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Livingston returned to the SPL after a 12 year absence on Sunday last. A magnificent achievement on a very small budget led by manager David Hopkin. Would love to have been in Glasgow on Sunday but flew over from Ireland to the recent R's game in Leeds and my budget was spent. Great experience despite the result. Would like to know Karl's views on another landmark in Livingston's relatively short history.
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 01:04 - May 22 with 6714 views
Was thinking of you Newgold, watched the second leg and Livi played very well defensively and let Partick huff and puff with the ball as they have done all season without scoring or even creating decent chances so all in all thought deserved to go up. Great achievement by Hopkin and see him being touted for Carlisle job today so interesting times for them if he does leave? Worst prospect is that they are looking to put in a plastic pitch for season 2019/20 so that would be 3 in the top league if they, Hamilton and Killie stay up. I really don't think they help develop the game and hope that we can do something in the future about this. Understand totally that for small clubs they provide huge savings in training facilities etc but as a football spectacle they provide a sterile product imo. Had a couple of good trips to the 'Tony Macaroni' (!) good ground to get to and enclosed on all 4 sides is an improvement on some to help atmosphere. Keeping hold of Hopkin looks like being key for next season though. Good luck!
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 10:52 - May 22 with 6634 views
I visited Almondvale a number of times back in the 90s and early 2000s during their original rise to the top and did a couple of aways. My best mate lived in East Calder from '92 until 2001 and was a season ticket holder at Livi for several years.
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 10:57 - May 22 with 6624 views
Karl will put me right but arnt Livi the Mk dons of Scottish football ?
still fair play to them I saw them beat Dundee Utd on the box over the 2 legs and they looked a solid decent little side , I liked De vita as well he looked a good little player
And Bowles is onside, Swinburne has come rushing out of his goal , what can Bowles do here , onto the left foot no, on to the right foot
That’s there that’s two, and that’s Bowles
Brian Moore
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 11:54 - May 22 with 6583 views
FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 10:57 - May 22 by paulparker
Karl will put me right but arnt Livi the Mk dons of Scottish football ?
still fair play to them I saw them beat Dundee Utd on the box over the 2 legs and they looked a solid decent little side , I liked De vita as well he looked a good little player
Newgold can correct me PP!
Started life as a works team called Ferranti Thistle, whose factory was just along the road from where we lived at the time ('66-70). Had to change to a non works team due to sponsorship rules etc and became Meadowbank Thistle playing in the lower leagues to very small crowds and then they were MK Donned along to the new town Livingston on the outskirts of Edinburgh to try and capture some of the football support out there. Never really caught on support wise but chucked money at them and got as high as third in the league and financially doped* their way to the League Cup in 2004, admin/liquidation followed been struggling pretty much since and all through this crowds have generally struggled. Produced many good players over the years and many from picking up boys rejected by bigger clubs with Academy set ups. Marc McNulty, mentioned on here the other day, was one let go by Hibs (Leigh Griffiths the most notable). There isnt the dislike from a MK Dons point of view although it can be brought up, Meadowbank weren't a loss to many as they were such an odd club too. Interested to hear what Newgold says
*Hibs being beaten in this final may have prejudice this comment.
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 15:11 - May 22 with 6509 views
FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 09:52 - May 22 by karl
Was thinking of you Newgold, watched the second leg and Livi played very well defensively and let Partick huff and puff with the ball as they have done all season without scoring or even creating decent chances so all in all thought deserved to go up. Great achievement by Hopkin and see him being touted for Carlisle job today so interesting times for them if he does leave? Worst prospect is that they are looking to put in a plastic pitch for season 2019/20 so that would be 3 in the top league if they, Hamilton and Killie stay up. I really don't think they help develop the game and hope that we can do something in the future about this. Understand totally that for small clubs they provide huge savings in training facilities etc but as a football spectacle they provide a sterile product imo. Had a couple of good trips to the 'Tony Macaroni' (!) good ground to get to and enclosed on all 4 sides is an improvement on some to help atmosphere. Keeping hold of Hopkin looks like being key for next season though. Good luck!
Thanks as ever Karl for your very informative post. Hard to believe that Hibs, Hearts, Rangers and Celtic will be playing in the Tony Macaroni Stadium on at least two occasions next season. Hibs had a fine season themselves and had an excellent win over Celtic at Easter Road last month. Looking forward to June 15th next when the 2018/19 SPL fixtures are released.
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 22:26 - May 22 with 6418 views
FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 11:54 - May 22 by karl
Newgold can correct me PP!
Started life as a works team called Ferranti Thistle, whose factory was just along the road from where we lived at the time ('66-70). Had to change to a non works team due to sponsorship rules etc and became Meadowbank Thistle playing in the lower leagues to very small crowds and then they were MK Donned along to the new town Livingston on the outskirts of Edinburgh to try and capture some of the football support out there. Never really caught on support wise but chucked money at them and got as high as third in the league and financially doped* their way to the League Cup in 2004, admin/liquidation followed been struggling pretty much since and all through this crowds have generally struggled. Produced many good players over the years and many from picking up boys rejected by bigger clubs with Academy set ups. Marc McNulty, mentioned on here the other day, was one let go by Hibs (Leigh Griffiths the most notable). There isnt the dislike from a MK Dons point of view although it can be brought up, Meadowbank weren't a loss to many as they were such an odd club too. Interested to hear what Newgold says
*Hibs being beaten in this final may have prejudice this comment.
Much of your second post is very true. Other notable names at Livingston since the League Cup win in 2004 were Wes Hoolahan, Stefan Scougall and Robert Snodgrass. We have struggled since but have still managed to win League One twice, League Two, the Scottish Challenge Cup and finish runners-up in the Championship. The MK Dons comparison is bit unfair as the club only relocated a short distance. Btw one more question is there still a club called Meadowbank playing football in the Edinburgh area?
Didn’t we sign Col Davidson from them a few yeara back ?
Also, I vaguely recall Meadowbank Thistle playing Home games at the Commonwealth Stadium with 500/600 watching ! Must have lokked worse than the Ricoh ! Didn’t they get either promoted or relegated almost every season until switching to Livingston ?
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 00:26 - May 23 with 6374 views
FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 23:52 - May 22 by qpr1976
Didn’t we sign Col Davidson from them a few yeara back ?
Also, I vaguely recall Meadowbank Thistle playing Home games at the Commonwealth Stadium with 500/600 watching ! Must have lokked worse than the Ricoh ! Didn’t they get either promoted or relegated almost every season until switching to Livingston ?
FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 11:54 - May 22 by karl
Newgold can correct me PP!
Started life as a works team called Ferranti Thistle, whose factory was just along the road from where we lived at the time ('66-70). Had to change to a non works team due to sponsorship rules etc and became Meadowbank Thistle playing in the lower leagues to very small crowds and then they were MK Donned along to the new town Livingston on the outskirts of Edinburgh to try and capture some of the football support out there. Never really caught on support wise but chucked money at them and got as high as third in the league and financially doped* their way to the League Cup in 2004, admin/liquidation followed been struggling pretty much since and all through this crowds have generally struggled. Produced many good players over the years and many from picking up boys rejected by bigger clubs with Academy set ups. Marc McNulty, mentioned on here the other day, was one let go by Hibs (Leigh Griffiths the most notable). There isnt the dislike from a MK Dons point of view although it can be brought up, Meadowbank weren't a loss to many as they were such an odd club too. Interested to hear what Newgold says
*Hibs being beaten in this final may have prejudice this comment.
What about ICT Karl, how was that merger taken by supporters in the 90s?
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 01:20 - May 25 with 6214 views
FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 06:00 - May 23 by BazzaInTheLoft
What about ICT Karl, how was that merger taken by supporters in the 90s?
Hi Baz, sorry for late reply! Hope you enjoyed your trip to Cuba and weren't able to radicalise those poor locals with your lefty pontifications?
On ICT, its an ongoing topic that they are poorly supported and it has been broadly blamed on the merger of two 'big' Highland clubs disaffecting the support. I stayed with my parents in Dingwall (the home of Ross County) for about 4-5 months in 83(?) watching as many games as I could I saw both Inverness Caley and Thistle bring big support over and I'd estimate the crowd at 2-3000 for a Highland League game, I would say that RC at that time got about 500 for home games against other opposition. It has been said that many supporters gave up on the amalgamated team and supported RC instead as they were both entered into the Senior leagues together, I don't know if that's true or not but RC generally get better crowds and that doesn't make sense given catchment areas and levels of success they've both enjoyed . There's a third team in Inverness still playing in the highland league, Clachnacuddin, who certainly haven't picked up disillusioned support either. Their ground is a sort of out of town in a cold windswept reclaimed land area but it is still walkable although no pubs at all close by so maybe they struggle with that? Certainly seems the case that you just can't force something even though it may look like sense to share/amalgamate etc
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FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 01:29 - May 25 with 6209 views
FAO - Karl - Livingston promoted to SPL on 01:20 - May 25 by karl
Hi Baz, sorry for late reply! Hope you enjoyed your trip to Cuba and weren't able to radicalise those poor locals with your lefty pontifications?
On ICT, its an ongoing topic that they are poorly supported and it has been broadly blamed on the merger of two 'big' Highland clubs disaffecting the support. I stayed with my parents in Dingwall (the home of Ross County) for about 4-5 months in 83(?) watching as many games as I could I saw both Inverness Caley and Thistle bring big support over and I'd estimate the crowd at 2-3000 for a Highland League game, I would say that RC at that time got about 500 for home games against other opposition. It has been said that many supporters gave up on the amalgamated team and supported RC instead as they were both entered into the Senior leagues together, I don't know if that's true or not but RC generally get better crowds and that doesn't make sense given catchment areas and levels of success they've both enjoyed . There's a third team in Inverness still playing in the highland league, Clachnacuddin, who certainly haven't picked up disillusioned support either. Their ground is a sort of out of town in a cold windswept reclaimed land area but it is still walkable although no pubs at all close by so maybe they struggle with that? Certainly seems the case that you just can't force something even though it may look like sense to share/amalgamate etc
Ha! It was good mate. Hope the move is working out.
What a shame. I'd probably consider Ross County too because there is nothing worse than a clubs abandoning it's roots. It's why MK are failing to progress as predicted, it's why Coventry only get one man and a dog crowds, and why some Rugby Union clubs who migrate to other cities seem to suffer.
A biggish city like Inverness with geographical domination should have one of the bigger SPL clubs in it.
Didn't Gretna go bankrupt and reform as Gretna 2000 or something?
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