24th June 2009: Centenary DVD / Pre-Season Programme Supporters may be aware that Urbancroft were producing a centenary DVD on Pollok FC, and those in attendance at the centenary dinner were treated to its premiere. Featuring contributions from players past and present, committee members and supporters, the disc is worthy of a spot in any Lok fan's DVD pile. Urbancroft also managed to secure footage of all three Junior Cup Final triumphs and were also present at many games over the 2008-09 season. Anyone interested in getting hold of the DVD (£10 per disc) is advised to contact a committee member in person or failing that please email the Lok site with your interest. The DVD is not at present for sale directly from the website. For further information, Vice President John McFarlane can be contacted on 07812 897885 and he will be happy to deal with any DVD-related queries.
On other matters, Lok's pre-season programme is as follows: Wednesday
22nd July: Bo'ness United vs. Pollok (7.15pm) The opening fixtures are now available for all West Region clubs though the PFC official website does not have these at present. The PFC official website is also advised that Pollok do not have ANY new signings to announce at present, despite media reports to the contrary. 13th June 2009: Colville Car Park! The return of Rab Sneddon as manager has also led to the renewal of the unofficial link between Lok and Motherwell amateur side Colville Park, bossed by former Newlandsfield player and coach Gerry Hamilton. In recent years, Gerry has provided the club with a number of players to be signed as amateurs by Lok for the final lap of the season: Graham Walker in 2005, Brian Hamilton (Gerry's son) and Tam Morgan in 2007, Hamilton, Morgan, Chris Fitzpatrick and Paul Macaulay in 2008 and in 2009 Macaulay, Morgan, Chris Walker and Andy Harrison. Striker Tam Morgan is 28 years old, and has been with Colville Park for a number of years. He had played Junior with both Royal Albert and Larkhall in the early 00s. Andy Harrison is a right midfielder who is 27 years old and powerful central defender Chris Walker, unsurprisingly rated a top prospect by Gerry Hamilton, is only 19. The other new face in the side on saturday versus Dalry Thistle was central midfielder Craig Halliday, 25, of Fosters Scottish Amateur Sunday Trophy winners Gantry Amateurs, a Shettleston-based Airdrie & Coatbridge Sunday League outfit. He has previously played Junior with Shettleston in 2007 though was not retained by them. 8th June 2009: Paul Macaulay The lok site can confirm that Pollok added amateur striker Paul Macaulay to the pool ahead of the Kilsyth Rangers cup tie. The skilful 21-year-old has been with leading Motherwell amateurs Colville Park since 2007. He had featured as a trialist in a few games prior to the Kilsyth match. 28th May 2009: Turnbull blow Lok will be without the services of David Turnbull with immediate effect after he was awarded a two match ban for being sent off in the 1st leg of the Junior Cup semi final with Clydebank. Lok await their opponents in the Central League Cup Final after Kilsyth Rangers protested their defeat at the weekend. The venue for the final will be the home of the finalists. 16th May 2009: A familiar face to return Pollok FC are delighted to announce the return of Rab Sneddon as team manager. The popular 57-year-old stepped down a year ago after a combination of health concerns, work and family commitments left him unable to continue befond the summer of 2008, however the past year has allowed him time to reflect and return fully refreshed for the challenges ahead. Harry Erwin and Mark McWilliams will remain in charge of the side until further notice, and both will be a part of the backroom staff for 2009-10. 15th May 2009: A few 'new' faces... Lok fans got a bit of a shock to see Martin Nelson in the line-up at Brig-O-Lea in midweek, the 42-year-old veteran playmaker having been lured out of retirement to re-sign for the club as injury cover. Also signed up for the occasion were striker Mark Kilpatrick (29), formerly of Stedfast Amateurs and also coach Mark McWilliams. Only players unattached (in Junior terms) at the start of 2008-09 are able to be registered after April 1st. Kilpatrick has since been released. 27th April 2009: Jim Sinnet quits Pollok / Bexy is POTY For reasons of family life pressure and work commitments, Jim Sinnet has tendered his resignation, with immediate effect, as manager of Pollok Football Club. This news was announced by Match Secretary George Paterson at the club's 101st AGM on Monday 27th April. Pollok FC would like to take this opportunity to thank Jim Sinnet for the work he did on behalf of the club and wish him well with his future career. Harry Erwin has agreed to take charge of the team until the end of the season or until the vacancy is filled. On other matters, Stevie Miller was voted Player of the Year for 2008-09 ahead of close challengers Bryan Dingwall and Andy Essler. Congratulations to Bexy on joining the considerable list of talent to be found among the previous winners here. 31st March 2009: Cup semi officials The officials who will take charge of the Junior Cup semi-finalists have been announced. 18th April 2009 Kirkintilloch
Rob Roy vs. Auchinleck Talbot 25th April 2009 Auchinleck
Talbot vs. Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 17th March 2009: Cup draw news The draw for the Citylink Scottish Junior Cup semi-final will take place on Real Radio this coming friday at approximately 7pm. Ties to be played over two legs on 18th and 25th April. If the aggregate score is level after both games, the tie will be decided by penalty kicks. Away goals are not used to settle the tie. The first team drawn will get the choice of whether to be at home or away first. 12th March 2009: Cup draw news (update) Lok will be away to Clydebank in the New Coin Automatics West of Scotland Cup 3rd Round (date TBA) and away to St. Anthony's in the Central League Cup 2nd Round (date TBA). Lok or Bankies have been drawn at home to Beith in the New Coin Automatics West of Scotland Cup Quarter-Final with the winner of that away to Cumnock or Glenafton Athletic in the semi-final. 5th March 2009: Meadow Park admission Pollok and Irvine Meadow have agreed to set admission prices for the Junior Cup tie at Meadow Park on 14/3/09 to £6 for adults and £3 for concessions. 5th February 2009: Simone Benvenuti a bordo! Pollok FC vorrei dare un caloroso benvenuto ai nuovi firma italiano Simone Sorrentino che si unisce al club questa settimana. Simone ha 23 anni e il suo più recente del club è stata AS Latina che ha giocato in Serie C2. Simone Benvenuti a bordo! And for those of us without the ability to operate the Google translation tool, I'll start again. While not the first Italian name to pull on the Lok jersey (Mario Pacitti an obvious one to start with) Simone Sorrentino is surely the first Italian national to join Pollok? He is a 23 year old two-footed forward and played for AS Latina, a club from the Lazio region of Italy, in Serie C2. Simone is possibly someone that supporters may recognise as he has been training with the club for some time. His connection with Pollok is former sponsor Tony Vezza who is a relation. Welcome aboard Simone! Also signing up again is No 2 keeper Robbie MacKillop, fresh from a very brief spell with Largs Thistle where he stood in for Stevie Connick. 24th January 2009: Robbie MacKillop heads to seaside Pollok have released Robbie MacKillop to allow him to play for Largs Thistle over the next two weekends, though the paperwork is already in place to ensure that he will revert to being a Pollok player in early February.21st January 2009: Farewell to Derek Heaton Sadly the arm injury that has forced Derek Heaton to miss large spells of the past few seasons has now led to his retirement from Junior football. Derek was a great servant to Lok after signing in 2002 and helped the club pick up four West Region Super Premier League Championship medals as well as six other pieces of silverware. Everyone at Lok wishes the popular stopper all the best for the future.29th December 2008: New signing arrives With Derek Heaton's ongoing absence (broken arm) leaving Jim Sinnet with a squad of only 18 players including two keepers, the time seems right to boost the numbers ahead of three big games in January. Arriving is 21 year old midfielder John Sweeney from Knightswood Juveniles. He has featured in recent matchday squads and made his competitive debut on 20/12/08 at Dunterlie after previously scoring in a low key friendly with Stenhousemuir. Welcome aboard John! 16th December 2008: Groundhog Day Pollok will be on their travels for the ELEVENTH round in a row after being drawn away to Kilsyth Rangers. Last time there we won 9-0 but Rangers have improved considerably over the summer. Tie takes place on 17th January 2009. 9th November 2008: Away days are here again Pollok will be on their travels for the TENTH round in a row after being drawn away to Kilbirnie Ladeside in the Citylink Scottish Junior Cup 3rd round. The tie takes place on Saturday 29th November. Also, new to the website is the Lok Talk podcast. Hear interviews with Chris Cruickshank, David Turnbull, Calum Hardie and committee man Gordon Ritchie. 7th November 2008: Junior Cup draw / Junior Scotland The Junior Cup 3rd Round draw will be held on Sunday at Whitburn FC's social club at 1pm. News will appear here as soon as I have it. On another matter, congratulations to Chris Cruickshank, Bryan Dingwall, Calum Hardie and Robert Downs on their Junior Scotland call-ups for Sunday 15th November's game with Auchinleck Talbot. 18th October 2008: Legends Game update Firstly kick off on Sunday 26th is 1PM. Some of the players involved in the Lok Legends v SPL Legends game include: Brian
Cassidy (88-92) The SPL Select includes: Lindsay
Hamilton (46): Thorniewood, Stenhousemuir, Rangers, East Stirlingshire, Stirling
Albion, Clydebank, St. Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Portadown, East Fife,
Partick Thistle, Stenhousemuir, Shotts Bon Accord, Thorniewood 17th October 2008: Mark Booth departs Pollok Pollok today can confirm the departure of Mark Booth, 28, from Newlandsfield a few weeks shy of completing his second year at the club. Mark originally signed for Lok from Elgin City as the Lanarkshire-based firefighter sought a side closer to work. The tough tackling midfielder made 16 appearances in his first season at the club but was made available for transfer in September 2007 and rarely featured for Rab Sneddon thereafter. New season, new manager however and 'Boothy' was re-signed by Jim Sinnet but he failed to win a regular place in an extremely talented midfield and after a swansong at sweeper against East Craigie on saturday, Mark moves on to pastures new, with a return to the senior game I understand a likely direction for him. Mark goes with the best wishes of PFC for the remainder of his career. Mark Booth's Lok career (full details in the history archive): 17 starts, 11 sub apps, 2 goals, 8 yellow cards. 14th October 2008: Shaun Dillon joins Lok / Away days are here again Pollok can announce the signing of Shaun Dillon from Irvine Meadow. Shaun is 24 years old and is primarily a left back. He was a product of the Kilmarnock youth set-up over 20 SPL appearances for the Rugby Park side before loan and permanent spells with Morton, Queen of the South, Stenhousemuir and Stranraer. He joined Meadow in the summer of 2007 but was made available for transfer ahead of the 2008-09 campaign. Welcome aboard Shaun! In other news, the Junior Cup. For the ninth round in succession, Pollok have been given an away tie in the Citylink Scottish Junior Cup. Our opponents this time are Culter of the North Region, and they are managed by the very experienced Bobby Gray. Culter (pronounced 'Cooter') have a phenomenal record in recent years, though they only joined the Juniors from the amateur leagues in 1987. They are based in the Deeside town of Peterculter and play at Crombie Park. Here's a very brief who's who of their pool: Donny
ADAM, (29): defender/midfielder, ex Cove Rangers, Ellon United and Sunnybank.
Scottish
Junior Cup 2nd Round Draw (1.11.08) 9th October 2008: Getting to Craigie Park For fans driving through to Dundee, here's how to get to Craigie Park. Approach Dundee from the Perth direction and follow the A90 around the back of the city. Continue beyond the A90 Aberdeen turnoff, exiting Kingsway at the following roundabout, taking the 4th exit into Old Craigie Road. The ground is around 400 yards down the road, on the left hand side. 25th September 2008: Lok make signing ahead of Spartans tie Pollok have added 17 year old Stephen Cuddihy to the squad ahead of saturday's Scottish Cup tie with Spartans. He comes in from Govan-based Harmony Row B.C. In other news, Lok gave drawn Benburb in the New Coin Automatics West of Scotland Cup 2nd Round. The full draw (ties 18th October) is: RENFREW
vs. LARGS THISTLE 20th September 2008: Ref appointments The referees for Lok's two upcoming cup ties have been confirmed. Next saturday's match against Spartans will be officiated by category 2 Ayrshire referee Greg Aitken with two West Region category 4A referees Howard Wilkin and Mark Ainslie assisting. The trip to East Craigie will be handled by category 3 Fife whistler David McGeachie. No assistants appear to have been appointed for the Craigie tie at this stage. 11th September 2008: Lok Legends v SPL Select As part of the centenary celebrations, a team of Lok Legends will take on an SPL Select at Newlandsfield on Sunday October 26th, kick off 1pm. Many of the 1997 Junior Cup winning squad will be involved in the game. Prices will be £4 and £2. More details will appear over the next 6 weeks. 8th September 2008: Scottish Association Cup Draw Pollok have landed East of Scotland League side The Spartans in the 1st Round draw for the Scottish Association Cup. East Superleague sides Lochee United and Bathgate Thistle managed to draw each other, while Girvan have a tough trip to Aberdeenshire to play Huntly. Banks O'Dee's Scottish Cup debut sees them entertain Fort William. The Spartans have had their fixture list thus far badly affected by the elements, and have only played two games this season. Last year they drew Linlithgow Rose at the 2nd Round stage and were defeated 4-1. They are managed by the very experienced Mick Lawson and Sam Lynch, the former a player who enjoyed a long senior career and also managed at that level with Meadowbank and Arbroath. This is Lawson's 8th year in charge of the Edinburgh men. The question everyone will no doubt ask is "how good are they?" Here's the lowdown on their current first team squad (Spartans actually run three adult teams, a 1st XI in the East of Scotland League, a 2nd XI in the Central Scottish Amateurs and a 3rd XI in the Edinburgh & District Amateurs). Ross ARCHIBALD
(26): Experienced right back who re-signed for Spartans from Brechin City in 2007.
Played with Whitehill Welfare earlier in the decade. The full draw: (ties being played 27/9/08) Rothes
v Buckie Thistle 4th September 2008: Photo update Prior to the Bellshill match, Paul Fox and Jim Love of the 'Hill committee presented Lok with two goblets in recognition of the club's centenary.
Also, before kick off, Robert Downs donated a Junior Scotland cap and strip to the club. It can be seen in the committee room.
3rd September 2008: Junior Cup draw Just for a change, Lok have been given an away draw in cup competition, and this time we head to Dundee (rather than just pass through as we did last year on a few occasions) to take on East Region North Division side East Craigie. Craigie are nicknamed the Shipbuilders and are one of the oldest surviving Junior clubs in Scotland. Their Craigie Park home, to be found on Old Craigie Road in the city's East End, can be seen below. Incidentally, the former home of Stobswell Juniors, most recently used by amateur side NCR, can be found on the other side of the allotments that are on the top of this picture.
29th August 2008: John McGall request I received a request for information on John McGall - if anyone can add to what I have listed here, please let me know. John stepped up to Senior football from Duntocher Hibs to Dundee in 1979 aged 18, and after two seasons he moved onto East Stirlingshire where he played 37 games, scoring two goals. He then spent a few seasons with Kilbirnie and then joined Pollok in 1984 where he remained for nine seasons. While at Lok, he helped the club to a number of trophies including the 1984-85 Junior Cup. His first Lok goal was scored on 2/2/85 in a 6-0 Junior Cup win against Broughty Athletic, the first of 30 for the club. He managed one hat-trick for Lok, coming on 25/4/89 in a 4-1 home league win over Rutherglen Glencairn. 2nd August 2008: Legends Game at Dunterlie in the Eric Hickey Charity Shield On Sunday 24th August, a number of players of the past from Lok and Lie will take to the field at at Dunterlie to contest the first Eric Hickey Charity Shield. Eric Hickey died suddenly in October 2007 and is remembered fondly by the people of Barrhead. Councillor Danny Devlin told the Barrhead News recently: "Eric was a true gentleman, an ambassador for Barrhead. I got to know him through his community work and he was just an all round good guy. The charity match is an excellent tribute to Eric and not a day passes by when he is not missed by the community, friends and family.” All proceeds from the game will go to The Accord Hospice, The Beatson Cancer Centre and The Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Players scheduled to appear include: Arthurlie Pollok 14th July 2008: Signing number four arrives Pollok today completed the signing of Derek Wingate from Irvine Meadow XI today, adding to the other summer captures previously announced of Calum Hardie (Lochee United), Andy Essler (Irvine Meadow XI) and highly rated keeper Robbie MacKillop from Dunoon Amateurs. Dexy, 32, is a very experienced defender and his consistently impressive form with Benburb over a number of seasons took him into Senior football with Stranraer where he played in all three divisions of the Scottish League. He has spent the last two seasons with Meadow, but will be coming to Lok to get himself among the serious honours. Welcome aboard to all four new faces, and goodbye and good luck to the following who have all left Lok for pastures new: Brian McKeown (Beith) Below are pictured Wingate and Hardie.
2nd July 2008: Pollok FC are 100 Years Old! No telegram from the Queen but on July 1st Pollok turned 100 years old and are now entering our centenary season. Committee members past and present (including a number of ex presidents) toasted the occasion on the hallowed turf. Happy birthday Lok!
26th June 2008: New signings Pollok can announce a few new arrivals at Newlandsfield as well as the re-signing of two players. Firstly, Mark Booth has agreed terms with Lok to come off the transfer list and therefore stays on board, while Andy Essler re-joins the club from Irvine Meadow XI. New faces are keeper Robbie MacKillop from Dunoon Amateurs and right midfielder Calum Hardie, a Junior international from Lochee United who has just moved to Glasgow. Both are 23. | ||||
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