LATEST NEWS
For previous news articles see the monthly archive at the foot of this page.
Programme Notes 31st July 2002
The new match day programme for season 2002/03 will feature a brand new feature and could lead to you becoming considerably richer. Photographs will be taken at home and away matches and a face selected at random from a crowd scene, the winner will receive £15 in Club Shop vouchers. This Saturday's will feature a crowd scene from the championship winning game at Station Park, so if you were on the pitch at the end you may well be a winner.

Make sure that you buy a copy of the new programme, at only £1.50 it represents great value.
Man of the Match 30th July 2002
The winner of the final 'friendly' man of the match award is goal-scorer Steve Bowey, second place went to rock steady Derek Allan and third to Peter Weatherson. The full results can be seen on the 'Latest Report' page.

Remember now that every vote that you cast from this point forward will count towards the Internet Fan Club Player of the Year award which last season was won by Andy Aitken.
New Queens Site 30th July 2002
Sixteen year old Queens fan Stuart McKie has started up his own Queen of the South site, why not pay it a visit: www.intheteam.com/queensfc
Man of the Match 28th July 2002
Following the problems with the site over the weekend it is only now that we can bring you the results of the man of the match voting from last Wednesday's match versus Barnsley, the voting from Saturday will be extended a day and the results published tomorrow evening.

Back to Barnsley and the man of the match according to the internet fan club was substitute and goalscorer Peter Weatherson, by quite some way, second place went to rock solid defender Derek Allan with Andy Aitken grabbing third. To see all the scores you will need to visit the 'Results & Fixtures' page and click on the 'Report' link for the match.
Site Problems 27th July 2002
Apologies to everyone who checked out the site last night for the match report from Southport, despite it being ready to upload at 7.30pm we were unable to make the file transfer due to problems with the company that hosts our webspace. All is in place now.
Reaction 26th July 2002
Speaking to Queens Press Officer Bill Goldie after signing today, Andy Goram said, "It's good to be back in Scottish football again, I feel Queen of the South are a progressive club with a great potential, they won the second division championship last season and looking through the league I don't think there are any really outstanding sides in the division, so I'm confident we can do well and finish up there with the leaders.

I feel we have as good a chance as anyone, but I'm not here at Palmerston to mess about and I realise that I'll be playing for my place the same as everyone else."

Despite having made over 700 competitive appearances Andy has only played at Palmerston once before in the 75th Anniversary match a few years ago when he turned out for Rangers.

Manager John Connolly described it as a great signing, "The guy is a world class 'keeper and is still good enough to do a job for us, he is very fit and will be training four days a week, two days at Motherwell and two nights at Palmerston.

But although he's a former internationalist, just like all the other players at the club he'll have to justify his place in the team."
Major Signing 26th July 2002
Former Scotland, Rangers and Manchester United goalkeeper Andy Goram put pen to paper this afternoon to come to Palmerston Park and become a Queen of the South player. Thirty eight year old 'keeper Goram has made almost 730 first team competitive appearances for the following clubs, in this order, Oldham Athletic, Hibs, Rangers, Notts County, Sheffield United, Motherwell, Manchester United, Coventry and Oldham Athletic again.

Andy joins on a one year contract and will train four times a week, twice with Queens and twice at Motherwell.
Southport Trip 25th July 2002
With lots of Queens fans making the trip to the sea side on Saturday it's a good time to look at how to get to Southport. The 'Sandgrouders' as they are known play at Haig Avenue in the town which is just off the A570 which is the main road into the town from Ormskirk and the M58. Probably the quickest route for Queens fans is down the M6, off at Junction 26 onto the M58, off at Junction 3 and head towards Southport on the A570, you will come to a roundabout and should head straight on towards the town centre still on the A570, take the next right past the school into Haig Avenue and the ground is on the right.

The only familiar face in the line up will be Shaun Teale formerly of Motherwell and Carlisle United, however they have also signed a live wire striker in Marc Lloyd-Williams who scored over fifty goals last term in the League of Wales. Former Queens favourite Ted McMinn was assistant manager to Mark Wright last season for a period prior to joining up at Chester with Wright again.
Reaction 24th July 2002
Again John Connolly was very pleased with the performance, said the manager, "We were playing against a full-time side with several highly priced players in their side, but we more than matched them for fitness. I felt we were sharper than them in front of goal and to beat them was a good result.

It was an excellent workout for us for it is so important to keep our fitness level up with the start of the season only ten days away.

That's four shut-outs in five games during our pre-season programme and I'm confident we have the ability to cope in the first division when we get down to the real nitty gritty."
Barnsley Game 23rd July 2002
Tomorrow evening will see English side Barnsley at Palmerston in the penultimate friendly of the close season. Kick-off is 7.45pm and admission is £5, no concessions.
Man of the Match 23rd July 2002
Winner of the award from Saturday's encounter with SPL side Kilmarnock was goalscorer Eric Paton, second place went to Peter Weatherson and third to Andy Aitken. The full scoring details can be found on the "Latest Report" page.
Best Wishes Des 21st July 2002
Sad to hear that Des McKeown received a double fracture of the leg following a friendly against Cumbrian non-league side Barrow yesterday, the tackle that caused the break coming in the first few minutes and then after twenty minutes a second Warrior also had to be taken to hospital prompting manager John McVeigh to take his side off the pitch.

Best wishes to Des from all at Queens and let's hope that he makes a full recovery.
Reaction 19th July 2002
Speaking to Queens Press Officer Bill Goldie after the game today, John Connolly said, "I wasn't happy at the first half performance, we lacked effort and movement in the early stages and failed to reach the standard required, however I was delighted at the second half display and we were a bit unfortunate not to snatch an equaliser.

That's four games we've now played in our build up for the new season and I'm satisfied the way things are going."
Killie Visit 19th July 2002
SPL side Kilmarnock provide the opposition for Queens for the second time in the space of six days tomorrow afternoon at Palmerston. Whilst last Sunday saw a youthful Killie side tomorrow should see some established stars taking to the field and Queens will find this the sternest test of the pre-season so far.
Season Review 18th July 2002
We've reviewed the season and now we are the first to offer members of the internet fan club a printed copy of the review, log in on Saturday night and see how you can obtain your limited edition season review.
Marv and Geordie on Trial 17th July 2002
Both George Rowe and Stevie Mallan played for Stirling Albion tonight as trialists in the 2-1 defeat by Dunfermline.
Man of the Match 15th July 2002
The voting has been counted from the weekend tournament at Annan and the results are in, top man on Saturday was Peter Weatherson with Derek Lyle second and John O'Neill third, whilst on Sunday in the final Peter Weatherson again was top man whilst John O'Neill came in second and Sean O'Connor third. Looks like the judges who made the decision for the player of the tournament were spot on with Nellie head and shoulders above everyone else.

For the full scoring in the final see the 'Latest Report' and for the scoring in the first round match follow the link in the 'Fixtures' section.
British Rail are sorry to announce..... 14th July 2002
Around fifty Queens fans made the trip to Annan on Saturday, in the words of the song, "..by the railway line..", and arrived for the return journey at Annan station only to have no train in sight to take them back to Dumfries, enquiries were made to British Rail and the excuse for the non running train was that, "the rails had buckled due to the heat", a likely story indeed, it was warm yesterday but hot enough to buckle steel rails!!!!!

The story had a happy ending of course as all the doonhamers eventually made it back home, by rail.
After Match Reaction 14th July 2002
Ronnie Bradford
"I'd like to thank everyone at Annan for their hospitality and also for the sunshine yesterday, the spirit in which all the games were played was tremendous for being at the beginning of the season, all were very competitive. The sides this afternoon were very even and our players deserve great credit considering that we are a part time side and the Kilmarnock players are all full-time, we could have won the game during the ninety minutes but with penalties it's more a case of luck and anyone can win. It's a super tournament and we'd love to be invited back again next year."

John Connolly
"We saw two good performances by the side over the weekend, if you look at the two sides and compare the ages of the two, Queens had five players under 21, all part time wheras the Killie lads are all full time and many have first team experience. I felt that we held our own and put on a good display for everybody. The defence looked strong and come the first day of the season I'll have some difficult decisions to make as to who to leave in and who to leave out, still that is a situation that I'm happy to be in."

Sam Wallace -Annan Chairman
"I think that this has been the strongest tournament yet and would like to thank Kilmarnock, Livingston and of course Queens for sending such strong sides. We are always looking to increase the profile of the competition and this year with two SPL sides and first division Queens we have really brought some quality in. I'd also like to thank all of the fans for coming along, the numbers here show just how popular the tournament is, particularly with the lads from Dumfries."
Scottish Brewers Challenge Cup 14th July 2002
The full results from the weekend competition at Annan were as follows:

First round:
Annan Athletic 0-4 Kilmarnock
Livingston 0-4 Queen of the South

3rd/4th Place Play-off
Annan Athletic 0 -3 Livingston

Final
Kilmarnock 0-0 Queen of the South
Kilmarnock won 4-2 in the penalty shoot out, Aitken and Crawford scoring for Queens with Atkinson and McLaughlin failing to convert.
Scottish Brewers Challenge Cup 13th July 2002
The two first round matches have been completed today with Kilmarnock beating hosts Annan Athletic with a 4-0 victory and in the second match Queens defeated a young Livvie side, featuring John McCaig, released by Queens a few seasons ago, by the same scoreline.

Tomorrow's matches will see Annan play Livvie in the 3rd/4th place play-off with a 12:00 midday kick-off whilst Queens and Killie will battle it out for the title kicking off at 3.00pm.
Weekend Games 12th July 2002
With games on both Saturday and Sunday in the third annual Annan tournament Queens boss John Connolly will be making full use of his squad as preparations for the season opener on 3rd August step up a gear.

Both Livingston and Kilmarnock are sending sides to the tournament but with their senior sides both overseas on pre-season preparations it is likely that a number of the players will be fringe, reserve, youth and trialists. However that was the case last season with Livingston and they certainly made a game of the final forcing Queens to extra-time and then penalties with the likes of Hagan, Burns, Andrews and Feroz in their side that day.

The first match of the day will see hosts Annan open the tournament with a 12:00 midday kick-off against Kilmarnock whilst Queens take the field for a 3:00pm kick-off against Livingston. On Sunday the losers from the Saturday matches oppose each other for third place at 12:00 midday whilst the final will kick-off at 3:00pm.
Cup Draw 11th July 2002
The draw for the Bell's Challenge Cup was made today in Glasgow and did Queens no favours with a midweek round trip to be made of 544 miles, all the way to Aberdeenshire to face Peterhead. The game will take place on Tuesday 6th August 2002.
Season Review 11th July 2002
All the stats from last season, in depth, will be covered this Saturday night in the final part of the championship winning season review.
Brian McLaughlin 10th July 2002
In an exclusive interview for the website Queens latest recruit Brian McLaughlin tells Press Officer Bill Goldie what prompted him to come to Palmerston, said Brian, "Whenever I met John Connolly I realised Queens were a very ambitious club and had big plans for the future, it's a great stadium and when I walked out onto the park with the manager on Friday I couldn't believe how lush the playing surface was. It's magnificent!

It's ten years since I was at Palmerston playing in a reserve match with Celtic and there's been some big changes since then. I've met most of the other players now and they seem a great bunch of lads, there's a great team spirit in the dressing room and I think that I'm going to enjoy it down here."

Having played in the Scottish premier league, English second division and the Scottish first division we asked Brian how the three leagues compared, "It's a difficult question", he said, "There is such a wide gap in the Scottish Premier League between the top teams and the bottom clubs and that's how it will always be in this modern era, I enjoyed playing both south of the border and in the Scottish first division, there's little to choose between the second division in England and the top sides in the Scottish first division, however there's more money available down south and the squads are much bigger."

And his hopes for the future, "To do well with Queens, they won promotion and the championship last season so I hope they can go on from there and establish themselves as a force in division one."
Man of the match 8th July 2002
The first match of the pre-season against Gala on Saturday saw Peter Weatherson receive the internet fan club man of the match award, Nellie won it by some way from Eric Paton and John O'Neill who tied in second spot with third spot shared by Andy Aitken, Derek Allan and Ross Currie. For the full scoring see the 'Latest Report' link.
Match Reaction 6th July 2002
Following this afternoon's 4-0 victory over Gala Fairydean, manager John Connolly said, "It was a comfortable win but there could have been more goals, it was a very good first half performance but it went a bit flat in the second half, however we brought on three or four trialists to give them a run-out and made three switches in midfield during the second period which obviously affected the rhythm of the side, but overall I'm very pleased, it was a good work out; good for our fitness and touch wood everyone seems to have come through the match unscathed. So it's the Annan tournament next weekend and we're all looking forward to that."
McLaughlin Signs 5th July 2002
Former Celt Brian McLaughlin has signed up today on a one year contract, the 28 year old has been with Ayr United this past season and before that was at Wigan Athletic and Dundee United following his eight seasons at Parkhead. Best described as a, 'tricky little winger', he made almost a hundred appearances for the Bhoys and was a first team regular at the age of 19.
Congratulations 5th July 2002
Congratulations to two well known Queens fans tonight. Stuart McLaren who runs 'The Only Team In The Bible' website and Sandy Orr have the best reason in the world to celebrate and that is the birth of their first child. Stuart and his wife were first last week with Fiona Louise and Sandy and Kirsty brought Katrine Jane, (Katie), into the world yesterday morning.

Best wishes to both family's and lets hope that both girls follow in their fathers footsteps.
Season Review 4th July 2002
This Saturday night sees us reach the final month of the 2001/02 championship winning season, make sure you log in to re-live the moments and see if you can spot yourself in the crowd scenes.
Don't Forget Your Queens Top 3rd July 2002
Remember when you are packing for your holidays to slip in your Queens top and make sure that you get your photo taken whilst on holiday with it on. Programme editor Bruce Wright is keen to receive your photo's and to print them in next seasons match day programme.

Click on the, "QOS on tour" Sun at the top of the page for more details.
Away with the Fairies 2nd July 2002
If you are planning a trip to Netherdale to see the first friendly of the pre-season against Gala Fairydean this Saturday then you need to click on the link below, it will take you to a very good set of directions to get to the ground.

Gala's Ground
Lyle Signs 28th June 2002
Derek Lyle put pen to paper today and signed for Queen of the South from Partick Thistle for an undisclosed fee. The striker has just returned from holiday and is delighted to be signing for Queens stating that he had always wanted to come back to Palmerston.
Gordon is a Ger 28th June 2002
Right winger Gordon Connolly has followed his midfield team mate Graham Connell across the country to Berwick Rangers, god luck to Gordon with the Wee 'Gers.
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