Motherwell (Scotland)

Motherwell FC is a professional football club from the former steel town of the same name in Lanarkshire, Scotland who were formed on May 17th 1886 from an amalgamation of two factory sides, Glencairn FC and Alpha FC at a meeting in Ballie's pub on Merry Street.

At the 1893 AGM it was decided to turn professional and apply to join the Scottish League, of which they were accepted as founder members of the new Second Division. In 1896 ‘The Well’ moved to Fir Park after being given the land by Lord Hamilton after previously playing at Roman Road and Dalziel Park.

After a previous runners-up place, The Steelmen were promoted in second place in 1902-03 before initially struggling in the First Division as the team changed to their new traditional colours of claret and amber in 1912 after the appointment of manager John "Sailor" Hunter.

Gradually the team improved to reach third place in 1919-20 and then runners-up in 1926-27 prior to going on a very successful tour of Spain in the summer of 1927 when they played eight games and only losing one, beating Real Madrid and drawing with Barcelona in the process.

The second place was repeated in 1929-30. The Well reached their first Scottish Cup final the following season where they went down 4-2 after a replay to Celtic. Motherwell were crowned as Scottish champions in 1931-32 before losing 1-0 to Celtic in the following seasons Cup final.

The Steelmen ended as league runners-up in 1932-33 and 1933-34 before ending yet again as Scottish Cup finalists, losing out 4-0 to Clyde in 1938-39. George Stevenson took over as manager following World War II.

The team settled to mid-table berths but lifted the League Cup in 1950-51 when Hibernian were defeated 3-0 with goals from Jim Forrest, Archie Kelly and Willie Watters before Well went down to a solitary goal to Celtic in the Scottish Cup final a few months later.

Motherwell returned to Hampden Park to lift the Cup for the first time in 1951-52 as goals from Kelly, Jimmy Watson, Willie Redpath and Wilson Humphries were enough to defeat Dundee 4-0 in front of 136,274 fans. Click here to enjoy a clip of their glorious day.

The team were relegated in 1952-53 before regaining their status after lifting the Second Division title a year later, prior to being defeated 4-2 by Heart of Midlothian in the 1954-55 League Cup final before Bobby Ancell came in as manager.

Ian St John made his way into the team at the start of a glittering career before moving on as Bobby Howitt later took over as manager in 1965. St John returned to take over for the 1973-74 campaign before he was replaced by Willie McLean.

The goals of Willie Pettigrew ensured Motherwell took up a place as inaugural members of the Premier Division in 1975-76 where they settled until finishing bottom in 1978-79 after Ally MacLeod had been appointed.

David Hay arrived to lead the side to the First Division title before he was replaced by short spells at the helm by Jock Wallace under whom the team went straight back down and then Bobby Watson who took them straight back as First Division champions in 1984-85 prior to Tommy McLean’s arrival at Fir Park.

Back as a stable top flight side, the Steelmen returned to the Scottish Cup final in 1990-91 where they won an incredible game 4-3 against Dundee United after extra time. The goals came from Iain Ferguson, Phil O'Donnell, Ian Angus and Steve Kirk in a talented side also including Davie Cooper, Ally Maxwell, Tom Boyd and Craig Paterson.

McLean led Motherwell to second place in the 1994-95 Premier Division season before he was replaced by Alex McLeish. Tommy Coyne put the goals away prior to John Boyle buying the club in 1997, with Harri Kampman replacing Hibernian bound McLeish a few months later.

Owen Coyle joined in goalscoring duties before Boyle invested in the playing squad after appointing Billy Davies as manager in October 1998 who added John Spencer to the side and later the impressive Stuart Elliott.

Davies resigned in October 2000 as Eric Black had a short term as his replacement prior to the arrival of Terry Butcher. The goals of James McFadden couldn’t prevent the Well finishing bottom in 2002-03. The club were spared relegation as First Division champions Falkirk’s Brockville Stadium failed to meet requirements.

Mismanagement and overspending of wages had led to Motherwell entering Administration in 2002. Butcher began to use clubs’ youth system to great effect such as David Clarkson along with the signing of Scott McDonald.

Motherwell went down 5-1 to Rangers in 2004-05 League Cup final with the team performing well in the league before the club came out of Administration in 2005. Maurice Malpas came in as manager in May 2006 before being replaced by Mark McGhee just over a year later.

Disaster struck the club on December 29^th 2007, when skipper and local lad Phil O'Donnell in his second spell with the club collapsed during a game against Dundee United just as he was about to be substituted.

He was treated on the pitch for about five minutes by the Motherwell and Dundee United club doctors before being taken by ambulance to Wishaw General Hospital. However, O’Donnell was pronounced dead at 17.18 hours. He was 35 years of age, married and had four children. The Main Stand at Fir Park was renamed in his honour.

Jim Gannon had a short spell as manager in the 2009-10 season before he was replaced by former national boss Craig Brown until Start McCall took over in December 2010. The Steelmen reached the 2010-11 Scottish Cup final, going down 3-0 to Celtic.

McCall nurtured the youth system alongside more experienced players leading to a third place finish at the end of the 2011-12 season. Owing to Rangers financial catastrophe, they were banned from competing in European football, so Motherwell qualified for the Champions League for the following campaign.

The Well went one better in 2012-13 as they finished the season in second place. Forward Michael Higdon was named as PFA Player of the Year. Despite the big forward moving on to NEC in Holland and Nicky Law departing to Rangers, Motherwell managed to win their final match of the 2013-14 season away to Aberdeen to again claim the runners-up berth.

After a poor start to the following campaign McCall resigned as manager in November 2014 to be replaced by Ian Baraclough. John Sutton scored regularly but couldn’t prevent the team from the relegation play-off final where Motherwell defeated Rangers 6-1 on aggregate in a volatile tie to retain their top tier status.

McGhee returned for a second spell as boss with Louis Moult providing fire power before Steve Robinson was appointed as new manager in February 2017. His team reached the final of both the League Cup and then Scottish Cup in 2017-18 losing to Celtic 2-0 in both games.

David Turnbull topped the scoring in 2018-19 with the young and exciting Steelmen ending the early abandoned 2019-20 campaign in third place when the outbreak of Coronavirus halted proceedings.

Motherwell FC will compete in the Scottish Premiership in the 2020-21 season.

My visits

Tuesday 26 January 2010

I really enjoy travelling by train, especially on routes and through places I’d never been to before. As usual I had done my preparation so I could maximise my time. However, I couldn’t quite make everything fit. 

My solution was at hand as soon as I sat down on the train destined for Glasgow Central, as it was announced the train would be stopping at Motherwell which would save me travelling into Glasgow and back out again. It was a gloomy afternoon as I alighted in the former steel and mining strongholds of South Lanarkshire. 

At Fir Park, home of Motherwell, I found an open gate which led to the side of the pitch. It is a nice traditional ground that has been updated in parts. The groundsmen were trying their utmost to relay new turf onto mud. Apparently a new pitch had not taken earlier in the season, with the recent bad weather really hindering their efforts.

I had passed the imposing looking floodlights on the way in on the train and they looked just as impressive at close hand. Fir Park was certainly a very unbalanced looking stadium. The Main Stand was now known as the Phil O'Donnell Stand but was never completed for the full length of the pitch when built in 1960 owing to a dispute with a home owner near to the ground. 

It had a large tier of seating which once had a small paddock at the front. To the right was the large two tiered South Stand which normally housed away fans which replaced open terracing in 1993. 

Opposite was the Davie Cooper Stand. Constructed in 1994, the stand was named in memory of Motherwell legend and housed a club shop, the Davie Cooper Suite and hospitality boxes. It was of relatively similar design to the South Stand, however only had one tier. 

Finally the final side was taken up by the East Stand which was originally open terracing before receiving a roof and then seats as a result of the Taylor Report in the aftermath of the Hillsborough Disaster.

I bid farewell, almost tempted to fit in a swift half in the social club opposite the Phil O'Donnell Stand, but I stayed firm knowing I had many more grounds to conquer before the day was out.

Motherwell 3 St Johnstone 2 (Sunday 20th January 2013) Scottish Premier League (att: 3,649)

I was in Glasgow for the weekend with my good pal Karl Theobald, who was loving all that the great city had to offer. In true tradition, he preferred the option of staying in the pub on a Sunday afternoon rather than heading out to the football in the cold.

After a livener with him in The Horseshoe while watching Rangers stutter along at Peterhead. I headed round the corner to the lower level of Central Station and jumped on the service to Airbles, from where I walked up to Fir Park. 

I realised the choice of pre match pubs wasn't the best, so I paid a couple of quid day membership and sat in the social club until a few minutes before kick off. I paid £22 for a seat in The Davie Cooper Stand behind the goal. I was a little confused as virtually every seat had a reserved sticker on it, yet most were unoccupied. 

Inevitably enough I plonked myself down and a bloke came along and claimed his seat! I went downstairs and bought a scotch pie and a welcoming soup. I was struggling after a belting Saturday night around the pubs of Glasgow.

It was a cold afternoon, but the action on the pitch helped as a good distraction. The Saints of Perth looked a decent outfit as did The Steelmen, with both sides getting the ball down and playing the right way. I liked the look of Chris Humphrey on the right wing for the home side. 

It was following his play that Michael Higdon put Motherwell one up. He netted his second after twenty minutes as the scattering of visiting fans scratched their heads wondering what had happened.

After a warming Bovril I went to the other side of the stand for a different view. The otherwise cumbersome Higdon completed his hat trick before Saints boss Steve Lomas rang the changes and got some immediate reward as Nigel Hasselbaink fired in a lovely goal with thirteen minutes remaining. 

Liam Craig got a second two minutes later to set up a grandstand finish. Saints could have very easily been awarded a penalty, but Well hung on. Their boss Stuart McCall admitted to being relieved after the game.

I wandered back to Motherwell station through the scruffy town at full time and went to meet Karl who'd hardly moved Horseshoe and was now good mates with three Celtic fans as they watched the Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United game. 

We continued drinking for a few hours before we had to call it a night and head for our usual subway supper to round off a brilliant weekend of socialising.