| 6 | Dundee | 31 | 10 | 9 | 12 | -10 | 39 |
| 7 | Hibernian | 32 | 9 | 11 | 12 | -7 | 38 |
| 8 | Motherwell | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 | -5 | 36 |
| 9 | Aberdeen | 32 | 8 | 10 | 14 | -5 | 34 |
| 10 | St Johnstone | 32 | 7 | 10 | 15 | -20 | 31 |
Celebrate the start of the school summer holidays with our School’s Out event at Fir Park.
Our ‘T in the Fir Park’ themed party returns for a second year and will feature live music from local singer/songwriter Tommy McGuire.
Date: 26th June 2024
Location: Centenary Suite, Fir Park Stadium
Time: Doors open at 13.30
Cost: £20pp includes burger and chips
To book: please phone 01698 338012 or email Amanda McKindless at amanda.mckindless@motherwellfc.co.uk
The Executive Board of the Club would like to confirm that investment discussions with a US-based family have reached the point where both parties wish to move forward to the next stage and have therefore entered into an agreement on a non binding Heads of Terms.
Both parties will now work on formalising these into a legal framework which can be put to a shareholders vote.
The investor has expressed his desire to work in partnership with the Well Society.
The process of formalising the Heads of Terms is likely to take around six weeks and we will keep you updated on progress.
Not everyone is as fortunate and at Motherwell Football Club, we want to do our very best to help those within our local community who fall into that bracket.
That’s why, when our sponsors TCL wanted to give tablets to a local Primary School, we got the full team involved to give the kids a day they’ll never forget.
We can confirm that Brian Caldwell will join the club as Chief Executive on 2nd April 2024.
Brian has a wealth of football experience spanning over almost 30 years, having served as Chief Executive of Ayr United, St Mirren and Shrewsbury Town in England.
“I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Brian to Motherwell,” Chairman Jim McMahon said.
“As one of the most experienced football Chief Executives who has worked in both Scotland and England, we feel Brian will be a huge asset to Motherwell Football Club.
“The board and the Well Society are all looking forward to working closely with Brian when he starts in a couple weeks.
“I also want to record my personal thanks to Derek Weir for stepping into the CEO role last year. Derek has now been involved with the club in various roles for over 14 years.
“We are extremely grateful for the time commitment and the significant contribution he has made to the club during that period.”
“I know how important Motherwell Football Club is to the local community, the fans and generations of families who support the club,” Brian Caldwell added.
“I am delighted to be joining and to be part of the exciting future that Motherwell Football club have in front of them.”
Following the events at our match against Aberdeen on Saturday, the club have written and submitted a video package to the SFA seeking an explanation on the rule regarding incidences of handball in the lead up play prior to a goal being scored.
On the 28 October 2023, Eamonn Brophy opened the scoring goal in a match against Motherwell at Fir Park.
In the build up to the goal, Victor Loturi handled the ball before playing the ball to Brophy who went on to score. We were informed after the match, by the Fourth Official, that due to Loturi not scoring the goal, and the handball not being deliberate, the goal was allowed to stand.
The IFAB rule states:
“Accidental handball that leads to a team-mate scoring a goal or having a goal-scoring opportunity will no longer be considered an offence.”
In our match against Aberdeen on Saturday, Lennon Miller scored what we believed was an equalising goal. The on-field decision by referee Willie Collum was to award the goal however, after a lengthy VAR check by Steven McLean, the referee was advised to go the VAR monitor.
After reviewing the goal, the on-field decision was reversed due to a handball in the build up by Theo Bair. The explanation we received for this decision was that as Theo’s hand was outstretched and high, it was a deliberate handball and therefore the goal was ruled out.
This was different from the decision in the Ross County game as the “handball was deemed to be non penalisable as the ball rebounded onto the player’s arm. This is despite the handball occurring when the hand is well above the player’s head and changing the direction the ball is travelling.
Whilst we do accept that all decisions, particularly in relation to handball, are subjective, we are baffled as to how anyone can conclude Theo’s handball is deliberate when the ball only glances his shoulder as he attempts to head it. It also had no impact on the next phase of play when the goal was scored.
We also do not believe this incident meets the “clear and obvious” error threshold that all clubs’ signed up to when VAR was introduced, at a significant cost to each club.
We were then further disappointed at the decision not to award a penalty kick near the end of the match when the ball clearly hits Graeme Shinnie’s arm in the penalty area. We were advised that as the ball had ricocheted off another defender prior to impact, it could not be deemed to be deliberate, despite his arm being outstretched.
We fully understand that individual decisions made during games will always be open to interpretation and that it is unlikely that universal consensus will ever be reached. We are however concerned that rules are being interpreted differently, even during the same game, there is a high level of inconsistency in decision making and that the threshold for VAR intervention appears to be moving. There is also the issue that no-one in the stadium has any idea why the goal has been ruled out.
We are aware from the recent SFA announcement and from interaction with SPFL officials that a full review of VAR is ongoing and we have had input into that process. There are many potential consequences of some of these decisions, but we are most concerned that the inconsistency of decision making, regular lengthy VAR interventions during most games and lack of any clarity on why decisions have been made, is having a serious impact on fans’ enjoyment of the game.
The feedback we receive from our own fans on VAR is almost entirely negative and, if given a choice, we believe most would vote to no longer have it in use. It’s actually not easy to find anyone who either participates in football or watches it who is happy with the current position.
We look forward to the output from the review and how the required improvements will be implemented.
We can confirm the date and details of our end-of-season awards dinner which will take place on Saturday 4 May at Dalziel Park Hotel.
A number of awards will be up for grabs on the night recognising top performers across the first team, women’s team and the academy.
Hosted by Tam Cowan, the night will consist of live entertainment, 3-course meal and will kick-off at 7pm with first-team players and coaching staff in attendance.
Individual places are available at £72 per person with tables available in multiples of 10 or 12.
To book, please call the events team on 01698 338 011 or online.
Public voting for some of the categories will be available shortly.
Leisure Connect and Greenversity Renewables are the new partners of the Davie Cooper Stand. Both brands now feature on the top of our stand behind the goals.
Kevin McAlear, managing director at Greenversity Renewables quoted: “We are delighted to partner with Motherwell FC for the next three years.
Our aim is to have Greenversity as the premier solar and renewable energy installer in Scotland and teaming up with Lanarkshire’s premier football club will help us achieve that. We are all very excited and wish all at Motherwell FC the very best.
John McShane, director of Leisure Connect, added: “We have worked extremely well with the club over the last few years and have always admired the great work that Motherwell FC does in the community, and we very much want to be a part of it.
We are delighted to continue to work with the club over the next three years as we look to grow our brand awareness and implement our strategy of building fibre broadband networks across Scotland in conjunction with the Scottish government as part of the Scottish broadband infrastructure framework.
We will be providing local communities with affordable super-fast Wi-Fi whilst at the same time providing support and investment to fantastic initiatives within the Lanarkshire area. We look forward to working closely with the club.
“I am delighted to welcome both companies to the Motherwell family,” Suzanne Reid commercial director said.
“Their investment and commitment over the next three years is much appreciated by everyone at the club.”
Look out for both companies on social media to win hospitality places and tickets.
We are delighted to announce a partnership with Off The Pitch as the club’s Official Football Finance Data Partner.
This strategic collaboration will empower us with cutting-edge analytics tools and invaluable financial insights, propelling the club into a new era of data-driven decision-making.
“As we strive to keep pushing the club to new heights, we need access to the best data available,” head of recruitment operations Nick Daws said.
“Off The Pitch has a unique approach and can help us in several aspects of our development – including player trading, finance negotiations, and benchmarking, to name a few.
“Off The Pitch understands the business side of football and has provided us with an intuitive and easily implemented solution.”
Blue Triangle, a social care organisation and national charity, will auction two signed Motherwell FC shirts on Wednesday 14 February.
The shirts, signed by the first team and Women’s team, were kindly donated by the club. Blue Triangle is the current front of shirt sponsor of the Motherwell Women’s team. The auction will be held online, run by Great Western Auctions.
The organisation run two services in North Lanarkshire. The Viewpark supported accommodation in Uddingston, which supports up to 12 people aged 16-35, and Breakthrough, an Intense Peer Recovery Support outreach.
“We are excited to run our first charity auction, and our thanks to Motherwell FC for their kind donation of signed shirts, and to Great Western Auctions for facilitating,” CEO of Blue Triangle Gary Meek said.
“All funds raised will go towards running our essential services in North Lanarkshire – helping to provide even greater support for some of the most vulnerable in the community.”
The aim of Blue Triangle’s work is to prepare supported people to move onto their own home. Over half of those entering Blue Triangle services move on to their own tenancy, helping to break the homelessness cycle.
Staff facilitate this by working one to work with the young people, identify support needs, such as mental health, addiction or further education.
Blue Triangle’s Viewpark service scored highly in their latest Care Inspectorate report, awarded 5’s in all areas.
One young person stated that Blue Triangle staff “really care, listen, and follow through on the things they say they will help with.”
Another said, “All staff are lovely and really caring, more so than anywhere else I have stayed.” At Blue Triangle, we pride ourselves in living our values – being kind, passionate and creative, every day.
The link for the men’s first-team shirt can be found here.
The link for the women’s shirt can be found here.
In North Lanarkshire the child protection committee, are getting involved in Safer Internet Day on 6th February.
For Safer Internet Day today, celebrations across the UK are focusing on online issues that matter to young people, including:
Technology has the power to change all our lives. Let’s celebrate all the amazing ways technology is shaping the world we live in, whilst also working together to ensure children and young people can stay safe in an ever changing online world.
By having fun, working together, and engaging with the online issues young people care about the most, we can all create a safer internet for the future.
The online world can change how we think, feel and act – positively and people to learn and talk about potentially sensitive topics. For ideas visit here.
While discussing their online lives, it is possible that children and young people will raise concerns about things they have experienced online. Make sure you are up to date with your school or setting’s safeguarding procedures and, for further advice, visit here.
Remember that there’s plenty of help and advice available if you need more information about anything online safety related.
The UK Safer Internet Centre’s ‘Need Help? page contains further information on reporting specific concerns to organisations outside of your school/setting saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/need-help
The Professionals Online Safety Helpline is a free helpline offering advice and support to all members of the children’s workforce on any online safety issues.
The online world is changing all the time, but talking with young people about their online experiences can help you understand what’s going on. Kickstart the conversation today but make it a regular habit all year round.
You can access top tips on how to keep yourself, or your child, safe online by visiting Homepage – UK Safer Internet Centre.
To understand some young peoples views about the benefits and challenges of using social media please watch this short video.
