LATEST NEWS
For previous news articles see the monthly archive at the foot of this page.
AGM 31st October 2001
The Annual General Meeting of Queen of the South Football Club Limited was held this evening at the Nith Hotel, fifty two shareholders were in attendance to hear Chairman Ronnie Bradford report a £17,000 profit for the season 2000/01. Re-elected to the board was Tommy Harkness and confirmed as a board member was retired farmer David Rae.

Ronnie Bradford made a point of thanking all of the people that had responded to his appeal to invest in the club and reported that more shares had been sold in the past six months than had been taken up in the five years previous. After the close of business a football forum was held with John Connolly taking questions from the floor. John also confirmed that Graham Connell would be missing from this weekend side due to work commitment.
PAINFUL PINKY 31st October 2001
Goalkeeper Colin Scott will be missing from the squad for this Saturday's clash at Cappielow, his dislocated finger will be checked out again at hospital on Monday to make a full diagnosis of the extent of the injury.

Colin said, "It happened during pre-match warm up when I went down to block a low shot, the little finger of my left hand actual got stuck in the turf, it was agony at the time but I was also gutted at missing one of the best games of the season, particularly with such a big crowd. However I did hear the score on the TV at the hospital and the lads did very well."

John Connolly added, "A dislocated finger isn't serious for an outfield player but obviously is very serious for Colin."
MAN OF THE MATCH 29th October 2001
Another week when the Internet Fan Club members agree with the match sponsors as Jon Crawford scoops the man of the match award for his performance in the solid back three. Second place went to goal scorer John O'Neill whilst Jim Thomson recovered some of his form to land third place in the voting.

The Player of the Season League Table has been updated and can be found via the Man of the Match link, all of the other scores were as follows:
Campbell
Rating: 5.76
Allan
Rating: 6.80
Crawford
Rating: 7.94
Thomson
Rating: 6.92
Gray
Rating: 6.86
Connelly
Rating: 6.69
S3 1
O'Neill
Rating: 7.78
Connell
Rating: 6.43
S2
McAlpine
Rating: 6.53
McDowell
Rating: 6.63
S1
Hawke
Rating: 6.65
SUBSTITUTES
S1 - 80
Davidson
S2 - 85
Atkinson
S3 - 90
Hollier
Aitken
Robertson
AFTER MATCH REACTION 27th October 2001
John Connolly
In the first twenty five minutes we just seemed to stand back and watch the game, but once we started to get in amongst them we started to play. I was glad to see John O'Neill score after missing the penalty. It became difficult when they had the man sent off as they seemed to throw caution to the wind and began to cause us some problems.

John O'Neill
It is brilliant to be sitting at the top of the league, after I missed the penalty I was under a bit of pressure, but when I scored I felt that I had made amends.

Ronnie Bradford
I am delighted for the fans and thrilled to be at the top of the league, I know how important it is for our supporters to beat Stranraer and the crowd of over 3000 was tremendous. It just goes to show that the fans are there if we perform well.

Billy McLaren
The better team lost.

Colin Scott
"Ouch", a dislocated finger in pre-match warm-up saw the regular stopper miss out and spend the afternoon at the Infirmary having a dislocated finger repaired.
MATCH PREVIEW 25th October 2001
It is some eight years since Queens last topped the league and the manager at the time was Billy McLaren, the same man brings his Stranraer side to Palmerston on Saturday with the intention of denying Queens that top of the league feeling once again. The Stair Park side sit just one point in front of the Doonhamers and a win for Queens at Palmerston would secure the spot that has for so long eluded us. It should be remembered however that it is not all or nothing, just over a quarter of the season has passed and it is a long road to May 2002 when the Championship will be decided.

Having said that a victory over our South West neighbours is long overdue and would be savoured by everyone at Palmerston.

On the team selection front Queens have only the one unavailable player, unfortunately he is also one of the key members of the side but suspension sees Peter Weatherson watch from the sidelines. John Connolly otherwise has a full squad to select from and will look for Warren Hawke to resume where he left off last week in one of the two front positions. Added to the squad are Paul Hollier, Graeme Armstrong and youngster Stephen McKay. There are unlikely to be any last minute signings this week.
MAN OF THE MATCH 22nd October 2001
Back on goal scoring form striker Peter Weatherson hits the top of the ratings this weekend and surprisingly for the man who picked up fourteen of these awards last season it is the first of this season. Second place was collected by the ever reliable Alan Gray whilst third goes to John O'Neill for another goal scoring performance.

The Player of the Season League Table has been updated and can be found via the Man of the Match link, the rest of the side scored as follows:
Scott
Rating: 6.83
Allan
Rating: 6.58
Crawford
Rating: 6.47
Thomson
Rating: 6.53
Gray
Rating: 8.00
Connelly
Rating: 6.68
1
O'Neill
Rating: 7.68
Connell
Rating: 6.58
S2
McAlpine
Rating: 7.63
S3 2
Weatherson
Rating: 8.26
S1
Hawke
Rating: 7.16
SUBSTITUTES
S1 - 75m
Davidson
Rating: 4.94
S2 - 80m
Aitken
S3 - 80m
Sunderland
Atkinson
Campbell
REACTION 20th October 2001
Speaking to Queens Press Officer Bill Goldie from the team bus, as it makes its way south through the mist in Perthshire, John Connolly expressed his satisfaction with this afternoon's performance at Station Park. "The side played really well in terrible conditions with torrential rain for the whole match. The journey back will be relatively short though as all of the players are delighted with the outcome. It was also good to see Peter back on the scoresheet with two well taken strikes."
WARRIOR DES 20th October 2001
The teamsheet for the match in which Stranraer defeated Stenhousemuir today saw three former Queens players listed, Weir and Hodge for the victorious Stair Parkers and a new face in the Warriors side being Des McKeown. Probably not the best match in which to make your debut.
WEEKEND PREVIEW 19th October 2001
Last minute attempts to bring in a striker on loan have not been successful and Queens manager John Connolly will rely on his existing squad members for the goals at Station Park. Thankfully the entire squad are available and ready for selection this week, although next week will see Peter Weatherson miss out due to suspension, Nellie will also miss the game versus Clydebank to complete his suspension.

With Craig Feroz being recalled by Livingston, JC will be looking at the likes of Graeme Armstrong and Paul Hollier to fill the gap although some midfield re-shuffling may result in a regular centre of the park player being pushed a bit further forward.

One front player definitely not making a start tomorrow is manager's son Stuart Connolly, the striker has been released and is expected to join a Northern League side.
YOUTH CUP EXIT 17th October 2001
Queens under 18 side made their exit from the SFA Youth Cup last night as visitors Dunfermline recorded a 3-1 victory.
SCOTTISH CUP DRAW 15th October 2001
The draw for the first and second rounds of this seasons competition were made today and went as follows:

First Round
Greenock Morton v Queen of the South

Stirling Albion v Buckie Thistle
Wick Academy v Threave Rovers
Tarff Rovers v Montrose
Albion Rovers v Elgin City
Brechin City v Stenhousemuir
Alloa Athletic v Dumbarton
Clydebank v Peterhead
Ties to be played on Saturday, 17 November

Second Round
Brechin City or Stenhousemuir v Albion Rovers or Elgin City
East Stirlingshire v Forres Mechanics
Deveronvale v Spartans
Berwick Rangers v Cowdenbeath
Queen's Park v East Fife
Alloa Athletic or Dumbarton v Greenock Morton or Queen of the South
Clydebank or Peterhead v Stranraer
Forfar Athletic v Wick Academy or Threave Rovers
Hamilton Academical v Tarff Rovers or Montrose
Gala Fairydean v Stirling Albion or Buckie Thistle
Ties to be played on Saturday, 8 December.
MAN OF THE MATCH 15th October 2001
The Man of the Match voting this week agrees again with the match sponsors and gives the award to Jon Crawford, close behind is a player who works his socks off every week and that the fans are gradually appreciating, Alan Gray, whilst in third place comes Derek Allan.

The full results were as follows and the Player of the Season League Table has now been updated with the latest scores, check it via the Man of the Match link.
Scott
Rating: 5.74
Allan
Rating: 5.78
S3
Crawford
Rating: 6.30
Thomson
Rating: 4.19
Connelly
Rating: 5.41
Gray
Rating: 6.15
O'Neill
Rating: 5.11
S1
Connell
Rating: 4.85
McAlpine
Rating: 5.30
S2
Weatherson
Rating: 5.26
Feroz
Rating: 5.42
SUBSTITUTES
S1 61m
Davidson
Rating: 4.24
S2 83m
Hollier
S3 85m
Atkinson
Aitken
Campbell
CHARITY SCORE 14th October 2001
A team made up of former Queens players were defeated 10-3 by a team of former Rangers players this afternoon at the Keswick Centre in aid of the David Pattie Meningitis Appeal.

The Doonhamers fielded a side consisting of Speedy Clark, Tony Clark, Gary Telfer, Ian White, Graemem Muir, Malcolm Posse, Kevin Sharp, David Irons, Maitland Pollock, David Hewitson and Jason Parker with Tommy Muirhead and Russel McGuffie on the bench. The Gers had Nicky Walker, Ally Dawson, Dougie Bell, David Robertson, Craig Flannigan, Robert Prytz, Mark Nicol, Chris Jardine and John McDonald amongst their side.

Rangers last goal was an 'unfortunate' own-goal by staunch Gers fan Tony Clark, who no doubt fulfilled a lifetimes ambition in the process.

Thanks to Ian Black for the info.
NO EXCUSES 13th October 2001
John Connolly offered no excuses for his players performance today as he admitted that the better side won on the day and that the Accies had shown a desire to win that was sadly missing from his own sides performance.
TEAM NEWS 11th October 2001
Team news for this weekend hot from the training ground is that John Connolly, for the first time this season, will have a full squad of players to select from and a new face to consider.

The new face is that of Paul Hollier a 21 year old striker from Newcastle Blue Star, he is an exceptionally speedy player and knows how to play alongside Peter Weatherson as the two had two seasons together at the Wheatsheaf Ground and scored, between them, a total of 96 goals, probably his most notable appearance was in an away match at Jarrow Roofing when he netted six times, Nellie only managing three that day, Paul joins on a months trial.

Another player who it is hoped will have signed as a Doonhamer by this weekend is Craig Feroz, the player is keen to sign but problems remain with his current contract at Livingston, Craig is presently attempting to resolve these although he still has a couple of games in his present loan spell left.

There are also some slight knocks to a few players but JC is very hopeful that all three of Andy Aitken, Joe McAlpine and John O'Neill will make the squad without too much problem.
FIXTURES 11th October 2001
In addition to the full teams match versus Hamilton on Saturday there are a few more fixtures this weekend, at 12:00am on Saturday the Under 15 side take on Hamilton at the Chricton whilst on Sunday at 1:00pm East Stirling are the visitors at the Tech. College to face the Under 14's, the same venue sees the Under 18's take on Montrose with a 2pm kick-off on Sunday.

The next round of the SFA Youth Cup will see Queens take on Dunfermline on Tuesday evening at Palmerston with a 7:30 kick-off.
SITE DOWN 11th October 2001
Apologies to all those who attempted to acces the site from around 9.00pm yesterday to mid-morning today, however the problem lay outside our control with our ISP. Things now are back to normal service.
CHARITY MATCH 10th October 2001
All Queens and Rangers fans will be interested to know that there is a big charity game being played this Sunday at the Keswick Centre with a 2.00pm kick-off. The sides involved are QOS Veterans and Rangers Veterans. Expect to see familiar faces such as Steve Leslie, Tony Clark, Ian McChesney, Rowan Alexander, David Irons, Graeme Muir and Speedy Clark in the Doonhamers side whilst in the Gers side you will see the likes of Nicky Walker, Ally Dawson, Robert Prytz, John McDonald, David Robertson and Dougie Bell.

The match is being held to raise funds for the David Pattie Meningitis Appeal, admission is £5.00 for Adults and £2.00 for OAPs and Children. There is also a programme being produced for the game and later in the year a Charity Auction will be held with items such as the signed strips and footballs being auctioned off again to raise funds for the appeal.
NEWS FROM THE NORTH EAST 8th October 2001
Newly promoted Ashington had tasted defeat in each of their Northern League Division One games this term until the former Queens combo of Alan Hogg and Gareth McGhie joined up three games ago. Since then the Colliers have recorded a draw and two wins with McGhie scoring one and Hoggy netting four.
INTERNATIONALISTS 7th October 2001
Queens fan Graham Crofts has submitted an interesting addition to the Internationalists section of the site. Apparently Gordon Connelly was capped at Under 16 level for Scotland when they entertained Holland at Palmerston in 1993.

Also playing for the Scots that day were Scott Wilson, Steven Boyack, Lee Dair & Ben Honeyman, whilst the Dutch side contained Zenden, (Chelsea), Wooter, (Watford), Van AArt, (Ajax v Celtic) & Arnold Bruggink, (PSV).
NEW SECTION ADDED 6th October 2001
A new page has been added to the site tonight and will provide an excellent reference for anyone with an interest in the history and notable characters from Queen of the South's past.

The section is an A to Z of Queen of the South and was produced by Queens Museum Curator Ian Black, originally for use in the program a few seasons ago. Ian has given us his permission to reproduce it in full on the site as a permanent reference document and we intend to add some illustrations and video clips linked to the various people/happenings that are featured.

You can find the site on the second menu via the QOS A ~ Z button.
FIXTURES 4th October 2001
The match scheduled for 26th December versus Morton at Palmerston has been switched to Saturday 22nd December with a 3.00pm kick-off.

The draw for the next round of the SFA Youth Cup was made today and saw Queens drawn at home to Dunfermline, no date has been set yet but it has to be played before 28th October.

If you want to watch a Queens side this weekend then the girls side play at the Tech College on Sunday with a 2.00pm kick-off. The Under 18 boys are at Stirling this weekend.
MANAGER OF THE MONTH 3rd October 2001
Doonhamers boss John Connolly has been named as Bell's Second Division Manager of the Month for September. In the month Queens were undefeated and climbed to second place in the table. The last winners of this award from Palmerston were Rowan Alexander and Mark Shanks in September 1997 during the run to the final of the Challenge Cup.

Speaking to the website tonight John tells us that he is "delighted to receive the award on behalf of the whole club as it is recognition for all of the hard work put in over the last eighteen months by everyone at the club from the board of directors, the coaching staff and really right through. It shows how far we have come but having said that there is still a lot to be done. The results in the past couple of weeks have raised the profile of the club further with very positive reaction from the fans, other coaches and from opposing managers. Hopefully we will remain in a challenging position, certainly the depth of squad that we now have should enable us to, we have had a number of our best players absent recently yet the guys that have come in have performed at least as well. Things at the moment do look good but football is an unpredictable game."
TRACKER 2nd October 2001
We notice that Mark Patterson has rejoined his former club Brandon United and that pre-season trialist Anthony McStea has teamed up with Patterson at Brandon.
SOLD OUT 2nd October 2001
Des McKeown highly delighted with the full-page plug Bruce gave his book in Alloa programme which resulted in all 50 copies in club shop selling out. Also sends thanks to Alan Hall for superb front page story in "Dumfries Courier" which saw book selling out in James Thins. Club shop will have more in stock at Hamilton game.

BLW
MAN OF THE MATCH 1st October 2001
By a significant margin this week Joe McAlpine wins the Internet Fan Club Man of the Match award and in the process storms to the top of the Player of the Season League Table. Second place goes to fellow goalscorer Craig Feroz whilst Peter Weatherson takes third.

The rest of the scores were as follows, also check the Player of the Season League Table via the Man of the Match link.
Scott
Rating: 6.92
Allan
Rating: 6.78
Crawford
Rating: 6.89
Aitken
Rating: 6.50
Gray
Rating: 7.03
Connelly
Rating: 6.42
S1
O'Neill
Rating: 6.87
S2
Connell
Rating: 6.74
1
McAlpine
Rating: 8.50
Weatherson
Rating: 7.16
1
Feroz
Rating: 7.68
SUBSTITUTES
S1 51m
Davidson
Rating: 5.44
S2 78m
Thomson
Rating: 5.43
McKeown
Sunderland
Campbell
DON'T GIVE UP THE DAY JOB 30th September 2001
Des McKeown has had his book, 'Don't give up the day job', published, most fans of part-time sides will enjoy the book as it gives a fascinating insight into the life of a part-time footballer.

It is on sale now at £9.99 and can be purchased from the Club Shop on matchdays or from a number of bookshops, if you can't find it locally try ordering it using the reference number ISBN 1-84018-455-8. Or buy online from www.mainstreampublishing.com and search on 'mckeown' to find the book.
REACTION 29th September 2001
John Connolly expressed his satisfaction at this afternoon's result, although admitted that if the strikers had taken their chances then the winning margin would have been a good few more. However with such an experienced Alloa side with a previously unbeaten away record he was happy to settle for the winning margin that was recorded.

After two tough matches John is also pleased that there is now a short break from competitive matches whilst the Scotland national side takes centre stage next weekend.
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