Bainsfordbairn

They didn't. I assumed he'd been released and was surprised when I saw him a development cup or closed door game as he's too old for the 18s. I asked Tony Begg about it but I've long since forgotten who he's with atm. I don't think anyone told the club media staff at the time, hence the lack of an announcement.

Even if all those currently being discussed were signed, there's still at least five vacancies to be filled as I don't imagine Long, McKay, Bisland, McGinn & Lawal will be here next season. Never mind the uncertainty over Mackie, Oliver and Allan. It's also possible we'll run with a larger squad in the championship as we currently have only 20. (not counting the 3 first teamers on loan) It'll be interesting to see how close Honeyman, Walker, Hayward & Sinclair are to the first team next season. The first two appear to be doing very well on loan and Hayward may be considered good enough to become the backup goalie. Though I've no idea how he's getting on currently at Penicuik. Ditto Sinclair at Tynecastle. AFAIK we also have two youth players on loan as amateurs in Shay Burke and Max McGinley. They might end up getting modern apprenticeships, which I'd be happy with as I always rated Burke in particular.

Wow. So you're not actually old enough to have seen him play? A very quick look online shows he played for us just prior to the outbreak of WW2, so I always assumed that was the era you were in your prime.

That's what I have too, with 283 goals. A figure that will never be beaten.

I'm not sure where I got these stats from, but I've held them in my FFC spreadsheet for a number of years now. In 44 years of watching Falkirk, these are the top goalscorers I've seen in person: Crunchie 61 Cadette 46 Hoggan 44 McWilliams 43 McRoberts 42 Houston 40 Duffy 36. A few of those are already considered legends, so if Cal can top that table he absolutely should be considered in the same bracket as them. And with 12 games left of this season and two more years afterwards, who would bet against him?

Not necessarily. Both had worked with McGlynn before and I was told on the day we signed them that he was a large part of the reason they came here. Lang had interest from a Premier League club who wanted to have a look at him and you must assume they could have paid more than we did. You could also reasonably assume Morrison could have earned more had he left us. He might well have doubled his salary if some of the figures reported were accurate. However, if he has two good seasons playing for us at the top end of the Championship that may turn out more beneficial to his longterm career than a move to somewhere like Linfield or Salford City. He might have gazillioned his salary if he'd signed for megabucks Hamilton, but who in their right mind would want to go there?

Nothing to do with signings. Look at the points gap.

Not true I'm afraid. Hamilton overtook us on 2nd December when our game against Cove was postponed and they beat QOTS 5-0. They were still top the following week on goal difference even though they dropped two points to Alloa. Then we beat them at NDP and have held top spot ever since.

I think everyone on the football side of the club is grounded. Even in hospitality last night when asked by the compere in the post-match interviews the players were sticking to the "nothing won in February" routine. They'll be professional to the end. What interests me is what "end" we're talking about. When we last won a title in 2004/05 we lost 3 out of our final four games after clinching it. The players were in holiday mode. If we secure the title with a pile of games left and are still undefeated at that point - will we keep it going to try and earn an invincibles tag?

I bet that was a Morten horse. We're Falkirk.

I thought I was the only one who noticed that, as I have him on 51 too. I gave him both goals against Kelty as he was so close he must have got a touch and I doubt anyone could prove otherwise. If I mind I'll ask next time I see him.

It's done. We need to lose 5 out of 12 for them to overhaul us while winning all 12 of theirs. Or us to lose 6, 7 or 8 if they drop further points along the way. It's mathematically possible, but the chances of it happening are miniscule.

I bet Morton could screw it up from here. Oh feck. I just thought of something. When we go up we'll have to deal with all those roasters they can fans polluting the FFC thread again.

As Dylan Tait was running off the field following the warmup, a chunky guy in an Accies bodywarmer with the white initials "GS" approached Dyl and tried to greet him like a long-lost friend. DT turned his face and body away with only one word uttered - "later". Looked the very definition of being snubbed. Though I could of course be mistaken and that the player was just too focussed on the game at that point to be indulging in social niceties.

Fair play to our media officers for not only coming up with the idea but getting permission from above to run with it. They get stick for things like TV picture quality and spelling but they're actually pretty good at their jobs. Besides, it's just a picture of three random players celebrating, right?

Not for me. When we first got relegated to this league, I was embarrassed that we were in it. Because being in the third tier was where we were when I saw my first game in 78/79. We won promotion the following season and had never been back at this level since the mistakes of 18/19. Like most of us, I assumed we'd go up at the first time of asking. Maybe we would have done had covid not played a part. Which is why promotion would have meant nothing to me if/when it happened in that first season in League One. I expected us to scoosh the league. I was wrong. After five years of misery, I will be going mental on the day that we finally win promotion. It will not be a relief. It will be something to be celebrated, enjoyed and remembered, just as 79/80 was for me. Hopefully this season is the one when it happens.

I've no idea. I'm sure there will be some sort of risk-assessment based formula which determines how many stewards are appropriate relative to fan numbers but I wouldn't know how it works.

I walk round the East side on a regular basis, as will players going from the community changing rooms to the community pitch. The ground is walkable but it's not completely flat and isn't paved. My guess is that if some old biddy tripped and injured themselves it could be argued that the club hadn't taken all reasonable steps to ensure their safety. ("Reasonable" being a paved surface.) The other thing is there are no fences on the East side, so people could encroach on the pitch. The only way to prevent that would be to hire an additional set of stewards to stand along the edge which would increase costs to the club. Even if you put a fence up I assume the area would still have to be stewarded.

Before today I would have taken a draw as I was expecting them to come out all guns blazing, just as we did at NDP. After today, I think their confidence will be so low that anything going wrong on the field will see their players chuck it. We know our team is settled, organised and have a togetherness that will see them fight to the last minute. Hamilton don't appear to have that. Get in front, watch their heads go down and then see out the game. And put what would surely be the final nail in their coffin.

Sorry, I didn't hear you properly. Did you say something about minters or embarrassments? Maybe even a riddy? Never mind, we all know the Accies have bottle. You can show it against lowly Annan today.

It was two years. I asked him when I photographed him. It's not a secret, but as he was announced before the end of last season the intention was to give out his contract details when he turned up for preseason in June. I guess that got forgotten about.

Apart from Nicky Hogarth, who was announced as a one year deal.

He's back in football. It was announced by Whitburn Juniors about a week ago that he'd signed for them.

We've had our carcrash moments in recent years. A certain Q&A at the Inchyra hotel springs to mind, as do a few of the decisions made when we had a DOF. Never mind further back around the closing of our academy. But some of your social media posts are beyond belief. Never mind the transfer story about signing three of our players this window or the alleged claim made in December by one of your club officials that we would lose Morrison to England in January. If that doesn't happen by tomorrow night this thread will be full of Falkirk fans laughing at you. I'm not one of them and this isn't a gloating post. We've been where you are and it's not fun. At least we now seem to have a BOD and staff who're in touch with the ordinary fans. I wish you luck in getting the same.

As would I and many other people. The Foundation do good work, but in recent years they seem to be focussing on more charitable initiatives such as getting people into work, mental health etc. Nothing wrong with any of that but I've spoken to a lot of parents, coaches, volunteers and players who're extremely unhappy with the lack of support the football side gets now compared to how it used to be a few years back.