toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 | It could and maybe should have happened in 1990, the chance to become united, the chance to put forward a greater challenge, however the timing wasnt right and with Scottish Football still strong enough to hold its own in the UK, ad nausea continued. Roll forward 30 years and change, and the outlook has become alot gloomier. Not only has Scottish football seen its stock fall in the UK and on the Continent, internally teams are com-busting, headlined by the dramatic collapse of Rangers and their insolvency wranglings. In 2012 Hibernian posted annual losses of £900,000 taking their net debt to over £6,000,000. On the field they scrapped home in 11th place, had been humiliated by city rivals Hearts in the Cup Final, all the while losing fans off the field with their average attendance dwindling by almost 2000 punters. Rod Petrie announced the club was still on target to be financially prudent and when they announced a small profit in 2013, things did look a bit brighter. Attendances rose a bit, 7th place in the league was more promising and another loss in the Cup Final showed signs that the team was progressing to compete for honours. However there was still debt to be serviced, more cuts to the playing staff were expected to be announced and the thought of Hibs ever challenging at the top end were still as far away as they ever had been. Across the city things were different. Hearts had lived the high life in comparison to Hibs, Lithuanian cash had almost bought them the title and it did buy them a short foray into the Champions League. Things were not all the seemed though, and during the 11/12 season financial matters worsened with the beginning of the ongoing farce of wages not being paid throughout the campaign. Financial figures showed an apparent reduction in debt due to restructuring, but this financial posturing was merely a cover for what was to come. Without falling into the trap of repeating the story, the long and short of it all was the eventual move into administration and the ongoing issues with Lithuanian creditors still looking for their slice of the pie. Hearts were heading into the 2013/14 season on nothing short than a trip into oblivion. Cash was needed to fund the upcoming season, Roman Romanov was ousted and with administrators likely to be in charge for the new campaign, the team would start with a 15pt handicap and almost certainly face relegation out of the SPL. Now to tie these stories together we have to look back at what William Mercer attempted in 1990 and that was to merge Hibs into Hearts and create a united team in Edinburgh. Opposition to the move couldnt have been greater and Hibs fans opposed any such action and staved off the attempt, partly due to the stronger situation that the club and Scottish football held. The gloomier outlook for Scottish football allowed for such discussions to be heard again and when Hearts administrators put forward this same proposal (based on an offer they had for the club), serious talks were planned behind closed doors between representatives of both Hibs, Hearts, the SPFL and the Edinburgh council. Outlined in the proposal was the following: An unnamed benefactor would purchase full control of Hearts and a majority stake in Hibernian. They would then dissolve both clubs and merge the assets into one company/team. With SPFL approval the new team would be named Edinburgh United (note that the current Edinburgh United Juniors side would get remunerated to re brand as Edinburgh Juniors). As Edinburgh United would be classed as a new team and with Scottish football needing to fill 2 places, they would apply for a place in the Scottish Football League. The club would sell both Easter Road and Tynecastle to developers and play their home games temporarily at Murrayfield. With the agreed plan to develop and construct a new stadium and training ground complex to be in place by 2017. Player and staff contracts would be terminated and they will be free to negotiate new deals with whichever club they see fit. Negotiations took their time and with the SPFL putting a deadline in place for any changes to their league system, it came down to Hibernian owner Sir Tom Farmer to have the final say. With his personal interest in funding the club coming to an end and with Rod Petrie appearing to be a strong advocate of the 'merger', Farmer agreed to sell his 90% stake and thus start the merger process under new ownership. On June 1st 2013 a press conference was called by the SPFL. Wind of the news had already leaked and fans of both clubs were desperate to hear that this had not been ratified by the league. Chief Executive Neil Doncaster laid out a decisive plan and when he introduced American Entrepreneur Al Czervik, it was announced that he would be the new Chairman and Owner of Edinburgh United, following his majority purchase of both Hibernian and Hearts. The stunned press listened as it was laid out to them that Hibs and Hearts now no longer existed, that league reshuffling would accommodate Edinburgh United in the Scottish League Two and that a new era in Scottish and Edinburgh football had begun..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forameuss Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Very interesting start - will be curious to see how this one turns out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 ITS OFFICIAL! Nae' more Hearts and Hibs Scottish Football's biggest scandal revealed The landscape of football in Scotland has changed forever, forget about the loss of Third Lanark, disregard Clydebank, Gretna and their disappearance, even chalk the Rangers debacle off as they are quickly on their way back. No this is bigger and this has and will have an impact in the national game for decades to come. As of today, Hibernian F.C and Heart of Midlothian F.C. are no longer with us, 2 historic and great clubs out of our countries fair capital have gone, vanished into thin air some would like you to believe, they are all but memories and names etched into our memories and occasionally trophies that still adorn the Scottish game. Without consultation of the fans and with the integrity of a con man, decision makers at the clubs and the SPFL decided it would be best for all involved if these 2 clubs shut up shop, cleared their debts and began life a new as 1 club... a 'United' club if you can stomach the pun. American businessman Al Czervik originally came in to save Hearts, he then proposed the merger and the purchase of Hibernian to bring his dream to fruition. Unfortunately money talks in today's game and thats what he promised, a clean slate for everyone, full payment to all creditors, the obvious backhanders and a pretty hefty rent paid to use Murrayfield Stadium as the clubs new (and if you believe them, temporary) home. As it stands no one from the SPFL or those involved in the takeover wish to make any further comments, other than those outlined in the press conference yesterday, but all we can say is 'Good Luck'.. the city of Edinburgh is not behind you and is certainly not United in their support of this regime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 With the loss of 2 clubs from the League and the obvious need for restructuring the divisions in time for the new season, the SPFL announced the following changes: SPL - Hearts and Hibernian to be replaced by Dundee (who avoid relegation) and 2012/13 Championship Runners Up Greenock Morton. SC - Dundee and Morton to be replaced by Airdrieonians (who avoid relegation) and 2012/13 Scottish League One 3rd placed Brechin City SL1 - Airdrie and Brechin to be replaced by Albion Rovers (who avoid relegation) and 2012/13 Scottish League Two Runners Up Peterhead SL2 - Albion and Peterhead to be replaced by Edinburgh United (newly formed from Hearts/Hibs amalgamation) and Preston Athletic who drew lots *Hibernian's place in the Europa League for 2013/14 will be taken by Inverness due to their 4th place finish in the 2012/13 SPL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Very interesting start - will be curious to see how this one turns out. Thanks, Ive had a few false starts with games in reporting them... mainly as I play too quickly to sit back and write. However this is something ive thought about doing and I now believe have got working OK after using the database to edit everything in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Club Overview Founded this year due to the merger of former Edinburgh based clubs Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian, there is little to write about in terms of history. The story of how United became is a long one, the memories too bitter for any Hibees or Jambos to recall. The club will start in Scotland's 4th tier 'Scottish League Two' and will rent Murrayfield until 2017 when it is expected to move into its new all-seater stadium, hopefully in time for a Edinburgh return to the SPL and the top tier of Scottish football. Facilities As mentioned the club will play at the home of Scottish Rugby, Murrayfield, for 3 years until 2017. At that point a 15,000 all-seater stadium would have been built in readiness for United. Training facilities are borrowed from Edinburgh University and plans are afoot for the club to develop its own complex and academy. Finances Fortunately for United they will be well-backed by American owner Al Czervik, as his buyout of both clubs and subsequent sales of the land at Easter Road and Tynecastle has allowed for a generous investment into team affairs. The cash balance is over £3,000,000, however £1,000,000 per season is payable for the rental of Murrayfield. Manager Ally McParr steps in as the first Manager in United's history, he has a varied experience in the game and is a friend of Czervik due to his coaching experience in the American's native Boston. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 Pre-Season Expectations Scottish League Two - Champions Scottish Cup - 4th Round Scottish League Cup - 2nd Round Challenge Cup - no importance Season Budgets Transfer - £500,000 Wages - £50,000p/w Transfers A huge squad building process as not one player was contracted to the club after the merger. The focus was on bringing in players with knowledge of the division and the lower leagues in Scotland. With money not being too much of an issue, attracting players from higher division clubs was possible and although no significant 'big names' signed, the 23 players that have, should be good enough to fulfil this years expectations. Results All pre-season games were taken care of by the assistant manager. Nothing stands out, other than the dire attendances.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 July/August Before we kicked all ball, the first kick in the 'groin' of this project was announced publicly as dismal season ticket sales left many wondering why this proposal was even accepted in the first place. Just 155 'fans' decided they wanted to watch Edinburgh United in League Two.... Murrayfield holds just shy of 70,000 spectators, so expect empty seats for a while yet! ----- On the field things would be a little different, the season started with a pair of cup games as our first competitive match ended up with us beating Championship side Queen of the South 3-1 at their ground in the Challenge Cup. We then led in our next game away at Falkirk in the League Cup 1st round, however a red card to club captain Martyn Campbell put paid to our chances and Falkirk proceeded to put us to bed. Our first league game saw us travel to fellow 'newcomers' Preston Athletic. A paltry 94 people turned up to see us cruise to a 3-1 win, thanks to a pair of Keatings goals. Then without time to catch our breath, we finally got to play at 'home' as Raith Rovers another Championship side, stood in our way of Challenge Cup progression. The atmosphere was echoey as 304 fans (mainly from Raith) watched us lose out by the odd goal in 5. We finished the month on a high as we nobbled East Stirling 3-0 at home thanks in part to McAllister with an early opener. Then a trip to Stirling Albion provided more goals as a double from Carlo Monti helped us end the month with a 100% league record and a 3-1 win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 September The month began with notice that id won the manager of the month award for August, whilst Lee Currie a signing from Berwick won the player award for his performances in midfield; scoring 1, getting 2 assists and averaging 7.52. On the pitch it was a case of 4 league games (3 at home) and a trip to Gala Fairydean Rovers to begin our Scottish Cup adventure at the end of the month. First up was the battle of the 'Big Stadiums' as another poor turnout watched us fall to our first league defeat as Queens Park edged us 0-1. Elgin City then came to frustrate us as we had to comeback to pull out a 2-2 draw, before a trip away from the empty cauldron of Murrayfield provided some relief as we beat bottom feeding Clyde 3-1. Again we ended the month strongly as a home win over Annan in our last league game was followed up by the disposal of plucky Gala Fairydean to keep our Scottish Cup run alive. The 3rd Round draw rewarded us with a trip to Championship side Alloa Athletic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 October The cold begins to set in as we enter October and a month of 4 league games. We continue to stutter as a trip to blustery Links Park to face Montrose saw us scrap out a 1-1 draw, thanks to veteran Chris Templemans strike. Berwick then came and frustrated us as we scratch out a goalless draw, as we dropped more points. With Elgin continuing to race away at the top, we had to keep on the pressure, something we did with an easy 3-1 home win over Preston Athletic. Then a very, very late Lee Currie effort helped us snag the win at East Stirling and end the month with a solid 8pts from a possible 12 on offer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 November November opens up nicely as we go to Alloa and pull off a 'Cupset by knocking out the Championship strugglers 2-1 earning us a plum tie at SPL side St Mirren, later in the month. The positive feel gained from the cup win carried over to our next league game as we royally humped Queens Park 3-0 on their patch, before Stirling Albion pulled us back down to earth, coming from 3-1 down to share the points in a six-goal thriller. A midweek 4-goal haul set against Clyde set us up nicely for the weekend trip to St Mirren to finish November, but our heroics to come from 3 down at half time, to level the scores at 3-3, was not enough as a late winner for St Mirren broke our hearts and ended our cup dreams for the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 December Striker James Keatings pick up the player of the month award for November, as he notched 5 goals in 5 games, taking his season tally to double figures in the process. The slog of winter, boggy pitches and snowbound journeys awaits us in December and first up is a trip north to face league leaders Elgin City as we ride off the back of a Chris Templeman hat trick to steal all 3pts and retake top spot in the division. 3rd place Montrose provided another test for us, as yet again a late Currie strike helped us bag the maximum. Annan Athletic were brushed aside in a pre-Christmas 3-1 win, whilst a Boxing Day besting of Berwick (1-0) see's us finish 2013 on a run of 5 straight league wins and a 5pt lead atop the table going into the New Year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 January Our perfect December saw me claim a 2nd Managerial award, as we head into 2014 on a positive note. There is money available for strengthening, but its not really wise at this stage to increase the load on our wage bill, given that we should really win the league as we are. The month started nicely for us with a simple trip to Preston Athletic and an ensuing 4-1 romp, as the leagues 'other' new boys are finding it alot tougher to hang in. East Stirling then spoilt our winning run, by claiming a point in a 2-2 draw at Murrayfield. However with the disappointment came the positive that we are now 16 undefeated. We resumed winning ways with a thumping of Queens Park, before rounding off January with a defeat, as Stirling Albion punished our 10-men to sneak a well earned 1-2 win. Alas Elgin are starting to stutter and an 8pt lead with 14 to play is probably enough for us to hold on to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 February James Keatings once again claims the player of the month award for January and he immediately celebrates that by hammering home the winner as we come from behind to beat Clyde 3-2. We then welcome Elgin to the capital knowing that a win would take us 11pts clear, something we manage to do as an ill-tempered affair saw both teams convert a penalty, share 9 bookings, before Keatings once again scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 win. That positivity would soon change though as we claim just 1 more point in the month, with a 2-2 draw at home to Annan, before Montrose who are now becoming the biggest threat to our top spot, beating us 1-2 and reducing our lead to 7pts with 10 to play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 March 5 games in March as we come to the business end of things and we get back on track in no small part due to Rory McAllister who scores a treble in our 4-1 win over Berwick, then adds another as we squeeze past East Stirling. Our final match against Preston Athletic is also a tight encounter as a solitary Carlo Monti penalty does the damage to keep our 7pt lead over Montrose. The Curries score a brace each as we go nap at home to Stirling Albion, before a 2-0 win over Queens Park gives us another perfect month and stretches out our lead over Montrose to 9pts with just 5 games remaining. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hibees2 Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Nice idea for a save! Did you not think about your squad being a merger of Hearts/Hibs existing players? What happened to them? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 April/May March's perfection dosent go unnoticed as the league award me my 3rd manager of the month award for 5 wins from 5 outings. We head into April knowing that 6pts pretty much secures the title, we took our first step towards that by roasting Clyde 4-2 and with Montrose dropping points, we knew that a win at lowly Annan in our next game would wrap things up nicely with 3 games remaining. There would be little doubt that the title and promotion would be ours, as the team arrived focused and ready to clinch the crown. Annan put up a fight, but in the end we raced into a 4 goal advantage and won the title in style and claim an instant promtion into League One. With little to play for we wrapped up our last home fixture by beating Montrose 2-0 in front of a relatively bumper crowd of 314 fans. Club Captain Martyn Campbell was presented with the League Two trophy as reward for all our hard work. As we rolled into May for our final game, myself and James Keatings again won the monthly accolades, both achieving the feat 4 times a piece this season. Unfortunately we would lose our final game 2-3 at Berwick, as they prepared for the playoffs, however we had achieved what we had been required to do and our first steps in getting to the SPL have been completed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Nice idea for a save! Did you not think about your squad being a merger of Hearts/Hibs existing players? What happened to them? Thanks for taking a look. I did think about merging the squad or maybe just keeping the younger players... but decided to start from scratch with the premise that the club wanted to be clear of that 'era' of the 2 teams and that the players are loyal and refused to join Edinburgh straight away. All players and staff were released on free transfers and are about in the database somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Two 2013/14 End of Season Scottish League Two Champions; as expected and demanded really. Elgin and Montrose at times put up a fight, but with just 4 losses all season it would have taken something special to stop us claiming the crown. Scottish Cup A mini run to the 4th round, where we lost a thriller 3-4 to SPL side St Mirren Scottish League Cup 1st round, quick exit, 1-2 Falkirk Challenge Cup Not important but something we could have won, however we crashed out in the 2nd round to Raith Rovers 2-3. Finances Backed by the American, we have got lucky, however whether he continues to plug a £6,000,000 gap year on year (as it stands) remains to be seen. We are currently spending just over £42,000 p/w on wages, something I will look to curb as we head into next season. Squad Luckily we managed to pull together a good bunch and squad morale has remained high throughout the campaign. Keatings wound up the clubs topscorer with 21 goals and also claimed the League Two Player of the Year Award, whilst the Currie's shared 30 goals between them as they contributed from midfield. Veteran front man Chris Templeman rolled back the years to notch 19 in 41 starts, whilst credit goes to Goalkeeper Graeme Smith and Club Captain Martyn Campbell for marshaling the backline all season. No one is out of contract this year, however there is likely to be turnover as we move on fringe players and possibly add a few faces for the upcoming campaign. Honour Roll Scottish Premier League Champions - Celtic Relegated - Dundee & Morton Scottish Championship Champions - Raith Rovers Promoted - Hamilton Academical Relegated - Brechin City Scottish League One Champions - Rangers Relegated - Peterhead Scottish League Two Champions - Edinburgh United Scottish Cup Celtic 3 - 1 Motherwell Scottish League Cup Celtic 2 - 1 St Mirren Challenge Cup Ayr United 3 - 0 Falkirk |Season | Club | Division | Position | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Other |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|2013/14 | Edinburgh United | League Two | 1st | 4th Rd | 1st Round | Challenge Cup 2nd Rd | Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 Pre-Season Expectations Scottish League One - Champions Scottish Cup - 4th Round Scottish League Cup - 2nd Round Challenge Cup - no importance Season Budgets Transfer - £1,000,000 Wages - £50,000p/w Transfers A surprising sum made available by the Chairman, however its fools gold as its unsustainable with the tiny crowds and the expenditure we make. We managed to almost break even on transfers as the sale of young Robbie Crawford to Dundee United gave me the confidence to add a few faces. It was a case of patching up a few holes and adding depth to areas, Lewis Milne impressed in the Championship last year for Cowdenbeath, whilst Perry adds his experience from his time with Rangers. 6 players also walked away for free, mutual terminations agreed as we trimmed the excess from the squad. Results As per last season I let the assistant manager do his work in pre-season, for some reason the Chairman decided to link up with Aberdeen, so we will play the friendly, take their payment but refuse any loans as thats not part of my remit. Results wise we did well until Aberdeen crushed us, to show that we still have a way to go, to be competitive at the top end of the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 July/August The season began with the usual Cup football fair and progression in both competitions was achieved as a pair of wins over Championship sides Queen of the South and Falkirk, put us into the Quarter Finals of the Challenge Cup. We also beat Brechin in the League Cup 1st Round before adding SPL side Ross County to our bow of 'cupsets' as Currie notched an injury time winner to put us in the last 16, where we face another trip north to play SPL's Inverness. In the league we did enough to sit in 2nd place behind Stranraer, as a 1-1 draw against Stenhousemuir was swiftly followed by a pair of 3-0 wins against East Fife and Brechin respectively (Keatings notching a treble in the latter). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 September Lewis Milne was credited with August's Young Player of the Month award, as he has been a huge impression on the team since his summer move from Cowdenbeath. Footballing matters started just as well, once again the Cup games came thick and fast, firstly we breezed past Alloa in the Challenge Cup to setup a huge Semi Final clash against Rangers. Whilst our dream League Cup run continues into the Quarter Final as Keatings was in the goals again with his 2nd hat trick of the season, as we battered Inverness much to the dismay of their support. The subsequent draw sends us again to SPL opposition in the form of St Johnstone. The bread and butter of league football as tasted sweet this month as 4 wins from 4 cemented us on the top of the table. Of our 4 wins, notably we turned over Dunfermline and Ayr on their own grounds 3-1 and 2-1 respectively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 October September's perfection rewarded me with the leagues Manager of the Month award, but before any dust could settle on the honour we were straight back into the action. On the Cup front we lost out to Rangers in the Challenge Cup Semi's as they bought 4000 fans to Murrayfield and the TV cameras, to give us a honest 0-2 beating. However our League Cup trail carries on as we batter St Johnstone 3-1 on their own park, the reward? Another place in a Cup Semi Final and this time we draw St Mirren... seemingly beatable, however they are Scotland's answer to Manchester City, after a Hong Kong takeover has seen them spend near on £20m in transfers, putting them joint top of the SPL this time round. All the success in the Cups has seen us stutter a bit in the league, as after a 3-0 win against Arbroath, back to back draws with Stranraer and Stenhousemuir leave us just 1pt clear of Ayr after 10 games played. Finally we added another player to our squad this month as out of contract Gary Caldwell agreed a package to join us for 2 years. The 32 year old who has over 50 caps for Scotland had been out of football since leaving Wigan in the summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 November A disappointing start to the month as we crash out of the Scottish Cup at the first hurdle, as Livingston ease to a 0-2 win in the 3rd round. This is swiftly followed up by our first league loss of the season as bottom of the table East Fife do enough to beat us 1-2 and bring us firmly back down to earth. We then beat Brechin 3-0 but draw with Forfar 2-2, which allows Ayr to go top of the pile and put us under pressure for the first time in this division. With our focus now able to be put solely on our league effort until February, the next 2 months will be crucial in terms of picking up a haul of points to carry us across the line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 December Its goals, goals, goals for us as we blaze open the month with a 4-3 win over Dunfermline, before Lewis Milne scores a hat trick as we turf Albion 4-0 at Cliftonhill. An early Christmas present came in the form of a 2-1 win at home to Ayr, as we took back top spot in the division. Stranraer seem to have our number though and our first home loss comes against them as we finish up on the wrong end of a 5-goal thriller. 2 away games faced us to finish the month and the year of 2015, the first saw us casually collect 3pts as we dispatched Arbroath 2-0, then the always exciting trip to Stenhousemuir saw us win 3-2 with a late Currie strike. So we head into the new year with a 4pt lead over Ayr, with Dunfermline starting to put up a challenge albeit in a distant 3rd. We also have a League Cup Semi Final to look forward to, with a date against St Mirren in late January our reward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 January The new year starts with the news that both myself and Lewis Milne won the respective monthly awards for December (Manager/Young Player). We then also added a new player to the mix, as experienced midfielder Ian Black signed on a free transfer from Rangers as they wanted to shift his hefty salary, something I was prepared to take on for the remainder of this campaign and our potential effort in the Championship next year. Results wise we picked up 12pts from 15, the only loss coming at Dunfermline. Whilst our Cup Semi Final went as expected with St Mirren 4-0 up by half time. To our credit we made a game of it in the 2nd half and a 2-4 loss gave us a bit more respect from the occasion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 February February proves to be a tough month, but also confirms our place at least in the Promotion playoffs come the end of the season. 5 games, just 2 wins and 7pts hauled in, we still maintain a decent gap at the top over Ayr. Once again Stenhousemuir and Stranraer took points off us, the latter now having beat us on 2 occasions. Whilst a 4-4 draw at Ayr is probably considered a decent return. However 7 games left, a 9pt lead, its in our hands to win the title. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 March 3 games, 3 away games and we begin by losing to East Fife once again, this time however the team from Fife have moved into the playoff places and could be an outside bet to gain a shock promotion. After that though we clipped Forfar 5-3, with McAllister scoring 3 and then beat Albion Rovers with a McAllister brace, taking his total for the month to 6 in 3 in replacement of the injured Keatings. This leaves us 12pts clear with 4 to play, 3 of which are at home. Ironically we can clinch the title in our next game at home to Dunfermline (the team in 2nd) with just a draw, but even a defeat and im confident we can pick up the solitary point needed to win back to back promotions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 April/May Straight into the action and its a quick clinching of promotion as we beat Dunfermline 2-1 at home to celebrate back to back titles and a swift climb into the Scottish Championship. Thats followed up by a goalless draw at home to Ayr, before we go crazy at Arbroath as 6 different scorers get on the sheet as we rack up our biggest win of the campaign 6-1. The season finishes with us collecting the trophy at home to Stranraer as finally we wave goodbye to our tricky foe with a comfortable 3-0 win. I collect the leagues final manager of the month award for May and we end up a nice 15pts clear as Champions and prime for the step up to the next level. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League One 2014/15 End of Season Scottish League One Champions; easier than I thought, although Ayr and Dunfermline did have their moments. We scored plenty of goals and a 15pt gap in the end to 2nd place is nothing to be sniffed at. Scottish Cup Given our other Cup exploits we cannot be too disappointed to crash out straight away in the 3rd Round to Livingston. Scottish League Cup Semi Finals; a fantastic run that saw us claim 3 SPL scalps before falling to 'moneybags' St Mirren in the Semis. Challenge Cup Semi Finals; another so near, yet so far effort as we reach the Semis but lose out to a strong Rangers team. Finances Gate receipts doubled, Merchandising increased by 1000% and we had a nice chunk of prize money coming in. This all added up to the Chairman only covering a £2.1m shortfall... it sounds alot, but thats more than halved from last year and with the potential for growth still there, im confident that more prudent additions to the squad should see us become financially viable sooner rather than later. Squad No vast changes to the squad as we added a bit more experience but kept our old core together. Keatings again top scored as he hit 18 in 24 games in a injury hit season. McAllister did well as a stand in, notching 13. Lewis Milne a summer signing from Cowdenbeath impressed many in the game as he ticked over our midfield and deservedly won the League One player of the year award. Interestingly 10 players are out of contract this summer and negotiations with Keatings and the 2 Curries continue, but with their heads tempted elsewhere, this could be a pivotal moment for the club. Honour Roll Scottish Premier League Champions - Celtic Relegated - Raith & Hamilton Scottish Championship Champions - Rangers Promoted - Dundee Relegated - Queen of the South Scottish League One Champions - Edinburgh United Relegated - Forfar Scottish League Two Champions - Montrose Relegated - Preston Athletic Non-League Promoted - Cove Rangers Scottish Cup Motherwell 4 - 1 Rangers Scottish League Cup Partick Thistle 2 - 1 St Mirren Challenge Cup Rangers 1 - 0 Dunfermline |Season | Club | Division | Position | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Other |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|2013/14 | Edinburgh United | League Two | 1st | 4th Rd | 1st Round | Challenge Cup 2nd Rd ||2014/15 | Edinburgh United | League One | 1st | 3rd Rd | Semis | Challenge Cup Semis | Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 Pre-Season Expectations Scottish Championship - Promotion Playoff Scottish Cup - 5th Round Scottish League Cup - 3rd Round Challenge Cup - no importance Season Budgets Transfer - £200,000 Wages - £80,000p/w Transfers A net spend of £10k as my attempts to keep the club on a sound financial footing took a hammering as we exceed the wage bill by over 15k p/w. Falkingham came in from Morton as our only cash purchase, he rejected us 2 years ago so im glad to be able to coup him in this time. Jack Grimmer a free transfer from Fulham comes with huge expectation as he has recently been called into the Scotland senior setup, whilst a couple of free pickups from Celtic add a bit more quality to the squad. Outgoing in the main was the chance to release players out of contract, those included Carlo Monti, ex Captain Martyn Campbell and backup frontman Rory McAllister. All those who left we give thanks to for their service in helping us bounce through the lower leagues in Scottish football. Results Theres never much dramatic to say about our pre-season, its a case of getting minutes into legs, especially this season as we will face a fair few teams with SPL standard players and ambition to match our own. One notable mention goes to the 24 fans who turned up to watch us drub Tynecastle in our 'derby' match! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 July/August Cup football again to start the season and progress was made on all fronts as in the Challenge Cup we overcome away fixtures in both rounds by beating Stranraer 3-0 and Stirling Albion 1-0. This sets us up in the Quarter Finals against Peterhead at home. In the League Cup, dreams of replicating last years Semi Final run are still alive as we beat Forfar 4-2 and then Ross County 5-1 at Dingwall, to setup a last 16 clash with St Mirren, the team that beat us in last years Semi Final. League matters took a different route, a 1-3 reversal at home to Morton in our first fixture could have set the tone, but we bounced back to romp 4-0 at Airdrie next time out. Cowdenbeath would then hold us to a 2-2 draw at Murrayfield, before we traveled to league favourites Hamilton to lose 2-3 after taking a 2 goal lead. Its just 4pts from 4 games to start our league effort, theres a long way to go but we need to improve if we are to challenge as expected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 September Another patchy month in terms of finding real form. First off we progress into the Semi Finals of the Challenge Cup for the 2nd time in a row as we demolish Peterhead to setup a meeting with Berwick Rangers. In the League Cup, St Mirren once again hold our card as we lose in Paisley by a pair of goals to end our interest in the 3rd Round. Back to the league and a pair of wins over Livingston and Alloa yielded 7 goals and an upswing in fortune, before we finished off the month with a defeat at Raith and then a scrapped point at Falkirk. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 October Finally after last years heartbreak of a double Semi Final exit, we overcome Berwick by 4 goals to make the Challenge Cup Final. We will meet league leaders Hamilton in what could be a classic for the trophy. Our Scottish Cup campaign also began with a simple win at home to Stenhousemuir, our reward? A trip to Celtic Park to face the might of Celtic for the first time in the clubs history. Once again league performances were patchy, we beat Dumbarton, lost to Morton by the odd goal in 7, before thumping Airdrie again 4-0. All this leaves us in 5th as it looks like the Top 6 will be battling for the Top 4 places and a shot at the SPL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 November A magical month as we clinch the Challenge Cup winning a grueling final against Hamilton infront of the TV cameras. Infact just a week earlier we clattered them 5-0 in the league and with a 4-2 win at Cowdenbeath in the middle, it was a perfect start to the month for us. We also managed to make the clubs biggest signing so far as former Manchester United and Scottish International midfielder Darren Fletcher, joined on a 2 year deal to give us a huge upgrade. Fletcher's debut was in the trip to Cowdenbeath and he would score the first of our goals, before going on to collect his first medal in the Challenge Cup win over Hamilton. 2 more wins wrapped up a 100% league record for the month as Dutchman Joey Sleegers continued to impress by scoring 3 of the goals to secure the maximum against Livingston and Alloa. Finally we end the month with our big trip to Celtic Park in the Scottish Cup. Keatings would give us an early lead and although Celtic equalised, they didnt find a winner until the final 3 minutes to break our hearts. Our Cup campaigns are over for another year, but with 1 in the cabinet, its been a success. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 December We cleaned up the November monthly awards with myself, Sleegers (Player) and Grimmer (Young Player) all acknowledge for our perfect performance in the league. December was almost the same as 3 home games saw us beat Raith, Morton and Falkirk all 3-0. Our solitary loss came in a shock defeat at Dumbarton, however for the third time this season we thumped Airdrie, hitting 5 in a 5-2 win to send us to the top of the table for the first time this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Just read the thread through - great stuff! Its an interesting concept, to say the least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Just read the thread through - great stuff! Its an interesting concept, to say the least. Thanks very much, thanks for reading, its getting tougher as we get higher up... im looking forward to the SPL and beyond! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 January Back to back clean sweeps of the monthly awards as we collect December's haul based on our rise to the top. Alonside my managerial honour, Paul Currie wins player and Keatings with the young player awards respectively. 7 league games, 6 wins and draw have blitzed the competition and promotion to the SPL is up for grabs now. We hold a 9pt cushion over Hamilton with just 9 games remaining. Of this months games our only dropped points came as we let a 2 goal lead slip to lowly Dumbarton, whilst 3-2 wins at Alloa and Falkirk saw us snatch the points in the 93rd minute of each game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 February/March Only 5 games for us across 2 months as the cups and international fixtures play havoc with the list. Once again I win manager of the month, this time for January. Whilst Keatings collects his 2nd young player of the month award for scoring 6 times in our January run. We maintain the status quo at the top of the table as although we being February with a defeat to Morton, we again stuff Airdrie 4-0, before holding Hamilton to a 3-3 draw that prevents that closing the gap. We have 4 games left and need 4pts to mathematically go up. 3 of those games are at home and we could be promoted with wins over Alloa and Raith in our next games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Championship 2015/16 April Champions, it took wins over both Alloa and Raith to confirm it, but the latter in front of a bumper crowd of 761 saw us confirmed as Champions and booked our slot in the SPL for the 2016/17 season. We round off the season with a gritty 1-0 win at Dumbarton, before being presented the Championship Trophy in our final game at home to Falkirk as unbelievably we routed the playoff contenders 10-1, with Twardzik scoring 5 as just under 2000 fans saw the humiliation. That result saw us secure the title by 15pts and score over 100 league goals, something that would have been unthinkable in the early months as we sat mid table and look to be in the mix for a playoff place 'at best'. Once again we claimed a clean sweep of monthly honours, as Twardzik won his first young player of the month award (in part due to his spectacular performance vs Falkirk) and Paul Currie claimed the player of the month award in deserved fashion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish League Championship 2015/16 End of Season Scottish Championship Champions; but not without an early test in which we struggled to adapt to the division. However once we got into our stride we put up winning streaks that no team could match and in the end, had a convincing lead at the top. Scottish Cup 4th Round and a late exit to Celtic is no shame, we will look forward to more trips to Celtic Park next season however. Scottish League Cup 3rd Round and again we fall victim to St Mirren, who themselves finally win the Cup at the 3rd attempt. Challenge Cup Winners; a convincing run to the Final saw us meet Hamilton and we did enough to edge them 3-2 to claim our first Cup honour in the clubs history. Finances Income rose across the board, but huge expenses including the doubling of player wages and bonuses left us in trouble. We needed investment from the owner and he had to cover £8,000,000 although that includes £1,500,000 spent improving our facilities for the end of next season. Squad A host of changes helped improve the quality of the squad, our most notable signing being Darren Fletcher who at just 31 still has years ahead of him at the top of the game. Overall our squad remains young, Keatings dominated the division, scoring 30 league goals, 40 in all competitions. Whilst Dutchman Joey Sleegers was a revelation in midfield, helping himself to 20 goals on the way. The summer will test our resolve to keep the squad together as teams are starting to notice the talent we have and the vultures are beginning to circle above the club. Honour Roll Scottish Premier League Champions - Celtic Relegated - Dundee & Ross County Scottish Championship Champions - Edinburgh United Promoted - Raith Rovers Relegated - Livingston Scottish League One Champions - Queen of the South Relegated - East Fife & Albion Rovers Scottish League Two Champions - Stirling Albion Promoted - Berwick Rangers Scottish Cup Celtic 2 - 0 St Mirren Scottish League Cup St Mirren 1 - 0 Partick Thistle Challenge Cup Edinburgh United 3 - 2 Hamilton Academical |Season | Club | Division | Position | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Other |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|2013/14 | Edinburgh United | League Two | 1st | 4th Rd | 1st Round | Challenge Cup 2nd Rd ||2014/15 | Edinburgh United | League One | 1st | 3rd Rd | Semis | Challenge Cup Semis ||2015/16 | Edinburgh United | C'Ship | 1st | 4th Rd | 3rd Round | Challenge Cup Winners | Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwood_dk Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I really enjoyed reading this story. Nice writing and easy on the eye layout. Very impressive not just winning promotion every year but also winning the title. Will be interesting to see what happens now and if the three promotions in a row will catch-up with you at some point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Premier League 2016/17 Pre-Season Expectations Scottish Premier League - Stay Clear of Relegation Scottish Cup - 5th Round Scottish League Cup - 3rd Round Season Budgets Transfer - £500,000 Wages - £120,000p/w Transfers An exciting transfer window for me as for once we are feeding at the top table (well sort of) and have a nice choice of players to choose from. Notably though its an exit that catches the eye as Jack Grimmer leaves the club to join Wolves in a £500,000 deal that allows us to spend a little more than we were originally given. Coming in are experienced Dutch duo Wout Brama and John Goossens who were out of contract in their homeland, we also added backup fullback Charlie Taylor who we snared from Leeds. Alongside that we spent club record fee's on a pair of players as 19y/o defender Euan Spark joins from Dundee United as we look for more depth, whilst 17y/o Keeper Shane Kelly comes from Ireland, as our scouts unearth a potential gem that we had to take a chance on. Results Standard fair, we won twice, didnt score many but we got the players fit, no major injuries and we are ready for the season opener vs Partick Thistle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 I really enjoyed reading this story. Nice writing and easy on the eye layout.Very impressive not just winning promotion every year but also winning the title. Will be interesting to see what happens now and if the three promotions in a row will catch-up with you at some point. Thanks for reading and really appreciate the positive comments Its been a fair run for us tbh, 3 straight titles... I was a bit concerned last season but we turned it around. I think now we will find out were we really stand, the SPL has the obvious giants of Celtic and a re-emerging Rangers. Whilst there is also the moneybag 'tycoon' backed St Mirren to contend with, they have spent just shy of £50m so far in their 4 seasons of being funded... we dont have much cash spare for transfers, but the Chairman appears to be happy to underwrite losses accumulated by wages. I think we need to somehow get the fans to follow us, as we have averaged 217, 590, 550 per game over the past 3 seasons in that order. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Premier League 2016/17 July/August Promising news for us as we enter the season, our season ticket sales are over 1000 more than last year, a significant rise and hopefully a change in the trend of our attendances in the coming seasons. Lets get our Cup results out of the way first, we have made it through to the 3rd Round of the League Cup with relative ease by disposing of Clyde and Dumbarton and have drawn Dundee United in the last 16. More impressive, but less understandable is how our league form has turned out. We lose at home on the opening day to Partick, before romping to a 5-2 win at Raith next time out. Another home defeat this time against Aberdeen has me concerned that we might be looking at a long season, turns out to be the final blip as we race to victory in the rest of our games this month. 6 goals are scored at Tannadice as we beat the Terrors 6-3, then finally we win at home as Rangers are beaten 3-2, before we end the month in the goals once again as our travels north to Inverness see us score 4 and collect another 3pts. Something appears to be clicking at the minute and long may it continue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Premier League 2016/17 September After the highs of our start to the season, things came back down to reality a little this month as a sole win over St Johnstone was our only note of interest. A League Cup exit on penalties vs Dundee Utd left a bitter taste in our mouths, whilst a loss to Motherwell and a hammering at St Mirren put us firmly in our place in the league standings. However with 15pts on the board already, I think we have done enough to survive as Raith look absolutely miserable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Premier League 2016/17 October 6-5? Dont ask me what went on there, all I know is the TV camera's will regret not having Edinburgh United vs Kilmarnock on as their headline match that weekend! Then after the expected 1-4 humping by Celtic, we end the month in fine fettle with back to back away wins over Partick and Aberdeen to consolidate our place in the top half of the table and remain in touch with the European places. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Premier League 2016/17 November Beat Raith, got beat by Dundee United and then went to Montrose and progressed in the Scottish Cup to face Dundee in the 5th Round. We remain 4th in the table and have a nice gap down to 7th at this stage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffifee Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Edinburgh United Football Club Scottish Premier League 2016/17 December December is often a month of celebration, however for us its a chance to reflect on our rapid rise as we get caught out, picking up just 4pts from a possible 18. A win at home to Inverness and a draw against Motherwell is all that we can savor in the midst of defeats to Rangers, St Johnstone, Kilmarnock and the obligatory thumping by Celtic. We remain in 5th place and head into the new year in a decent position and still in the Scottish Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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