it's the Berwick food and beer festival! and it's on the same weekend as the Berwick v Queen of the South cup game! The planets have aligned! I'll be down with Ruth and Pippa and we will be joined by Gordon and Tom. 5 members of St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters and a good representive of the group. We have an important decision to make too, which Bear Claw beer do we want a barrel of for Christmas. I guess we'll need to sample a few to make our decision......
Rikki from Bear Claw has already set out his stall and we are very much looking forward to sampling a few to make our choice. I'll need to do another blog post about our choice and the cup game but depending on how much sampling we do it might be in a few days time.........

Robbie Horn has been appointed as the new manager of Berwick Rangers. St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters would like to welcome him and wish him all the best in his new role.
Horn was a popular player during a six-season spell at Shielfield and was a member of John Coughlin’s side that won the 2007 Third Division title. He was a leading candidate to replace Colin Cameron in 2015. Since leaving Berwick, Horn, who had a sport spell as the manager of Vale of Leithen in 2011, has been in charge of junior side Bonnyrigg Rose.

well it's an away trip to Cowdenbeath in league 2. Berwick are now managerless after Coughlin's departure. Cowdenbeath are a team we need to beat, they are always towards the bottom as are Berwick so we need the points to open a gap. I don't know how the season is going to pan out, I was critical of Coughlin's one striker policy and the way the team seemed to lack any positioning, especially at corners. I've never seen a team that has every player in the box for an opposition corner. This tactic puts the defence under incredible pressure, players seem to be tripping over each other and when the ball is cleared it's straight to an opposition player and the bell comes straight back again. I'm hoping that this is something the new manager will resolve.

Cowdenbeath is about 30 miles away from my house, a 45 minute journey but I won't be attending this game. It's not in protest or for any such reason. My wife Ruth is taking part in the Great Scottish Swim Aquathon at Loch Lomond and I shall be there to offer my support (and drive) but as always I'll be looking out for the result. I'll be at the Speedway watching the Caledonian Riders Championship on the Friday night (in Armadale) and off out to watch the Fife Flyers on the Sunday (in Kirkcaldy).

So Coughlin has gone. The Club statement is as follows:
"In view of recent results, the board has today met with John Coughlin to discuss his future with the club.
Following this meeting it has been decided to terminate John’s contract by mutual consent.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank John and wish him well for the future.
The board will work with existing coaching staff to prepare for our next game on Saturday and we ask our fans for their continued support during this time."

​After a flying start to the season beating Clyde 3-1 followed with a thumping from Stirling 4-0 then by an embarrassing home defeat against Annan 5-1 it has finally come to an end.
​St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters would like to thank him for his efforts and wishing him well for the future.
​l

its Berwick v Annan! I'm going down to Berwick with my dad for this one.Tom was coming too but after receiving a phone call on Friday afternoon about the delivery of his new shed on the Saturday he's staying at home. It will be an early start, leave the house at about 7:30am and down to Berwick for a Trust meeting at 11am. I also need to drop some stuff off at the food bank in Berwick. I don't know what to expect from this game, a 3-1 win on the opening day followed by a 4-0 defeat in the second league game away to Stirling. Then there was the 2-0 away win in the IRN BRU cup against Kilmarnock colts. Ladbrokes have both teams at 29/20 for the win.

The next home game I'll get to is the 21st of October against Montrose. There is only one other home fixture before that on the 16th of September. It that's my dad's 80th birthday party so I'll won't be able to go to that one. I'm planning a trip to Stenhousemuir on the 23rd of September with my dad, a wee "Birthday treat" for him...... there are another couple of away games that could have been on the cards, Cowdenbeath on the 26th of August and Edinburgh City on the 9th of September but these clash with other commitments.

We arrived at about 10am and dropped off our stuff at the foodbank, it was gratefully accepted. Next stop the flat in Spittal. Cup of tea here, a paper for my dad and I was off to the Trust meeting, my dad stayed in the flat for a bit then popped down to the beach to read his paper.

The meeting went well, usual trust items. I mentioned Gordon Baxters idea of a stall at the seaside festival like the Berwick Bandits speedway team had. The club could have one selling merchandise and the Trust could have one highlighting the trust and have a tombola etc. I also raised Gordon's thoughts on a scoreboard and it could be shared with the Bandits and perhaps have a sponsor to fund it. I've also been tasked with producing a poster to advertise the IRN BRU cup game against Queen of the South on the 2nd of September. Meeting done it's back to the flat to get the old boy and off for lunch.

well what do you expect when it's 3 courses for £7:50......... a menu (sample menu in picture) and hotel restaurant from the 70's! Starters were soup of the day or fruit juice. We both opted for the mystery soup, a mystery because we asked twice what it was and never got a response. Turns out it was a sort of vegetable soup with pasta in it, Huge bits of penne pasta. I had fish next, it was good enough, my dad had egg and chips. He wanted Sausage, egg and chips but when we ordered he couldn't remember what the menu said so he asked for the egg and chips on the menu and it came as egg and chips. Although the menu does state strictly no substitutions or alterations... next up pudding, I had the bread and butter pudding with fresh cream, the kind of fresh cream that comes from an aerosol can. It was ok. My dad had the ice cream with fresh fruit cocktail,fresh from the can. The meal was ok just not we were expecting. The place had a odd feel , very old fashioned. Fawlty towers and rising damp type of feeling. This feeling continue as I nipped to the bathroom to be confronted with a sign telling me to go to the bar to collect the key for access..... it was an odd place and we were in and out in about 20 minutes! So it was a quick stop at the garden centre and off to the game.

well what a start, goal in a about five minutes and we were off to a flying start, sadly this made Annan angry and they gave us a thrashing 5-1. We left when the 5th goal (penalty) went in, its a 112 mile journey home so not worth hanging about. That's about all I have to say.

Berwick Food Bank currently needs donations of Tinned rice puddings, semolina and custard, tinned potatoes, rice, tinned meats, biscuits and Long Life Milk. St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters will aim to collect a few of these items and I'll drop them off on Saturday when I'm down for the Annan game

i now know why I get the Tesco man to deliver! In Morrisons at 8am and hating every moment of it. You would have thought the tinned rice pudding would be next to the tinned custard wouldn't you!
What we have for donation is:
Tinned rice puddings x 10
custard x 10
tinned potatoes x 10
rice x 10
tinned meats x 10
biscuits x 20
Long Life Milk x 10
Thanks to generous donations from the guys at St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters.

St Andrews Berwick Rangers Supporters are delighted to donate some items as raffle prizes for an upcoming event. The event in question is a Robbie Williams and Michael Buble tribute act on the 1st of September 2017 in the Black and Gold. I have a bottle of Jack Daniels that I received from my Brother when we went to the Betfred cup game against Motherwell. I asked him for something for a raffle (I knew there would be a need for something at some point) and he gave me the Jack Daniels. The other bottles are from people who have given them to me for various things I have done to help them in some way, usually fixing a computer or such.(1 bottle was given to Ruth from a student).

So it's the opening game of the season, Berwick at home to Clyde. Clyde are favourites to win this game but we'll see. It can be difficult to call in League 2, especially the first game. Berwick looked good in their last game, a 1-0 loss to Motherwell in the Betfred cup, they certainly didn't look outclassed by the Premier league team. I'll be travelling down on the Saturday morning and picking up Gordon at my parents house. We will be staying the night down in Berwick so we will visit a few pubs. I'm really hoping for a win, I'm back to being optimistic about this season but i don't know why. Still let's see how it goes.

at the time of writing its 22:48. I'm back in the flat in Spittal watching the English football highlights on channel 5+1. The day started arriving in Berwick at around 11ish. Gordon went to Majestic wine to stock up and spend a voucher he had. We then went to the flat and off out to the town. We had a pint in the Harrow and lunch and a beer in Gasparrows. A pint in the Angel inn and then the game. After the game it was a pint in the JB lounge at Shielfield and then back to the flat to drop off my new Berwick Rangers rain jacket and have a cup of tea, after this it was back out to the Brown bear for a pint, pie,mash and pease before heading to the curfew for a cherry beer. Next stop the Barrels for a pint and the walk back to Spittal. We stopped at the Angel inn for another pint and back to the flat for a cuppa. Phew. A few nice pictures on this wander and 16.6km walked.

well what a game! 3-1 victory to Berwick! Clyde scored in the 23rd minute and we equalised just before half time. Clyde looked dangerous throughout. Then against the run of play we scored another in the 83rd minute and this really lifted the team, a 3rd goal in the 89th minute sealed all 3 points and we were top of the league!