Needless to say, Hamilton Academical’s start to the season has been fractious. After being relegated due to administrative breaches — accompanied by a transfer ban — and relocated following a dispute with the stadium owners at New Douglas Park, fans have openly protested outside their new temporary home in Cumbernauld. It puts into perspective the admirable work that manager John Rankin is doing on the pitch to keep his side resilient amid the off-field distractions and top of the William Hill League 1 table.

The league opening

To open the season, Hamilton handily dispatched a tricky Montrose side. Oli Shaw and Charlie Telfer, who appeared as a trialist, bagged the goals as Accies began their nomadic season away from home in comfortable fashion.

The second game, against Queen of the South, saw Hamilton blow away the Dumfries side and collect a few goals for the highlight reels. Connor Smith opened the scoring with a thunderous strike from 25 yards inside the half-hour mark, and Charlie Telfer rattled in a sensational half-volley into the top corner. Reece Lyon nodded one in for Queen of the South just after half-time following a slick move, but they were swiftly brought back down to earth by Connor Smith’s second — an inspired curling effort from 20 yards. Steven Bradley bagged the fourth to cap a dominant display against one of the title hopefuls.

First wobbles?

However, it’s not all rosy in the garden. Last week, Hamilton faced a very different test in the shape of Dick Campbell’s East Fife. Alloa have already had a taste of the effective, physical football that the Methil side brings, and the challenge proved too much. At Cumbernauld, the visitors grabbed all three points. While Scott Robinson opened the scoring and Hamilton went in at the break ahead, an inspired second-half substitution in Rob Jones changed the game. The big striker scored twice in just eight minutes on the park as Hamilton fell completely out of the game.

Hamilton remain on top of the pile and on paper, Hamilton might expect to keep up the form they showed last time in League 1, when they kept pace with back-to-back title winners Falkirk early in the season. But it perhaps highlights a lack of depth to change the game if the starting eleven begin to fatigue which will certainly be a interesting element to keep an eye on as the season continues.

New signings with a twist

Despite the transfer ban, Hamilton have added to their team — albeit through amateur contracts.

• Cale Loughrey, a 24-year-old Canadian centre-back, arrives after a spell in the Romanian second tier.
• 21 year-old midfielder Michael Stone also joined on amateur terms after leaving Huddersfield Town last season.
• Idris Munir, a Nigerian U23 international, joined from Drumchapel United, where he was their Young Player of the Season.

It’s a big step up to League 1, and it remains to be seen whether that leap is too much for all the trialists. You’d imagine that if they’re good enough, they’ll attract paid offers elsewhere. Nonetheless, it’s been a very different summer transfer window — one with a few left-field signings whose progress will be interesting to monitor.

Last meeting

Hamilton and Alloa last met in the League 1 play-offs in May 2024. It was a winner-take-all affair after a 2-2 first leg in Clackmannanshire. While the Wasps scored early through Quinn Coulson, Reghan Tumilty and Lewis Smith turned the scoreline on its head to make it 2-1 to the hosts. A complete moment of madness from Morgyn Neill saw the defender booked and then red-carded within a minute of the second goal. While the 10 men of Alloa battled back through Conor Sammon in the 57th minute, the man advantage proved too much, and Akeem Rose secured Hamilton’s passage into the final to face a beleaguered Inverness — a match in which Accies ultimately won promotion comfortably.

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New Chapter at Ibrox – Ambition and Fresh Direction

The summer of 2025 marked a new era for Rangers. The arrival of new majority owners, led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises, brought a wave of optimism to Ibrox. Former Southampton manager Russell Martin was appointed in June, tasked with blending his possession-based philosophy and replicating the exciting attacking style that saw the Saints promoted back to the Premier League.

Summer Recruitment

It’s been a busy window for Rangers confirming 10 additions to the squad:

Mixed start – European Heavyweights vs domestic struggles

Rangers’ early-season form has been something of a tale of two campaigns. On the continental stage, they have handled high-pressure situations well, progressing through the Champions League qualifying rounds first with a tricky tie against Panathanaikos and then gaining a particularly impressive first-leg win over Viktoria Plzen that proved too difficult for the Czechs to overturn at home. They’ve set themselves up with a great chance of making the Champions League Group stages with a playoff against Club Brugge standing between Rangers and a guaranteed £15.64 million (€18.62 million).

Domestically, however, results have been slower to gather momentum. Opening with consecutive draws against Motherwell and Dundee, Rangers have found opponents prepared to sit deep and frustrate them, limiting the space for their attacking players to operate. While they have enjoyed large spells of possession, turning that control into clear chances has been a challenge. That’s brought inevitable pressure and the kind of criticism that goes hand in hand with the high standards set at Rangers.

Ones to watch

However, that being said having a cup weekend against lower league opposition may see expanded opportunities for the mavericks in Rangers squad to come in and impress.

Mikey Moore, everyone’s favourite FM24 wonderkid has finally been registered, and may well make his debut for the ‘Gers. Tottenham have reaffirmed their faith in the 18 year old loanee after handing him a new long term deal just this week and he’s an intriguing prospect to come into the Rangers team.

Thelo Aasgaard, the Norwegian international, has set himself apart from his peers while in the Championship. Few rivalled his combination of relentless shooting, consistent chance creation, and composure in possession – qualities underpinned by his commanding dribbling ability and repertoire of tricks. Though injuries have hampered his summer, the upcoming clash with Alloa could mark his first appearance at Ibrox.

Hamza Igamane – the Morrocan has only managed 15 minutes at the tail end of the 2-0 win over Panathanaikos this term but Russell Martin praised him for his ‘raw natural ability’ and may well have a chance to prove himself with Cyriel Dessers knee injury sustained against Viktoria Plzen. Last season he managed 16 goals with some exceptional strikes. A finisher with both feet, and a nutmeg connoisseur, he’s an extremely enjoyable player to watch.

Avengers jokes are also banned for this weekend – the inevitable headline for Oliver ‘Antman and the Wasps’ – is sure to feature somewhere if the Finnish international picks his killer passes in the final third and Djeidi Gassama – ‘the Gasman’ – so named for his ability to ignite games are other obvious candidates to keep an eye on but from an Alloa perspective we might hope to see them rested with bigger fish to fry coming up for our hosts.

The last meeting

Rangers last meeting with Alloa was on trophy day in 2016. Alloa pegged Rangers back early as Michael Duffy raced through to score a pinpoint bottom corner finish to put a potential dampener on any title celebrations. James Tavernier grabbed an equaliser on the cusp of half time but the Champions failed to deliver three points against Jack Ross’ already relegated Wasps.

The head to head

Alloa have somewhat surprisingly garnered a very good record in the head to head. The teams shared a division over 2014-16 and met each other in the 2014-15 Petrofac Cup semi-final. A Greig Spence double and a goal from Ryan McCord saw Alloa pick up the first win in their history against the Glasgow giants.

It means in the last 9 games Alloa have won 1, drawn 5 and lost 3 – a very respectable run for the Wee County side.

Can the 2025/26 crop of Alloa stars produce a cup shock on the grandest of stages in Scottish football? Before kickoff it’s a challenge that few believe that they can overcome, but one thing is for sure, dreams are made for nights like this.

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Our Premier Sports Cup Second Round match against Rangers has been chosen for TV broadcast and will take place at Ibrox Stadium on Saturday 16 August, 17:45 (BST) kick-off.

Ticket Prices

Adult – £22 
Concession – £16 (over 65’s & 16/17-year-olds) 
Junior £10 (under 16’s) 
There’s a limited number of Wheelchair disabled – adult £16, concession £10 & junior £6. Companions – free of charge.

Ambulant disabled supporters pay the age-appropriate price. If a companion is required, the companion ticket is free of charge. We accept DLA or PIP as qualifying benefits.

Tickets are collect only – available from:
Lime Tree House
North Castle Street
Alloa
FK10 1EX

Opening Hours:

Mon 11th – Fri 16th: 9:30am – 4:30pm

Late Pickup Hours
Wednesday & Thursday: 6-8pm

We’re delighted to have entered in to a loan cooperation agreement with Rangers FC.

The new system provides greater flexibility to the previous domestic loan quotas by enabling players in the key ‘transition phase’ of 16-21, who are eligible to represent the Scotland national teams, to join a lower-league club but be able to move between the parent and cooperation club throughout the season.

In recent seasons we’ve welcomed successful loanees from Rangers in Murray Miller, Jay Hogarth and Josh Gentles – and this agreement will allow more flexibility for young Scottish talent to develop with first team opportunities at Alloa.

Andy Graham, Alloa Athletic Manager had this to say:

We are pleased to have finalised the co-operation agreement with Rangers, and over the course of the season, I believe it’ll be one that benefits us as a squad as well as any player who comes out to Alloa.

Last season, we had Josh Gentles with us for six months, and his attitude and approach to moving to part-time football were fantastic. That’s a credit to him, but also to the staff at Rangers for preparing him properly. Building from that, we were always in discussions about further loans, and now we have the cooperation agreement in place.

I believe it could be a real positive for young players if it’s utilized in the right way, and that’s something we’ll be working hard to achieve over the coming months.

We’re pleased to announce that Luke Watkins, 19, has signed his first professional contract with the club.

The talented youngster has featured regularly throughout our pre-season campaign, making appearances against Falkirk, East Stirlingshire, Livingston, and Raith Rovers and providing a torrid time to defenders cutting in from the wing.

His inclusion in the first team squad takes our academy produced players to six. We look forward now to seeing him progress at Alloa.

Promotion Glory – But a Difficult Start in League One

Dick Campbell once again showcased his famed Midas touch last season, guiding East Fife to promotion via the William Hill League One Playoff. They bounced back impressively after narrowly missing out on the title in a head-to-head clash with Peterhead on the penultimate day. Winning the play-offs was no small feat — but just weeks into the new campaign, it’s already clear that the Methil side are facing a stern test at the higher level.

Summer Departures & Slim Recruitment

The summer exodus hit East Fife hard. Kallum Higginbotham, Stewart Murdoch, Scott Shepherd, Gordon Walker, Allan Fleming, and Jack Healy all departed, leaving behind a skeleton squad. In response, the Fifers managed just three summer additions in what’s proved a difficult market:

• Lewis Latona (loan, Livingston)
• Ewan McLeod (loan, Dunfermline)
• Tommy Goss (loan, Annan)

East Fife missed out on re-signing last season’s first-choice goalkeeper — and League 2’s standout stopper — as Liam McFarlane instead joined the Wasps on loan. He’s already shown impressive performances in goals for Alloa picking up the goalkeeping spot for last week’s SPFL Team of the Week. Although the giant 19-year-old Matty Rollo has stepped up as East Fife’s starting keeper, the lack of depth meant they were forced to name a trialist in the sticks for their opening league game at Peterhead.

Opening Day Setback

That opener at Balmoor was one to forget. Despite taking the lead through Lewis Latona, East Fife collapsed to a 4–1 defeat, conceding four unanswered goals as Peterhead romped to the day’s biggest scoreline. Missing six players through injury, including key attackers Adam Laaref and Michael McKenna, the Fifers worries over the paper thin squad again rang true as Peterhead enjoyed a very comfortable flag day with a table topping finish.

Premier Sports Cup Recap

East Fife’s League Cup group stage campaign yielded no major shocks, but there were positive signs:

• 1–0 win over League 1 rivals Kelty Hearts
• Comfortable victory against Brora Rangers

The inevitable name of the scoresheet? Alan Trouten, the former Alloa talisman, who continues to roll back the years. After a remarkable 22-goal campaign last season, Trouten swept up the League 2 Top Goalscorer, League 2 Player of the Season, and the the PFA League 2 Player of the Season awards.

As he approaches his 40th birthday, question whether he can carry East Fife’s attacking burden in League One at your peril.

Trouten will be joined by a reinvigorated Nathan Austin, who had returned to looking like the player of old that saw him step up to full time football. While injury plagued his previous stint in League One with Kelty, Austin has bagged 13 goals in each of his last two League 2 campaigns.

And just this week the addition of Tommy Goss gives another potent attacking option – if he can keep fit. The towering striker managed just under a goal every three games as Annan avoided the drop in 2023-24 but an injury laden season saw him score just two goals in nine appearances in the entirety of last season. He’s an imposing target to hit aerially and ticks all the boxes that a more explosive and technical Austin might not which gives East Fife a full range of attacking options if they need a plan B.

Familiar Faces to watch out for

There are a few names in East Fife’s squad that will be familiar to the Alloa fans:

• Reis Peggie, who featured in the 2019–20 season
• Connor McManus, who made his senior debut for Alloa while on loan from Celtic in 2015–16 under Danny Lennon

Last Time Out at Methil

The last meeting between the sides at Bayview saw Alloa secure their biggest winning margin of the 2021-22 league season in a commanding performance.

Kevin Cawley broke the deadlock with his 71st goal for the club, finishing off a slick move involving MacIver, Henderson, and Boyd.

Stefan Scougall then dazzled with a winding run into the box, drawing a foul and calmly dispatching the resulting penalty.

Steven Boyd was involved again as Henderson’s strike deflected off him to wrongfoot goalkeeper Jude Smith and wrap up a 3–0 win.

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