Season Diary - Week 22

Well I was wrong about the Boxing Day being cheerless, and I’m more than happy to admit that, with a first ever win at New Douglas Park that I can recall. That said, let’s not kid ourselves on here, although the driving rain didn’t help the first half was like watching an amateur game and if it hadn’t been for Balatoni popping up on the line from absolutely nowhere, we would have been behind again.

The second half wasn’t much better with both teams failing to impress, but for once we got the rub of the green and a bit of a miss-kick by Tope managed to loop in over the goalie to send the Killie fans into a festive frenzy. Kudos to all those who travelled, over 700 of a 2,000 crowd is beyond the call of duty especially given recent results. By the time you read this we will have been to Dingwall, I will reserve judgement on whether we have turned any corners until after that and Hearts at home.

Boxing Day Bus

Young Kilmarnock are running a bus on Boxing Day to see the Killie game despite the normal Saturday Club being suspended for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The bus will leave from Power League (behind ASDA on the Queen's Drive) at 1:30pm on Saturday 26th December 2015.

Tickets will cost £20 for adults and £15 for children, and at this point there are only 15 seats left so if you want to book a place you better get your skates on.

The number to call to book seats on the Young Kilmarnock bus is 07969 083672. Merry Christmas everyone from all at Young Kilmarnock!

Season Diary - Week 21

They say a week is a long time in politics...well let me tell you it seems far longer if you are a Killie fan! Having a look back at the columns this year it would appear that I have tried to be patient with the manager and not once called for his head, despite a cacophony of catastrophic results. Now the poor performances are trying my patience and most fans would agree that it is probably time for a change in direction.

Aberdeen gave us a lesson on Saturday that should have been learned after successive heavy defeats at the start of the season, but we seem to be going backwards not forwards and all we have to look forward too is our best players leaving for peanuts in the coming months. We are being let down by the board, the management and the players at the moment, there may not be much festive cheer come Boxing Day.

Hospital Visit

Gary Locke took his squad on another away trip on Monday and there were fortunately no losers as
the players were handing out gifts at the Children's Ward of University Hospital, Crosshouse.

The manager told the official website: "The team appreciate the opportunity to chat with patients and their families. It’s also great to see first hand what an amazing job the staff at Crosshouse Hospital do on a daily basis”.

The patients, their families and the staff were clearly delighted that the club took time out of their busy schedule to make the visit in what has become an annual event.

Goalkeeper Jamie McDonald said: "We love coming here to visit the sick children ward, which for the community is a great thing; to get out and about, see the people, and try and bring a bit of happiness at this time of year with some gifts and stuff."

He added: "All the boys are here and we are doing the rounds, going round the doors, trying to see as many people as possible. I have two kids myself and when you come to places like this you realise how fortunate you are they have good health."

"It's a very difficult time for the parents, more than most they are the ones that have to deal with things. if we can bring a wee bit of cheers and take their minds of it for even half an hour, just to give them a little bit of a break then we've done our job. It's nice to get involved in community things."

 

"We've met a few fans already and we've had our pictures taken with them. There was a little girl Meadow who was lovely and her family were all Killie fans so we sorted them out with autographs and stuff and although it's only maybe ten or fifteen minutes of the day its nice to see them get a lift."

"It makes you feel good to do these things; the club as I said is a community club and its good to meet the fans. Things are maybe not great on the park at the moment so its great to be able to give something back."

Good work Killie....and GREAT work all the staff and employees at the hospital, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all...we hope not to see you soon!

Season Diary - Week 20

It has been a long while since there has been as few travelling Killie fans as was the case at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday. Six supporters’ clubs shared a single bus, the Travel Clubs, because the combined factors of distance, weather, cost and poor form gave even the biggest die-hards a serious decision to make…and to be fair it is still up in the air who actually got it right.

The festive spirit of those who made it to Inverness was sorely tested with a dismal first half display that saw the home side capitalise on slack defending from McHattie only quarter of an hour in. Failure to clear our lines saw them double that lead ten minutes before the break with Killie offering nothing going forward of note.

Locke replaced Slater and Obadeyi with Carrick and Kiltie at half time and the we did improve to a degree with a few chances. We had a stone wall penalty claim for a blatant infringement on the edge of the six-yard box as Boyd laid the ball off to Hamill, whose shot cannoned off a Caley defender’s hands. The referee was having none of it though.

We clawed a goal back at the end with Balatoni connecting with a Smith corner and Connelly appearing at the back post to drill it in, but it has to said that the result was a fair one and we will have to do far better if we are going to get back out of that play-off position and remain safe.


Match Report | Fixtures | Hotshots | League Table

Season Diary - Week 19

Gary Locke really shuffled the pack ahead of the Dundee United game in terms of personnel and tactics, going with three at the back for the first time that I can remember. It certainly seemed to work from the outset with Killie clearly on top and a great cross in from big Josh on the right saw Boomer do what he does best and fire the ball into the net to give as a lead with only four minutes gone.

 

The pressure continued and we could have been another two or three goals to the good until disaster struck after twenty minutes and the referee awarded an extremely dodgy penalty and sent off Findlay. The Arabs took the initiative and drew level and upped the the tempo to try and ram home their advantage in numbers…but we stuck to the task and to be honest could have sneaked the result at the end had Slater’s run and shot not hit the post.

In extended news (this part won't appear in the Scotsman) Young Kilmarnock had their Christmas Parties at the weekend. The older kids had the Odeon to themselves to watch "The Good Dinosaur" and the younger ones had a magician and party games at the Fenwick Hotel. Rory McKenzie was in attendance to help Santa give out some gifts...which is a wee change from our defence doing that.

 

The Killie Trust AGM was at the new (very smart) Railway Village and Chairman Jim Thomson gave a run down on the past year's events. The main topic of conversation was the "Trust In Killie" initiative which aims to inject £100,000 initially into the club via a type of crowd-funding scheme to give fans a genuine seat on the board. There still seems to be some resistance to the idea though and progress is being thwarted by the proverbial red tape.

Xmas Parties

The Young Kilmarnock Christmas Parties take place on Sunday 6th December 2015.

Members aged 6 years and over and who have booked their place, should be at the Odeon Cinema; Queen's Drive, Kilmarnock for 9.30am for the 10am screening.

There will be a choice of two films to select between...but you will have to be there to find out what they are and which of them your kid(s) want to see.

Members aged 5 years and under should attend the Fenwick Hotel for at 1:50pm for a 2:00pm party start. There will be the usual fantastic fun, entertainment, magic tricks and party games.

We are expecting some special guests arriving at both venues and, who knows, if you are good, you might even get a wee prezzie!

Season Diary - Week 18

The manager took the praise he was rightly due last week, and he is going to have to take the criticism this week for the capitulation at Rugby Park; our players seem to struggle more on this pitch than anyone else!

I don’t understand why we would try and go with the same team and tactics against Partick Thistle at home as we would away to the league leaders, horses for courses and all that surely? Findlay, other than being ineligible last week, has done nothing to deserve to be dropped, and Slater should surely be starting if available as well?

We had Dan Marcolini and his three sons over from Verona and Peter Nederlof and his group over from Amsterdam just to see the game, what with the weather and the result I bet they wish they hadn’t bothered!

Like many in the home support, I clapped Muirhead’s first goal before I even realised who it was, we are Killie fans first and foremost but as football fans you can still appreciate a well hit strike…and understand the irony of his salute to the numpty who sold him on for peanuts behind the previous manager’s back.

Next week is crucial, all we can do is turn up, get behind the team and hope for the best.

La Famiglia Killie

In 1977 a young traffic cop called Dan Marcolini sat in a bar in his home town of Verona, Italy and pondered the name Kilmarnock on a bottle of Johnnie Walker whisky. Being a football fan, and having had a few tipples, he decided to follow the fortunes of the Ayrshire Azzurri...and that's as good a reason as any! Dan wrote (yes, on paper) to Walter McCrae to ask about the club and to see if there was any way he could get some club merchandise shipped over. This surprised Mr McRae no end but he duly obliged and Dan was soon to be seen sporting the famous stripes around the strade of Verona.

It was not easy keeping up with everything that was going on at the Theatre of Pies in the early days, the BBC World Service didn't really rate us newsworthy. Dan persevered though, and via the wonders of the internet he often knows now what is happening before some of us locals do! It was to be 1988 before Dan made his first trip to Scotland to watch Killie in action and down the years he has met many of our fans and staff at the club. As well as home games he also went to the OGC Nice Euro tie in France and drove over 1000km on a scooter to see us in Kaiserlautern! We took him a tour of the stadium back in 2003 prior to a match againts Aberdeen, and he brought his wife and two youngest kids over for the KFCSA Player of the Year dance a year or two back, so it was great to hear that he was coming over to see the mighty again.

With Dan this time were his oldest boys, Enrico, Luca and Davide, who go and see Hellas Verona like their father (Shhh...Luca's a Chievo fan), but also like him, if asked...they are Killie supporters first and foremost. They tried their best at emptying the club shops shelves and the ladies behind the counter must have wondered what was going on as Peter Nederlof and the Dutch Killie supporters also arrived in at the same time. The club kindly offered the lads free tickets, a big thank you to Tommy, Joanne and Priti for organising that, it was most appreciated, rest assured the money saved was spent in the Sports Bar.

The least said about the weather and indeed the game the better, but it would take more than that to dampen the enthusiasm of these boys and they headed off to the Howard Arms to meet up with former gaffer Kenny Shiels and a few more refreshments before travelling back to Edinburgh where they were staying the night. They had spent the previous night in Irvine, and I did warn them the price of a pint would be a wee bit more expensive than the Porthead, but they were leaving from that airport anyway and Dan wanted to visit the cemetery to pay his respects to Bill Donnachie, author of the Killie Who's Who, a friend of his from back in the day.

Hellas are currently bottom of Serie A, Killie are heading in the same direction in terms of league position, we surely owe it to these brave souls to keep one of their teams from being relegated! Arrivederci Dan and family...and as the man himself always says...Up! Up! Killie!

Kerby - The Book

There is nothing we like more than being able to give one of our own a wee helping hand if we can and we have always been happy to promote any Killie fan's venture or indeed any local business. We previously gave the book 'Kerby' by Graeme 'Dillinger' Johnston a push on the Kickback Forums and we are spreading the net a bit wider now as he is apparently on the verge of getting into the Amazon top seller list for his hilarious first outing.

So who is he? The blurb says "Graeme Johnston failed to grow up in Ayrshire, Scotland. Having not yet matured into a proper adult, he thought it would be funny to write about the stupid things he got up to as a child: His first book KERBY: Funny tales from a 1990's Scottish childhood was the result. Graeme plans to write a follow-up, though is constantly distracted from doing so by a little 2 year old version of himself who calls him 'Daddy' and demands episode after episode of Peppa Pig".

You can buy the ebook or paperback version of the book HERE

Season Diary - Week 17

A draw in the East End of Glasgow may not seem like much to celebrate, but as someone who has witnessed one win there in my entire lifetime, I’m taking it as a moral victory! While Celtic fans (as they do when anyone garners points on their turf) cast aspersions about visiting teams ‘parking the bus’, they fail to understand that our whole squad get paid less than one of their top players, and by the book they should be scudding us without getting out of first gear.

It is a testament to the hard work and resilience of our players that we are able to grind out any kind of favourable result at all. Praise also should go to Gary Locke and his backroom staff for doing their homework and almost getting the tactics spot on, we were under a lot of pressure at times but we could still have sneaked all three points in the end which is admirable given we had a knife at a gun fight. Honours even with the reigning champs after two matches…Balatoni is so impressed he signed a 2.5 year contact extension!

Meeting Minutes

At the end of October, some members of the KFCSA Committee met Club Chairman Jim Mann and fellow director Russel Smith. In attendance for us were James Morrison, Chris Kyle , Jim Thomson, Allen Kyle and Iain Sherry. The meeting was constructive and the minutes are as follows:

The chairman stated that the new  ticketing system may have been brought in too quickly and that the reduced price will hopefully encourage lapsed fans to return to games. He also recognised that results are also a large factor in supporters returning.

The new pricing structure was not helped by poor journalism by a national paper who did not research the story properly. On the BBC "Cost of Football" website Kilmarnock were found to be one of the best value for money clubs in Scotland. It was pointed out that Kilmarnock need to be more pro active in "blowing their own trumpet" in the press and media.

Priti Trivedi is now the General Manager of the football club.

Negotiations are ongoing with the Trust with regard to them being more involved and getting a fan on the board and they were the only potential investor at the moment.

KFCSA have offered to help as much as possible to facilitate interviews for both KillieFC.com and the club's website; both Jim and Russel were keen to work towards a more collaborative approach.

It is hoped that surrounding villages will be allocated specific games where the club will be go into  that community and generate interest for that game from schools clubs etc .

Talks are ongoing with players who are out of contract but modern football players are always keen to keep their options open. In future, the club hope to tie up players before they enter the last year of there contract. The club does have a limited budget but players should look at the likes of the two Hamilton players and Steven Naismith who benefited from developing playing first team football.

The promoters of the Rod Stewart concert have insurance if the pitch was to be damaged by hosting the concert.

The chairman stated that the football club made money from the Park Suite and that following his statement bookings have started to rise again. This revenue is really important for the club going forward. The club are looking to revamp hospitality with various options.

KFCSA were asked if we would try and gauge what fans will be prepared to pay for levels of hospitality. This was agreed and KFCSA Chairman, James Morrison, said that at the quiz night on Monday he would try and see what amounts fans would be willing to pay for an altered product.

Want to write about Kilmarnock FC? Now's your chance!

As part of the ongoing changes to KillieFC.com, we're looking for volunteers to contribute their voice on all things Killie be it past, present or future.

You don't have to be the world's best writer, just have a passion for the club and a lot to say about it. We're looking for your opinions, memories and even gripes about the team and/or football in general! Whether you want to write weekly, monthly or even just every so often, we'd be delighted to hear from you.

If you're interested in contributing to the site, all you have to do is send some information on what you'd like to write about to Michael (michael@killiefc.com).

We'll also be putting out calls for submissions on a variety of subjects from your favourite away day to your all time Killie XI so keep an eye on our Twitter & Facebook pages for more information!

Season Diary - Week 16

You would think that with no match last week that the interest on the internet would also wane, but it was quite the opposite.

The new killiefc.com website is gradually being brought up to speed but with so much content it will be a long time before we can archive the legacy site for good.

Despite that, the social media side of things has really taken off on Twitter and Facebook and some of the stats given to us by our old pal Zuckerberg last week made for interesting reading.

Over 13.5 thousand people checked us out, which is an increase from last week of 755% and 1.8 thousand of those engaged with the site, which is incredibly 1828% more!

Craig Benson is the man driving all the traffic and we have brought Scottish Comedy FC’s Michael Park on board to consolidate all the fan organisations' online output... and they seem to be doing rather well with more changes in the pipeline.

We can but hope that the team can emulate such success at Parkhead next week.

Fixtures - Hotshots - League Table

Season Diary - Week 15

Looks like the players will not be getting as many days off as anticipated during yet another (needless) international break.

We got off to a great when Smith hit the opener within two minutes of kick off – but Saints proved too strong in the end and after scoring twice managed to hold on to their lead despite intense pressure from a Killie in all-out-attack mode at the end.

We can only hope that they put the hours in the same way they did during the last break and that Celtic and Partick pay the price. Maybe a bit of wishful thinking there!

With a blank fixture list this week would it not have made sense to schedule a reserve match at the Theatre of Pies?

It would give all us saddos something to do on Saturday afternoon and allow people who normally can’t make development league games a chance to see our up and coming players…plus it would probably put a quid or two in the coffers and to be honest we are desperately strapped for cash.

Match Report - Fixtures - Hotshots - League Table

Heat on Killie

We thought that this picture was worth sharing, Paul Heaton of Housemartins and Beautiful South fame embraces the might of Ayrshire Killie! He also gave an honourable mention to the Killie Pie at his gig with the talented Jaqui Abbott in the Grand Hall last night.

It was a good night for music in Kilmarnock all round yesterday with the Bellfield Tavern and Bakers Nite Club also hosting events. Unbelievably the Tavern had the original Rezillos on offer, backed by The Coffins and Killie fan Davie Orr's Outstandifold and the Wettygrippers...with The Vigo Thieves appearing at the John Finnie Street venue Bakers.

It has been a tough time for our town of late, especially in regards the news that there will be 170 job losses at Mahle, so it is nice to see that at least some things are on the up and that Killie is not dead and buried yet. In fact we have also been nominated for a SURF award...enter stage left the Beach Boys?

Our Provost Jim Todd said: "Kilmarnock has been shortlisted for a SURF award for the Most Improved Large Town in Scotland. This is great news for the town. It recognises all hard work undertaken by the many employees, residents, businesses and partner organisations who have contributed to the renovation and regeneration of the town centre over the years. We are promoting the town on our corporate social media channels - Facebook and Twitter. If you want to get behind this nomination as demonstration of the pride, love and commitment that exists for East Ayrshire’s largest town, please feel free to share, like and retweet from your own personal social media account."

That is what we are doing, we are proud of Kilmarnock as a town and a community, not just our football team. Why settle for just being #1 in Ayrshire?

Perth Preamble

Alan Milne of Barossa Street Saints has been back in touch with the KFCSA to offer their premises as a pre-match entertainment centre today. Those who used the facilities, in Perth's city centre, in February were made most welcome and we would encourage our fans to avail themselves of the kind offer if travelling through in the rain today.

On a much sadder note Alan had some bad news for us, he said: "I do not know if you are aware, but you remember Sandy Gardiner who collapsed at the Killie game way back? Well sadly he collapsed and died whilst attending St.Johnstone's away game at Morton -unfortunately despite another quick response he did not make it this time." Our deepest condolences go to Mr. Gardiner's family and friends at this sad time.

Barossa Street Saints Location - Barossa Street Facebook Page

Season Diary - Week 14

It is testament to the progress we’ve made in recent weeks that Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Motherwell was so disappointing. We seemed to be in control for the most part with ‘Well restricted to less than half the shots we had, but the true tale of the tape is that they still had more than double our amount on target…and one of them counted in the dying minutes of the game.

The problem for me was that Higgy was getting snuffed out of the game and Kiltie and McKenzie were too far wide of Magennis to be of any real service. I am no expert of course but I think I would have slotted one of the pair in a more central role and worked my substitutes in around that. Champ Manager has a lot to answer for! Well done to John Armer for winning the Cove Boutique drop lift on Saturday and kudos also to the Howard Arms and Kevin McHattie for their KFCSA quiz win at the Kadi.

The Steal-men Commeth

We woz robbed! That's how it feels anyway, and it's quite different from earlier in the season when we got beat and thoroughly deserved it. It wasn't a great day at the office for sure and I'm not convinced that the referee wasn't just one of the weans dressed up that got left behind after the half time shenanigans... but he certainly wasn't to blame for the defeat.

Sadly we were our own worst enemy at times and we have to get either Greg or Rory through the middle suporting Josh more or our goal chances are going to remain limited. The big man needs ammunition! David Shaw is our scribe this week and his match report has now been uploaded to the website. Sandy Ferguson's photos are all there for your perusal as well.

Match Report - Fixtures - Hotshots - League Table - MotM Vote

John Armer - Winner

We tried out SoccerAM's droplifting to promote today's match with Motherwell and it didn't take long for Killie fans to catch on. We Tweeted a few clues as to where we left Greg Kiltie's signed boots and lay in wait at the Coffee Press to see who would turn up...

We have to admit it was a bit of a laugh seeing guys looking in dress shop windows, but it was Killie fan John Armer who proved brave enough to actually go inside and claim the prize. Congratulations John and we hope you enjoy the match...those boots will be worth a few quid one day!

A huge thanks goes to Greg Kiltie for the signed boots, the football club for the match tickets and of course to Tracy Murray and the girls at Cove Boutique for making this possible today.

Droplifting - Win Signed Kiltie Boots & Match Tix

Shamelessly stolen from +Soccer AM , who shamlessly stole it from Charlatans front man @Tim_Burgess... @killiefc and @OfficialKillie will be droplifting this Saturday morning, and it could be near you. The concept is quite simple, we walk into a shop and instead of lifting something, we drop it off instead. Then you have to go and find it.

 In this case you will be looking for a pair of match worn signed boots belonging to Killie and Scotland wonderkid Greg Kiltie and a pair of tickets to Saturday's match against Motherwell later that afternoon. So what do you have to do? Just keep an eye on our Twitter account on Saturday morning and we will send out a clue every half hour until someone literally walks away with the prize.

#WeAreKillie #TrustInKillie

Season Diary - Week 13

Scoring seems to be becoming a habit for ‘Goals Magennis’ and let us hope that it is a hard one to break. Never saw that coming! It has been quite a turnaround from Gary Locke’s team, so they should get as much credit now as they took flack when results were not forthcoming.

The difference between Saturday’s performance and our season opener is quite remarkable, and it was only when we made some substitutions that Dundee even looked capable of getting into the game…but we held on for all three points.

 
 
This Friday check the website’s Twitter feed for a chance to win Greg Kiltie’s signed boots and a pair of match tickets as we try our hand at drop-lifting!

On a sadder note, condolences go to the family of Matt Watson who passed away this week, full back Matt was the player of the year in our championship winning season and a top bloke by all accounts, the club will arrange a tribute for Saturday.

...and Smith Must Score

Well this time Smith did score and by gosh so did big Josh again! The big man is going through a real purple patch and if this continues we are going to have to start referring to him as Goal Magennis. What a turnaround from when the Dee slaughtered us at the Theatre of Pies in that dreadful season opener.

Supporters' Association Chairman James Morrison is our match reporter this week, and despite the lack of leg room (East Stand regulars will be used to it) and crap view of the match...he seemed to enjoy the day, although the result could have a lot to do with that. All the usual pages have been updated, just click the links below...

Match Report - Fixtures - Hotshots - League Table - MotM Vote

KFCSA Roadshow

The KFCSA are delighted to announce and invite you all to the inaugural KFCSA Roadshow event!

We will be holding a pub quiz in the Kadikoi Bar in Kilmarnock on Monday 2nd November!

We will be joined by some members of the Killie first team, including club captain Mark Connolly, Darryl Westlake & Kevin McHattie!.. (Other first team attendees to be announced early next week).

We invite you to join us from 7pm for a 7:30 start to the quiz, which will include a special Killie section and there will be a first prize for the winning team!

Please feel free to comment below if you are coming along and we look forward to seeing many of you on the night!

There Can Be Only One

Killie jumped a place up the league table to ninth position at the weekend with a win over Highlander's Inverness CT. The first forty minutes were nothing to write home about but Kiltie's clinical finish from a great team build up for the opener was a sign of better things to come.

You can read our exclusive fans match report by Alan Walker and see the best match pictures online by Sandy Ferguson on killiefc.com. The League Table, Fixtures and Hotshots pages have also been updated.

Season Diary - Week 12

One of the tabloids tried to stir up the Celtic fans last week with an ill-informed negative story about our ticket price reductions and I have to admit I was surprised they fell for the anti-fan rhetoric. Killie charge them less than their own club and less than most others in the league and are trying to do something positive, but of course if the facts don’t fit the agenda then they get ignored.

Even though cash turnstiles were reintroduced as well it would appear that there is far more than prices keeping Killie fans away and the four (yes, FOUR) fans in hospitality must have thought they were in the wrong venue. We did have to endure a forty-minute snoozefest but when we got going we really turned it on.

Our first goal was a real team effort with hot prospect Kiltie finishing clinically, the whole second half was good to watch and big Josh found the net yet again. Smith in for Hammy, Rory in as captain, is this some tactical nous we are seeing at last?

Season Diary - Week 11

It seems a bit strange that in international week the Killie flag was being flown (and well by all accounts) by Josh Magennis who has been a real ‘Marmite’ player for the Killie support.

The big man cannot exactly be described as prolific and has struggled at times, especially with some of the poor service he has received, but in the last few weeks he has started to find the net on a more regular basis and the TV pundits and Northern Ireland fans have been waxing lyrical about him over the last few days.

So what has changed recently? Could it be the reintroduction of the league all-time top goal scorer to the squad? Boydie has not had much of a chance to shine either but if his contribution has been to help do a “Sammon” with Josh then it has been a worthwhile move for all concerned.

More good news breaking on the club capping ticket prices at £20 for the remainder of the season…leading by example, that should also be the Killie way, check the official website and killiefc.com for more details.

Season Diary - Week 10

Tynecastle has been a happy hunting ground for us recently, well with the odd exception, and on top of that it is one of the best grounds in the league to visit in terms of atmosphere; so despite them dumping us out of the league cup a week or so again, it was still a trip that lots of Killie fans were happy to make. The sun was out, the natives were friendly and all was going well for about 20 minutes, then we started to struggle a bit. Then forty minutes in recent signing Conrad (our first?) Balatoni conceded a penalty, which they duly dispatched, and suddenly things were not looking so rosy.

Kiltie (yes, the free to talk to anyone wonder kid) had the only real effort of note and the game was calling out for the introduction of McKenzie. Rory and Boomer were introduced later on in the match but it was the bold Conrad who cracked home the equaliser with ten minutes to go, and I think we just about deserved the point. Sadly if you weren’t there you are going to have to take my word for it, the TV highlights on BBC lasted 58 seconds, we had Scottish teams in Europe slightly longer than that!

Capital Comeback

New boy Conrad Balatoni was in the thick of the action as he conceded a penalty and then grabbed an equaliser as we held Hearts to a draw and collected a point in Edinburgh. You can read Grant Moore's match report and see Ross McKenzie's photographs in our Fixtures section, and of course we have also updated the League Table and the Hotshots page.

KFCSA Interview Scott Mclean

KFCSA's David Sneddon say down for a chat with Kilmarnock youth prospect Scott Mclean last week. You can see the full interview below.

Tommy - Unsung Hero

It is hard to believe that it is a couple of years since Young Kilmarnock won a " WestFM Cream of Ayrshire Award" and we are delighted that another of Kilmarnock's favourite sons, our own Tommy Adams, has literally followed in the footsteps of Susan and Bobby Russell and picked one up this year. The Killie Trust director, KFC employee, People's DJ (need we go on?) was nominated for the "Unsung Hero" award and emerged as the winner he is and now has a shiny new trophy to prove it!

We caught up with Tommy yesterday to congratulate him on his win and it was clear that he was still pretty taken aback by the sheer volume of support he received. We were going to do a wee interview but, with Tommy's permission we have decided instead just to share what the man himself put out on social media to his friends and all those people who supported his nomination...

"Well, where do I start? What an amazing experience the past two weeks have been since I received a call from Carolyn McAllister at WestFM to say I had been nominated for the Unsung Hero award. You could have knocked me down with a feather, seriously I couldn't believe it and then to make the final three - wow that was amazing! Then last night to go up on the stage when I was announced as the winner, believe me that was up there as the proudest moment of my life and I was thinking about my wee mum, she would have been so happy, as would my Dad and both would have been really proud of me receiving this award.

Everyone there last night was a winner in my eyes, all these people who do amazing things for others each and every day of their lives and I am truly honoured to have been amongst them. I am very humbled that so many people took the time to vote and support me. I want to thank every single one of you - the Kilmarnock FC fans, The Ayr Utd fans, people from all walks of life and supporters of various different clubs. We all have our own teams and when people come together like this it shows you what a wonderful game it is and I am so lucky to be involved in it with so many wonderful people to call friends.

I'd also like to thank the people of Ayr for allowing me to be your DJ! I always wanted to be a DJ when I was a kid listening to the radio and with all your support, over more years than I care to remember, I made it as "The People's DJ". This award may have been presented to me last night, but it is for every single one of you for all the support and the amazing life you have given me in football, as a DJ and as a friend. I must not forget to thank everyone at WestFM and West Sound for the amazing work they put in to these awards and for making so many people feel so very special, you are a credit to Ayrshire.

My sincerest thanks also goes to Kilmarnock FC Director John Kiltie for the faith he has shown in me over the past months - it's a pleasure to be back and to work with you on a daily basis John! Cheers to Rory McKenzie and Chris Johnston for their support last night and of course especially to my Laraine for being there for me over the past two years. So many many people to thank - I really don't want to miss anyone out because if it wasn't for you all I wouldn't have been standing on that stage as the proudest guy in Ayrshire."

We bet you McCardle was glad that Tommy didn't thank all those people on the night! Killie fan John Gall of Brownings the Bakers fame was at the ceremony and had the presence of mind to video Tommy accepting his award - and we have included it here so that everyone can share in Tommy's moment of triumph. Again...well done Tommy from everyone at killiefc.com, the KFCSA, Young Kilmarnock and the Killie Trust. You are an inspiration to us all and quite deservedly "unsung" no longer.

Barça v Killie

Supporters' Association Chairman James Morrison recently paid a visit to Spain and dropped into Camp Nuo to see how the Catalan giants measured up to Ayrshire's finest. You can read the article HERE and if you would like to submit an article of your own for publication please feel free to get in touch.

Season Diary - Week 9

It was double trouble last week for us as we failed to progress in the cup and lost yet another home league match. We seem to be a first half team this year with decent displays in the first 45 minutes of both games, only to be undone in the latter half of the game.

We have been chopping and changing things at the back on a regular basis and it seems to be taking effect as we can’t seem to defend as a unit and leave far too much space for the opposition to penetrate which inevitably leads to losing goals.

Going forward we seem to have gotten our act together with Josh finally looking a bit more potent and Kiltie at the heart of anything productive…but we are still scoring less than we are conceding and that only leads to more heartache for the fans. Congratulations to the Hamilton squad on winning their collective black belt for moaning and time wasting, some things never change.

Déjà vu - Again

It used to be a well versed phrase that we were a "second half team" and would come good in the latter forty five minutes of a game - well it would appear that we are now a first half team and that we are worse than a two year old with a Rottweiler at holding on to a lead! There were some positives (Kiltie and O'Hara for instance) to be taken from the game with Hamilton despite the 1-2 reversal, but sadly you only get points for results so it has to be chalked up to another bad day at the office. You can read David Shaw's Match Report and see Sandy Ferguson's match photos on the website now.

Half Time v Hamilton

It is probably fair to say that we have had the best of the first half...although had it not been for an outstanding save by the returning McDonald it might have been a different story. World class save from where I sit anyway, only the highlights will confirm that.

Kiltie had a great chance early doors getting one on one with their 'keeper coming in from the right hand corner of the box, but the wee man skelped the ball off his legs. We did have another good attempt at the half hour mark with Tope playing a ball in from a similar area, but the ball deflected wide.

The breakthrough followed minutes later and it was young Kiltie again, coming in from the left this time. If we don't get him under contract soon we will end up having to pay far more than we are refusing to stump up now...or lose him. The opportunity arose when the wingers switched side, a tactical boost by Locke?

Killie are playing some great stuff, especially Kiltie and O'Hara...Hamilton appear to be concentrating on moaning at the ref. Some things never change. Here's hoping we don't have the same kind of second half as Wednesday.