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CAPTAINS THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON SO FAR

The season so far has to be a good one for Stewart Petrie and his men. The victory over Cove by a 1-0 scoreline ensured that the Gable Endies made it into the top-half split to finish the season.

The continual improvement under Petrie has been evident since his arrival and now the team are more than holding their own at League 1 level.

The skipper Paul Watson shared his thoughts on how the club have been progressing at this level.

He said: “The season has been good so far; we had always been confident of making that top half and pushing for a playoff spot but we made it hard for ourselves by dropping points in games we should have won. But the boys were outstanding and got us over the line in terms of the top-half finish.”

Watson recently joined the 250-appearance list at the club and he’s certainly not taken it for granted, especially as we have seen how quickly squads can change at this level over the last ten years. It’s a great achievement and one that not only he should be proud of but the club and fans should be delighted to have such a great guy captaining the club.

On that achievement he said: It’s been great being at this club and my teammates and the staff from the management to Ronnie and Robert right up to the chairman and the board have made my time at the club really enjoyable. I have been able to add a few to that since and hopefully will be able to add many more.”

It’s the penultimate game at Links Park as Cove come calling again and the skipper is aiming to repeat the recent victory over Paul Hartley’s men.

“It will be another tough game; we have beaten them twice now but we know how good a side they are and how dangerous they can be with Mitch [Megginson] and Rory [McAlister] and the other players they have so again we will have to be at our best if we are to beat them again.

To sum up the season, Watson gave us an overview of everything, including the late start to the campaign and the stoppage, which didn’t sit well with any of the players.

“Overall, it’s been a difficult season for everyone. The boys at all these League 1 and League 2 clubs up and down the country just want to play football and we are privileged to have been able to continue doing that. We are happy to retain our League 1 status again and hopefully keep pushing towards the top end for the last few games.

GARRY APPOINTED GABLE ENDIES NEW HEAD OF YOUTH

Garry Balfour, currently U18’s Manager at Links Park, has been appointed into a new Head of Youth role, overseeing the Clubs U16’s, U18’s and Development squads.

Arriving at the Club back in 2019, the 42 year old coach took over the U16’s, leading them to league success in his first year and also notably beating Celtic in the Club Academy Scotland Cup.

Explaining what attracted him to the role, Garry said, “I want to help make Montrose one of the best places for youngsters to develop both as players and as people. I also want to make sure the young players get a feel of how it is to be a Montrose player and hopefully I can get a few of them in and around the first team. Building on my experience at Links Park and having previously coached younger kids at Dundee FC’s Youth Academy I now want to push myself as Head of Youth and feel Montrose is the best place for me to do that.”

Club Director Peter Davidson added, “We are delighted Garry has accepted this new role and we would like to take the opportunity to pass on our sincere thanks to Paul Hunt and Scott Bridgwater for all their efforts over the last 7 years in relation to the development of our youth setup.
“Whilst remaining involved, Paul will be taking a step back due to other commitments, but sadly, Scott will be leaving us for now, as he needs to focus on work commitments, but we very much hope to welcome him back in the future.

“Both Paul and Scott have taken our Youth system to a new level and with a new structure in place we are now all very excited to see where Garry can take it from here.”

No stranger to the senior game, Balfour was coached at Arbroath FC by Charlie Adam senior before playing in the first team under Tommy Campbell.

Manager Stewart Petrie added, “Garry has already developed a great relationship with me and my coaching staff and I look forward to working even more closely with him in his new role. In fact I am keen to see this become a more formal reporting arrangement.

“I strongly believe in youth development and whilst circumstances have led us to look further afield for this recently, I would love it as much as Garry to start seeing one or two of our own young players knocking on the door of the first team.”

Our photo shows Garry (left) with Peter Davidson.

CLUB 500 - APRIL WINNERS

A great chat with local girl Abbi Grant about life with Birmingham City FC, scoring for Scotland and being a Montrose Community Trust Ambassador - then picking our April WINNERS!

CRAIG BROWN SIGNS PRE-CONTRACT DEAL WITH GABLE ENDIES

Stewart Petrie has moved quickly to bring the highly sought after talents of University of Stirling midfielder Craig Brown, to Links Park in the summer on a 2 year deal.

Currently on loan at Elgin City, The Students captain recently spent a week on trial with Premiership side Livingston and a number of other options were on the table.

However, the Gable Endies reputation for developing young talent from University sides continues to grow, a factor that has clearly played a big part in the 22 year olds decision.

Blair Lyons and Robbie McGale are both ex-Stirling Uni, with Blair now enjoying full time football with Partick Thistle and Aidan Quinn, from Herriot Watt University has quickly established himself as a regular along side the likes of Sean Dillon.

Craig said, “I’ve been aware for a while how good Montrose are at developing boys, especially being close mates with Blair Lyons. After a few discussions with Assistant Manager, Ross Campbell I knew straight away the environment was brilliant and that Montrose was the best place for me to continue improving.

“I’m looking forward to meeting up with the team and getting back to regular training and games as it’s been pretty stop start for me the last year.”

Grandson of the former Scotland international manager of the same name, Brown’s versatility allows him to play anywhere across the midfield or in behind a striker.

Petrie said, “I am delighted Craig has agreed to join us in the summer. He comes highly recommended and once again demonstrates the great relationship we have with University sides, particularly in this case with Head Coach Chris Geddes, in identifying emerging talent.

“He clearly has big boots to fill in relation to his Grandads achievements in the game, but the important thing is for him to carve out his own path and simply be the best he can be – and we will do all we can to make that happen.”