The club have a raffle for shirt sponsorship again this season so I’ve purchased a ticket to show my support. I’ve also paid for a player kit sponsorship which I think will be my 6th consecutive season as a kit sponsor. The first player I sponsored was Dwayne Coultress if memory serves. I’ve also paid to retain the advertising board on the perimeter wall. I have a small advert in the programme but that will be covered in the cost of the raffle ticket. Better to get these paid now so the club have a little bit more revenue to play with.

To help with the difficult times ahead I have made a further donation to the 1881 fund of £500. This brings my donation total to £1500 (a further £50 for 2 virtual grand nation horses too but I’m not counting that). Travelling to the football with my dad really gives us something to look forward to. He’s 82 and it give us something to look entertain us at the weekends. The club has always been very friendly and welcoming to us and it’s worth it to spend quality time with my dad, even if at times the football isn’t quality. Easy access and friendly faces are priceless to us. It can be a real struggle getting disabled access to many football clubs, despite their claims. Berwick and the lower leagues in general have been very good in this respect and should be commended for this.

The Lowland league has been ended and a Kelty Hearts declared winners. There still a twist to come I feel but for now Berwick’s season has finished so it’s time for the end of season awards. Last year due to relegation there was no award ceremony, our award was left on the desk of Dennis Mcleary to hand over to the winner.
This season due to the global pandemic the award will be posted to the winner at some point after lockdown is lifted. One part of the award is an Amazon voucher, that can be sent via email or similar.
Winners in previous seasons have been:
Sean Brennan 2016/17.
Steven Thomson 2017/18.
Lewis Barr 2018/19.
https://www.berwickranger.com/player-awards.html

The winner this season is Lewis Barr. Lewis also picked up the award last season and again has been outstanding in this campaign. Tireless and always putting in the effort, Lewis is a worthy winner yet again. Well done Lewis. Special thanks to my dog Pippa for accepting the award on Lewis’s behalf.

With many people feeling the pinch at the moment our friends at Northern Soul Kitchen are not exempt from this. Millie and the team are working hard to provide food for the local community but with the cafe shut it’s a difficult time. That is why I have donated £100 to the guys to help out. They do a great service for the community and I only wish we had managed a better collaboration with Berwick Rangers when they were shirt sponsors. It was a time of turmoil at the club, board room takeovers and subsequent relegation dominated that season. If you can help with a donation, please do so. Thanks!

https://www.northernsoulkitchen.co.uk/store/p1/Donate_Today.html

I’ve decided to give another £500 to the 1881 fund, this brings my total donation to £1000 (plus another £50 for 2 virtual Grand national horses).
Who knows how this football season will end. With turmoil and controversy no doubt. Brora Rangers have been declared Highland league winners, they were pretty far ahead and it would have taken some unlikely outcomes for them to be caught. There is no relegation from the Highland league so a simpler affair than most leagues.

The lowland league is a bit more complicated, Kelty Hearts 6 points in front of Bonnyrigg Rose but they still have to play each other one more time. Relegation too could be a problem, there are a few clubs at the bottom who could have gone down.

I think a play off system would work for promotion/relegation but it’s a tough call. Bonnyrigg and Kelty play a home away playoff to see who wins the Lowland league and faces Brora. The bottom of League 2 has a playoff between the bottom 2/3 clubs to see who faces the LL/HL winners? Although Brechin are bottom of L2 10 points off the next team (who also have a game in hand). It would be a real tough call to scrap the season and restart. So many teams have put in so much effort and money to gain promotion this season and they may not have the funds and support to do it again. There is of course closed doors games in the summer as an option, but most players at Berwick level will be out of contract in May.
We will just need to sit back and see what unfolds.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/the1881fund

With the Berwick game cancelled it was an opportunity to catch the table topping Kelty v Second placed Bonnyrigg. Bonnyrigg sitting 6 points behind but with a game in hand. A really incredible season so far from Bonnyrigg having just gained promotion this season. I have a soft spot for Bonnyrigg, they are managed by Robbie Horn the ex Berwick manager (and player) and he’s a really nice guy. He came from Bonnyrigg to manage Berwick but the turmoil in the boardroom at the time was enough for him to walk away. Berwick fans fully understood his decision. He went back to Bonnyrigg after a short break and won them promotion into the lowland league as Berwick were relegated to the lowland league. Bonnyrigg were Berwick’s first opponents in the lowland league beating Berwick 5-3 at Shielfield.

It would be my second visit to New Central Park, my dad and I had already seen Berwick beaten 4-0 in a cup game earlier this season. We arrived early as per usual to get a parking spot close by so my dad can get in. We also wanted a seat in the stand. (£1 charge for this). But cheap entry anyway at £7/£4. And £1 for a tea/coffee.

A bumper crowd of over 1500 filled new Central Park for this one. Cold and a bit of snow in the air didn’t put off the fans. Kelty went 1 up with a bit of a scrambled goal, The Bonnyrigg keeper and defence should have done better to keep it out. Bonnyrigg equalised a few minutes later with a great free kick, top right corner and game back on. Kelty dominated the first half with Dylan Easton scoring a screamer to put the scoreline at 2-1, Austin added another with a good header to make it 3-1 to end the half.

Second half and Bonnyrigg came out fighting. They pulled a goal back when Kelty couldn’t clear properly and Hunter lobbed it over the keeper who was totally out of position. 3-2 and all set for a Bonnyrigg equaliser as the dominated the half. Kelty had the ball in the net again and we thought it was all over, a counter attack after heavy pressure from Bonnyrigg. Offside was called so not over yet. Bonnyrigg had several good chances, a shot off the crossbar, a decent penalty shout denied. In the last moments a clear chance as the ball came into the box, clear golden chance for an equaliser but it was blasted over the bar. The game ended 3-2 to Kelty. Still it’s not over yet for Bonnyrigg with the reverse fixture still to come. Kelty do have a massive goal difference though, but also have a bank balance the same.

A trip down on Friday afternoon in the wind and rain for this one. Dad at home and wife and doggie with me on this trip. I was unsure if the game would go ahead but we were down for the weekend so it wouldn’t matter. Too much, we could sit and watch a movie or two.

A trust meeting kicked off the Saturday. 11am at Shielfield, I headed up in the sunshine/rain/snow/sunshine.......
I’ve missed a couple of meetings due to various things so I really needed to make this one. Big news too, I’ve finally managed to gain access to the trust bank account. The many hurdles the bank of Scotland put up finally knocked down after a few months! I need access to check payments to keep the membership up to date. That’s now a job for next week along with printing off address labels for the trust magazine.
Trust discussions were based around joint in the Supporters trust and Supporters club together, the 1881 fund and the weather!

Meeting finished I pottered around for a bit before deciding to head off to Ruth’s dads or an hour or so, Ruth and the doggie were already there. Back to the club around 2pm and helping out with a few tasks. The guys form Northstar were there again this week, not in hospitality but in the stand. I met them at the front door by chance and rather than them walking back to the turnstile I lead them down the tunnel to the stand then popped off and bought them some tea/coffee and some halftime draw tickets. Snow/sun/rain/snow/sun.

Blizzard conditions 15 minutes before kickoff turned to a bit of sunshine, still freezing cold though as the teams came out. I was in the Ducket for the first half in the stand for the second half.


It was a poor show in the first half, the weather didn’t help but positioning was all over the place again. i don’t want to pick on individuals so I won’t but grumble grumble grumble. The second half wasn’t much better but substitutions late in the game changed the shape enough to see us score 2 (yes 2 goals). Smith scoring a header from a cross for his first goal since joining us last month and a bit of a scramble for the 2nd from Thomson secured the 3 points. Next up away to Dalbeattie star (assuming it’s on). Our next home game and last home game of the season is the 11th of April!

Assuming storm Dennis doesn’t scupper this one I’ll be heading to Broadwood stadium. I’m not sure if my dad will be with me if it’s cold and wet. I’ll still need to go see him and my mum to take care of a few jobs. Look at my mums printer, fit a new ceiling light in the kitchen and take a mattress to the tip (superking orthopaedic so that will be fun!). I’m not sure what to expect from the game. The reverse fixture was a 2-2 draw back in September. I’m not sure we are a better team than we were then. Colts are sitting in 9th on 32 points having played 24 games and we are sitting in 12th on 20 points having played 22 games. We have been thumped in the last 2 games and have recorded only 2 wins and 2 draws out of the last 10 to net 8 points from a possible 30. Still let’s hope for the best and 3 points.

Chores finished at my folks, mattress cut in half with a saw and disposed of, light fitted and a new printer bought and setup and we were on our way.
We made it through the driving rain to Broadwood. My dad was sure it would be called off but it was still on. The rain wasn’t so bad at the game as it was on the way there. Plenty of parking too and not a huge crowd. Perhaps 100? With at least 50 of them Berwick fans. Halftime draw tickets purchased and off to the stand.

There’s a fairly comprehensive match report on Facebook. But my tuppence worth is coming up here. We should have won this one but we came away with a goalless draw.

Overall it was a much better performance from the team but the lack of a viable goal threat still haunts us. Perhaps we need to change shape and stick a striker upfront and keep them there. We had much more of the possession and some good chances but Cumbernauld had a few chances and if one had gone in I couldn’t see us pulling it back. It’s just a case of surviving this season and seeing what next season brings but I would still like to see a victory between now and the end of the season. Perhaps a run in the Lowland a league cup?

Well I recovered just in time from my bug and my dad was feeling better after last weekend so we headed on down for this one. We were booked into the meal that was before the game and I had paid for some members the Northstar centre to attend so I didn’t want to miss it. I was on camera duty too for this game so off we trotted leaving about 9:30am hoping the weather wouldn’t cancel the game.

We arrived in plenty of time as usual, quite windy on the drive down but seems to calm as we approached Berwick. No rain so likely the game would be on. Lunch was at 12:30 so hoping that would still be on anyway! Steak pie for me followed by chocolate fudge cake and Macaroni for my dad followed by apple crumble. It was actually quite good, well worth £30. 2 courses, match ticket, program, team-sheet and halftime buffet for £30 is a great deal. I could only manage a cup of tea at half time though and that was to warm my hands rather than actually wanting a cup. Eric Tait was in full swing entertaining the room with his tales and the guests from the Northstar Center were enjoying themselves. Lunch finished we moved to the JB lounge and I sorted a few things and collected the camera to record the game.

Yay! We scored first, what could go wrong! It was a goal that looked like it took several deflections on the way in but it still went in. It’s hard to see when filming, all you are looking at is a tiny screen. Alan will edit the footage and put it online when he gets back. East Stirling pulled one back though and it was 1-1 at half time. Now the wheels came off and this is why my match report type section of my blog is so poor. It’s easy to write about a victory but we let 4 in to finish the game 5-1 down. Same criticisms as previous weeks, poor defending, passing, shooting, positioning. Our new striker looks non existent too so that’s pretty depressing. I doubt he will bag a goal before the season ends without some real improvement. The team do run, effort is there but it’s not happening. 22 games played, 20 points. The Lowland league cup is at the end of the season. Dare we dream we could actually muster some enthusiasm, some energy and get it together to make an actual push for a trophy?

Do we change manager? Is there any point? Who would we attract? We’ve had 6 mangers in 5 years and will soon become a toxic club who can’t attract anybody. Obviously questions are to be asked of the manager and his team but as long as we have reasonable answers there no point in change. Time will hopefully build consistency and stability in the squad. (I hope).

Mixed loyalties, upheaval, Berwick has delivered it all to me over the last few seasons. 6 managers in 5 years and god knows how many directors have passed through the doors at Shielfield. Over the last 3 seasons it’s been great taking my dad to the games (despite the results) and I try to support the club as best I can.
I wasn’t happy when the Chairman was voted out and the directors stepped down, it came as a real shock. But the club needs to move on, we all need to move forward and support the club as best we can. I don’t know the new directors but things seem to be happening, a few new advertising boards, game day sponsors sold out for the remaining games etc. Even the launch of the 1881 fund seems to have generated money and interest. Whether or not the £10k target is achieved it’s still (at the time of writing) generated £2370. Not an insubstantial amount. Supporting Berwick is a rollercoaster and does provide ample amounts of passion and division.....

Still we have to move on and i have donated £500 to the club 1881 fund in order to do so.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/the1881fund?utm_term=ZbAvyBdXV