Peterhead counts as Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement, as the city of Aberdeen itself is not part of the district, and has a population of around 18,500. It sits at the easternmost point in mainland Scotland. It is often referred to as The Blue Toun (locally spelt as "The Bloo Toon") and people who were born there as Blue Touners. Peterhead has a thriving port, with an expanding fishing fleet, which also serves the oil and gas industries.

Way back in 1890 enthusiastic football fans formed Peterhead Football Club, but it was eleven days into the new millennium that Peterhead was voted into the Scottish Football League along with fellow Highland League side Elgin City, compensating for the loss of two clubs to the expanded Scottish Premier League. Locally it is believed that the move from Recreation Park to the modern Balmoor Stadium,opened in 1997, had much to do with the decision, although that move in itself wasn't universally welcomed by the community. The club's old ground, Recreation Park, was bought by the supermarket chain Safeway, and is now a Morrisons store.

As a new club to the league most of Peterhead's success has been outside it. The club won The Highland League on five occasions and was also successful five times in the Highland League Cup. They've also been Aberdeenshire Cup winners 19 times, won The Shield on two occasions and grabbed the Scottish qualifying Cup (north) six times. The club has proved its ability to ahcieve following its elevation by winning Scottish League Two in 2013-14, being runners-up in the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2015-16 and by being Week Challenge Cup winners three years in succession.

Manager: Jim McInally

Ground: Balmoor Stadium (capacity 3,150)

Travel:

By road:

The ground is located just out of town on the A982 Peterhead to Fraserburgh Road.

From The South:
From the A90 take the first exit for Peterhead (the A982). This will take you to the town centre where you continue following the A982 towards Fraserburgh. Go past a swimming pool to the ground on your left.

By rail:-

The nearest railway station is in Aberdeen, which is some 32 miles away! Therefore this ground holds the record for being further from a station than any other Professional League team in Britain!

Stranraer Football is based in Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway. The club was founded in 1870, making it the third oldest football club in Scotland. Stranraer itself lies on the shores of Loch Ryan, on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland and is Dumfries and Galloway's second-largest town, with a population, including the surrounding area, of nearly 13,000. Its industries are the ferry port and associated industries, tourism and, more traditionally, farming.

Despite its historic status it was not until the 1949/50 season that the club even reached the C Division, where it competed against the reserve teams of some of Scotland's big clubs. The club finally achieved full league status in 1955/6, but it was forced to fight for its league place in the early 1960s along with four other small clubs, due a motion put forward by Rangers threatening expulsion. This was eventually defeated thanks to some legal wrangling and Celtic stepping forward as a powerful ally, stating: “Stranraer are a small club which has done football a great deal of good” and “there should be no question of them being eliminated”.

The club has won the Scottish Second Division on two occasions, 1993-94 and 1997–98 as well as being runners-up in 2004–05 and 2014–15. They won the Third Division in 2003-4 and were runners-up in 2007-8. Their only ever national cup final came in 1996, when the club defeated First Division champions St Johnstone 1–0 in the Scottish Challenge Cup final.

Rangers' attempt to lobby Stranraer out of the league 50 years earlier somewhat re-bounded with the 2012 liquidation of Rangers, and the decision to expel them from the SPL which led to Scottish Football League member clubs voting Rangers into the Third Division. This meant that an additional team from each tier of Scottish football was promoted for the 2012–13 season. As Stranraer were runners up in the previous season's third division promotion play-offs, they were promoted to the Second Division. By coincidence Stranraer were also the beneficiaries when Gretna went out of business.

Manager: Brian Reid

Ground: Stair Park (capacity 4,178)

Travel:

By road:

From The North:
Take the A77 from Glasgow down to Stranraer. As you come into Stranraer turn left from the A77, where the 'football traffic' is indicated by a sign. This takes you up to the A75 and again turn left and the ground and park are on the right.

From The East:
Follow the A75 into Stranraer. As you pass a school on your right, you will come to the ground and park.

By rail:

Stranraer Railway Station isfifteen minutes from the ground. Walk up to the ferry terminal building, opposite North West Castle Hotel. Turn left, walk about 150 yards to the 'Craig n Elder' Hotel. Turn right onto Stair Drive . At the end of Stair Drive turn left. This takes you onto London Road walk for about 200 yards and Stair Park is on the right hand side actually inside the public park.

Signs new three and a half year deal

East Fife Football Club was formally established in 1903 in Methil, Fife out of a strong history of competitive football in that area. Methill itself is an Eastern coastal town of about 10,750 people.

The club was the first to win the Scottish League Cup three times and one of only two clubs from the second tier of the Scottish league system to win the Scottish Cup. Their major achievements have been winning the Scottish Cup in 1938 and finishing runners up in 1927 and 1950, winning the League Cup in 1948, 1950 and 1954 , winning Scottish Division 2 in 1948 and Division 3 in 2008 (by 26 points).

The club achieved league status in 1921-22 when the Scottish Second Division was formed to stop the old Central League poaching the best players with its higher wages.

East Fife's only season in Scottish football's top division before World War II was 1930–31, but the club’s best years followed the Second World War. At the end of the 1947–48 season they were promoted to the top flight of Scottish football as 'B' Division champions and it was during this "Golden Period" that the club won the Scottish League Cup three times and made a third Scottish Cup final appearance. Between 1948 and 1954, East Fife finished campaigns in fourth, fourth, tenth, third, third and sixth in the top flight of Scottish football. Aside from three seasons during the early 1970s, the club has played all of its football outside the top league since the 1950s.

In November 1998, East Fife moved to a purpose built stadium near Methil power station. The new ground was officially renamed Bayview Stadium in 2007.

Manager: Barry Smith

Ground: Bayview Stadium, Methil (capacity 1,980)

Travel:

By road:

The ground is situated on the sea front and is visible from a distance. From Kirkcaldy take the A911 towards Methil and then the A915 to Leven. Then turn right onto the A955 towards Leven & Methil. Follow the A955 through Methil towards Buckhaven. From the sea front the ground should be visible to your left. Turn left onto the B932 (South Street) and then left again into Harbour View Road. The ground is down the bottom of this road on the left.

By rail:

There is no railway station in Methil itself. The nearest is in Kirkcaldy eight miles away. The X26 bus service from Kirkcaldy to nearby Leven, leaving Kirckaldy about every 30 minutes and goes to Leven Bus station which is about 10 minutes walk from Bayview, on the other side of the old Methil Power Station.

Stenhousemuir is a town of about 10,000 people only a couple of miles out of Falkirk. Throughout a long history from its foundation in 1884 the town’s football team, nicknamed The Warriors for reasons now forgotten, has competed in the lower leagues of Scottish football. The club reached the newly formed Scottish League Division Two proper, in 1921.

The club made history when featuring in the first floodlit game in Scotland in 1951 against Hibernian. Arguably the team's best league season on the field was in 1960/61 when they finished in third place in Division Two with 50 points, scoring an amazing 99 goals. However 1995/96  saw perhaps the club’s finest achievement when Stenhousemuir reached the League Challenge Cup final and 2500 supporters converged on McDiarmid Park in Perth to watch them play a Dundee United side which had invested heavily in its players. A tight game saw the game locked at 0-0 after extra time, but in a nail-biting penalty shoot out The Warriors prevailed 5-4.

Curiously Stenhousemuir F.C. has a widespread fan base collectively known as 'Warriors Abroad' with many fans based in England and a large following from Norway who for many years have appeared at Ochilview in full Nordic regalia.

In September 2009, Stenhousemuir Football Club Ltd re-registered as a Community Interest Company, which means its assets are secured for good community use and shareholder dividends are limited so that community benefit will now remain paramount.

Manager: Brown Ferguson

Ground: Ochilview Park capacity 4,096 - the pitch is synthetic.

Travel:

By Road

From the West leave M876 at junction 2 and follow signs for the A88, at the third roundabout take the third exit and continue to the first road on the left. The Football Club is 100 yards along the dead-end street.
From the East leave the M9 at junction 7 for the M876 eastbound. Leave at the Bowtrees flyover, taking the third exit off the roundabout onto the A905 and after ½ mile take the A88 and after approximately two miles, at the second roundabout, take the first exit and proceed to the 1st road on the left. The Football Club is 100 yards along the dead-end street.

By Train

The nearest Station is Larbert about half a mile from the ground.

By Air

Edinburgh International is 30 minutes from Ochilview Park and Glasgow International is approximately an hour journey away.

Paradoxically Airdrieonians FC, having been formed in 1878, a decade earlier than Glasgow Celtic, illustrates both the past and present of Scottish football. The club first made its mark locally in 1885 by winning a charity football tournament run by the cricket club. The following year Airdrieonians gained national recognition beating Glasgow Rangers 10-2, that club's worst known loss on its own ground.

The club’s most successful period in the 1920s culminated in a Scottish FA Cup Final victory in 1924 over Hibernian, whilst from 1922 to 1926 it took Rangers and Celtic to prevent the club winning the Scottish League.

Nicknamed The Diamonds, cup runs became the club’s trademark as it reached three other Scottish FA Cup Finals, and innumerable other semi-finals in that tournament and the Scottish League Cup. The club also won the Spring Cup in 1976 and the Bells Challenge Cup in both 2000 and 2001.

In the days when Scottish football regularly produced wonderful players, Hughie Gallacher, one of the all-time great centre-forwards, sprang to national and international prominence at Airdrie.

Despite a history of over-achievement, even as a part-timers, Airdrieonians FC truly stepped into the modern era in 2002 when it became the first Scottish senior club to go out of business since Third Lanark in 1967. But the spirit of the club lived on and the town welcomed first Airdrie United into being, and for the start of the 2013-14 season the name Airdrieonians was restored to that North Lanarkshire town of some 37,000 people.

Head Coach: Mark Wilson
Ground: Excelsior Stadium also known as new Broomfield (after their old ground which was sold to Safeway the supermarket chain).

Travel

Airdrie railway station is on the North Clyde Line, providing a frequent service to Glasgow via Coatbridge, Sunnyside and Easterhouse, whilst there is also a direct commuter service to Bathgate, Livingston North and Edinburgh Waverley. Drumgelloch railway station serves the eastern end of the town.

The town has road links to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Livingston, Motherwell, and Cumbernauld and is situated close to the M8 motorway. Bus services to Glasgow are provided by First Glasgow.

A map can be accessed via the club website www.airdriefc.com

The centre pages of today's Daily Telegraph Sport section are given over to Ernie and the need for Football to do more about Dementia in former players.

So sad that a man so loved and admired no longer even realises the affection in which he is held.

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5 Maddix 343
6 WashingtonOwl 342
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SWO

Well this is the last game of 2016 for Hibs, a momentous year when a Hibs team became a legendary one on 21 May and various Hibs heroes will be remembered by Hibs fans for all time and 'all demons' + the regular jibes from the 'usual suspects' were buried in one fell swoop!!!
I hope the guys end the year in style by finally 'getting to grips' with a fairly poor Falkirk side in a fixture that their manager has somehow manipulated into a 'feud match' in recent times. We need to effectively play the match, win it and let the referee hopefully deal with their inevitable shenanigans that arise from certain players in their ranks.
Lenny's line up? Well lets hope he chooses the players who can actually play reasonably well on their crap artificial pitch and also handle the occasion! C'mon Hibs! 'Get in their faces', win this match in front of another big Hibs away support and end this historical year with aplomb!

GGTTH