Saturday 23rd July 2016
Pre-Season Friendly
Oban Saints AFC v St Anthony's FC
Glencruitten 1, Glencruitten Drive, Oban PA34 4EB
Kick off 2.00pm
Referee Mr Martin Rae
Saints continue their preparations for the 2016-17 season this Saturday with the first ever visit to Oban of St Anthony' Football Club. Founded in Govan in 1904 and gaining Junior status in 1905 the Ants quickly became a major force in the semi-professional ranks reaching their zenith between the first and second world wars. Four Scottish Junior League Championships, including three in a row between the 1918-19 and 1920-21 seasons, were joined in the Ants' trophy cabinet by the West of Scotland Junior Cup, the Glasgow Junior Cup and numerous other trophies during a remarkable purple patch. Only the much coveted Scottish Junior Cup escaped their clutches during this period losing the 1918-19 and 1924-25 finals to Rutherglen Glencairn and Saltcoats Victoria respectively with the latter requiring two replays to separate the sides.
The resumption of football after the second world war saw the Ants gain more honours without managing to reach the heights of their formative years. A series of set backs off the field, starting with a German bomb razing their pavilion to the ground in 1941, eventually left the Ants homeless and at their lowest ebb. However their fortunes took a turn for the better in 2003 when they found a new home off Shieldhall Road in Cardonald promptly named McKenna Park. The move to McKenna Park coincided with the lifting of the Ants last significant piece of silverware when they secured the 2002-03 Scottish Junior Football Association West Region Central District Division Two title. A thirteen season spell in Division One followed eventually coming to an end in May of this year when they joined Carluke Rovers and Dunipace Juniors in dropping into Division Two.
Often wrongly credited with being the inspiration for Celtic's famous green and white hoops the Ants have in fact provided the Glasgow giants with sixty one players over the years the most famous of which being Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Evans. Centre half Evans was transferred from the Ants to Celtic in 1944 and went on to Captain the Parkhead club making a total of 535 appearances along the way. Evans also won forty eight caps for Scotland and Captained his country on twelve occasions.
If you would like to find out more about the history of Saturday's visitors head over to the excellent www.antshistory.moonfruit.com website.
The Ants have appointed a new management team of Ronnie McDonald and Tony Kane to mastermind their push for an immediate return to Division One. The new campaign begins in earnest on Saturday 6th August with an away League Cup group section match against Arthurlie of the West of Scotland Super League Premier Division. The Ants preparation for the new season got underway with a 5 - 1 away defeat against Irvine Meadow XI and continued with a 1 - 0 reverse at Blantyre Victoria. Despite the results there were many positives for the Ants with the result against Irvine Meadow XI in particular not being a fair reflection of the balance of play.
This may be St Anthony's first visit to Oban however at least one of their travelling party is no stranger to the playing fields at Glencruitten. Ants central defender Paul O'Brien is a veteran of several epic bus journeys to Oban from his time with Postal United and was a member of Postal's all conquering 2011-12 Scottish Amateur Football League treble winning squad.
Saints Manager Alex Craik returned from his holidays to supervise this weeks training and was pleased to see Dougal Graham take his first steps on the road to recovery from the ankle ligament damage sustained at the tail end of last season. Alex still has a number of players missing due to injury and holidays but will be able to name a strong squad for what is sure to be a stiff test against the Ants.
The resumption of football after the second world war saw the Ants gain more honours without managing to reach the heights of their formative years. A series of set backs off the field, starting with a German bomb razing their pavilion to the ground in 1941, eventually left the Ants homeless and at their lowest ebb. However their fortunes took a turn for the better in 2003 when they found a new home off Shieldhall Road in Cardonald promptly named McKenna Park. The move to McKenna Park coincided with the lifting of the Ants last significant piece of silverware when they secured the 2002-03 Scottish Junior Football Association West Region Central District Division Two title. A thirteen season spell in Division One followed eventually coming to an end in May of this year when they joined Carluke Rovers and Dunipace Juniors in dropping into Division Two.
Often wrongly credited with being the inspiration for Celtic's famous green and white hoops the Ants have in fact provided the Glasgow giants with sixty one players over the years the most famous of which being Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Evans. Centre half Evans was transferred from the Ants to Celtic in 1944 and went on to Captain the Parkhead club making a total of 535 appearances along the way. Evans also won forty eight caps for Scotland and Captained his country on twelve occasions.
If you would like to find out more about the history of Saturday's visitors head over to the excellent www.antshistory.moonfruit.com website.
Under New Management
The Ants have appointed a new management team of Ronnie McDonald and Tony Kane to mastermind their push for an immediate return to Division One. The new campaign begins in earnest on Saturday 6th August with an away League Cup group section match against Arthurlie of the West of Scotland Super League Premier Division. The Ants preparation for the new season got underway with a 5 - 1 away defeat against Irvine Meadow XI and continued with a 1 - 0 reverse at Blantyre Victoria. Despite the results there were many positives for the Ants with the result against Irvine Meadow XI in particular not being a fair reflection of the balance of play.
This may be St Anthony's first visit to Oban however at least one of their travelling party is no stranger to the playing fields at Glencruitten. Ants central defender Paul O'Brien is a veteran of several epic bus journeys to Oban from his time with Postal United and was a member of Postal's all conquering 2011-12 Scottish Amateur Football League treble winning squad.
Saints Team News
Saints Manager Alex Craik returned from his holidays to supervise this weeks training and was pleased to see Dougal Graham take his first steps on the road to recovery from the ankle ligament damage sustained at the tail end of last season. Alex still has a number of players missing due to injury and holidays but will be able to name a strong squad for what is sure to be a stiff test against the Ants.
 |
| McKenna Park, Cardonald home of St Anthony's and scene of Saints 2014 Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy triumph against Inverclyde |
 |
| St Anthony's Co-Manager Ronnie McDonald |
 |
| St Anthony's and former Postal United central defender Paul O'Brien. Photo by @gerrylp73 |
No comments:
Post a Comment