Latest News

Despite our request for responsible behaviour following the first two Conference League qualifying rounds, we have just received UEFA fines of €5,000 for a pitch incursion during the home leg against SC Freiburg and €20,000 for pyrotechnic discharges during the second leg in Germany.

The club has also been officially reprimanded by the SPFL for a pitch incursion during last month’s match against St Mirren in Paisley.

A statement from the club four weeks ago, ahead of the UEFA Conference League play-off matches, advised that due to the behaviour of some supporters, the club was already facing a significant financial cost from various UEFA fines, as well as the damage caused to HJK Helsinki’s LED boards.

These two latest fines further increase that financial cost.

We are disappointed that our recent communication appealing to supporters to act responsibly was ignored by a small minority of fans. At the same time, we fully recognise that the vast majority of our supporters back the team and club in a responsible manner. The support the players have received in the Faroe Islands, Finland, Germany and domestically has been absolutely incredible, and we are hugely grateful for it.

Once again, we reiterate that we are not targeting any specific group of supporters. If you have jumped out of the stand or used pyrotechnics, we are simply asking that this does not happen again.

Jardell Kanga has been named in the Sweden Under 21 squad.

It’s UEFA Euro Under 21 qualifying action for Kanga, as Sweden will round off their qualifying campaign.

The Swedes travel to Poland first on Wednesday 30 September, before hosting North Macedonia on Monday 5 October.

Sweden are currently 4th in the standings, and are unable to catch second-placed Italy to qualify.

• Poland U21 v Sweden U21
• Wednesday 30 September
• 4pm Kick Off
• Arena Katowice 

• Sweden U21 v North Macedonia U21
• Monday 5 October 
• 4pm Kick Off
• Falcon Alkoholfri Arena

Everyone has an opinion of Alex Lowry. Known for bursting onto the scene at Rangers and labelled a star of the future, his performances on the pitch after making his debut had all Scottish football fanatics excited. 

But off the pitch, the narrative of the young Scottish prodigy was not a positive one. ‘Bad attitude’, ‘lazy’ and ‘poor application’ are just some of the labels that followed Lowry around. False labels.

And when he went through personal tragedy, there was no room for sympathy in the public eye with his performances and future written off by many. But really, he was just a young, talented football player who rose through the ranks at Rangers and learned his craft in the local park outside his family home.

Having gone down to England to play with Wycombe, a move which he admits hasn’t gone the way he thought it would, the chance to return home and re-ignite his career was too good to turn down. Now with a number of games under his belt and high admiration of the Motherwell fans behind him, his confidence is showing his performances with the narrative shifting on the 23-year-old.

It’s time to vote for your Lime Player of the Month for September. 

Alex Lowry, Tom Sparrow Lukas Fadinger are all up for nomination.

To vote, head over to the Motherwell Facebook page.

Matches in August

• Motherwell 3-0 Dundee United
• Rangers 1-0 Motherwell
• Motherwell 0-4 Aberdeen
• Dundee 2-1 Motherwell

Jamie Knight-Lebel has earned international recognition, with the defender named in the latest Canadian squad. 

The Bristol City loanee has made a bright start to life in Motherwell, with the defender recognised by his country.

Knight-Lebel has three caps for his country already, and will be looking to add to that tally later this month.

Canada have three friendly matches lined up, taking on Chile first on Sunday 27 September. They then take on Peru on Saturday 3 October, before rounding off the international window with a game against the United States on Wednesday 7 October.

• Canada v Chile
• Sunday 27 September 
• 12am Kick Off
• BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario

• Canada v Peru
• Saturday 3 October
• 7pm Kick Off
• Stade Saputo, Montréal, Québec

• USA v Canada
• Wednesday 7 October
• 1am Kick Off
• Allianz Field, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Checking in on our boys who are out on loan currently. 

Olly Whyte

Olly Whyte joined up with his former manager Gary Naysmith at Ayr United earlier this month, and has since taken part in three matches.

Whyte has started all three games for the club, with the midfielder picking up his first win since joining on Friday night against Queen’s Park where they won 3-1.

Despite the international break, Ayr United continue the action in the William Hill Premiership as they take on Stenhousemuir on Friday night, with the Warriors currently top of the league. Ayr have eight points after seven games following a mixed start to the season.

• Appearances: 3
• Starts: 3
• Goals: 0 

Luca Ross

Luca Ross is currently on loan at Alloa Athletic, and has made two appearances since joining.

His first came off the bench in a defeat to Airdrie, before he was handed his first start against East Kilbride, with Ross playing the full 90 minutes.

Alloa have nine points after eight games, and are fifth in the table. It will be difficult for Alloa to break into the promotion playoff spots this season with Ross County, Hamilton, Montrose and East Kilbride all fighting it out in the top three.

The Wasps are in KDM Evolution Trophy action this week against Hibernian, before returning to league action on Saturday 3 October against Ross County, with a match against Gala Fairydean Rovers this weekend in the KDM Evolution Trophy.

• Appearances: 2
• Starts: 1
• Goals: 0

Lucas Weir

Lucas Weir hasn’t made his debut at Cowdenbeath as yet, due to fixtures with the Under 19s side at Motherwell taking place.

He was on the bench for Cowdenbeath’s match against Hill of Beath Hawthorn.

• Appearances: 0
• Starts: 0
• Goals: 0

Aaron Thomson

Aaron Thomson wasn’t in the Spartans squad against Dumbarton on Saturday following his loan move to the North Edinburgh side.

• Appearances: 0
• Starts: 0
• Goals: 0

Zander McAllister

Aaron Thomson wasn’t in the Spartans squad against Dumbarton on Saturday following his loan move to the North Edinburgh side.

• Appearances: 0
• Starts: 0
• Goals: 0

Two of our matches in November have new kick off times. 

Our game against Rangers on Saturday 21 November will now kick off at 8pm at Fir Park.

The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Our game against Hibernian will now kick off at 5:45pm on Saturday 28 November at Fir Park. The match will be shown live on Premier Sports.

We have five players away during this international window. Let’s find out where they will be playing. 

Alex Paulsen

Following their World Cup campaign, New Zealand are in friendly action four times over the next fortnight. This squad sees the inclusion of some of their World Cup stars but also some faces who missed out on the trip to the USA last summer.

The four matches will see New Zealand take on opposition from both ends of the FIFA World Rankings. First up is a match against Palestine in China, before facing China three days later.

The squad then take on Panama before rounding their camp off against either Japan or Ecuador. Alex Paulsen has eight caps already and will be looking to add more over the next two weeks.

• New Zealand v Palestine
• Friendly 
• Thursday 24 September 
• Chongqing, China

• New Zealand v China
• Friendly 
• Sunday 27 September
• Chongqing, China

• New Zealand v Panama 
• Friendly 
• Thursday 1 October
• Yokohamo International Stadium

• New Zealand v Japan/Ecuador 
• Friendly 
• Monday 5 October
• Tokyo International Stadium

Tawanda Maswanhise

Ramon Catala was named the new manager of Zimbabwe in August, and he has named Tawanda Maswanhise in his first squad as head coach.

It’s the start of a new qualifying campaign for the Africa Cup of Nations, with the Warriors placed in Group E alongside Sierra Leone, DR Congo and Equatorial Guinea. Maswanhise was a key component to Zimbabwe’s success in their last AFCON qualifying campaign.

They take on Sierra Leone away from home in their first match on Thursday 24 September, before facing DR Congo on home soil in their second match on Monday 28 September.

• Sierra Leone v Zimbabwe 
• Thursday 24 September
• 8pm Kick Off
• Location TBC

• Zimbabwe v DR Congo
• Monday 28 September 
• 5pm Kick Off
• National Sports Stadium, Harare

Aaron Thomson & Zander McAllister

It’s also been a period of transition at the Scotland National Team, which has seen a number of new appointments within the coaching ranks at various age groups.

For the Under 19s, Tam Courts will take the reins, accompanied by Lee Wallace. They have named their first squad since arriving last month, with Aaron Thomson and Zander McAllister both included.

This camp will see Scotland play three friendly matches, providing the opportunity for the squad to gel and get up to speed. Scotland face Finland, Czech Republic and Ukraine over the course of a week.

• Scotland U19s v Finland U19s
• Thursday 24 September 
• 11.00am
• Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor

• Scotland U19s v Czech Republic U19s
• Sunday 27 September
• 3pm Kick Off 
• Estadi Olímpic Camilo Cano

• Scotland U19s v Ukraine
• Wednesday 30 September
• 11.00am Kick Off 
• La Nucía Mini Estadi

Jamie Knight-Lebel

Jamie Knight-Lebel has earned international recognition, with the defender named in the latest Canadian squad.

Knight-Lebel has three caps for his country already, and will be looking to add to that tally later this month.

Canada have three friendly matches lined up, taking on Chile first on Sunday 27 September. They then take on Peru on Saturday 3 October, before rounding off the international window with a game against the United States on Wednesday 7 October.

• Canada v Chile
• Sunday 27 September 
• 12am Kick Off
• BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario

• Canada v Peru
• Saturday 3 October
• 7pm Kick Off
• Stade Saputo, Montréal, Québec

• USA v Canada
• Wednesday 7 October
• 1am Kick Off
• Allianz Field, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

It was Motherwell’s third straight defeat in the Premiership, as the Steelmen struggled to create enough at the top end of the pitch despite large spells of possession. 

A two-week international break now provides time to recover, reset and work on the training pitch before the Champions come to town.

Alfred Johansson reacts to a 2-1 defeat to Dundee at Dens Park.