Brechin City vs Berwick Rangers

I'm really not looking forward to this one. It is the battle of the basement boys as we take on Brechin at Glebe Park. I used to like going to these places, but nowadays it seems more like a chore. I have spoken to ONE other Berwick fan who is also making the trip. Looks like a skeleton support from Berwick.

During the week we added ex-Grenta midfielder Kevin Davison, signing on from Hamilton. He seems to play on the right side of midfield. We have needed some competition in midfield since the strange departure of Gary Greenhill. He has signed on until the end of the year, when we will also lose midfielder Danny Swanson to Dundee United. However the club chairman has promised Renwick some coin in the January transfer window, so...

When City were down at Shielfield a couple of months ago, Brechin looked quite poor and we should have taken all three points instead of surrendering a 3-3 draw. This is the sort of game we have to take points from.

My prediction: Brechin 2-2 Berwick.

Weather: Sunny, 8 degrees
Betting: Brechin 2/1, Berwick 7/2, draw 3/1

Emergency Transfer - Kevin Davison

We have signed Kevin Davison from Hamilton on an emergency transfer, until 31st December 2007. More on him when I have it...

Gary's Testimonial

The official website have today run a story about Gary O'Connor. He has been granted a testimonial after 14 years of service to the club (only broken by spells at Cowden, East Fife and Partick). It comes after he made his 250th appearance on Saturday at Dumbarton.

If anyone deserves a testimonial it is Gary. He has been a great servant to the club in his three spells at Shielfield, coming through a couple of dodgy periods to still be our No.1.

There has been a mention of a game against Celtic next summer. That would be a tremendous fixture to host at Shielfield Park - lets hope the testimonial committee can help pull it off. Grant McNicoll has already spoken to a few people in Berwick about holding a testimonial, I don't know if there would be any mileage in holding a joint occassion?

I'll let you all know if I hear anything...

Dumbarton 2-0 Berwick Rangers

Utter rubbish...

And I'm being kind when I say that! This was one of the worst performances I've seen Berwick turn in recently, especially with the potential prize of a tie at an SPL ground. The fact that there was only 50 odd Berwick fans in attendance speaks volumes too - a few years ago we would have taken over 100 through to any Scottish Cup tie.

above: David Crawford saves McLeish's penalty (theducket.com)

The tie was over before half time, McFarlane and McPhee scoring for Dumbarton. We did have a chance to get back into the game, but McLeish had his penalty saved. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take in the second half after two of Rock Steady's finest asked me to leave the stadium for the unforgivable crime of.....standing. God knows how they'll cope if they have to deal with any sort of away support in the next round. Makes you think how lucky we are to have common sense stewarding at Shielfiled...

We are at Brechin next week, on league business. For the first time since 1997 I'm thinking of not bothering going to a game. A couple of others that go regularly were saying the same thing, has it really come to this, not 7 months after winning the title?

Dumbarton vs Berwick Rangers

Cup Fever.....and Gary's 250th game!

We head to Dumbarton tomorrow for the Third Round of the Tennents Scottish Cup. For the first time this season we go into a game as favourites!

Michael Renwick has this week said that a win this Saturday could kick start our season. And a win is essential if we are to start gaining some confidence. It is the sort of comments managers make when they first come to a club, but his sentiments are right.

Some good news on the injury front - it looks like Gary Wood is fit again to pull on a Berwick jersey and Danny Swanston is also eligible despite his sending off a fortnight ago. So we are all set for a win then...

It is worth mentioning that this will be Gary O'Connor's 250th competitive game for Berwick. Gary has been with us on and off for nearly 15 years. Well done to Gary, here's to another 250!!

Bus to Dumbarton

Seats still left...

Berwick Rangers Supporters are running at 49 Seater Coach to Dumbarton, for the cup tie on Saturday the 24th of November. The bus will be leaving from Shielfield Park at 10:30, picking up at Golden Square and the Elizabethan. All other reasonable requests for pick ups will be considered.

Prices are £10 for Adults, and £5 for under 16's. To book your space please call/text - 07769 971 921 or you can visit - www.berwickrangers.co.uk

You will also be able to buy one of the first copies of 'Mission Impossible' onboard the bus!

Back from the Baltic

Some of you were probably wondering why I've not updated my Blog in the last week. Well, I took advantage of the free weekend and jetted off to Riga, Latvia with a couple of like-minded individuals!


Whilst in Riga we took in Latvia vs Lichtenstein (in sub-zero conditions). In the bars in town it became apparent that football is not a popular sport in the Baltic region, with Ice Hockey attracting tens of thousands. We sat in a crowd of just under 5,000 - with the locals more interested in their Vodka filled hip flasks.

Lativa ran out 4-1 winners in the end, in a match that felt more like a pre-season friendly than an international encounter. Both sides were out of qualifying before the match kicked off. Still, only 3 lats (about £3.50) to take in a European qualifing match isn't bad and the vodka helped.

Win a copy of Mission Impossible

The Supporters Trust are running a competition to win the very first copy of 'Mission Impossible'. Head over to their website at www.berwickrangers.co.uk to enter! They also tell us that people who have pre-ordered can expect their copy at some point next week!

Renwick is not scared!

Michael Renwick had this to say in the Newcastle Journal this morning:

"Since I took over I have not seen anything in the league to frighten my team and there has been a marked improvement in performance levels. What we really need to do now is to try to get back to back victories which would kick-start our season."

Berwick Rangers 1-2 Peterhead

Unlucky...

We were very unlucky not to have gotten at least a draw this afternoon. Scott Gemmill had put us 1-0 up after 11 minutes with a fantastic 18 yard shot that went in off the under-side of the bar.

Peterhead levelled just before half time through Polish striker Konrad Kozminski. And Martin Bavidge knocked in the winner just before the hour mark, with the Berwick players appealing for offside.

Danny Swanson was sent off two minutes from time for a second bookable offence.

Mission Impossible

You can pre-order your copy of 'Mission Impossible' at the Trust Shop today. Either pre-match or at half-time.

Berwick Rangers vs Peterhead

A winable game this. Surely we'll pick up some points here, I was up at Balmoor in September and I thought Peterhead were very average and fortunate to win 4-3. That said, they are more than 10 points ahead of us.


A couple of rumours on P&B suggest that we may be getting a couple of youngsters on loan from Hibs - Darren McCormick and Ross Campbell are the names mentioned. Both younger than 20 and both with a sprinkling of Hibs first team action.

Whether it is these two lads or not remains to be seen, Michael Renwick has not made it a secret that he intends to utilise his contacts to get some loan players in. We'll find out tomorrow exactly who, if anyone, he has managed to bring in.

Referee: Steven Nicholls
Weather: Sunny, chance of rain. 12 degrees.
Bluesq: Berwick 9/5, Peterhead 11/10, Draw 5/2

Letter of the Week

Ducket regular Kenny Taylor has won the £25 first prize for his 'Letter of the Week' in the Daily Record. Here it is:

To say we have come down to earth with a bump is a bit of an understatement.

After all the hype of winning the Third Division last season we had high hopes we could establish ourselves in the Second.

We all knew we had to strengthen our pool which didn't happen (not with quality players, anyway) but many thought we were good enough at least to stay up.

But then we lost Gary Greenhill and Kevin Haynes and, if that wasn't bad enough, Danny Swanson's on his way too (good luck Danny - the boys all know you have the potential and hope you make it).

Then another bombshell as 'Coff' resigns, saying he can take the team no further.

Michael Renwick took over but I feel we needed someone with experience of managing at lower-league level - at 31 our new gaffer is a bit young to start in the hot seat.

The weekend's draw was very welcome but unless there is a dramatic improvement I fear we'll be in Division Three by Christmas.

Our chairman has said the club is nearly out of debt. Well, I hope we spend some cash in the January transfer window.

Dumbarton Bus Details

Berwick Rangers Travel Club are running at 49 Seater Coach to Dumbarton, for the cup tie on Saturday the 24th of November. The bus will be leaving from Shielfield Park at 10:30, picking up at Golden Square and the Elizabethan. All other reasonable requests for pick ups will be considered. The bus will return at approx. 8.30pm.


Prices are £10 for Adults, and £5 for U16's. To book your space please call/text - 07769 971 921 or e-mail travel@berwickrangers.co.uk

Ken Bowron Interview

Continuing the theme of the afternoon....there was a good interview with legendry goalscorer Ken Bowron in the North Tyneside Guardian yesterday. For those too young to remember, he still holds the record for goals in one season - hitting the net 50 times during the 63/64 season.

Click onto the News Guardian website to read the interview, by David Sedgewick.

Interview with Michael Renwick

There is a good interview in this tonight's Edinburgh Evening News. Sports journalist David Hardie interviewed Michael Renwick at last Sunday's Edinburgh derby. The interview is available on the Edinburgh Evening News website. Well worth a read...

More on John Martin

I didn't really cover the John Martin story last week and as things are a bit quiet, I thought I'd give you some more info on him. As you'll know already, Michael Renwick has brought him in as his assistant manager and goalkeeping coach. He comes from Cowden too.


John was an absolute legend with Airdrie, spending 19 years at Broomfield. He played in a couple of Cup finals and was 'Mr Airdrie' from 1980 onward. He was famed for swinging on cross bars - something referees didn't like, but it sent the Airdrie fans wild. His only time away from Airdrie in 19 years was a short loan spell at Albion Rovers in 1997. He left to go to Cowdenbeath in 2000, where helped them achieve promotion to the Second Division. He then had a spell in Junior football before a return to Central Park to take up the position of goalkeeping coach.

He also appeared in the film "A Shot to Glory", which was a Scottish production filmed at grounds in and around Glasgow. It also starred Robert Duvall and Ali McCoist.


Michael Renwick really couldn't ask for someone with more experience - hopefully John will enjoy a successful time at Shielfield.

Bus to Dumbarton

The Berwick Rangers Travel Club are thinking of running a bus to the Scottish Cup tie at Dumbarton a fortnight on Saturday (24th). Before committing to it, they would like to gauge initial interest. It would be a 10.30am leave and an 8.30pm return. Adults £10, U16s £5.

If you would be interested in going on the bus, please drop me a quick e-mail!

Newtongrange Star 1-1 Berwick Rangers

We drew 1-1 at New Victoria Park last night. I didn't make it along, but reports say that it was a team made up mostly of reserves, plus Noble, Stevenson, Flockhart and David Greenhill.

It was Steven Noble who got our goal. More if I get it!

Newtongrange Star vs Berwick Rangers

Berwick have arranged a friendly up at Newtongrange tonight. Probably arranged hastily, to help Renwick assess his entire squad, not just the players who are playing every Saturday.


It is a 7pm kick off.

If you are going along to the game, this is how to get there:
Head for Edinburgh and turn off for the A720 (Edinburgh bypass). At the Sheriffhall round about take the exit for the A7 south. Follow the A7 for for about 3 miles and turn left at the large Railway viaduct (which is sign posted Newbattle and Newtongrange). Follow this road for half a mile and take a left up the hill to the ground. You should see the floodlights from the main road.

Check the Newtongrange Star FC website for club info.

Berwick Rangers 1-1 Ayr United

Better...

We played a lot better on Saturday, a lot more fight and determination from the players. In the 7th minute we had that 'not again' feeling when ex-Chelsea youth Ryan Stevenson put Ayr ahead. But we fought back well, creating some good chances. We got out equaliser through Ian Diack early in the second half. Press reports say that we were lucky to get a draw, I disagree.

Ian Diack (c) theducket.com

Full report later. In the meantime, head over to the Supporters Trust website to pre-order your copy of Mission Impossible!

Berwick Rangers vs Ayr United

John Martin joins Renwick...

"Here we go again" is the feeling I seem to get before a match these days. But hopefully we can pick up some points tomorrow, something we haven't done in the last seven weeks. The last time we played Ayr they made us look very poor in a 4-0 thrashing at Somerset in August, so they come to Berwick as strong favourites.


Michael Renwick will be joined on the sidelines by his new assistant manager, John Martin. The ex-Airdrie goalkeeper comes in after a couple of seasons as goalkeeping coach at Cowdenbeath. Some of you will remember his son, also John, who played up front for us about 10 years ago. He will probably double up as a goalkeeping coach, as Alex Connon jumped ship with Coff and co.

Referee: Chris Boyle
Blue sq: Berwick 21/10, Airdrie Evens, Draw 12/5
Weather: Sunny, very mild.

Sponsor a Seat!

I have recently been contacted by Rodelle Purvis, secretary of the Berwick Rangers Supporters Club. She has asked me to promote an iniative to improve facilities at Shielfiled Park. So I will! It is called Sponsor a Seat, here is the blurb from the Supporters Club:

BRFC Supporters Club have generously purchased 100 new seats to begin the first phase of the Development of Shielfield Stadium, which was started in October 2007. Future works will bring the stadium into line with present day Health & Safety guidelines.

We would like to give you, a valued supporter, the chance to not only continue to give financial support to your Club and to help improve your stadium, but also to have your name added to the Roll Of Honour Wall.

For the sum of £20, you can sponsor a seat and have your name added to the Roll of Honour which will be proudly displayed for all to see in the Main Stand of the Stadium.


It is good to see gradual steps being taken to improve Shielfield. It has been pretty run-down of late, and with other clubs building new stadiums, we have kinda been left behind - with only the likes of Alloa and Cowdenbeath worse off.

The seated area has always been a problem. The seats in the main stand are funny mix - some of the original seating is there, along with seating added in the early 90s and the red seats came from Sunderland's old ground, Roker Park, when they moved to the Stadium of Light in 1997.

Good on the SC for taking the initiative, hopefully plenty of you will support the idea if you can. You can download an order form here.