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"The news is that in the last 20 minutes, yes 20 minutes, Ayr have signed three players, who are :
- Brian Kristensen - the Danish lad who has impressed to date. This is on a 3-month contract, which coincides with the Danish close season.
- Willie Mainge - the Cameroon international on a one-year deal.
- Dean Wordsworth - a 6ft 2in striker from C Palace on a month-to-month deal.
WJS
"Duncan George's departure from Somerset now looks imminent with Stranraer likely to re-sign the unsettled midfielder quite soon. Albion Rovers look interested also. Other players are also rumoured to be on the move as Dalziel attempts to trim his squad to a workable size. Ayr look like trying to sign Brian Kristensen on a short term deal for the start of the season and it looks like Henry Smith might depart Somerset shores. It is significant that Daz is quoted as saying the most important thing he requires is a 'big target man centre-forward' - does this spell the end for Steve Kerrigan?"
Kevin McClelland
"Ayr followed up their 5-0 win over Whitletts Vics with a 5-0 defeat of Annbank United at New Pebble Park last night. It was a mainly YTS team with a couple of exceptions, notably Steve Kerrigan and John Traynor, who were less than enamoured with being sent out to play what amounted to a bounce match in front of less than 50 people and in conditions you wouldn't have let the dog stay out in.
Team was:
David Castilla, Steven Bonar, Laurence Gibson (trialist from Clyde),
John Traynor, Keith Hogg, David Stewart, John Nolan, Neil Scally,
Steve Kerrigan,Jamie Gilliland, Richie Newall.
Subs ( who all got a game) John Bradford, Gareth Armstrong, Joe Carruth,
Mark Crilley, David Clapperton
Goals came from a Kerrigan hat-trick, Richie Newall and Laurence Gibson."
Kevin McClelland
Henderson and George next? 25/7/97
"Robert Connor and Mark Humphries were freed on Thursday. Connor turned out as a trialist for Partick against Gala Fairydean and scored one and set up one in their 4-0 victory. Darren Henderson has asked for a free transfer, which was refused and Duncan George is reported to be unhappy and probably won't be here after this season."
Kevin McClelland
"Here is the report of the Coventry game kindly sent by a gloating Sky Blues fan who used to be a friend of mine."
>This is a little excerpt from the SkyBlues mailing list:
>
>Coventry City 3-0 Ayr United
>Soltvedt (34, 71)
>Burrows (69)
>
>A good start to the two of Scotland was desperately needed, to lift the
>teams confidence. This lift came in the form of a strong 3-0 win over
>Ayr. Soltvedt opened the scoring after 34 minutes, a cross from Burrows,
>header down from Lightbourne for Soltvedt to bundle home. The second
>came after 69 minutes with aleft foot strike from David Burrows, this
>was his first goal for the club. The final goal came from the old set
>piece. A McAllister corner headed in by Soltvedt. Overall a good solid
>start.
Alan Hair"First bit of bad news is that Alain Horace is out for the start of the season with a knee injury.
Graeme Love and Jerome Vareille are expected to sign this week."
Kevin McClelland
July
19th York City (at Livingston , 3pm ko)
20th Hearts/Livi (at Livi, ko 12:45 if we lose to York, 3pm if we win)
23rd QOS Friendly
24th COVENTRY CITY Friendly
26th RANGERS Friendly
29th CARLISLE UTD Friendly
Kevin McClelland"Yesterday Ayr signed Stranraer rightback/centre half John Robertson,with no mention of a fee .I remember seeing the guy play against us in our last match at Stair Park and to be honest I thought he played like a big coo. Although I thought the same of Kerrigan when we signed him from the same source."
Graeme Robertson
"I noted this week in the papers that Paul Kinnaird has signed part time with Stranraer and that Jock McStay has signed with Clyde. Its nice to see our ex-players get themselves fixed up - especially since PK was so influential in some games in the early part of the season."
Jim Cameron
AUFC all-time Scottish Cup records compiled by Jim Cameron
Home Away Neutral
P W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A
163 32 18 26 137 105 23 11 45 125 165 2 2 4 13 15
Cumulative totals
P W D L F A
163 57 33 73 275 285
"Although the tabloids are wont to describe Ayr as a team with a cup
tradition, this is not borne out by the above numbers - especially in
recent seasons."Of the replays we have had, we have only won 6 in all of our history (most recently v Hamilton in 91).
"Grisly reading is that we haven't won in the cup since Dunfermline in 93, and haven't won at Somerset since 1987 - a sequence of 7 games. Not only that in those 7 games we have scored only once - in a 1-1 draw v. Motherwell in 92. So we had better pray for an away draw this year!"
"Main body is predomiantly white, with the sleeves 1 quarter red, and 3 quarters black. The collar has fasteners similar to last season, but the new strip will have a collar." I also think we are reverting back to black shorts next season, and I am told unofficially that the sponsor will again be the Ayrshire Post."
WJS
"The Keith Wright signing is a strong possibility as Hibs have reduced the 50,000 fee and Wright is going to reduce his personal terms. Also, Graham Love, his Hibs freed mate, is almost sure to join. Finally, there are 2 French trialists coming over when training starts to see whether they are good enough (or too good) for Ayr."
WJS
Latest prices (Division One):
Dundee 7/2
Raith 7/2
Airdrie 4/1
Falkirk 9/2
AYR UNITED 8/1
St Mirren 8/1
Partick 8/1
Hamilton 12/1
Morton 20/1
Stirling 25/1
WJS
Ayr rumoured to be interested in Dean Wordsworth (Crystal Palace reserve team striker).
11/6/97
AUFC all-time league records compiled by Jim Cameron
HOME AWAY
P W L D F A W L D F A PTS
2910 745 380 330 2862 1919 392 739 324 1995 3050 2968
"An interesting, but not unexpected mirror image effect between home and
away. Thus in the coming season we can look forward to our 750 th home
league win (surely), our 2000th away league goal- our 400th away league
win (hopefully) and going over 3000 total points."For those of a "believe it or not" frame of mind, at the end of season 95-96, Ayr's total record had Won 1114 AND Lost 1114. Personally I think that Ayr deliberately lost the last league game to even up wins and losses !
"Perusal of the statistics also shows the season just passed had Ayr equalling the least number of league defeats away from home (2), also achieved in 1959. Had the referee seen the incident at the end of the 2nd Livi game differently, or had JT's shot in the first game not been touched onto the bar, we could have had another all time record."
"The Keith Wright story gathers pace with a report in the Daily Record at the weekend stating that Ayr want him and Hibs are prepared to let him go for a small fee. Daz is trying to sort something out with the player about personal terms. I feel if this does happen and he joins Ayr, it could be the bait for other good quality players to come to Somerset.
"The Sunday Mail reported that Ayr are interested in signing another Hibs man, this time Graeme Love who has been freed by the Easter Road club. The young(ish) player is a left back/left midfielder who can get forward and score goals.
"Also on the Somerset shopping list is David Winnie, ex St Mirren, Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee who is a free agent after being released by Dundee. Another left sided player, he started his career as a left back and is now more often found in the centre of defence".
Kevin McClelland.