LATEST NEWS 2007/08
For previous news articles see the monthly archive at the foot of this page.

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Broadwood bound 13th August 2007
Queens head for the wilds of Broadwood for tomorrow night's Challenge Cup tie against Clyde. Like ourselves, the 'Bully Wee' haven't had the best of starts to the season but Broadwood is never an easy place to go. However we did manage a 1-0 win against them on our last visit there in the league back in March.

Said a more confident Gordon Chisholm this afternoon, "We'll have a lot of bodies back for this one with all our suspended players available for action. So they'll be some changes in the side! The only two missing will be Jim Thomson and Jamie Adams, still recovering from surgery, but I'm hoping Big Jim might make it for the match at Hamilton on Saturday.

"They'll be a lot of competition for places and those who don't play won't be happy, but after the past couple of weeks it's a problem that's nice to have. It's much better than having six or seven unavailable and I feel more positive now with more or less a full squad to choose from.

"We've had a very difficult start to the season, and penalty decisions going against us haven't helped. That's three in our last two league games and I felt only one of those was really justified.

"Clyde tomorrow night is another tough one but I'd love to get a win and get a home tie at Palmerston in the next round. Four away matches on the trot is never easy! Broadwood is a big pitch and fitness will tell, but I'd like to think that we're as fit as any side in our division and we're all enjoying training at our new facilities at Glasgow Green".

Kick-off is at 7.45 pm and should Paul Burns feature in the starting line-up at Broadwood it will be his 100th start for Queens. Well done young man!

Bill Goldie
40 years on and still going strong 13th August 2007
It has been brought to our attention that this month marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Palmerston Social Club. Initially it was in small premises, the present day lounge bar accommodation on two levels was opened in August 1967. Thanks to BLW for this information.

Bill Goldie
Man of the match 13th August 2007
Winner of the internet fan club man of the match award for the defeat at Dens on Saturday goalscorer Sean O'Connor, second place went to Jamie MacDonald with Eric Paton third.

All of the scores have been added to the Latest Report' page and to the IFC Player of the Season table. Thanks for voting.
Match reaction 11th August 2007
Queens again 'paid the penalty' so to speak by giving away yet another spot kick at Dundee this afternoon on the way to a 2-1 defeat. After conceding two penalties against St Johnstone last week it was little wonder Gordon Chisholm was an angry man at the referee's dubious decision.

Zemlik and Davidson were the Dundee dangermen, the latter netting both his sides goals, while Sean O'Connor headed home Queens' solitary counter. But although it has to be said that the homesters had the 'lions share' of the pressure it could have been all so different if Stephen Dobbie had scored with an easy chance with the score tied at 1-1. Afterwards Gordon Chisholm raged;

"That was never a penalty! I thought we coped well with Zemlik, he proved quite a handful but went down awful easily for a big man of 6ft 7. I'm disappointed at the final result but no too despondent at the way we played. There were plenty of positives out there for me. I can't believe how Dobbs missed probably the best chance of the game. Ten times out of ten I'd have put money on him scoring from there but he never even hit the target."

Official attendance 4,023, travelling fans 201.

Bill Goldie
Man of the match 10th August 2007
Topping the voting for the internet fan club man of the match award for the CIS defeat at East Fife was Eric Paton, second place went to Stephen Grindlay with Andy Aitken third.

All of the scores have been added to the Latest Report' page and to the IFC Player of the Season table. Thanks for voting.
Queens now 'full-time' 10th August 2007
David Rae spoke out today and insisted that Queen of the South are now a 'full-time' football club. Said the Chairman, "I want to get rid of this 'part-time' image and lose this fallacy which has plagued us for so long. We're now commencing our sixth season in the First Division--the toughest test in Scottish football--and we've proved we can compete with any club in our league.

"We have only three players in our present squad with jobs outside football and they all work flexible hours which doesn't present too much of a problem. And our manager, Gordon Chisholn is also full-time.

Davie Rae
"In normal weeks, when there is no mid-week match, we'll be training four times a week during the day and, of course, playing on the Saturday. The players have only Wednesday and Sunday off, so that will be a five day week like any other working man.

"Ever since we were denied the use of the Crichton for training it has been increasing difficult to find suitable facilities locally. We've tried quite a few over the past couple of years such as Maxwelltown High School, the Kingholm and even the artificial pitch at King George V. But none of them were ideal! Obviously we can't train regularly on Palmerston as it would ruin the playing surface and during the winter we were even forced to use the Drill Hall, or the Loreburn Hall as it's now called.

"However, there's some good news. We have acquired excellent facilities at the Glasgow Green Training Centre which I saw for the first time when I travelled up with the local players this morning. I was really impressed! It has a super grass pitch and an artificial surface is in the process of being laid--so it will give the training staff options. To me it's 'spot-on'--just what we've been looking for.

"It will mean only one car load of Dumfries players travelling up to Glasgow as opposed to five or six car loads travelling down to Dumfries every Thursday night and quite a few of them 'stopping over' for the Friday morning session. That was a pretty costly exercise so this new arrangement will be better and more professional all round".

Added manager, Gordon Chisholm, "I agree 100% with the Chairman, the facilities are super and I'm well pleased. We were quite fortunate to acquire them as they were much sought after by several other football clubs. But we managed to get them which is great, and I rate them second to none in our division.
"They're easily accessible from all areas and will be a much more central point for practically all the players--those from Glasgow and the Central Belt, the three lads from the Edinburgh area and even a better road for Jamie Adams who travels up from Stranraer. We now have only four players based in Dumfries-- Jim Thomson, Neil MacFarlane, Stevie Tosh and Sean O'Connor and, of course, Andy Aitken in Annan. So it makes sense that they share transport and, as the Chairman says, save the club a lot of money.

Gordon Chisholm
"The new facilities will help us attract a better quality of player to Queen of the South and enable us to compete more with clubs in the Central belt".

Bill Goldie
Bayview Blues 9th August 2007
Gordon Chisholm blamed slopy defending at a corner and a 'sending off' for last night's cup defeat at Bayview but insisted, "Obviously we're not happy at going out of the cup! We could have done much better and I still think we had more than enough chances to have won the game. But we can't sit back and feel sorry for ourselves! We must be big enough and professional enough to move on and go up to Dundee on Saturday and get a result.

"We'll have to be much more positive at Dens Park and work a bit harder as they are a top team and will be difficult to beat. We've had two disappointments already--losing those late goals against St Johnstone and going out of the CIS Cup at the first hurdle. But we've got to put all that behind us! It's still early season, but right from when the fixtures first came out we all knew we were in for a tough start".

Bill Goldie
Team News 9th August 2007
Queens' suspension woes show little sign of easing. Bob Harris' straight red card at Methil last night for 'violent conduct' means he is now added to the four others already out--Jim Lauchlan, Stevie Tosh, John O'Neill and Jim Thomson. Jamie Adams remains on the injured list with Neil McGowan rated as only 50-50 to turn out. It now leaves us with a squad of just 16, including 'trialist', Liam Atkin.

Bill Goldie
Match reaction 8th August 2007
Queens hope of a lucrative cup run in the CIS Cup went up in smoke at New Bayview tonight when they went down 1-0 to the third division East Fife. After the battling performance against St Johnstone on Saturday the Queens travelling support was expecting a lot more but alas it didn't happen. Queens made it hard for themselves when Bob Harris was ordered off on the hour mark and just seven minutes later East Fife blasted home what proved to be the winner following a corner kick, their marksman being Greig McDonald.

Said a despondent Gordon Chisholm, "Early on we had a lot of possession but maybe we were just a bit too comfortable. We have to go out and hurt teams but that did not happen tonight. The turning point was the sending off of Bob Harris for a two footed tackle. But I thought the red card was a bit harsh - it only merited a yellow. Near the end David Bingham missed a great chance which would have kept us in the tie but it wasn't to be. We're now out of the CIS Cup and I'm very disappointed at that."

East Fife manager David Baikie was a happy man and enthused, "A great result! We set out a system to frustrate them and it worked. I agree the sending off was a bit harsh but everyone else in our technical area thought it was justified."

Attendance 656.

Bill Goldie
Thanks 7th August 2007
Grateful thanks to the committee of the Travel Club for their kind gift of a personalised bottle of malt whisky on my retirement.

BLW
Sanquhar Supporters 7th August 2007
The Queen of the South Sanquhar Supporters Club are holding a Prize Bingo Night in Sanquhar Town Hall on Monday 17th September.

G Taylor
The manager's warning 7th August 2007
Gordon Chisholm sat his players down this morning and warned them not to underestimate East Fife tomorrow night. "It would be fatal" emphasised the manager. "They may be in the Third Division but just missed out on promotion last season. They have a lot of good experienced professionals in their squad and it won't be at all easy.

"It's important for Queen of the South that we progress further in the CIS Cup but Bayview is never an easy place to go. We must approach the match with the right attitude and stay focussed on the task in hand if we want to achieve our goal.

"I'll be freshening the side up a bit after our hard battle with St Johnstone on Saturday and making full use of the squad available. Sean O'Connor took a knock in that game so we'll probably 'rest' him. All five players suspended at the weekend are eligible as it's a cup-tie so Stevie Tosh, John O'Neill and Jim Lauchan will be added to the squad. Jamie Adams and Jim Thomson are of course also available but both are still recovering from operations. However, JT is now back in training and I'm hoping he'll be fit for action again in a couple of week's time".

For all those travelling, the match kicks off at 7.30 pm.

Bill Goldie
Going Home! 7th August 2007
When the team bus sets off for Methil at 3 o'clock tomorrow it will be like 'Going Home' for Stevie Tosh as he is a proud Fifer, born and bred. He recalls, "I was born in Kirkcaldy in the 'Kingdom of Fife' and have never forgotten my 'grass roots'. I played a lot of football there as a schoolboy and was actually signed on an S form by East Fife when I was 16.

"I'm really looking forward to going back to my 'old stomping ground' as it holds a lot of happy memories. One of my first clubs was Savoy Thistle who were based in Methil and one of my team-mates at that time was none other than Colin Cameron who went on to play for Scotland.

"I've played against East Fife many times throughout my football career at both the old stadium and the present one. Naturally, being a Kirkcaldy boy my alliance was with Raith Rovers but I always regarded East Fife as my 'second club'. The last time I played at Methil was three years ago when I was with Gretna! We beat them both times that season and I hope we can go out and win again tomorrow night.

"But, although we're two divisions above them, it won't be easy. East Fife are one of the hot tips to win their league this season, so there's no room for complacency".

Bill Goldie
Man of the match 6th August 2007
Topping the voting for the internet fan club man of the match award for the season opener against St Johnstone on Saturday was Stephen Dobbie with strike partner Sean O'Connor second and stopper Jamie MacDonald third.

All of the scores have been added to the Latest Report' page and to the IFC Player of the Season table. Thanks for voting.
Wonder goal 6th August 2007
After the disappointment of only drawing with St Johnstone on Saturday and the disputed penalty awards, the big talking point among the fans was undoubtedly Neil MacFarlane's 'wonder goal'.

"I don't score all that many" the 'big man' admitted, "But I'd have to say that was one of my best. However, having said that, I did did score eight during my spell at Airdrie". Added Neil, "It was great to find the target in my first league game for Queens as it always gives you confidence. I looked up and decided to have a crack at goal, hit it sweetly, and the next thing I knew the ball was in the net. It was a good goal, but no better than the two that Stephen Dobbie scored.

"I'm only sorry that we didn't manage to hold out for the win, but we'll learn from that and move on. St Johnstone are one of the highest rated sides in our league and are never an easy team to beat. I'm loving it here at Palmerston and everyone has been so supportive".

Bill Goldie
The road to Methil 6th August 2007
On Wednesday Queens take the road to Methil to meet East Fife in the first round of the CIS Cup. Our last visit there was on January 2004 when a headed goal by Sean O'Connor gave us a 1-0 victory in the Scottish Cup and earned us a fourth round tie against Motherwell at Fir Park.

Chairman, David Rae is very much hoping for a win at New Bayview, a park he admits he's never yet visited, and stressed, "There's a lot of money to be made by reaching the latter stages of the CIS Cup, and in recent years we haven't really made the most of the opportunity. Last year we were a bit unlucky to lose to Kilmarnock after extra-time, but before that we went out to Stirling Albion and Albion Rovers--two teams we should have beaten.

"The last time we made any decent money in this competition was in 2003 when we knocked out Stenhousemuir then Ross County to land a third round tie with Hibs at Easter Road. I remember that night well! It was just before I took over as Chairman and 1800 Queens' fans turned up and caught Hibs totally unaware and long queues formed at the gate. However,they all got in eventually, the official gate was 7613 and we received a most welcome cheque even though we lost 2-1".

Reflecting back to Saturday's match the Chairman remarked, "With only three minutes to go and 3-1 up I thought we 'had it in the bag', but it was not to be. Even their Chairman, Geoff Brown, gave a wry smile when he shook my hand in the boardroom at full-time as he knew full well they'd 'got out of jail'. Nevertheless, I'm convinced we have a much stronger squad that we did this time last year and almost beat one of the top promotion contenders with seven players missing. We also had the honour of scoring the quickest goal of the season in Division One with Stephen Dobbie's third minute opener".

Bill Goldie
Match reaction 4th August 2007
Leading 3-1 with three minutes to go, Queens fans were looking forward to a win to kick off our league campaign in style, but alas it wasn't to be! Defeat wasn't in St Johnstone's script and they fought to the final whistle to go back up the road with a 3-3 draw. Two of their goals came from the penalty spot which was a sickener as we missed one ourselves.

However Gordon Chisholm summed it up sensibly by saying, "With all the injuries and suspensions I would have taken a draw before the but to throw away three points like that was a huge disappointment. I was happy at the way we played for the first eighty minutes but not with our performance in the last ten. We have a lot of experience and quality in the team but we were a bit naive in the dying stages, however we had a lot of positives out there and with two or three more players to come back it augers well. All our goals were clinical finishes but when they got back to 3-2 the pressure was on and by the full time whistle I was almost happy to settle for the draw."

Added Stephen Dobbie, "They always say that there's no better compliment in football than to get 'pelters' from the fans of your old club. And that's what happened this afternoon." Asked about the penalty miss Dobbs stressed, "You can't score from the spot all of the time, the 'keeper made a good stop and I felt I made amends by scoring a few minutes later."

Said Owen Coyle, "Queens were a good side and equipped themselves well but Chis will be gutted at the final score at 3-1 down and three minutes left it looked a long way back but we did it. When we got to 3-2 I felt we still had a chance as we have an abundance of character in our dressing room and that was proven today. It was rather a bizarre game all round with three penalties awarded. We scored from both our spot kicks and that made the difference. But it was a hard game with two good sides on the park."

Attendance - 2,255, away support - 724.

Bill Goldie
New striker signed 4th August 2007
Queens yesterday added a new striker to their squad, 19-year-old Jamie Mole. Newcastle born, he joins us from Hearts on loan to the end of the year. Jamie has been three years at Tynecastle, signing from Newburn B.C. and goes straight into the squad for tomorrow's game.

Said Gordon Chisholm this afternoon, "I'm delighted to get young Jamie signed up. He'll add a different dimension to the side as he's a different type of player to big Sean and Stephen Dobbie. He's still young but he'll learn from our more experienced campaigners and, hopefully, give us more options up front. He's very quick, has a lot of pace and that's what I've been after! With so many missing tomorrow his signing comes just at the right time".

Bill Goldie
In the hands of the physio 2nd August 2007
With five players suspended and two injured, Gordon Chisholm is hoping and praying that Queens' physio, John Kerr, can get three key players, Neil MacFarlane, Stephen Dobbie and Sean O'Connor fit for Saturday's opener against St Johnstone.

Said the manager, "Our physio will have all three on the treatment table this evening and every effort will be made to get them playing. However, I can only say they're 50-50 at the moment and we won't know for sure until the actual morning of the game".

Bill Goldie
A stern start to the season 2nd August 2007
With the 'big kick-off' now only two days away Queens face a stern start to the season with a squad decimated by suspensions and injuries. Five players are suspended for the opener against St Johnstone although Jim Thomson and Jamie Adams couldn't have played anyway as both are recovering from hernia operations. Also out are Stevie Tosh, Jim Lauchlan and John O'Neill.

After St Johnstone we're away to Dundee in the league and both those sides were hotly tipped by manager, Gordon Chisholm, to 'do well this season'. Following Saturday's game we have four consecutive matches 'on the road' including two cup ties at East Fife and Clyde. So, we face a tough baptism with injuries very much coming into the equation as well. Out are new signings Bob Harris and Neil McGowan with doubts hanging over three others.

Said a disillusioned Gordon Chisholm, "It's only the first week of the season and we're down to the 'bare bones' already. We could have as many as ten players unavailable for Saturday and with a squad of around 20 it's unreal. Gone are the days when clubs had 25 to 27 on their pay roll, it's just not practical in the current climate.

"I'm particularly annoyed at having five players suspended! I think it's a ridiculous situation and one that needs to be looked at. I fully agree that 'red cards' for serious offences should be carried over from the previous season, but not penalty points for 'bookings' for minor infringements.

"On the injury front we've got Bob Harris who 'pulled up' in the pre-match warm-up prior to the Gretna match and Neil McGowan who limped off after a couple of minutes. Neither of them will play! Then there's Neil Macfarlane, Stevie Tosh and Stephen Dobbie--none of them have even trained this week. Just how do you prepare for a game with a situation like this. Even most Premier League sides would be sorely pushed! So, needless to say our physio, John Kerr, will be a very busy man between now and the weekend.

"I'm happy with the squad we've already got but I'd still like to get two more players on board. I've invited the young trialist centre-half, Liam Atkin up to join us for a fortnight's training. His performances have been OK, but his fitness level's still not up to standard. I'm also happy at our pre-season performances--but certainly not at all the injuries we've picked up".

Bill Goldie
Juniors shine 31st July 2007
Once again our junior side is doing us proud in the annual Northern Ireland Milk Cup competition. To keep up with the results for the lads, who remain unbeaten after drawing 0-0 with FC Puebla from Mexico and 1-1 with Irish side Dundalk SBL, follow this link http://www.nimilkcup.org/.
Nice one Robbie! 31st July 2007
Good to see that Hearts are to grant Robbie Neilson a testimonial match at the end of the season. The rugged defender, now Hearts' longest serving player, has been over ten years at Tynecastle and had a memorable four months spell on loan at Palmerston during season 2002-03. During that time Robbie made 17 appearances for Queens, collected a Challenge Cup winner's medal into the bargain and never ever forgot his time with us in Dumfries.

Bill Goldie
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