E of S Football

Results

City Cup Semi Final

Livingston 1 Spartans 4 (Craig Young, OG, Jonny Seeley, Kevin Motion). The final is against Berwick Rangers...hopefully Tommo won't be suspended, we've noticed his bookings creeping up!

Schuh Cup

Falkirk 2 Spartans 0 (agg 6 - 1). Thanks to Sandy for his very generous cheque despite us having to play a young team given that we played games on successive days!

Friendlies

Spartans 1st XI 3 (Craig Young 2, Omar Kader) Spartans 2nd XI 2 (Andy Nixon, Alan Speirs)

Spartans 2nd XI 3 (Mark Robertson, Gary Bannon, Andy Nixon) Spartans Under 19 3

Spartans 2nd XI 1 (Jamie Calder) Edinburgh Uni 1st XI 2

Spartans 1st XI 1 (Struan Preston) Newtongrange Star 1

Fixtures

Sat 6th January

1st XI League Easthouses Lily vs Spartans ko 2pm

2nd XI Scottish Amateur Cup R4 Winlinton Wolves vs Spartans ko 2pm

3rd XI League Bo'ness vs Spartans ko 1.30pm

Sun 7th January

Under 19 League Preston A vs Spartans ko 1.30

News

1. Ivor - many of you will know that Ivor our famous loyal supporter and gateman. Unfortunately his parents were involved in a bad car crash a few weeks ago - fortunately they are well on the way to a full recovery however Ivor has decided to take a break from his travels through to support us. I spoke to him on the phone and he's doing fine, and he sent me a letter to explain his thinking..."My sincerest gratitude and thanks to everyone at Spartans for the past 16 wonderful 16 years. It is a pleasure to know and to have worked with everytone connected with the club, but most of all to have supported and been part of such a wonderful institution as Spartans. Thank you to all for your kindness and generosity to me down the years." Hopefully we will see him again soon..if anyone wants to drop him a note his email is ivor_torrance@fastmail.fm. I'm sure we can encourage him to have only a temporary sabbatical!

2. On a more humorous note we get loads of emails throughout the season mostly African players looking for trials claiming to be the next Michael Essien. This week Colin, Derick, Robin, Jimmy and I got the following:

Dear Mr. President of the Spartans FC

My name is Alessandra and I am an enthusiastic Brazilian football fan.

I keep updated with all football news.

I love going to stadiums and supporting great teams in great matches.

I am building a small restaurant in Blumenau one which is to be called "Fome de Gol" - (Goal Hunger).

It is a thematic place which will serve traditional dishes from many different cuisines.

The peculiar and distinct aspect of it is that, among other details, it's being decorated with all my football shirts so as to give it a soul, a customized aspect suited to all football fans.

Unfortunately, incredible as it may sound, I still do not have Spartans FC's remarkable shirt.

Therefore, I would like to know if I could be donated your shirt in order to display it with all the others sacred football shirts in the restaurant. Both my clients and I would surely be amazed having it hung on the wall.

I would really appreciate your contact so much.

Looking forward to a favourable reply.

Yours sincerely,

Alessandra Batista De Souza

Jimmy was wondering if Alessandra was a young lady and if so he offered to personally deliver the shirt!! Perhaps it was Steven at Football Nation just trying to drum up some post Christmas sales!

3. Training for all teams on the astro on Thursday starting at a prompt 7pm!

Cheers

Craig

07768 005470

STAR Hearts Kingdom Caledonian League game against Lumphinnans United was called off in bizarre, but perfectly legal, circumstances.

With both teams warming up,referee Neil Martin, from Glenrothes,went out to check the pitch. The match official then produced a measuring tape and proceeded to check the width of the various line markings. After consulting with both managers,he made the decision to call the match off due to an illegally marked pitch. The laws of the game state the field of play shall be marked with distinctive lines not more than five inches in width, and that the goal line will be marked the same width as the goalposts and crossbar whose width also cannot exceed five inches.

In all instances , Mr Martin found the lines to be around seven inches wide and felt he would be breaking the rules by allowing the game to go ahead. Fife Council are responsible for marking the pitches in the Dunfermline area. Duncan Gray,who looks after the parks in the area for Fife Council said: "I have spoken to the operator who has said he will ensure the line will be no more than four inches in future. It's the first time we have ever had a complaint about the width of the lines,but that's the referee's decision and you cant argue with it." Fife Referees Association secretary, Kevin Fair, added: "The referee was well within his rights within the laws of the game. As an association we recognise the difficulties that situations like this cause for clubs and will be issuing appropriate guidelines which will suggest that in such circumstances,referees can play the game then report to the authorities . We can't comment specifically on the match as we have not yet received the referees report, but at the time he made the right decision."

"The ramifications of the referees decision could be long lasting," said Fife amateur football reporter, Shane Fenton. "With a precedence now being set, many of the clubs in that area may not be allowed to play home matches until the council rectifies the situation. In 30 years of reporting amateur football,this is the first time i have heard of a game being clled off in these circumstances!"