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Voting has opened for Motherwell’s Player of the Month for December – sponsored by Motorpoint.

Every month, ‘Well fans have the opportunity to cast their vote for who they think has put in the best performances.

December was a game packed month, with the Steelmen taking on Celtic, Kilmarnock, St Johnstone, Aberdeen, Inverness CT and Hamilton Accies; who did enough to get your vote?

Thanks to club sponsors Motorpoint, the decision is up to the fans, so cast your vote here!

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Motherwell Football Club’s supporter survey – allowing fans to communicate directly with the club about issues they feel need improved, changed or introduced – ended on the 6th January with a short follow up survey asking supporters “What Motherwell FC means to you?” also closing 24 hours later.

Hundreds of completed surveys will now be assessed and dealt with by Marketing and Fan Engagement Manager Ryan Murrant this week.

The move is part of the clubs aims to improve fan and matchday experiences at Fir Park and the short but detailed surveys have provided the platform for supporters to have a say in how their experiences here will be improved.

Motherwell FC would like to thank every person who gave their time and voice to the cause and look forward to seeing these changes implemented thanks to you.

A modern day Motherwell legend, Stevie Kirk will forever be remembered for scoring the winning goal in the 1991 Scottish Cup Final, but his association with the Steelmen spanned more than a decade on the park as a player and off it in community coaching and commercial roles. 

Signed from East Fife in 1986 the midfielder immediately made himself a fixture in Tommy McLean’s side.  Adept at finding the net he scored one of ‘Well’s goals of the decade at Tynecastle in 1987. Collecting the ball on the periphery of his own penalty box Stevie proceeded to run the length of the field before lashing it high into the net past the hapless Henry Smith from just outside the Hearts box.

On a momentous afternoon at the same venue the following season Kirk volunteered to go in goals after an injury to goalkeeper Cammy Duncan. Undaunted by the task he famously went on to save a penalty and inspired Motherwell to a 2-2 draw having been two-nil down.

It was a memorable season indeed for the Fifer who would enjoy the most prolific goal-scoring campaign of his ‘Well career capped by netting all four goals as St Mirren were routed at Fir Park in April 1989.

But think of Stevie Kirk and it is impossible not to return to that winning goal at Hampden.

It is often said that a team has “their name on the Cup” but perhaps Stevie’s moment of glory was also pre-destined for he would have a significant impact at each stage netting in every round (albeit one of them was in the penalty shoot-out in the Quarter Final) as Motherwell progressed through the competition.

Kirk’s reward was to become one of the first Motherwell players to represent the club in European competition where he had the distinction of scoring Motherwell’s first ever goal in Europe.

After more than 300 league appearances Stevie moved on in 1995 to join Falkirk in a player/cash deal that Paul McGrillen join Stevie at Brockville, with Eddie May moving in the opposite direction.

As top flight Scottish football stops for the winter break, Lewis Irons sat down with MFC TV commentator Graham Barnstaple and Group Sport’s writer for the Herald & Times Scott Mullen to take a look back over the season so far.

From the Betfred Cup group stages to the dramatic last minute equaliser against Hamilton Accies in the final game of the year – there has been plenty to talk about ahead of the second half of season 2016/17.

A goalscorer of some distinction, tales of “Willie P” and his goalscoring feats have been handed down through the generations since Willie Pettigrew plied his trade at Fir Park in the seventies.

Willie had been on the books of Hibernian but had grown so disenchanted with life at Easter Road that he left to join East Kilbride Thistle, from whom Motherwell signed him during season 1972’73.

After form for the reserves that was too difficult to ignore, Willie was introduced to the first team and began to show the goalscoring capability that would make him a huge favourite with the Motherwell supporters over the course of the next five or six years.

Developing a wonderful understanding with Bobby Graham, the two formed a terrific partnership as ‘Well secured their place in the new Premier League and came agonisingly close to reaching the Scottish Cup Final in successive seasons.

At the peak of his powers, Pettigrew netted twenty top flight goals in season 1974’75 and twenty-one the following campaign, prompting a call up to the Scotland squad where he found the net on his debut in a 1-0 win over Switzerland in April 1976.

By 1979, Motherwell had regressed dramatically enduring a torrid season that ended in relegation to the First Division. A player of Pettigrew’s calibre would undoubtedly have helped Motherwell’s promotion challenge but by the start of the new campaign he had moved on to Dundee Utd for £100,000 having scored 80 goals in 166 appearances for the Steelmen.

At United, he soon began to collect the silverware that had eluded him during his time at Fir Park.

After Tannadice, Willie spent time with Heart of Midlothian, Morton and Hamilton Accies – yet it would always be Motherwell Football Club that Pettigrew would be associated with first and foremost.

In later years, Willie put his expertise to good use in a coaching capacity helping develop a new generation of stars in the Motherwell youth set up.

Allan Campbell has been a consistent figure in the Motherwell U20s side this season, with his standout performances rewarded with a call up to the first team. 

Against Hamilton in the final game of the year, the 18-year-old played the entire 90 minutes as ten-man Motherwell grabbed a dramatic late equaliser.

The youngster looked at home in the middle of the park and was lauded by first team manager Mark McGhee.

He said: “Young Allan Campbell has come in, playing in a game where we’ve went down to ten men and he’s done such a fantastic job.

[pullquote]”Young Allan Campbell has come in, playing in a game where we’ve went down to ten men and he’s done such a fantastic job.” – Mark McGhee[/pullquote]

“It’s another debutant and another one from the academy, through Scott Leitch and then Crags, which just shows that there is such a flow of these young players coming in to the team.”

One of the glaring positives in the Campbell’s locker is his versatility, having filled in at right back on a number of occasions for the U20s.

That is something that hasn’t gone unnoticed with U20s boss Stephen Craigan, who was full of praise when talking about Allan’s performances this term.

He said: “Allan Campbell has filled in at right back when we’ve been short in numbers and Jack McMillan has had to switch over to left-back for example and I’ll be honest, Allan has told me he doesn’t like it.

[pullquote]”He’s willing to play out of position for the good of the team and I feel that when players do that it can teach them new aspects of the game.” – Stephen Craigan[/pullquote]

“He feels he doesn’t get enough of the ball but when you’re playing at right-back that suits me just fine, but Allan is a player who is gifted on the ball.”

He added: “That shows the commitment he has though – that he’s willing to play out of position for the good of the team and I feel that when players do that it can teach them new aspects of the game.”

After making his full debut for the first-team against Accies, Motherwell fans may have caught a glimpse of one of their future stars.

Allan knows he has to keep working hard though, and the midfielder said: “It was great to get the entire 90 minutes and I was delighted to have been asked to step up by the manager. I know that I have to keep pushing and playing to my best ability every week, for the U20s and the first team when I get my chances.”

Young right-winger Dom Thomas has joined Championship side Queen of the South on loan until the end of the season.

Although Thomas, 20, has played 39 times for the Fir Parkers, he has never quite managed to nail down a regular starting berth, his last being against East Stirlingshire in the Betfred Cup last July.

He will now join up with Gary Naysmith’s side who sit sixth after 21 games, six points behind in the race for a Play-off spot.

[pullquote]I expect a regular run of games will propel him into a real contender for a regular spot next season. We wish him all the very best.[/pullquote]

‘Well boss Mark McGhee said: “We retain extremely high hopes for Dom as he shows every day in training just what a terrific little player he is.

“We need him to transfer that into a matchday environment, but that has been made more difficult because he’s only being getting bits and pieces here and there.

“I expect a regular run of games will propel him into a real contender for a regular spot next season. We wish him all the very best.”

Extended highlights from the SuperSeal Stadium as Louis Moult heads in a last-gasp equaliser in the last Lanarkshire Derby of 2016.

‘Well boss Mark McGhee was thrilled to see his side dig in deep with ten men and bag a last minute equaliser against local rivals Hamilton this afternoon.

The result brings an end to the year and means the club have come through what the manager described as a “pivotal” stage of the season with four points out of a possible six.

Louis Moult’s late header this afternoon means the club sit just two points off the top six ahead of the January break, and have some breathing space from the bottom sides in the table.

Speaking to MFC TV after today’s Lanarkshire derby, the ‘Well manager said: “We started very convincingly and created a couple of chances which we should have taken and could have taken – I know Scotty was angry at himself for missing his header and Craig didn’t get quite enough on his.

“Then of course we lose a man and that’s made it difficult for us and eventually they’ve got a goal which was a slack one to concede from our point of view – they got in behind us from a throw in and suddenly we’ve lost a game.”

He added: “We dug in, we changed it and pushed on, put two up front and tried to put them under pressure and eventually we got the goal that I think we thoroughly deserved.

[pullquote] We dug in, we changed it and pushed on, put two up front and tried to put them under pressure and eventually we got the goal that I think we thoroughly deserved. [/pullquote]

“So whether we would’ve won with eleven men, who knows, but I think it’s a fantastic achievement for the boys here in a local derby, in front of our supporters who were magnificent and so were the smaller group who went up to Inverness on Wednesday night.”

The Fir Park gaffer made sure to touch on the impressive performance from young Allan Campbell, who made his first team debut.

He said: “Young Allan Campbell has come in, playing in a game where we’ve went down to ten men and doing such a fantastic job. It’s another debutant and another one from the academy, through Scott Leitch and then Crags, which just shows that there is such a flow of these young players coming in to the team.”

In dramatic fashion, Louis Moult headed the Steelmen level in the last second of the match and McGhee admitted that it was the sort of moment which is “the best in the world” for a striker.

He said: “As a centre-forward, getting a chance like the one that fell for Moulty is just the best feeling in the world.

“I said to him after the game, what a feeling that is, it’s the best feeling in the world being presented with a chance like that in the last minute of the game to get your team a point and it’s the second best feeling in the world as the manager seeing your forward do that.”

[pullquote]From my point of view to all of the supporters, happy New Year, thanks for your support and see you next year.[/pullquote]

Motherwell go in to the January break on a two match unbeaten run, and face Rangers in the Scottish Cup for the first match of 2017.

McGhee said: “The break now is good timing because we can now get Las fit, Hammy fit and Cadds fit too. Carl McHugh can have a rest too because he’s come straight back in and played two fantastic games and 90 minutes in both too, so he can now recover, draw breath and look forward to a really positive second half of the season.”

He added: “We’ll use the break constructively and positively, we’ll give the boys some time off next week and then give them a really hard week following, both physically and mentally, to get them back ready for the cup match.

“We can all go home now, have a quiet glass of wine and a mince pie or whatever, and look forward to a very positive 2017 and from my point of view to all of the supporters, happy New Year, thanks for your support and see you next year.”

Images from today’s 1-1 draw with Hamilton Accies in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Snaps courtesy of SNSPix

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