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Barclays Premier League giants Everton will travel to Fir Park on Saturday 21st July as fitting opponents for Stevie Hammell’s Testimonial match.

The game will kick-off a year of activities for the 30-year old former Scotland International who has played an incredible 426 games in Claret and Amber. 368 of those appearances have come in the Scottish Premier League – the highest of any player since the competition started in 1998.

The stature of the opponent reflects Hammell’s contribution to the club.

The Goodison Park club last played at Fir Park back in 2005 – when a certain James McFadden captained the Toffees in what was a somewhat uneventful 0-0 draw.

David Moyes has guided his side to success on an almost years basis, cementing the club as almost perennial qualifiers for European competitions, including an appearances in the UEFA Champions League and several in the UEFA Cup/Europa League.

They finished seventh last year; just one position out of the qualification places, but have a raft of world class talent at their disposal such as Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Tim Cahill, Marouane Fellaini and Phil Neville.

Ticketing information and kick-off times have yet to be confirmed but will be announced in due course.

Father’s Day is little over a week away and we have it covered for the Motherwell dad in your life…

This June 17th, honouring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society will be the order of the day and you can get ahead of the game with one of these fantastic gifts.

BUY A BRICK

Buying a brick at Fir Park is a great way to mark Father’s Day and a unique gift that lasts for years and that any Motherwell fan will be proud to own.

You can purchase a brick fascia with a personal message, whether it is his name, motto or date of birth for just £30.00!

Each new brick is added to our ever growing wall, which is situated at the back of the Davie Cooper stand, and comes complete with a certificate of authenticity.

For more information or to order a brick please contact the club on 01698 333333 or email buyabrick@motherwellfc.co.uk.

GIFT VOUCHERS

If you are unsure as to what a ‘Well dad would like from Fir Park, why not take out the worry with our fantastic personalised gift vouchers?

Available to redeem against anything at Fir Park (including tickets, hospitality, season tickets, buy a brick, Junior Steel membership, venue hire etc) and at any value, our new vouchers are the fantastic gift alternative.

For more information or to buy a voucher contact the club on 01698 333333, email mfcenquiries@motherwellfc.co.uk or CLICK HERE.

SEASON TICKET

Being a Season Ticket holder at Fir Park is more than just a right to view games. It is a true and genuine commitment to the Motherwell Football Club community.

There’s little better in Scottish football than a big game at Fir Park and, over the last few years, we’ve had our fair share. That looks set to continue into 2012/13.

Make sure your dad doesn’t miss out, and with our WELLevate offer, you can get a ticket for yourself too.

Motherwell are Scotland’s Family and Community Club and we want and need everyone, dads included, to be a part of that.

To pick up a Season Ticket, visit the Ticket Office at Fir Park or phone 01698 333333.

MFC TV

Motherwell’s online video service is now in its second season and offers fans a unique insight into the club and offer increased coverage of not only Stuart McCall and the first-team squad, but other aspects of the club including our Under 19s, Youth Development, Community and Commercial departments.

It will be a monthly cost of £4.99 and there are a variety of payments options. We’ve made it simple to pay either with your credit card, your debit card or even via direct debit.

To sign up for MFC TV, CLICK HERE.

NEW 2012-13 THIRD KIT

Motherwell launched their new third kit; a celebration of the 100th anniversary (1913) of Motherwell changing from our original blue colour to the now traditional Claret and Amber, so widely recognised in British football.

The feedback has been almost universally positive and the kit is set to be one of the most popular ever.

The full kit will go on sale from Friday 8th June 2012 so it would be an ideal present for any Motherwell-loving dad.

To buy your new Motherwell third kit online – visit www.motherwelldirect.co.uk.

‘Well winger Chris Humphrey has released the following statement in relation to his suspension from the Jamaica squad for the up-coming World Cup qualifiers.

Humphrey said: “It was a huge honour to be asked to represent Jamaica and I am very disappointed I will not be available to try and help the team in the next two games against Guatemala and Antigua & Barbuda.

“I would just like to clarify a few points as I believe there has been a communication problem. After the game in Panama I did go out. It was late after the game and to unwind I went out for an hour.

“I had not been informed of any curfew and no one told me we were not allowed to go out. I fully accept the fact that I did go out and on that basis I have apologised to the team and accept responsibility.

“Naturally I wish the team all the very best in the forthcoming games.”

Picture: The Gleaner Company, Ltd

Motherwell Football Club are delighted to announce that at the end of the ‘Early Bird’ offer, Season Ticket sales are up 26.2% on the same point last year.

Fans have been rushing to secure their spot for the 2012/13 campaign following a concerted effort by the club to increase the value of the ticket combined with an excellent showing on the park last term.

It also continues a positive recent trend; the club having increased overall season tickets almost 25% since 2009/10 to the end of last season.

Like-for-like attendances at Fir Park were also up significantly last season as was the amount of ‘Well fans following the Steelmen on the road – the highest season average for some time.

[pullquote]It is worth noting that the period for selling Season Tickets is still very much on the go and we would encourage as many ‘Well fans as possible who have not either renewed or bought new to get to Fir Park and join us for what is sure to be an unbelievable experience next season.[/pullquote]

Chief Executive Leeann Dempster said, “We are obviously extremely encouraged by these early figures.

“It is worth noting that the period for selling Season Tickets is still very much on the go and we would encourage as many ‘Well fans as possible who have not either renewed or bought new to get to Fir Park and join us for what is sure to be an unbelievable experience next season.

“We set out three years ago to base our strategy on families and making Motherwell FC the number one community club in Scotland and that work goes on. The fact we have managed such growth against a backdrop of some uncertainty is a real plus point, particularly as we launched the ‘Well Society just a few months ago.

“We hope fans have noticed that we have worked extremely hard to not only maintain the value of the Season Ticket, but also increase it. Your children can go free, you can take up discount offers on a number of local businesses, you can watch the first home domestic Cup tie free of charge, you have first choice on any home European tickets and we try and centre all discounted games throughout the campaign on our season ticket holders.

“Together, the fans and this club can really create something special. If you have already renewed, then let’s encourage everyone else to get behind Stuart McCall and the lads and hopefully our progression both on and off the field can continue apace.”

Goalkeeper Lee Hollis is the latest player to commit his future to Motherwell by signing an extended two-year contract at the club.

The 26-year old has proved invaluable back-up to current first choice Darren Randolph and has performed admirably well any time has been called upon.

He made his senior debut for the club twelve months ago at Celtic Park and despite the 4-0 defeat, the former Airdrie Utd stopper received high praise for a string of impressive saves that spared the Steelmen’s blushes.

His only other appearance came in last season’s Scottish Communities League Cup, when he was the man between the sticks as ‘Well demolished Third Division Clyde 4-0 at Broadwood.

His 2011/12 campaign was hampered by a hip injury that eventually required surgery last autumn, ruling him out for almost six months between October and March. He returned as cover for the remaining two months of the campaign although was never called upon with Randolph enjoying yet another incredible season.

Speaking to motherwellfc.co.uk, Hollis said: “I am pleased to have signed again and it’s an added bonus having the security of a two-year contract.

“I had a frustrating time last season, having to miss six months due to surgery, but I feel great now and can’t wait for pre-season to begin.

“I push Darren as hard as I can every day but I can’t groan too much about being second in queue. He has kept something like 35 clean-sheets in two seasons and won the PFA Goalkeeper of the Year; it’s hard to argue with that.

“But I will keep myself ready if called upon. It’s an exciting time for everyone at Fir Park and I am delighted to be a part of it.”

Motherwell FC Community Trust, NLC, NHS Lanarkshire and Alzheimers Scotland have joined forces in an innovative partnership to develop ‘Remember Well’, a Football Reminiscence project.

Funded by Comic Relief for two and a half years, the project is currently recruiting a Volunteer Co-Ordinator.

Job Title: Volunteer Co-ordinator
Hours: 28 hours
Working: Remember Well – Football Reminiscence Project (Lanarkshire).
Based: Motherwell
Salary Scale: £20,798- £22,820 (pro-rata)

The Volunteer Co-ordinator will have previous experience of the volunteering sector, a positive approach to dementia, and a keen interest in football. He/she will work in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council, NHS Lanarkshire and Motherwell Football Club in recruiting and training of volunteers.

The project aims to provide a quality addition to existing care services, allowing peer support and wider local community resources to be utilized to enable people with dementia to live well with their diagnosis.

A key aim of the project is to be intergenerational, targeting both young and adult football fans to support, interact and learn from older people with dementia. The project involves training volunteers to spend time with people with dementia who have an interest in football, talking about the teams and matches of the past and working with visual images to stimulate memories

For an application pack for the above post, please download an application form from our website, www.alzscot.org and either post it to: 

Janice McGhie,
Service Administrator, Alzheimer
Scotland, Old Town Hall, High Road,
Motherwell ML1 3HU

or e-mail it to lanarkshireservices@alzscot.org

Closing date for applications is 8th June 2012 and interviews will take place in Motherwell.

Please note that the successful candidate will be subject to a criminal conviction check through Disclosure Scotland.  The ability to drive and have access to a car is essential.

Alzheimer Scotland – Action on Dementia is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland 149069.

Registered Office:
22 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh
EH3 7RN.

It is recognised as a charity by the office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, no. SC022315.

With the 2011/12 season finished almost everywhere in Europe, we now know all but two of the teams who will participate in next season’s Champions League, and  it is possible to work out the seeding for each round.

Format

The format of the Champions League has changed a few times over the years, particularly in the qualifying stages.  Since 2009/10, the qualifying rounds have been split into two distinct sections – one for Champions and one for non-Champions.

This idea was proposed by Michel Platini, who wanted more champions of smaller countries in the group stage.  To some extent it has worked, with APOEL Nicosia making it to the quarter-finals of last season’s tournament.

22 teams are granted direct entry into the group stage.  These places are given to the champions of the 12 highest ranked countries , the runners-up of the 6 highest ranked countries and the 3rd placed team in the 3 highest ranked countries.

The holders get a place in the groups if they haven’t already qualified, which is the case with Chelsea this year.  Had Bayern Munich won the Champions League, the holder spot would have been vacated and the champions of the 13th ranked nation (R.S.C. Anderlecht) would have entered at the group stage.

The “Champions Pathway” features the national champions from the UEFA members outside the top 12, with the exception of Liechtenstein, who don’t have a league.   There are four qualifying rounds, with the lower ranked countries entering earliest.

The “Non-Champions Pathway” features the lowest placed qualifiers from each of the 15 highest ranked UEFA leagues.  This season, it will feature just 14 teams as a result of Chelsea’s success.   UEFA rules state that no country is allowed to have more than four entrants in the Champions League, so fourth placed Spurs dropped into the Europa League.  This section has just two qualifying rounds, with the lowest ranked countries entering earliest.

Scotland are ranked 15th in the UEFA league coefficients, so we only just scraped a second Champions League spot.  With the poor performances in recent seasons, it is unlikely that we will have a second CL spot again for at least a few years.

Seeding

First of all, a note about seeding.  The seeding in both the Champions League and Europa League is based on the UEFA club coefficients, which are based on results in European competition over the past five years.  Clubs which have not participated in Europe over that period are given a score based on their nation’s coefficient.

All the seeding information is taken from Bert Kassies’ website, which is a treasure trove of statistics and ranking information.

Non-Champions Pathway

Motherwell will take part in this section of qualifying, and will enter at the 3rd Qualifying Round.  Their potential opponents for their first tie are already known, but I’ll also look at who they could play if they make it through to the next round.

3rd Qualifying Round
Draw: 20th July
Matches: 31st July/1st August and 7th/8th August

Eight teams, including Motherwell, enter at this stage.

Despite being the first round in the non-Champions section, this round is referred to as the 3rd Qualifying Round because it runs parallel to the 3rd Qualifying Round in the Champions section.

The 8 teams participating in this round are all known, and Motherwell are unseeded.  We only have four potential opponents – FC Dynamo Kyiv, Panathinaikos, F.C. København or Fenerbahçe S.K.

The teams who lose at this stage will enter the Europa League Play-off Round.

Play-off Round
Draw: 10th August
Matches: 21st/22nd August and 28th/29th August

Six teams enter at this stage and are joined by the four winners from the previous round.

This round is drawn after the previous round is completed, so the seedings will only be known at that stage.  The table below is merely speculative, and assumes that every single seeded side wins in the previous round.

That previous table is slightly lacking in Scottish interest; I’m sure ‘Well fans will be interested to know who they might play if they manage to pull off a ‘shock’ in the previous round.  In that case, their potential opponents would depend on the outcome of the other matches in the 3rd Qualifying Round.

If we assume that the other three matches go to seeding, then our potential opponents would be Braga and Spartak Moscow plus the other three seeded teams from the previous round.  We’ve illustrated this below by assuming that we face and beat, for example, Fenerbahçe in the 3rd Qualifying Round, but the same applies if we beat Dynamo Kyiv, Panathinaikos or København (simply replace the beaten side with Fenerbahçe).

If any the other ties in the previous round go in favour of the unseeded teams then Motherwell could potentially face Udinese or Lille.  It is not possible that they could face Málaga or Borussia Mönchengladbach though – both of these sides are guaranteed to be unseeded in the Play-off Round.

The teams who reach this round are guaranteed a place in a group stage of some sort.  The five winners progress to the Champions League Group Stage, while the five losers will drop down to the Europa League Group Stage.

Article adapted, with thanks, from: SPLstats blog

You have until next Thursday (31st May) to take advantage of our early bird offer so there really is no time to waste!

Did we mention with your season ticket you would be guaranteed a ticket for our home European matches? No need to worry about getting a ticket for huge matches against some of Europe’s finest.

But that is not all…..

A season ticket, whether bought individually or as part of a family package, represents tremendous value. We have completely frozen prices from last season so if you picked up your ticket after the early-bird offer last term; you have an opportunity to actually save money on your ticket.

We have also continued our ‘WELLevate‘ scheme which allows any adult or senior citizen buying a season ticket at Fir Park to claim a juvenile ticket absolutely free of charge or TWO U16s tickets if you sit in the Cooper Stand.

Attendances have grown 25% over the last two years because of this brilliant initiative – perhaps the single most effective way of recruiting new, younger fans over the last 100 years

The excellent Season Ticket offers which can be used to earn a host of discounts in a number of well-known businesses throughout Lanarkshire has also been extended.

We’ve added the likes of M&D’s, Tony Macaroni, Hamilton Palace, Knockhill Racing and Esporta to the 38 strong list which already contained the likes of McDonalds, KFC, Subway, Pizzahut, LivingWell Health Club, Evans Halshaw and many, many more.

We are Scotland’s Family and Community Club and we want and need you to be a part of that.

-CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE INFORMATION AND PRICES-

Motherwell Football Club are today delighted to confirm talismanic midfielder Keith Lasley has committed himself to the club for a further two years.

The 32-year old, recently named supporters Player of the Year for the second successive campaign, enjoyed arguably his best season at Fir Park, helping the Steelmen book a spot in the Champions League for the first time ever.

Lasley, who will likely take up the role of club captain, has played 298 games in Claret and Amber over a 14-year spell, punctured by two years with Plymouth Argyle between 2004 and 2006.

He becomes the second mainstay of the squad to sign an extension after Stevie Hammell confirmed a deal to stay on until 2014 and like Hammell; he has been awarded a testimonial match.

Speaking exclusively to MFC TV, Lasley said:  “I am delighted; I never wanted to leave Motherwell.

“It was similar to any contract, there were negotiations back and forth but I am just so pleased it has been sorted out. I am already looking forward to next season.

“There was other interest and a few other interested clubs and obviously you have got to think about your family. But I’ve been here a long time now and, with how good a season we had and how much I enjoyed it as well as the relationship I have with the fans and the club and that was certainly a swaying factor in me saying.”

Chief Executive Leeann Dempster added, “We are thrilled Keith has joined Stevie Hammell in staying on at the club.

“Keeping our experienced players, who are amongst our most consistent performers, was obviously high on our priority list. We are still negotiating with others but we hope both players staying will send out a message of intent.”

-WATCH KEITH’S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ON MFC TV-

Estonian sharpshooter Henrik Ojamaa hopes to make his full international debut as his country gears up for four big friendly matches in the next fortnight.

Tarmo Rüütli’s side will face Croatia in Rijeka tomorrow before taking on Ukraine on Monday. The Sinisärgid will be back on home soil on June 1st to take on Finland before rounding off their group of games with a glamour tie against the French in Le Mans on June 5th.

Ojamaa, who has been capped several times as a youth, told motherwellfc.co.uk of his pride at representing his country at senior level.

“I am very proud to have this opportunity to represent my nation and test myself against some of Europe´s top players,” he said.

“I have been involved in every youth international level in my career and that has led up to being involved with the full squad at the age of 21, so I am really looking forward to it.

“It’s quite a tight schedule over next twelve days and the coach has said he will make full use of the squad. We travelled to Croatia today (Thursday) with our strongest line-up looking to give a talented side a good game.”

It has been a whirlwind five months for the youngster who first appeared at Fir Park on trial towards the tail end of 2011.

[pullquote]I have been involved in all the games from January onward and I feel in good shape. I took a lot of confidence from the success I enjoyed with Motherwell; joining the club has been great for my career.[/pullquote]

Stuart McCall seen enough in the striker to offer him a short-term deal but few could have predicted the impact he would have.

9 goals in 14 starts, a new two-and-a-half year deal and numerous awards made him an instant hit with the Fir Park faithful and Ojamaa is quick to acknowledge what joining Motherwell has done for his career.

He continued: “It has been a great season both for Motherwell and me and I feel really good going into these matches.

“I have been involved in all the games from January onward and I feel in good shape. I took a lot of confidence from the success I enjoyed with Motherwell; joining the club has been great for my career.

“I had been searching for a club where the style of play would give me the best possible platform to showcase my talent and improve as a player. Also the manager showed a lot of trust in me which gave me the confidence to go out and play at the best of my ability.

“The prospect of also being involved in Champions League with Motherwell makes it a very interesting summer for me; every good player wants to test himself against the very best and this gives me a great opportunity to see where I am at with my development.

“It’s going to be fascinating to see how far we can go as a team because after such a successful season, confidence is high and everyone is looking forward to the new season.”

Photography courtesy of: Toomas Huik/Postimees