2008–09 Clyde F.C. season

Season 2008–09 saw Clyde compete in their ninth consecutive season in the Scottish First Division. They finished bottom of the league, and were relegated to the Scottish Second Division.

Clyde

2008–09 season
Chairman	Ian Letham
Manager	John Brown
Scottish First Division	10th
Scottish Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Challenge Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Pat Clarke (11) All: Pat Clarke (14)
Highest home attendance	2,091 vs Partick Thistle (13 September 2008)
Lowest home attendance	677 vs Montrose (29 November 2008)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Transfers

In

Player	From	Fee	Date
Stuart Kettlewell	Queens Park	Free	19 May 2008
Marc McCusker	Hearts	Free	1 June 2008
Alan Trouten	Queens Park	Free	2 June 2008
Ricky Waddell	Airdrie United	Free	2 June 2008
Willie McLaren	Unattached	Free	2 June 2008
Mark Brown	Eddlewood Amateurs	Free	4 June 2008
Sean Connolly	Hamilton Academical Youth	Free	1 July 2008
Charles McCole	Clyde Youth	Free	1 July 2008
Gerry McLaughlin	Clyde Youth	Free	1 July 2008
Michael Ohnesorge	SV Elversberg	Free	22 July 2008
Scott Gemmill	Berwick Rangers	Free	25 July 2008
Alan Lowing	Rangers	Loan	30 August 2008
Paul Emslie	Rangers	Loan	30 August 2008
Alan Lithgow	Unattached	Free	29 October 2008

Out

Player	To	Fee	Date
Iain Campbell	Kilmarnock	Loan Return	10 May 2008
Marc McCusker	Hearts	Loan Return	10 May 2008
Gary Arbuckle	Queen of the South	Free	19 May 2008
Shaun Fagan	East Fife	Free	19 May 2008
Sean McKenna	Camelon Juniors	Free	19 May 2008
Jörg Albertz	Retired	Free	31 May 2008
Steven Masterton	Greenock Morton	Free	1 June 2008
Calum McGregor	Kilwinning Rangers	Free	2 June 2008
Michael Doherty	Released	Free	2 June 2008
Paul MacDonald	Vale of Clyde	Free	2 June 2008
Juan Carrio	Glenafton Athletic	Free	2 June 2008
Ryan Craig	Goldenhill	Free	2 June 2008
Martin McGowan	Released	Free	2 June 2008
Kyle Hendry	Blackburn Rovers	Free	2 June 2008
Craig McKeown	Dundee	Free	5 June 2008
Dušan Bestvina	FC Mistelbach	Free	12 June 2008
Christian Smith	Wrexham	Free	12 June 2008
Jimmy Gibson	East Stirlingshire	Free	25 June 2008
Michael McGowan	Queen of the South	Free	30 June 2008
Kevin Bradley	Montrose	Free	30 June 2008
David McGowan	Arbroath	Loan	17 October 2008
Marc McCusker	Albion Rovers	Loan	13 December 2008
Stephen Connolly	Stenhousemuir	Loan	15 December 2008

In

Player	From	Fee	Date
Tony Stevenson	Hamilton Academical	Loan	1 January 2009
Craig O'Reilly	East Fife	Free	1 January 2009
Grégory Tadé	Stranraer	Undisclosed	24 January 2009
Robbie Winters	Unattached	Free	31 April 2009

Out

Player	To	Fee	Date
David McGowan	Arbroath	Loan	1 January 2009
Michael Ohnesorge	Released	Free	1 January 2009
Paul Emslie	Rangers	Loan Return	1 January 2009
Stephen Connolly	Stranraer	Loan	24 January 2009
Jordan Murch	Stranraer	Loan	24 January 2009
Alan Lowing	Rangers	Loan Return	31 January 2009
Craig O'Reilly	Montrose	Loan	20 March 2009
Jordan Morton	Hearts	Undisclosed	28 April 2009

Notable events

• May: The club ensure that they will be playing First Division football again after a 3–0 aggregate victory over Airdrie United in the playoff final.[1] Preparations are made for the forthcoming season, with Steven Masterton joining Greenock Morton,[2] Gary Arbuckle, Shaun Fagan and Sean McKenna being released whilst Queen's Park captain Stuart Kettlewell becomes the first summer signing.[3] Keeper Peter Cherrie and winger Dave McKay sign new deals,[4] and youngsters Jordan Murch and Stephen Connolly sign their first professional contracts.[5] Marc McCusker, who was on loan to the club last season, signs a two-year contract following his release from Hearts, whilst Jörg Albertz retires.[6] Jörg Albertz retires.
• June: Marc McCusker, who was on loan to the club last season, signs a two-year contract following his release from Hearts. He is shortly joined for Alan Trouten from Queens Park, Ricky Waddell from Airdrie United and ex St Johnstone winger Willie McLaren.[7][8] Billy Gibson and Marvyn Wilson sign new contracts, whilst all out of contract YTS players are released, including Michael Doherty, the youngest player to play in a competitive match for the club.[9][10] Mark Brown, of Eddlewood Amateurs, becomes the latest signing, after having scored the winning goal in the 2008 Scottish Amateur Cup Final.[11] Christian Smith leaves the club, along with Slovakian Dušan Bestvina, whose contract has been terminated by mutual consent.[12] Midfield dynamo Jimmy Gibson joins East Stirlingshire.[13]
• July: A 20-man squad, including a German trialist, head to Norfolk for their pre-season tour. A 4–0 victory over Great Yarmouth Town, coupled with 2–1 victories over Norwich City and King's Lynn, see the team leave with a 100% record.[14][15][16] The Bully Wee return to Rutherglen, their original heartland, to open Rutherglen Glencairn's new stadium. A late Pat Clarke header earns a 1–1 draw. A near capacity crowd at Broadwood Stadium sees Clyde, with special guest players Arthur Numan and Brian Laudrup, along with former Bully Wee midfielder Jorg Albertz, lose narrowly to Rangers.[17] The 1–0 defeat was the first loss of the pre-season. Just before the start of the season, John Brown bolsters his squad further, with the signings of German defender Michael Ohnesorge from SV Elversberg, and striker Scott Gemmill, joining from Berwick Rangers.[18][19] The first competitive game of the season sees Clyde defeat Annan Athletic 2–0 in their first match as a Scottish Football League side, with Alan Trouten scoring both goals on his debut.[20] The final friendly match sees an understrength Clyde side surprisingly defeat SPL side Hibernian 3–0, in a match to celebrate the 1958 Scottish Cup Final between the two sides.[21]

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  SCO Peter Cherrie — GK  SCO David Hutton — GK  SCO Paul McKendry — GK  SCO Gerry McLaughlin — DF  SCO Mark Brown — DF  SCO Billy Gibson — DF  SCO Chris Higgins — DF  SCO Alan Lithgow — DF  SCO Alan Lowing (on loan from Rangers) — DF  SCO Neil McGregor — DF  GER Michael Ohnesorge — DF  SCO Tony Stevenson (on loan from Hamilton Academical) — MF  SCO Stephen Connolly — MF  SCO Paul Emslie (on loan from Rangers) — MF  SCO Stuart Kettlewell (Team Captain) — MF  SCO Roddy MacLennan — MF  SCO Ruari MacLennan — MF  SCO Charles McCole

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  SCO David McGowan — MF  SCO Willie McLaren — MF  SCO Jordan Murch — MF  SCO Connor Stevenson — MF  FRA Grégory Tadé — MF  SCO Alan Trouten — MF  SCO Ricky Waddell — MF  SCO Marvyn Wilson (Club Captain) — FW  SCO Pat Clarke — FW  SCO Sean Connolly — FW  SCO Scott Gemmill — FW  SCO Steven Howarth — FW  SCO Marc McCusker — FW  SCO Dave McKay — FW  SCO Gary McSwegan — FW  SCO Jordan Morton — FW  SCO Craig O'Reilly — FW  SCO Robbie Winters

Fixtures and results

  Win   Draw   Loss   Upcoming fixture

Friendlies

Date	Opponents	Stadium	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
5 July 2008	Stirling Albion	Little Kerse	2–0	McLaren , Kettlewell  pen'	0
9 July 2008	Airdrie United	Little Kerse	1–1	own goal'	0
12 July 2008	Great Yarmouth Town	Wellesley Recreation Ground	4–0	Trouten  57', Roddy MacLennan  62'  83', Lee  78' (own goal)	284
14 July 2008	Norwich City	Colney Training Centre	2–1	McSwegan , Ohnesorge (Trialist)	0
15 July 2008	King's Lynn	The Walks Stadium	2–1	Kettlewell  27', McKay  87'	480
19 July 2008	Rutherglen Glencairn	New Southcroft Park	1–1	Clarke  85'	600
22 July 2008	Rangers	Broadwood Stadium	0–1		7,653
30 July 2008	Hibernian	Broadwood Stadium	3–0	McKay  20'  52', Roddy MacLennan  42'	934

Scottish First Division

Date	Opponents	Stadium	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	Position	Notes
2 August 2008	Greenock Morton	Broadwood Stadium	1–1	Brown  90+4'	1,638	4th	[22]
9 August 2008	Dundee	Dens Park	0–1		4,042	7th
16 August 2008	Ross County	Broadwood Stadium	2–2	Ruari MacLennan  68', Clarke  82'	966	8th
23 August 2008	Livingston	Almondvale Stadium	1–2	Clarke  29'	1,725	8th
30 August 2008	St Johnstone	McDiarmid Park	3–2	McKay  2', Gemmill  37', Waddell  81'	2,412	7th	[23]
13 September 2008	Partick Thistle	Broadwood Stadium	1–1	Clarke  69' (pen)	2,091	8th
20 September 2008	Airdrie United	Excelsior Stadium	2–0	Waddell  27', Ruari MacLennan  59'	1,489	7th
27 September 2008	Queen of the South	Broadwood Stadium	0–2		1,096	8th
4 October 2008	Dunfermline Athletic	Broadwood Stadium	0–2		1,273	9th
18 October 2008	Greenock Morton	Cappielow	0–1		2,041	9th
25 October 2008	Livingston	Broadwood Stadium	2–1	Trouten  63', McSwegan  90'	820	8th
1 November 2008	Ross County	Victoria Park	0–3		2,205	9th
8 November 2008	Partick Thistle	Firhill Stadium	0–2		3,003	10th
15 November 2008	St Johnstone	Broadwood Stadium	2–2	Clarke  17',  85'	1,603	10th	[24]
22 November 2008	Queen of the South	Palmerston Park	2–0	Clarke  55',  83'	2,324	9th
13 December 2008	Dundee	Broadwood Stadium	1–0	McLaren  66', Gemmill  68'	1,176	9th
16 December 2008	Airdrie United	Broadwood Stadium	1–0	Ruari MacLennan  47', Trouten  74'	864	7th
20 December 2008	Dunfermline Athletic	East End Park	4–4	Trouten  1', Higgins  50', Clarke  65',  70'	3,279	5th
27 December 2008	St Johnstone	McDiarmid Park	0–1	McSwegan  90'	3,491	7th
3 January 2009	Partick Thistle	Broadwood Stadium	2–4	Clarke  20',  63' (pen)	2,016	9th
17 January 2009	Livingston	Almondvale Stadium	1–1	McLaren  41'	1,354	8th
24 January 2009	Ross County	Broadwood Stadium	2–0	McLaren  44', Waddell  66'	776	8th
31 January 2009	Dundee	Dens Park	1–2	McLaren  12'	3,217	9th
22 February 2009	Airdrie United	Excelsior Stadium	0–1	Clarke  39'	1,189	9th
28 February 2009	Queen of the South	Broadwood Stadium	1–1	Trouten  9' (pen)	1,142	9th
3 March 2009	Greenock Morton	Broadwood Stadium	2–4	Ruari MacLennan  44', Gemmill  45', Gibson  61'	1,165	9th
7 March 2009	Partick Thistle	Firhill Stadium	1–0	Maxwell  54' (own goal)	3,579	9th
10 March 2009	St Johnstone	Broadwood Stadium	1–3	Lithgow  63'	1,093	9th
14 March 2009	Greenock Morton	Cappielow	0–2	Hutton  68'	2,168	10th
21 March 2009	Dunfermline Athletic	Broadwood Stadium	1–4	Ruari MacLennan  38'	1,109	10th
4 April 2009	Livingston	Broadwood Stadium	0–1	McLaren  57'	957	10th
11 April 2009	Ross County	Victoria Park	0–0		2,078	10th
18 April 2009	Airdrie United	Broadwood Stadium	3–0	Waddell  5', Ruari MacLennan  61'  74'	1,614	10th
25 April 2009	Queen of the South	Palmerston Park	1–7	McLaren  24'	2,601	10th
2 May 2009	Dundee	Broadwood Stadium	2–0	Shinnie  53' (own goal), McLaren  77'	944	10th
9 May 2009	Dunfermline Athletic	East End Park	1–1	Higgins  27'	2,418	10th

Scottish Challenge Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	Stadium	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
26 July 2008	Round 1	Annan Athletic	Broadwood Stadium	2–0	Trouten  61' (pen)  74'	688	[25][26][27][28][29]
12 August 2008	Round 2	Alloa Athletic	Recreation Park	2–0	Clarke  58', Gibson  76'	414	[30]
7 September 2008	Quarter Final	Ross County	Broadwood Stadium	0–1	McGregor  44'	756	[31]

Scottish League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	Stadium	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
5 August 2008	Round 1	Queen's Park	Broadwood Stadium	4–1	Roddy MacLennan  15', Gibson  63', McSwegan  86'  88'	690
26 August 2008	Round 2	Hamilton Academical	New Douglas Park	1–3	Clarke  19', Ohnesorge  66'	1,146

Scottish Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	Stadium	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
29 November 2008	Round 3	Montrose	Broadwood Stadium	2–0	McKay  38', Clarke  87' (pen)	677
10 January 2009	Round 4	Dunfermline Athletic	East End Park	0–2		2,871

Reserve League Cup

Date	Stage	Opponents	Stadium	Result F – A	Scorers
15 September 2008	Group	Queen's Park	Lesser Hampden	0–2
29 September 2008	Group	Stenhousemuir	Broadwood Stadium	0–1
20 October 2008	Group	Stranraer	Stair Park	7–1	McCusker , Gemmill , Waddell , Trouten , McCole , Sean Connolly
18 November 2008	Group	Airdrie United	Broadwood Stadium	1–2	McGowan
24 November 2008	Group	Queens Park	Broadwood Stadium	3–1	McSwegan , McGowan , Roddy MacLennan
9 December 2008	Group	Stenhousemuir	Ochilview Park	3–1	Ruari MacLennan , Trouten , Gemmill
12 January 2009	Group	Stranraer	Broadwood Stadium	1–1	Walker
19 January 2009	Group	Partick Thistle	Petershill Park	1–0	O'Reilly
27 January 2009	Group	Airdrie United	Broadwood Stadium	3–2	Tadé , McKay , Gemmill
17 March 2009	Group	Partick Thistle	Broadwood Stadium	2–0	McSwegan , McKay
4 May 2009	Semi Final	Ross County	Victoria Park	0–3

Friendlies

Date	Opponents	Stadium	Result F – A	Scorers
12 November 2008	Partick Thistle	Lesser Hampden	1–1	McSwegan

Player statistics

Overall

#	Player	P
GK	David Hutton	34	0	5	1
DF	Neil McGregor	9	0	4	1
DF	Billy Gibson	37	2	5	1
DF	Chris Higgins	37 (2)	2	10	0
DF	Mark Brown	29 (2)	1	4	0
MF	Roddy MacLennan	4 (2)	1	0	0
MF	Alan Trouten	18 (16)	6	5	0
MF	Stuart Kettlewell	32 (1)	0	6	0
FW	Pat Clarke	34 (1)	14	6	1
FW	Gary McSwegan	3 (19)	3	3	1
FW	Dave McKay	19 (19)	2	4	0
FW	Scott Gemmill	26 (9)	2	6	1
MF	Willie McLaren	26 (2)	6	8	1
MF	Stephen Connolly	0 (1)	0	0	0
MF	Ruari MacLennan	20 (16)	6	7	1
MF	Marvyn Wilson	18 (5)	0	8	0
GK	Peter Cherrie	9 (1)	0	1	0
MF	Ricky Waddell	27 (4)	4	8	0
MF	David McGowan	0 (2)	0	0	0
FW	Marc McCusker	0 (1)	0	0	0
MF	Jordan Murch	0 (1)	0	0	0
DF	Alan Lithgow	24	1	4	0
DF	Tony Stevenson	9	0	0	0
FW	Craig O'Reilly	0 (3)	0	0	0
MF	Grégory Tadé	11 (2)	0	2	0
FW	Robbie Winters	4 (2)	0	0	0
MF	Connor Stevenson	0 (2)	0	0	0
GK	Paul McKendry	0	0	0	0
GK	Gerry McLaughlin	0	0	0	0
DF	Michael Ohnesorge	13 (1)	0	5	1
MF	Paul Emslie	11	0	6	0
DF	Alan Lowing	19	0	1	0

First Division # Player P GK David Hutton 31 0 5 1 DF Neil McGregor 7 0 2 0 DF Chris Higgins 30 (2) 2 10 0 DF Mark Brown 24 (2) 1 4 0 MF Stuart Kettlewell 26 0 4 0 DF Billy Gibson 30 0 5 1 MF Alan Trouten 15 (12) 4 5 0 FW Scott Gemmill 23 (7) 2 5 1 FW Dave McKay 14 (18) 1 4 0 MF Willie McLaren 24 6 7 1 FW Pat Clarke 28 (1) 11 4 1 FW Gary McSwegan 2 (15) 1 3 1 MF Ruari MacLennan 16 (14) 6 6 1 MF Roddy MacLennan 1 (2) 0 0 0 MF Ricky Waddell 24 (4) 4 8 0 MF David McGowan 0 (1) 0 0 0 MF Marvyn Wilson 14 (5) 0 8 0 GK Peter Cherrie 5 (1) 0 0 0 FW Marc McCusker 0 (1) 0 0 0 MF Jordan Murch 0 (1) 0 0 0 DF Alan Lithgow 22 1 4 0 DF Tony Stevenson 9 0 0 0 FW Craig O'Reilly 0 (3) 0 0 0 MF Grégory Tadé 11 (2) 0 2 0 FW Robbie Winters 4 (2) 0 0 0 MF Connor Stevenson 0 (2) 0 0 0 DF Michael Ohnesorge 10 0 3 0 MF Paul Emslie 9 0 4 0 DF Alan Lowing 17 0 1 0

Challenge Cup # Player P GK David Hutton 1 0 0 0 DF Neil McGregor 2 0 2 1 DF Billy Gibson 3 1 0 0 DF Chris Higgins 3 0 0 0 DF Mark Brown 2 0 0 0 MF Roddy MacLennan 2 0 0 0 MF Alan Trouten 1 (2) 2 0 0 MF Stuart Kettlewell 2 (1) 0 0 0 FW Pat Clarke 2 1 2 0 FW Gary McSwegan 1 (1) 0 0 0 FW Dave McKay 3 0 0 0 FW Scott Gemmill 1 (2) 0 1 0 MF Willie McLaren 0 (1) 0 0 0 MF Stephen Connolly 0 (1) 0 0 0 GK Peter Cherrie 2 0 0 0 DF Michael Ohnesorge 2 0 0 0 MF Marvyn Wilson 1 0 0 0 MF Ruari MacLennan 1 (1) 0 1 0 MF Ricky Waddell 2 0 0 0 DF Alan Lowing 1 0 0 0 MF Paul Emslie 1 0 1 0

League Cup # Player P GK Peter Cherrie 2 0 1 0 DF Billy Gibson 2 1 0 0 MF Ruari MacLennan 2 0 0 0 DF Chris Higgins 2 0 0 0 DF Mark Brown 2 0 0 0 MF Stuart Kettlewell 2 0 1 0 MF Alan Trouten 1 (1) 0 0 0 MF Marvyn Wilson 2 0 0 0 FW Scott Gemmill 2 0 0 0 FW Pat Clarke 2 1 0 0 MF Roddy MacLennan 1 1 0 0 MF Willie McLaren 0 (1) 0 0 0 DF Michael Ohnesorge 1 (1) 0 2 1 FW Gary McSwegan 0 (1) 2 0 0 MF Ricky Waddell 1 0 0 0 FW Dave McKay 0 (1) 0 0 0 MF David McGowan 0 (1) 0 0 0

Scottish Cup # Player P GK David Hutton 2 0 0 0 DF Alan Lowing 1 0 0 0 DF Mark Brown 1 0 0 0 DF Chris Higgins 2 0 0 0 DF Billy Gibson 2 0 0 0 DF Alan Lithgow 2 0 0 0 FW Dave McKay 2 1 0 0 MF Stuart Kettlewell 2 0 1 0 FW Pat Clarke 2 1 0 0 MF Paul Emslie 1 0 1 0 MF Willie McLaren 2 0 1 0 MF Ruari MacLennan 1 (1) 0 0 0 FW Gary McSwegan 0 (2) 0 0 0 MF Alan Trouten 1 (1) 0 0 0 MF Marvyn Wilson 1 0 0 0

• Note: Players in italics have left the club

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
6	Greenock Morton	36	12	11	13	40	40	0	47
7	Livingston (R)	36	13	8	15	56	58	−2	47[lower-alpha 1]
8	Ross County	36	13	8	15	42	46	−4	47
9	Airdrie United	36	10	12	14	29	43	−14	42[lower-alpha 2]	Qualification for the First Division Play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
10	Clyde (R)	36	10	9	17	41	58	−17	39	Relegation to the Second Division

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Demoted to 3rd Division for Financial Irregularities
2. Spared Relegation as Losing Finalist in the playoff due to Livingston
3. The 9th placed team will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2009–10 First Division.

Notes

1. Clyde 3–0 Airdrie United Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 29 May 2008
2. Morton capture Clyde's Masterton BBC Sport – Retrieved 29 May 2008
3. Kettlewell agrees to Clyde move BBC Sport – Retrieved 29 May 2008
4. McKay and Cherrie sign on Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 29 May 2008
5. Two youngsters step up Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 29 May 2008
6. McCusker joins up Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 1 June 2008
7. Clyde swoop to sign three players BBC Sport – Retrieved 4 June 2008
8. Clyde give McLaren fresh chance BBC Sport – Retrieved 4 June 2008
9. Gibson and Wilson extend stay Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 2 June 2008
10. The joy of six Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 2 June 2008
11. Brown on Board Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 4 June 2008
12. Two players depart Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 12 June 2008
13. East Stirlingshire sign up Gibson BBC Sport – Retrieved 19 July 2008
14. Great Yarmouth Town 0–4 Clyde Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 19 July 2008
15. Tour Success Continues Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 19 July 2008
16. King's Lynn 1–2 Clyde Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 19 July 2008
17. Clyde 0–1 Rangers Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 25 July 2008
18. Clyde capture versatile German BBC Sport – Retrieved 25 July 2008
19. Gemmill given new chance by Clyde BBC Sport – Retrieved 25 July 2008
20. Clyde 2–0 Annan Athletic BBC Sport – Retrieved 7 March 2009
21. Clyde 3–0 Hibernian Clyde FC Website – Retrieved 7 March 2009
22. Debut of Michael Ohnesorge
23. Debut of Alan Lowing
24. Debut of Alan Lithgow
25. Debut of Mark Brown
26. Debut of Alan Trouten
27. Debut of Stuart Kettlewell
28. Debut of Scott Gemmill
29. Debut of Willie McLaren
30. Debut of Ricky Waddell
31. Debut of Paul Emslie