motherwell

rwell manager, claimed it was "inappropriate" for other managers to talk about his contracted players. But McGhee, on the eve of his first visit to Fir Park since leaving the club in June, insisted he had done nothing wrong. "When I was asked about Jim O'Brien I was very, very careful not to transgress any rules," he said.  

Stevie Hammell, Yassin Moutaouakil and John Ruddy are all in contention to return for Motherwell against Aberdeen. The trio are all now fit and will come into Jim Gannon's thinking ahead of the clash with the Dons. Winger Chris Humphrey, however, will miss the match with the serious ankle injury that looks like keeping him out until January at the earliest. Shaun Hutchinson Darren Smith, Paul Slane and Marc Fitzpatrick are all unavailable.  

A TEENAGE boxing champion tipped for glory at the 2012 Olympics has withdrawn from the squad after a gang brawl. Iain Butcher, 17, was hand-picked for the British development squad in preparation for the London games. Butcher and his 16-year-old brother Scott - members of Jerviston Boxing Club in their home town of Motherwell, Lanarkshire - are also Scottish and West District champions.  

CANON Gerald Maher, a retired Parish Priest of the Holy Family Church in Mossend, passed away on Monday, November 9, aged 88. After his initial schooling at St Francis Xavier's School in Carfin and for two years at Our Lady's High School in Motherwell, he began his studies for the priesthood in Blairs College from 1933 to 1938, then going to the Scots College in Rome from 1938 to 1940. Because of the outbreak of war, he ended his studies in philosophy back in Blairs for a year.

Some 15 years later, I also would be ordained in that same cathedral by the same archbishop, with again 12 of us being ordained on that day, but only seven in Glasgow, with three in Paisley and two in Motherwell.   -Joseph Devine

 

BELLSHILL four-piece Rockburn are hoping a brace of gigs in Glasgow this weekend, as well as an exclusive Hogmanay set in Motherwell, will help boost their chances of landing a record deal. The band are then booked to bring in the New Year at the Railway Tavern, Motherwell. The band have just returned from supporting successful 70s rock band Wishbone Ash during a number of gigs this year.  

Despite excessive and persistent rain in the West of Scotland in the last few days, Fir Park's new pitch is holding up remarkably well. The surface, which was re-laid in the summer, has a new drainage system designed to withstand heavy rain. And even although storms have left the rest of Lanarkshire mopping up, the driest place in the county is the Motherwell pitch.

Everything is looking well and the drains are running fine.   -Ian Wilson

 

SEVEN budding trainee chefs were selected to work alongside multi Michelin Star TV chef Gordon Ramsay. The seven catering students at Motherwell College included, Uddingston's Martin Campbell, Claire McDade and Thomas Paterson, both of Hamilton, Gillian McManus of Lanark and Julie Ingram of Carluke. They worked with Gordon's team for two days culminating in a sensational Gala Dinner for 250 guests paying £500 per head, in aid of the Scottish Spina Bifida Association, for which Ramsay is the Honorary P  

Motherwell boss Jim Gannon says winger Chris Humphrey may not play again until January because of his ankle injury. The 22-year-old suffered the problem in the 2-2 draw against Hamilton on November 7 and has not played since. There were hopes he would be back by the end of the month but Gannon has revealed he is continuing to struggle and may now be forced to stay on the sidelines until the new year.

He went over on his ankle. It was a really nasty one and it flared up badly.   -Jim Gannon

 

A TEENAGE boxing champion tipped for glory at the 2012 Olympics has withdrawn from the squad after a gang brawl. Iain Butcher, 17, was hand-picked for the British development squad in preparation for the London games. Butcher and his 16-year-old brother Scott - members of Jerviston Boxing Club in their home town of Motherwell, Lanarkshire - are also Scottish and West District champions.  

TENSION is mounting for Motherwell businessman Owen Barrett with just weeks to go before he discovers if he has been voted the UK's top entrepreneur. Owen, who runs Eurocentral-based Clyde Valley Drilling Group, is one of nine regional finalists competing for the prestigious British Chambers of Commerce 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in London later this month. The Motherwell man has already beaten off competition from dozens of businesses to reach this stage of the competition and now hopes that