Game over for physio Tommy

Jun 27 2008 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THE East Region held its AGM on Tuesday evening and the delegates agreed the season will commence on August 9.

The league cup section games will be played on a Saturday and in midweek and the sections are scheduled to be completed by August 23.

The section winners will go through to the semi–finals which will be played on Wednesday, August 27.

There are of course, three league cup competitions which run in tandem and it is the intention that all three finals should be played three weeks after the semi-finals have been completed.

This move will certainly be welcomed by the teams involved, as in the past seasons, there has been a gap of several months between the semi–finals being done and dusted and the finals eventually being played.

It will be interesting to all if this innovative move proves successful and becomes the norm.

This is the hunting season as far as managers are concerned as they go chasing after players who have not re-signed for their clubs and are free agents and looking for a change of scenery.

There are others who would also like to move on but are under contract to their present club.

Jeanfield Swift would appear to be the main beneficiary at least so far, as they have signed four players who were free agents and they all played with Scone Thistle in the past season.

They are central defender Steven Watt, midfield player Gerrard Kelly and Alex “Bally” Whytock along with striker John Anderson who is undoubtedly the most notable of those signings.

Swifts’ manager Eddie O’Connor certainly deserves a pat on the back for persuading the big striker to join the Swifts as there were a number of super and premier league clubs striving to get him on board. The Swifts boss has his sights set on adding a few more new faces to his squad and is expecting to do so very soon. Swifts are to restart training tomorrow and all players should report to the Riverside Ground at 1.30pm.

Kinnoull boss Scott Brown has what he described as two major signings: Mark Morrison who was with Rosyth last season, a defender who had a stint as a senior with Stenhousemuir, and Chris Anton who is a wide midfield player who has been signed from Forfar Athletics. Chris, who is still just twenty two, has had a wealth of experience in the senior game as, apart from his spree with Forfar he also played with St Johnstone and Ross County.

Scott Brown is delighted at getting those players signed and he has one or two other irons in the fire, which he says could bring a few more new faces to Tulloch Park. This will certainly beef up his squad.

Bankfoot manager Robin Wood had thoughts about relinquishing this post at the end of last season but he is to carry on and his decision to do so is welcomed by the Bankies.

Robin certainly has not been letting the grass grow under him as far as new signings are concerned as he has made three new signings and he is on the trail of another two. Joining up at Coronation Park are defenders Scott McCabe and midfielder Craig Johnston who has just been released by East Fife.

Craig and Scott both had sprees with Kinnoull. Craig was loaned out to them by East Fyfe, while Scott’s stay at Tulloch Park was blighted by a long term injury that eventually requires an operation. Scott has since made a full recovery.

Those two players will add quite a bit of experience to the Bankers squad, which has a fair crop of young players in its make up.

Robin has returned to his favourite haunt of youth football for his third signing who is Gavin McLeod. Gavin is a defender and has been playing with the Scone under 19s.

The Bankies boss is very happy with the way his squad is shaping up and he expects to add two more signings before the start of the season.

A piece of disappointing news from the Bankies is that their long serving assistant manager Norrie Millar has decided to retire from this post. Bankies have, however, recruited Fraser Brown who had previous connections with the club to their coaching staff which is a boost for them.

Almost all of the clubs have intimated that they have friendlies in the pipeline and they expect to have the dates and the venues confirmed in the very near future. The Luncarty tournament will be played over the weekend of July 26–27. The competing teams are North End, the present holders of the trophy Kinnoull, who were the runners up, St Johnstone and of course the hosts, Luncarty.

Tommy Todd, the Kinnoull physio/bagman has retired from this post after serving in it for over a decade.

Tommy is one of the game’s characters. He has spent a football lifetime in it at all grades, from Youth football to the Juveniles and the amateurs before finally taking over his post with Kinnoull.

Tommy has had a lot of good players on his treatment table and some not so good, but he has attended to them all in the same manner. Tommy said of his going: “I will obviously miss being involved, but I felt that it was time to go.” He went on to say: “I have had a tremendous amount of pleasure out of football in which I have been involved in just about every aspect, as a player, coach and manager and of course my final post with Kinnoull.”

Tommy is one of those henspeckled characters who have been becoming fewer as the seasons roll on. His many friends and acquaintances in the game wish him well.

Kinnoull are now on the hunt for a replacement for Tommy and are inviting applications for the post of physio/bagman. All inquiries should be directed to the secretary Graeme Chalmers on 01738 630326.

Tommy Todd was honoured by Kinnoull at their awards night when he was named as their clubman of the year.

Goalkeeper Duncan Bruce won the Player of the Year award and Stuart Nicol won the Players’ Player of The Year award. The Leading Goal Scorer’s award was won by Robbie Holden.

The Scone Thistle award went to Neil Gardiner who was the Players’ Player Of The Year with Jonathan Brown The Player of the Year. Thistle groundsman John Kinnear was named as their Clubman Of The Year.

The following clubs held their AGMs recently and appointed their office bearers:

Bankfoot – president Kenny Clark, vice president Donald McDonald, secretary Ian Wood, treasurer Graham Wilks.

Kinnoull – president Chris Jones, vice-president and treasurer Charlie Grieve, secretary Graeme Chalmers.

Jeanfield Swifts: long serving president Jim Devine intimated that he wished to step down from this post. Jim will continue to serve the club as a committee member. President – Sandy Penny, voice president – Iain Armit, secretary – Eric Allen, minute secretary – Jim McKenzie treasurer – John Soutar.

The draw for the first round of the East of Scotland Cup is as follows as far as Perthshire teams are concerned: Bonnyrigg Rose v Bankfoot; Stoneyburn v Luncarty; Kirkcaldy YM v Scone Thistle; Glenrothes v Coupar Angus; Jeanfield Swifts v Dundonald B; Kinnoull v Blairgowrie.

COUPAR Angus Boys’ Club Under-12s are holding a trial day at The Common, Coupar Angus on Sunday, July 6 between 11am–12.30pm. Any boys born 1997 are welcome along or contact Alan on 07902 886940 for more details.