Broch have successfully retained the 202/21 Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup with a 3-1 victory over Formartine Utd at Harlaw Park, Inverurie.

Second half goals by Paul Campbell, Scott Barbour and another from Paul Campbell cancelled out a first half Formartine goal by Scott Lisle.

Well done to all the players, management and back room staff for bringing the famous old trophy back to Bellslea for the 12th time

Our scheduled match away to Fort William next Saturday, 31st July will now be played at Bellslea.

This is after a meeting of the League Management Committee where a decision was taken, due to the condition of Claggan Park, that all Fort William’s home games will be played at their opponents ground.

Season Tickets will be valid and there will be a cash gate in operation with the same protocols which were in place for our game with Formartine Utd on Saturday past.

Congratulations to Paul Leask who yesterday made his 300th appearance for the club. Paul has kept 81 clean sheets in that period and has been on the winning side 162 times.

We would like to wish Greg Buchan the best of luck after his transfer to Huntly.

Signed in July 2016, Greg has played 117 games for the Broch scoring 16 goals along the way.

 

It is with sadness that we advise on the passing of Jim Birnie who played for the Broch between 1949 and 1960 over two spells either side of his National Service. Jim only missed out on a place in the team that defeated Dundee in the famous Scottish Cup match of 1959 through injury.

Jim turned 90 in April and his funeral is today. Our thoughts are with the family at this time.

Jim can be seen in the below photograph, extreme left in the back row.

 

We are delighted to announce that Joe Barbour, Lewis Duncan and Scott Henry have all agreed contract extensions to the summer of 2022.

We are delighted to confirm that Owen Cairns (22) and Connor Grant, who will turn 17 next week, have signed on again. Owen until summer of 2022 and Connor until the summer of 2023.

 

This is Connor’s first Professional Contract and we look forward to seeing him progressing his talent at Bellslea. Connor is the Grandson of former Hibernian and Peterhead striker Colin Grant, so comes from good footballing stock.

At Fraserburgh FC we reserve the right to use nautical references in our press releases.

The past 12 months have been as challenging as they have been unusual, and hopefully our progress on the pitch is there for all to see even through the Covid Pandemic – but the club continues to move forward off the pitch as well as on.

It seems like a long time ago we started a crowd funding to help with our supporter toilet and referee changing facility upgrade. It was clear in August 2020 that the return of supporters and normal use of changing rooms would not be available, so we started the crowdfunding in September with the aim of raising £5,000. By the end of September more than £8,000 was donated. Thanks to the generosity of the local public and supporters worldwide.

Combined with generous donations from the FRASERBURGH FC SUPPORTERS CLUB and a grant from SCOTTISH FOOTBALL PARTNERSHIP meant that the work was underway by the end of October.

We are delighted to announce that these upgrades are fully completed and ready for use when we emerge from the grip of Covid.

At Fraserburgh FC we appreciate that without the Refereeing fraternity there would be no game, and we now have changing facilities to match the claim. We can now boast comfortable changing facilities for 3 match officials, a fourth official and space to review performance with a referee observer.

The supporters toilet facilities will be there for all to see when we welcome crowds back to Bellslea park. Enhanced Male, Female and Disabled facilities will make for a better matchday experience and ensure optimum hygiene facilities are available as we emerge from the global pandemic with some handwashing habits that will last a lot longer.

The old turnstiles were approximately 100 year old patented ‘Ellison’ types. With hundreds of thousands of rotations on the clock they were still looking good, and have made a new home in the Fraserburgh Heritage Centre. We believe the only other set are in the Hampden Museum. These have made way for our new entry system, which some are already calling ‘the wheelhouse’, so our supporters can enter through the gate on the Seaforth Street corner.

Our Scottish Cup game against Banks O’ Dee was only possible due to the thermal pitch coverings we invested in following our successful Scottish Cup run in 2018, which culminated in a famous meeting with Glasgow Rangers at Bellslea. Following our successful Scottish Cup run this year, with support of the SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, FRASERBURGH FC SEASON TICKET HOLDERS, all our SPONSORS and main CLUB SPONSOR – McWILLIAM we are delighted to have purchased a permanent automated camera live streaming system. So all our games in future will be recorded and live streamed whenever possible. During the pandemic, all games at Bellslea park will be available on a PPV basis. The full possibilities of this system will be explored for years to come.

Unfortunately the SHFL season 2020-21 did not turn out as anyone hoped, but the steps taken on and off the park ensures we’re in a great position to head into calmer seas ahead.

Until then – Hold Fast.

Fraserburgh FC

We are delighted that three of our players have signed Contract Extensions, Ryan Christie, Eddie Flinn and Logan Watt.

Club Captain Ryan Christie has signed until summer of 2022 with Eddie Flinn and Logan Watt have signed until 2023.

Following on from the SFA announcement on this seasons Scottish Cup, we are delighted to announce that we will be taking part in the 3rd Round, scheduled for 3rd April.

The players will begin Covid testing to allow a return to training mid March. There is significant financial commitment for testing the entire squad, which has only been made possible by the generosity of our supporters, sponsors, Scottish Government and SFA, as well as the commitment by the players to forgo wages and the continued backing from our main sponsor McWilliam (Aberdeen).

The support we have received this season has been truly overwhelming and we would like to thank everyone for their contribution.

Although it is a lot of work for one game at present, with a place in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup up for grabs, we believe it is an opportunity worth taking. The players and management are raring to go, and all efforts will now be focussed on being ready to take on Montrose or Nairn.

We are also delighted to announce that we are in the process of installing permanent, the live stream hardware we had in place for the Banks O Dee game earlier this year. There are some significant hurdles to overcome, but are confident all challenges will be met in time for the game to be accessible for everyone.