Football Season Guide

It has been a summer of revolution at Cliftonhill as Albion Rovers look to bounce back from relegation from League One. Last season was one to forget for the Wee Rovers as they finished bottom of the table, conceding 80 goals in 36 league games into the bargain. The fallout had begun before the end of the campaign and manager Brian Kerr rejected the offer of a new deal in May. John Brogan was announced as his successor having left his previous role at Wishaw Juniors back in February. The entirety of last season’s squad were out of contract in the summer and at the time of writing just two players have signed on again for the new season in goalkeeper Dan Potts and midfielder Gary Fisher. The biggest departure is striker Alan Trouten, who missed just three league games last time out and scored 28 goals in all competitions, including more than a third of their league goals, and has signed for Alloa Athletic. Defenders Alan Reid and Ross Perry have joined Stenhousemuir and Dumbarton whilst midfielders Graeme Holmes and Ross Davidson have signed with East Kilbridge and East Fife respectively. There was also an acrimonious departure for midfielder Scott McLaughlin, who missed just one league game, and described his treatment by the club as “shocking and totally unprofessional.” Brogan has been left to completely rebuild his squad and has raided Alloa Athletic for goalkeeper Chris Wylie, defender Steven Smith, midfielder Dylan Monaghan and strikers John Cunningham and Ronan Kearney. Striker Lewis McLear is the only player to have featured in League 2 last season, making a grand total of half-a-dozen appearances for Edinburgh City. With so many changes it is difficult to assess Albion Rovers credentials for the forthcoming campaign but they will certainly be hoping to improve on last season’s showing.