John Ruddy

He came through the ranks at Cambridge United and earned the name “Iceman”, John Ruddy was impressing under difficult circumstances.

After making his debut in 2004, Ruddy became first choice at the U’s and despite them getting relegated, he kept a number of clean sheets and conceded only 45 goals in the league.

Having went on trial with Manchester United, Everton came calling and secured his signature. Manager David Moyes was seriously impressed with his displays in training and touted him as the next big thing.

Ruddy went out on loan to Walsall, Rushden & Diamonds, Chester City, Stockport County, Wrexham, Bristol City, Stockport County and Crewe Alexandra.

At the start of the 2009/10 season, Jim Gannon signed Ruddy on a six-month loan from Everton. He went into direct competition with Michael Fraser and Sebastian Kosiorowski for a place in goal.

Gannon, under his second spell with Ruddy, trusted him with the number one jersey and was placed in goals against Romania outfit Steaua București, saving a penalty in the first-leg.

The hype was building around Ruddy as he kept clean sheets against both Celtic and Rangers, also saving a Barry Robson penalty in the December.

With Ruddy flying and both clubs keen, it was agreed Ruddy would remain in Lanarkshire until the end of the season. 39 games and 15 clean sheets later, Ruddy’s time in ML1 drew to a close but not after Motherwell secured more European football and Ruddy claiming the player of the year award.

Following his loan spell with Motherwell, he earned a move to the English Championship with Norwich City on a permanent deal. Making 242 appearances across a seven year spell, he featured in the Premier League and even had the captain’s armband on one occasion.

During his spell at Carrow Road, Roy Hodgson would name Ruddy in his England squad ahead of Euro 2012. He missed the tournament through injury but made his England debut in August 2012 in a friendly against Italy.

His next move would be to Wolves in 2017, where he earned promotion to the Premier League as champions in his first season. His performances earned him a place in the PFA Team of the Year and was awarded the EFL’s Golden Glove Award for the most clean sheets with 24.

He moved onto Birmingham City in 2022, where it was expected he would be the number two. That didn’t prove to be the case as Ruddy has went on to play 89 times for City and was even voted players’ player of the year for the 2022/23 season.

Ruddy’s contract at Birmingham has expired after their relegation to League One, however he has been offered a new deal as they look to bounce straight back to the Championship next season.

Darren Randolph

Darren Randolph arrived in England in 2004 to sign for Charlton Athletic. That would be the beginning for a six-year relationship with the London outfit, where he spent time on loan with Welling United, Accrington Stanley, Gillingham, Bury and Hereford United.

Each loan had varying successes but one of the highest points of Randolph’s early career was making his Premier League debut against Liverpool for Charlton in 2007.

He made 20 appearances for Charlton, keeping six clean sheets in those matches.

In the summer of 2010 with his contract expired, Charlton offered Randolph a new contract however he opted to make the switch to Fir Park.

He signed a three-year deal and with fan favourite John Ruddy vacated the number one jersey, had big gloves to fill. Craig Brown handed him his debut in the Europa League against Breiðablik, where Motherwell progressed to the next round.

In that first season, he ended up breaking John Ruddy’s record of 15 clean sheets in a season, finished third in the league and reached the Scottish Cup final.

His second season in claret and amber would also prove to be a success. Motherwell would finish second in the table, qualifying for the Champions League, with Randolph continuing to be a pivotal part in the club’s success. He was named in the PFA Scotland’s team of the year.

Entering the final year of his contract, he played in the Champions League and Europa League ties against Panathinaikos and Levante. His consistency and impressive shot stopping ability, seen him earn his first cap for Ireland against Oman on the 11 September 2012.

This didn’t distract the number one and he went on to be named in the PFA Scotland’s team of the year again, alongside Shaun Hutchinson, Michael Higdon and Nicky Law, as the team finished second place.

After a successful three-year spell, manager Stuart McCall made it clear it would difficult to retain Randolph at the of his contract, which proved to be the case. He departed for the English Championship with Birmingham City. He remained at St Andrews for two seasons, making just shy of 100 appearances in that time, missing very little matches before moving onto West Ham where he would go onto make a number of Premier League appearances, and even signed a four-year deal in that time.

He moved for a report £5 million to Middlesbrough, where he made it into the 2018–19 Championship Team of the Season thanks to his displays.

A reported £4 million move back to London seen him return to West Ham, and although he stayed for three years, game time was limited and he played only five league matches in that time.

In 2023, he joined Bournemouth where he didn’t make an appearance and it was announced this summer that he would depart the Cherries.

With 50 Ireland caps to his name, including being part of the Irish squad that went on an incredible run at Euro 2016 playing Sweden, Belgium, Italy and France, Randolph has 199 Championship appearances, alongside 34 Premier League. He has reached the top of the English leagues and left Motherwell fans with a number of memories in his three impressive years at Fir Park.

Gunnar Nielson

Having began his career in the Faroe Islands and Denmark, Blackburn Rovers signed Gunnar Nielson in 2007. It was after one year that Motherwell drummed up their interest in the Faroese stopper and brought him to North Lanarkshire on a six month loan in 2008.

That initial loan spell amounted to nothing and he would go back to Blackburn at the end of the season. Mark Hughes, who signed him at Rovers, brought him to Manchester City in 2009.

He would be loaned out to Wrexham and Tranmere Rovers and ended up making his Premier League debut in 2010, replacing Shay Given against Arsenal. It was a bit of international history as he was the first Faroese footballer to play in the Premier League.

Eventually leaving city in 2012, Neilson would move to Denmark with Silkeborg. It was April by the time he arrived there Motherwell, under the influence of Gordon Marshall, brought Neilson back to Fir Park for a second spell.

It was a straight shootout between Nielson and Lee Hollis for the jersey and injury to Hollis meant the Faroese got his chance. His debut came against Kuban Krasnodar in the Europa League over in Russia, where Kuban won 1-0.

He then had a run of games between the sticks, and went on to make 23 appearances for the club during the 2013/14 season, as Motherwell finished runners up in the Scottish Premiership. He helped his side claim a point against Celtic at Fir Park when he saved a Kris Commons penalty.

His second season in claret and amber would see him remain on the bench mostly and he moved onto Iceland with Stjarnan 2015, the team who ironically knocked the ‘Well out of Europe earlier that same season. After 22 games there, he moved to Icelandic champions Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar where he played until 2023. 

The 37-year-old played 168 times there and seemingly hung up the gloves last season. Capped 70 times for his country and becoming captain in 2016, Nielson was the number one stopper for his nation and picked up two club trophies in his career.

Connor Ripley

Connor Ripley was with Blackburn Rovers as a youngster before switching to Middlesbrough in 2009. It was Gordon Strachan who brought him to Teeside but it would be Tony Mowbray who would give him his first chance in the senior team.

He stayed at the Boro for eight years but as has been the trend in this piece, he went out on loan for most of that time. With some successful loans and others not so successful, and having played under Graham Potter in Sweden, Motherwell would come calling in July 2015.

Signed on a season-long loan, he started between the sticks on the opening day trip to Inverness. That would the first of 40 appearances for the club that season, which had some memorable moments including a win over Celtic at Parkhead.

His strong performances kept Craig Samson and Dan Twardzik out the picture and overall, he returned South a better player.

He joined Oldham under Steven Robinson and Ian Baraclough following his time in ML1 and continued to impress as he won the player of the year award there.

Burton Albion, Bury and Accrington Stanley would follow next for Ripley on loan before he moved on from Middlesbrough permanently to join Preston North End under Alex Neil on a three-year-deal. Three years and only ten appearances, he moved to Morecambe in 2022 where Derek Adams named him captain.

He once again won a player of the year award however Morecambe’s relegation meant he moved on at in 2023. His current team is Port Vale and although they were relegated to League Two, he was a standout performer for Darren Moore’s side. It looks to be the case that he will stay at the Vale for 24/25.

Another player who got his first run of consistent games, Ripley’s career has been steady since his departure from Fir Park and with him only being 31, there’s plenty left in the tank for the shot stopper.

George Long

Born and raised in Sheffield, George Long became Sheffield United’s youngest goalkeeper at 17 years old when he made his debut in 2011.

After impressing in the Youth team, he signed a long term deal in 2012 that seen him commit until 2016. Although the plan was for him to be second choice, injuries meant Long became a regular for the Blades.

A change in manager’s seen plans change at Sheffield United and Long would spend time out on loan. In February, deadline day, Long was recruited by Ian Baraclough.

With 15 appearances and three clean sheets between then and the end of the season, Long steadied the ship between the sticks in what was a tricky year for the Steelmen. He was strong and commanding overall and impressed in the relegation playoff victory over Rangers at the end of the season to keep the ‘Well in the top flight.

He returned to Sheffield and under new manager Nigel Atkins, was named first choice. However, Mark Howard would earn the jersey and he would become a cup keeper. However, he impressed when he played in cup games and got his position back.

Come February 2016, Long had made 100 starts for his boyhood club and got a new contract under Chris Wilder. He went out on loan again and decided the time was right to move on after seven years as a professional at the club.

Hull City would be his next destination in the Championship where he enjoyed regular game time. In three years, he amassed 65 games for the club and is moved on Millwall in 2021.

He is currently playing with Norwich, where he made 12 appearances last season, all of which came in October and November. At present, it looks like he will remain with the Canaries as they push for promotion back to the Premier League next season.

His stint may have been shorter at the club, but his saves at Ibrox in the relegation playoff win will be remembered in what was a game of the highest importance.