Latest News

Neil McLaughlin and Broque Watson have been recruited to form part of Stephen Craigan’s reserves team for the 2018/19 season.

The pair have been signed up on one-year deals. McLaughlin joins from Partick Thistle, while Watson has signed from Celtic.

McLaughlin has immediately gone out on loan to Stirling Albion for the season, with the club holding a recall option in January. He will also be eligible to play for the Motherwell reserve team.

The 19-year-old forward, who made three appearances for the Jags, also spent last campaign with Stirling, playing 33 times and scoring four goals.

Watson, a winger, has played for Celtic in the UEFA Youth League and will also form part of the reserves.

Jake Hastie will spend the first half of the 2018/19 season on loan with Alloa Athletic.

The young forward will link up with the Ladbrokes Championship side until January, as he continues his development.

The 19-year-old, who has played for Motherwell’s first team on three occasions, spent last campaign on loan at Airdrieonians.

Also a member of Stephen Craigan’s Under 20s squad, Hastie made 32 appearances for the Diamonds, scoring three goals.

“This is another good opportunity for Jake to get games under his belt,” manager Stephen Robinson said of the move.

“Having spent time with us in Ireland in pre season and impressed, it’s important he gets playing time.

“It’s also a new challenge for him stepping up to a higher division. We will continue to monitor his progress and hope Jake performs well in the Championship.”

Shea Gordon will spend the 2018/19 campaign on loan with Partick Thistle.

The Northern Irish midfielder, who has made four first team appearances for the Steelmen, moves to Firhill as the Jags look to bounce back to the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Everyone at the club wishes Shea well and will continue to monitor his progress in the Championship. Motherwell have the option to recall him from his loan in January.

Barry Maguire has extended his stay with Motherwell for the 2018/19 season.

The central defender, who made his first team debut towards the end of last campaign, has signed a new one-year deal.

Maguire, 20, has made three appearances in claret and amber to date.

“I am delighted to be staying with the club,” he said after signing on. “I got a taste of first team football last season and felt I handled it well.

”My goal now is to try and stay in the manager’s thoughts and get into the team.”

Manager Stephen Robinson added: “Barry has shown he has the ability to step up to the first team and give us further options at centre back.”

”We are pleased he is staying on and hope we can keep pushing him to fulfil his potential.”

Motherwell Colts will play either BSC Glasgow or East Stirlingshire in the first round of the Irn-Bru Cup.

The clash will be played on the midweek of 14/15 August. The exact date, kick off time and venue will be announced shortly.

BSC and East Stirling will play in a preliminary round on 31 July to determine who will take us on.

The young Steelmen defeated Queen’s Park in the first round of the competition last season, before a trip to face Northern Irish side Crusaders.

After a battling performance, the hosts ran out narrow 3-2 winners with a last-minute goal.

Ross MacLean will spend the season on loan with Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton.

The young midfielder, who has made 20 appearances for Motherwell, joins up with Ray McKinnon’s side as they push for a place in the top flight.

MacLean, 21, made his debut in claret and amber in 2015 against Dundee. His first goal for the club came in the Betfred Cup win away to Ross County in 2017/18, a step on the road to the final.

Everyone at Motherwell wishes Ross the very best at Cappielow and will continue to monitor his development throughout the campaign.

The club has the option to call him back from his loan in the January transfer window.

Seven Motherwell academy graduates will play in Stephen McManus’ under 18s side in the 2018/19 season.

The club’s involvement in the elite level of Project Brave will see a full time under 18s team, headed by the former Scotland captain.

Robbie Hemfrey is a goalkeeper who has represented Scotland at youth international level.

Centre back Yusuf Hussain and full back Jack Brown are defenders, while Stuart McKinstry is an industrious midfielder.

Midfielders Adam Kettings and Reece McAlear, along with striker Cole Starrs, are regulars for Scotland at youth level.

Joining the seven graduates who have been promoted is a new arrival from Hibernian. Dean Cornelius arrived in the summer after ‘Well picked him up following his exit from Easter Road.

“This is an important time in youth development in Scottish football with Project Brave being introduced,” academy director Steven Hammell said.

”Motherwell are one of the elite clubs and have made significant investment towards trying to develop the next crop of first team players.

“We are excited by what the seven boys can offer and wish them the very best as they look to progress their careers with us.”

Under 18s coach McManus added: “This is an exciting time for the club as we welcome our first professionals at this age level.

“I’m looking forward to working with all of them and helping them with their ambitions of being first team players at Motherwell and forging a successful career in the game.”

The following players will leave the club when their contract expires at the end on 31 May 2018.

• Russell Griffiths
• Deimantas Petravičius
• Ellis Plummer
• Luke Watt (Under 20s)
• Dylan King (Under 20s)

The following loans will expire when the summer transfer window opens again in early June:

• Tom Aldred (Bury)
• Nadir Çiftçi (Celtic)
• Stephen Hendrie (Southend United)

Stephen Craigan has offered the following youngsters extended terms with the club:

• Shea Gordon
• Adam Livingstone
• Barry Maguire
• James Scott
• Peter Morrison
• Jason Krones
• Jordan Armstrong
• Shaun Bowers
• Alfredo Agyeman

‘Well boss Stephen Robinson said: “I would like to put on record my thanks to each of the lads leaving the club this week.

“Although Russell, Deimantas and Ellis weren’t regular starters in our first team for whatever reason, they contributed significantly by being great professionals and pushing those who were playing.

“I’d also like to record my appreciation to Tom, Nadir and Stephen, who joined us during the January window and helped us finish the season so strongly.

“We have been working on recruiting new players over the last few weeks. This summer will be different to last, where we made wholesale changes to the squad. We are more concentrated on fine tuning and tweaking certain areas, adding things we think we’re missing and that’s our mission.”

Motherwell Football Club would like to sincerely thank every player who is leaving Fir Park for the last time and wish them all every success in their future career.

A young Motherwell Under 20s ended the season with a 4-2 defeat against SPFL Development League winners Hibernian.

The defeat means ‘Well will finish the season in fifth spot, the same as they achieved in 2016/17.

The young Steelmen made a bright start and created one or two half chances, but nothing that was likely to trouble Maceij Dabrowski.

However, it would be the Hibees who would take the lead after 24 minutes. The unfortunate Shaun Bowers inadvertently headed Fraser Murray’s free kick over his own goalkeeper and into the net.

Hibs had a second just two minutes later with the ‘Well defence at sixes and sevens. Fraser Murray was again the architect, this time dancing through a couple of challenges before squaring it to the unmarked Josh Campbell, who fired home from close distance.

The hosts’ tails were up and had a couple of chances to score again, one from Innes Murray in particular forcing Peter Morrison into a smart save. However, from the resulting corner, Kevin Waugh rose unopposed at the back post to head home from a yard out.

There would have been harsh words in the away dressing room at the interval, but things went from bad to worse for ‘Well shortly after the restart.

Sean Mackie collected the ball on the halfway line, hared forward and danced round a couple of challenges, before curling a cracking effort into the far corner with Morrison at full stretch.

There was a danger the roof could cave in, but to their credit, the young Steelmen dug deep.

They got themselves a goal just before the hour. Great wing play by Semple was rewarded when Kyle MacDonald impressively headed his cross past Dabrowski.

‘Well then passed up a series of chances to further reduce the deficit with Semple, Hastie and Turnbull all failing to take opportunities.

However, they did finish strongly when Semple latched onto a pass from substitute Stuart McKinstry to finish low past the goalkeeper.

It was the end of the scoring, the end of the game and for ‘Well, the end of another decent season at Development League level.

Extended highlights as Motherwell Under 20s make it two wins from two games against Celtic in the SPFL Development League this season.