Old News - December 2006
31st Dec 06. Old Year's Night - Remember the Ballymac will be open tonight and you're all very welcome to come along and toast the New Year with us. The excellent "Wired in Motion" are the LIVE entertainment on the evening, and we'll even have a Piper on hand to welcome in 2007! No tickets required, £7.50 a head and just pay at the door. KO 7.30pm :-)
Glentoran 2 Portadown 3 - Super game of football for the neutral ... major alarm bells for us ... and far as I'm concerned a fair result. No disrespect to any of our players, but right now I don't think there's a Glenman alive doesn't believe we are fast becoming a one man team. Gary Hamilton, what can you say? Another 2 goals and man-of-the-match yet again, absolute quality he is. But I tell you what Windy, wrap him up well, coz if that lad ever gets a dose of the flu we are gonna be absolutely swimmin in the brown stuff! I happen to know the depth of feeling amongst some of our players as regards Micky Collins, but if we're not tappin this guy before he's too old there is something wrong. Never mind the bull$hit in the papers Stafford, give the manager whatever money he needs to bring the best midfielder in the country to the Oval!
Halfers ... Probably the only Glenman happy after the Portadown game, was Gary Shaw who scooped a lovely £630 from the Halfers Draw with the ticket no. 5693 drawn by Gary Smyth
29th Dec 06. Portadown game - Always a pleasure playing the 'Bitters' isn't it? Aye right ;-) Six points behind us they are at the moment of course, but worth remembering all six of those went in 2 home defeats from their first 3 League games - the Ports are still undefeated in the League this season away from Shamrock Park. We've already met once this season, when the Glens knocked them out of the CIS Cup at the Oval, but that only on penalties after a 1-1 draw. They've learned how to keep things fairly tight at the back since that night though, in fact have conceded just a solitary goal in their last 6 games! It looks like Gary Hamilton & Co are going to have their work cut out tomorrow to get past super-sized former Sheffield Wednesday stopper Kevin Pressman, who incidentally has now extended his stay at the Ports until the end of the current season. The incentive for us though is that a win puts Portadown a gaping 9 points behind, and with them looking forward to locking horns with Cliftonville, Crusaders and Linfailed in the next 3 games, defeat tomorrow could very well spell the beginning of the end of their Title aspirations! Three more points for us tomorrow though (our best festive return from my recent memory), and we're very much on track. Make no mistake - As important a match as we've played all season!
Match Betting: Glentoran 4/5, Portadown 100/30, and a draw 11/5. All odds supplied by TOAL bookmakers.
By the way ... Remember This ... HERE
26th Dec 06. Linfield 1 Glentoran 1 - League Table and Results pages now updated
The Halfers Draw ... at todays game for Colin Nixon's Benefit was a great success. The lucky winner drawn by Constable Peter Braniff from Lisburn Road P.S.N.I. was James Forsythe from Newtownards. James won £500 with the ticket no: 0293. Another draw for Nicky will take place, possibly against Ballymoney in the Irish Cup. Many thanks to Billy McCullough and the Ballboys for displaying the winning number at half-time, and to Big Jim Munn for helping out with the ticket sales. But the biggest thankyou is to our brilliant supporters for their generous support for a very loyal player. Tommy McKee
25th Dec 06. Under 16's update - Glens Under 16's beat their Crusaders counterparts 2-0 last Saturday morning to move a point clear of Shankill Juniors at the top of the Lisburn Junior League.
P W D L F A gd PTS 1 Glentoran 13 11 0 2 46 8 38 33
2 Shankill Juniors 13 10 2 1 44 18 26 32
3 Crusaders 15 10 2 3 38 20 18 32
4 Linfield 13 9 3 1 32 10 22 30
22nd Dec 06. Steel & Sons Cup Final - Anybody off to see the H & W Welders v Brantwood Steel & Sons Cup Final at Seaview tomorrow morning, remember kick-off time is a bright n' early 10.45am.
What about a wee double ...? Irish Cup Beting: Linfield 13/8, Glentoran 5/2, Portadown 13/2, Cliftonville 14/1, Crusaders & Dungannon 16/1, Distillery 25/1, Ballymena 33/1, Coleraine 30/1, & Newry City 50/1. Each-way (1st or 2nd) half the odds. If you fancy the Glens to do the double it pays nearly 8/1. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
21st Dec 06. McDonagh out of Big Two clash ... Willo McDonagh has been handed a 2-game ban in the latest round of IFA Disciplinary Committee Suspensions ... commencing Monday! He will now miss out on both the Boxing Day clash at the swamp and the visit of Portadown to the Oval next Saturday. Fortunately Cullen Feeney and Kyle Neill return to the squad after serving a 1-game ban from the last IFA hit-list ... any news of Dean Fitzgerald?
Boxing Day betting: Linfield 6/4, Glentoran 7/4, and a draw 2/1. Also the latest odds for the Premier League Title - Win only ... Linfield 8/11, Glentoran 6/4, Portadown 14/1, Crusaders & Cliftonville 33/1. The Glens have shortened considerably from 5/2 on Dec 5th below, but expect all that to change again after Boxing Day. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
20th Dec 06. Big week for Under 16's ... While you and I are simply looking forward to putting our feet up and watch the Glens thrash the auld enemy on Boxing Day, the Glentoran Under 16 side are contemplating a very busy Christmas week indeed. This Saturday morning (23rd) the third-placed Glens face second-placed Crusaders in a Lisburn League tie at Loughside (9.30am), less than 2 hours before the Steel & Sons Cup Final up the road at Seaview! A win could put the Glens top of the table. No rest for the wicked though, because hot on the heels of that one on New Years Day they travel to Ballymacross Lisburn (1.00pm), to face Lisburn Youth in the Shield Final after dispensing with League-Leaders Shankill Juniors 3-0 in the semis! If you're heading over to the Steel & Sons this week, or looking for some action on New Years Day, why not call by one of the games and give the next generation of Glentoran FC some well-earned support.
Boxing Day Halfers - A special Halfers draw will be on sale at Windsor on Boxing Day with the profits going to Colin Nixon's Benefit - please support a Loyal and true servant of Glentoran Football Club. A notice board displaying the winning number will be paraded in front of the North Stand at half time, and the winner will be paid out directly after the game. A contact telephone number will be available (hopefully on the halfer ticket) for the winner to make a claim. - Tommy McKee
19th Dec 06. County Antrim Shield result - linfield 1 Lis Distillery (Darren Armour) 2 ... 2 down, 2 to go ... ;-)
Funeral notice - I have been asked to inform visitors of the sad passing away of Quarry GSC Member Jim Cowan's Mother-in-Law. For those who may wish to attend, the Funeral Service is on Friday 22nd December at 11.30am in Dundonald Methodist Church, and afterwards 1.30pm at the Crematorium.
Ballymac Christmas draw winners, and Chris Walker Benefit ... HERE
18th Dec 06. Glentoran Community Trust website now updated ... HERE
IRISH CUP 5th ROUND DRAW - Comber Rec v Laurelvale, Glenavon v PSNI, Newry City v Ballynure Old Boys, Dungannon Swifts v Coagh United, Larne v Cliftonville, Limavady United v Carrick Rangers, Linfield v Oxford United Stars, Tobermore United v Donegal Celtic, Ards v Dundela, Ballymena United v H & W Welders, Glentoran v Ballymoney Utd, Loughgall v Ballyclare Comrades, Crusaders v Lurgan Celtic, Portadown v Bangor, Armagh City v Institute & Coleraine v Lisburn Distillery. The ties will be played on Saturday 13th January.
Halfers Draw - Winner v Cliftonville was Rab Morrison (father of Raymond), and Rab won £440 with the ticket 5454
17th Dec 06. Glentoran 4 Cliftonville 1 - Hamilton, McDonagh, and Halliday x 2. Results and Table pages updated :-)
16th Dec 06. Thirsty? - Well fill yer friggin hip flask! Bar's not open til half-time today, and shuts at 3.30pm :-(
15th Dec 06. Fitzgerald for Big Two Derby? - It appears that as soon as new Glens midfielder Dean Fitzgerald's International clearance comes through he can play for the Glens, regardless of the new transfer window not opening until January. Fitzgerald, who has already trained with the Glens, is now aiming for a Boxing Day debut, but were the right papers to arrive on time he could even be in the frame against the Reds tomorrow!
Howards Way ... An email reply from the IFA Chief Executive to mainland based Glentoran Fan Janine Gillespie re this Saturdays Premier League clash with Cliftonville fiasco ... it would appear us 'limited individuals' have a 'total misunderstanding' of the situation! Wonder how that could be Howard? Read on ... HERE
Colin Nixon DVD - ON SALE TODAY FROM 1PM AT THE CLUB STALL IN CONNSWATER.
Cliftonville game - ko 1pm ... With all the bollox going on surrounding this one you could be forgiven for taking your eye off the ball if you pardon the pun, but let's not forget this happens to be a very very important game indeed! Were we to lose this one the Reds would be just 2 points behind us, never mind the boost our other challengers would receive before their games even kick off at 3 o'clock! A win for us on the other hand increases that gap over Cliftonville to 8, and puts the onus right back on all the others to produce later in the afternoon. Let's make no bones about it, that win over second placed Crusaders last weekend cannot be over-estimated as we now face the 4th, 3rd and 5th placed sides in a fortnight! We loss Cullen Feeney and Kyle Neill tomorrow through suspension though, while Cliftonville's Liam Flemming and Barry Johnston were able to serve their suspensions at Newry on Tuesday night. Don't know whether Locky's ready yet or not, but now would be a really good time Darren, although it's the loss of Neill that worries me most with no real natural replacement - Jason Hill or Sean Ward probably filling in. Anyways, won 4 drawn 2 at home in the League thus far, these are the ones that win you Titles - win number 5 when you're ready Glens.
Match Betting: Glentoran 5/6, Cliftonville 3/1, and a draw 9/4. All odds supplied by TOAL bookmakers.
Shield Semi-Final posponed - As hinted below, confirmation has now been received that our County Antrim Shield Semi-Final with Cliftonville has been put back to Tuesday 9th January. Furthermore, the other Semi-Final between Lisburn Distillery and Linfield scheduled for the Oval next Tuesday night, will now be played at the swamp! Sounds about right!
14th Dec 06. Saturdays game gets the nod ... but next Wednesday on the other hand ... ? After lengthy negotiations yesterday it appears at least some sanity has prevailed! The Reds game goes ahead, without Glentoran fans requiring tickets, albeit STILL with a 1.00pm kick-off! On the face of it it may look like a result, but in reality Irish League Football has yet again been brow-beaten into submission by what is increasingly looking like a hit squad from the Liquadator! Surely a line must finally be drawn in the sand here, because left unchallenged these ego-maniacs will surely put the final nail in the coffin of local football! What on earth else could they be thinking of?
By the way - Just to clarify any suspension debate. Kyle Neill and Cullen Feney have been suspended for one game apiece as of Monday 11th December, meaning both miss out on Saturdays Oval clash with the Reds.
Keep your powder dry on next Wednesdays County Antrim Shield Semi-Final too by the way, nothing official yet, but there could well be a twist to yet another sorry saga!
13th Dec 06. Reds sorry saga update ... HERE
12th Dec 06. Reds game in doubt! - Astonishing news this morning that after Fridays upgrading by the PSNI of this Saturdays Cliftonville game to catagory C 'High Risk', Belfast City Councils' Health and Safety Dept only last night decreed it should now also be all ticket with a 1.00pm kick-off! An absolutely outrageous decision, never mind the fact there hasn't been trouble at this fixture in over twenty years, but to expect clubs to then get tickets printed and issued in less than 5 days borders on absolute farce! One can only assume this decision was made in consideration of trouble caused by Reds fans after the CIS Cup Final, but that incident took place outside the ground and there wasn't a Glenman for miles!! Over-the-top, Knee-Jerk, and Absolutely Farcical are just some of the superlatives that spring to mind, and whoever is responsible for this latest draconian dictat should be publicly brought to book! Who are these people? When you consider there were 4,000 Glentoran fans left to stumble their way out of Windsor Park that same Cup Final night, staggering blindly inside the ground for 500 yards in total darkness, and not a bloody word about it from 'Health and Safety', it really begs the question who on earth is running that shambles. If they are employed by Belfast City Council they should be held publicly accountable by our local representatives! I for one would like to know who made this decision, were they acting independently or following Council policy? It's about time the ordinary guy on the street got some answers!! More HERE
11th Dec 06. Dean Fitzgerald signs on ... Just found out myself that former Newry, Portadown and Shelbourne midfielder Dean Fitzgerald has signed on with the Glens til the end of the current season. I remember Fitzgerald well when he played for both Newry and the Ports, a no nonsense midfielder who can score goals. Given the lack of quality players available at the minute a shrewd signing by Windy, the 31 year old (next week) will in my opinion prove a very valuable addition to our sometimes shakey midfield. Fitzgerald could be in the squad at home to Armagh on Jan 6th.
Crusaders 1 Glentoran 3 - I know, I know, ever so slightly late ... long story ;-) Well - Did yez 'Fill yer Boots' like I said!!!
Money from America ;-) More tips coming next Friday ... :-) Table and Results pages now updated ...
8th Dec 06. Crusaders game - Despite our tricky run in the CIS Cup this is the first real acid test of our credentials, and I fully expect us to be 4 points clear of the Crues by 10 to 5 tomorrow night! Glens are evens or better at the bookies, tellin ye, fill yer friggin boots! Match Betting: Crusaders 9/4, Glentoran 11/10, and a draw 11/5. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
7th Dec 06. Setanta Cup Draw - Group 1: Glens, Blues, Derry City & Drogheda! First game at home to Derry City on Monday 26th February. Full list of all Group 1 fixtures now at the 'Results' link above ...
Playing for the Shirt - 125 Years of Red, Green, and Black!
... ”Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something ……? Well did we? You’ll have to buy it and see!
Playing for the Shirt will be on sale at Seaview on Saturday, at our home game with Cliftonville on December 16th and before Glentoran’s Boxing Day clash with Linfield at Windsor Park priced at £5 (for over 70 pages of full colour illustration).
Anyone in the UK wishing to order a copy can do so by contacting John Moore at editor@glentoran.net
The cost will be £6 to include post & packing. We’ll also provide costs for those further away on request.
Playing for the Shirt will be a limited edition publication. There will be no reprint!
6th Dec 06. Halfers - Winner v Limavady was joint winners Hugh Jarce & Alastair Lynn, Winning no. 5252 and they won £280. I have to say that when Hugh Jarce was announced by Gil over the tannoy it made me suspicious that an alias was used!! Nobody in the crowd seemed to tipple!! - Say it quickly! Tommy
5th Dec 06 Glentoran 3 Limavady 0 - Really looked like being another one of those Oval nights until the introduction of Chris Morgan for Peter McCann with about 23 left to go. Don't get me wrong, Limavady offered very little by way of attack, but they packed the midfield and defended very deep and we were REALLY struggling to break them down. Even Gary Hamilton missed an empty net!! No matter, with time running out and a catalogue of chances going abegging in the second half Chris Morgan changed the game. Crisp passing instead of the now frantic hit and run found Hamilton free wide right, and a neat pass to unmarked McDonagh at the far post left the big midfielder a tap in for the opener on 72. What a relief. Limavady surrendered. Morgan again with another decisive pass just minutes later opened Hamiltons account, and then Kyle Neill found an inrushing Sean Ward with about 5 to go for the third. One of those nights when you thought it was never coming, but the wee Glens back to the top of the table going into the top two clash at Seaview on Saturday ... great stuff!
Table and Results pages now updated
Limavady Utd game - A win tonight and we're back on top of the pile. No more talk among Glenmen of home 'bankers' though I notice, and after struggling against 3 of the bottom 6 sides at the Oval lately who can blame them! Limavady are another one from down there too, just 8 points from 10 games, but more interestingly 7 of them coming away from home!! Wouldn't a really comfortable home win be a breath of fresh air at the minute? Or maybe we should just content ourselves with the 3 points! This is where is starts to get interesting folks. 7.45pm start.
Latest betting for the Title - Win only ... Linfield 8/11, Glentoran 5/2, Portadown 10/1, Crusaders 14/1, Cliftonville 16/1
All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
4th Dec 06. Sports Scene - Any of you looking for Glens shirts etc autographed by the players and manager for Christmas, get yourself down to Tommy Kincaids 'Sports Scene' shop on the Woodstock Road on Wednesday night. The former Glens caretaker manager is hosting a 'Meet the Players' evening from 6.30pm to 8.00pm, and assures me that Big Windy will be there along with Gary Hamilton, Kyle Neill, and a host of other first team players. Get your photo took, an autograph, whatever! 350 Woodstock Road, just up the road a bit from the Eastender.
JUST CHAMPION!!
Click pic to enlarge ...
3rd Dec 06. Glentoran 1 Cliftonville 0 - Heart almost goes out to the Reds ... almost. Dick Turpin wore a mask as they say, but at the end of the day our name's on the cup and sure the scum have been doin it to us for years! C'est la vie ;-) Heads absolutely bustin here, so beriefly... Big thank you to Windy and the whole team for turning up at the Ballymac last nite, great to see all the lads out on the rip enjoying themselves after last season - long may it continue :-) Tell ya what though, ya wouldn't wanna have to mark Gary Hamilton ... he doesn't even stand still when he's drinkin a friggin pint!! Highlight of the day though must once again go to those stalwarts of the security trade Eventsec. The sight of that Glenman gettin on the pitch during the Cup presentation ... then stoppin for a yarn with the Eventsec security guard ... quality! But when he then casually strolls over and into the team photo!!! Carlsberg dont do security firms ... PRICELESS!
2nd Dec 06. Crues win as Glens drop to second ... Table and Results pages updated at the links above
1st Dec 06. CIS Cup Final - Hands up who remembers the last time we played Cliftonville in a Cup Final? No? Well trick question really, technically it wasn't a cup, it was the County Antrim Shield - 2nd February 1999 at the swamp. Cliftonville were League Champions at the time, but on the night the Glenmen stuck in the corner of the South Stand were treated to the Kirk and Elliott show, as the two former Glentoran youngsters took the Reds apart! 2-nil it finished, the lads getting one apiece - absolutely awesome stuff at times! So fast-forward to tomorrow and the CIS League Cup Final. The Glens actually reached the Final of the CIS that year too (Coca Cola Cup in those days) losing 2-1 after extra time to the auld enemy, and before tomorrow have contested no less than 5 League Cup Finals since - winning 3 (we were also kicked out in the semi's in 03/04). Let's keep that record up tomorrow, I haven't had a decent blitzer since Morgan Day ;-)
Ballymac still have room on our Double-Decker bus to the Final by the way. I know some of you have already booked a seat, but some spaces still remain for those visitors who simply want to turn up on the day. Remember too, we are holding a Cup Final Disco in the clubrooms afterwards 7.30 til LATE!! Bus leaves our Wilgar Street clubrooms at 1.30pm.
Cup Final Betting: Glentoran 11/10, Cliftonville 12/5, and a draw 21/10. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
OLDER NEWS ... Nov 06 | Oct 06 | Sep 06 | Aug 06 |.Jul 06 | Jun 06 | Season 05/06 | 04/05 | 03/04 | 02/03
As part of the Glentoran Supporters Committee (1923) contribution to the 125th anniversary of Glentoran Football Club, a commemorative booklet called Playing for the Shirt has been published. The book is the result of extensive research by Gazette team members Clifford Logan and Sam Robinson. Playing for the Shirt sets out to chronicle and illustrate every single jersey that the Glens have worn or been associated with over the past 125 years. The subtext to each graphic also gives a thumbnail sketch as to what was happening historically at the time each shirt was being worn. So if you ever wondered what shirt the Vienna Cup was won in, or what kit was lost on the night of the Blitz, Playing for the Shirt will give you the answers.
The idea stemmed from the surprising interest in the True Colours article that is currently running in this year’s programme. Everyone seemed to have a favourite kit from a certain era and that in turn triggered the idea of trying to track down all the shirts. The lads acknowledge that they may have missed a few but with well over 100 discovered to date there shouldn’t be many that have slipped through the net.
How to describe the content in Playing for the Shirt? Well that’s probably best left to the old wedding adage ...
Produced for Colin by Forza Glentoran/ForzaTV as their contribution to Colin’s benefit season. With a running time of over eighty minutes this is a must have DVD for all Glentoran fans.
When you think that Colin will more than likely break the all time appearance record for the club it is fitting that he is the subject of the most in-depth interview ever given by a Glentoran player.
Find out more HERE
