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Defender Paul McGinn is our second summer signing. 

The 31-year-old versatile defender made 34 appearances last season for Hibernian, whilst also earning his first Scotland cap against Austria in September.

McGinn joins on a one year deal with the club.

“We’re very happy that Paul has agreed to join us and add to our defensive options,” manager Graham Alexander said.

“He has proven quality in the Premiership and his playing record is excellent since coming back to Scotland.

“I feel we’ve brought in a talented and motivated player, whose character and experience will be very important to us.”

McGinn started his career at Queen’s Park where he came through the youth ranks before making his first team debut in 2009. After impressing at the spiders, he earned a move to Premiership side St Mirren in 2012.

Once gaining valuable game time and experience on loan, he moved to Dundee in 2014 before making the move south of the border to Chesterfield in 2016.

McGinn returned to Scotland in 2017 where has since played for Partick Thistle, St Mirren and Hibernian.

Motherwell will start their 2022/23 cinch Premiership campaign away to St Mirren.

The match will take place on Saturday 30 July at St Mirren Park. There is the possibility this will be moved to Sunday 31 July due to our Europa Conference League fixture.

Our first cinch Premiership match at Fir Park will be against St Johnstone on 6 August at 3pm.

All fixtures in the 2022/23 season are subject to change, depending on TV selections and participation in European competitions.

The Steelemen will take on St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on 12 November in our final match before the winter shutdown, which runs for the duration of the FIFA 2022 World Cup.

The 2022/23 campaign will run until the weekend of 27 May 2023, with split fixtures starting on the weekend of 6 May 2023.

UEFA have confirmed we will open our 2022/23 Europa Conference League campaign at home.

Motherwell will take on the winners of Bala Town and Sligo Rovers in the second qualifying round at Fir Park on Thursday July 21.

The second leg is due to take place on Thursday 28 July.

If Bala Town are our opponents in the second qualifying round, there are various permutations.

Should Bala Town and Welsh outfit Newtown both reach the Europa Conference League second qualifying round, and should The New Saints reach the second qualifying round of the Champions League, our second leg fixture against Bala Town will take place on Tuesday 26 July.

Also, if Bala Town and Newtown both reach the Europa Conference League second qualifying round, and should The New Saints drop into the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, the tie will be reversed.

This would mean, the first leg of our Europa Conference League tie against Bala Town would take place away from home on 21 July, with the second leg to be played at Fir Park on Tuesday 26 July.

Should we face Sligo Rovers in the tie, we will play the away leg on Thursday 28 July.

Our opponents will be confirmed on 14 July, after the first round of qualifying matches are concluded.

Bala Town have confirmed that Park Hall Stadium will be their home venue for their European matches this season.

Kick-off times and ticket information will be communicated in due course.

Motherwell had four first team players representing their respective countries across the world in the June international break.

Stephen O’Donnell

Motherwell captain Stephen O’Donnell watched from the bench as Ukraine advanced to the World Cup Playoff final after beating Scotland 3-1.

The full back would not feature in Scotland’s squads against Armenia and Republic of Ireland.

In their fourth match, O’Donnell was back on the bench as Scotland secured a 4-1 victory against Armenia in Yerevan.

Liam Kelly

Liam Kelly was once again named in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad as he pushes towards his first Scotland cap. One of four goalkeeping options, Kelly made the bench for all four matches while Zander Clark was left out of the match day squads against Ukraine and Armenia.

With David Marshall announcing his retirement from international football, the Motherwell stopper moves up the pegging order as he looks to push Craig Gordon for the number one jersey.

Ross Tierney

Tierney was selected for Republic of Ireland Under 21 duty as they rounded off their UEFA European Under 21 Championship qualifying campaign.

In their first match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ireland came away with a huge three points after a 3-o victory. Tierney played 65 minutes, setting up Mipo Odubeko for the second goal in the game.

In their second match, a 3-1 win over Montenegro, Tierney was on the bench and didn’t feature.

Before their final match in this run of fixtures, Ireland knew they would finish no lower than second in their group.

As a result, they knew, at the very least, they would be one of theeight teams who would be drawn into four ties in the play-offs for a space at the UEFA Euro Under 21 Championship.

Ireland played Italy in their last game knowing a win against them would see them finish top of their group and secure automatic qualification for the Euros. Tierney was once again named on the bench as the Italians came away with a 4-1 victory.

With this defeat, Ireland dropped into the play off. This was the first time they have achieved this and will discover their opponents later this month with the games taking place in September.

Bevis Mugabi

Uganda got their AFCON 2023 qualifiers underway. Up first was Algeria for the Cranes where Bevis Mugabi played the full 90 minutes. After seeing a penalty saved by the Algerian goalkeeper, Uganda would go on to lose the match 2-0.

The defender was named in the starting lineup once again when Uganda took on Niger in their second qualifying match. The Cranes would score first in the match however went on to draw 1-1 as Mugabi played another full 90 minutes.

We will face Bala Town or Sligo Rovers in the second qualifying round of the 2022/23 UEFA Europa Conference League.

The dates and times of the matches will be confirmed shortly.

The UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round draw takes place on Wednesday at 12pm in Nyon. 

There will be two parts to the draw, the Champions Path and the Main Path. We are in the Main Path part of the draw.

Motherwell will be seeded in the draw with ties taking place on 21 and 28 July.

The draw will also determine whether we play at home in the first or second leg.

We could be paired with two teams who will be playing each other in the first qualifying round, with the winners progressing to the next round.

If this is the case, we will discover our opponents on 14 July when the second leg of the first round qualifying matches are due to be played.

Motherwell will spend a week in Austria to prepare for our UEFA Europa Conference League qualifier and forthcoming season. 

Graham Alexander and his players will be in Obertraun from the 3rd to 10th July for a week of intensive pre-season training.

It is the first time ‘Well will have managed a summer camp for three-years following Covid-19 restrictions. And it will be familiar surroundings, with the club having used the facilities back in 2007 and 2008.

“Obertraun is a brilliant football camp and one that I am used to being at,” Graham Alexander said.

“I’ve been lucky to go there on several occasions both as a player and manager, and feel it is the perfect base for a team. It’s remote, there are no distractions but everything you need to prepare for a full season. The only focus is fitness, football & team spirit.

“We actually tried to go there last summer, but restrictions were changing all the time and it was just too difficult. So I am very much looking forward to getting the group together and working hard to set the baseline for the weeks and months ahead.”

Located among the Dachstein mountain range, a 90-minute drive from the city of Salzburg, BSFZ Obertraun is a popular destination for clubs all cross Europe. In recent years, clubs such as AS Roma, Manchester United and Everton have all used the facility.

News on pre-season matches will be announced when they have been confirmed.

Blair Spittal is our first signing of the summer.

The 26-year-old midfielder joins from Ross County on a two-year deal after a successful season in the Highlands.

“We are very happy to bring Blair to our club and add to our attacking options,” manager Graham Alexander said.

“He was one of several standouts at Ross County in 2021-22 and displayed great versatility, which enhanced our ambition to sign him.

“He also showed a real positive attitude to signing for us when we first met, and we’re all looking forward to working with him.”

Spittal started in the Rangers academy before breaking through at Queens Park. His exploits at Hampden prompted Dundee United to take him to Tannadice in the summer of 2014.

Two years at Partick Thistle would follow before moving to County in 2019, where he has flourished in Malky McKay’s side last term.

Bevis Mugabi has been called up by Uganda for their upcoming round of AFCON 2023 qualifiers fixtures. 

The Cranes are in Group F alongside Algeria, Niger and Tanzania.

Uganda will begin their quest to reach AFCON 2023 when they take on Algeria on Saturday 4 June away from home in their first Group F qualification match.

Their second match is against Niger in Uganda on Wednesday 8 June.

Bevis currently has 13 caps for his country, six of which have came whilst in claret and amber.

Ross Tierney has been selected for Republic of Ireland’s under 21s. 

The young attacking midfielder will once again represent his country as they look to qualify for the UEFA Under 21 Championship.

Ireland are currently in third place in their group before this round of fixtures and four points behind leaders Italy.

Ireland face off against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday 3 June at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.

They then play Montenegro on Monday 6 June at the Tallaght Stadium before rounding off their qualifying campaign against current group leaders Italy on Tuesday 14 June away from home.

The group winners will qualify for the Euros and the best runners up also qualify.

Ireland are currently four points behind Netherlands who are, as it stands, the best runners-up.

The nations who finish second place will enter a play-off round to determine the last four qualified teams.