WITH A new season on the horizon the rigours of pre-season training are thankfully coming to an end. All footballers, whether full-time professionals or part-timers, need to do some form of training in the summer, the difference is the full-time pros know it is their livelihood, whereas the part-timers in the lower divisions have other commitments – and usually another source of income.
Before going part-time for the first time in my career last season with East Fife, I used to take it for granted that you would go away for a pre-season tour, whether it was in Scotland or Europe. I'd failed to consider that most of the players
at part-time clubs have day jobs and cannot get the time off. Pre-season trips are therefore organised around weekends.
For example, my East Fife team-mates and I had to take a Friday off work so we could catch a ferry to Ireland to play a game in the evening and another on the Saturday. That's another difference; when you're a full-time pro, teams can afford to go away for longer and build in more rest time between games.
The actual training itself has never bothered me. Since I was 16 I have always pounded the streets in the summer to maintain a level of fitness. Somehow, no matter how tough the schedule, the body always manages to come out the other side. I'm glad to say that over the years the gut-wrenching trips to the sand dunes of Gullane have become less frequent as coaches put a greater emphasis on ball work.
This season's Second Division will be contested solely by part-time teams, although some clubs have a smattering of full-time players who train on their own some days and a couple of evenings with the rest of their team-mates.
It's difficult for clubs in Scotland to break into the Premier League or even maintain their First Division status if they are a part-time team playing full-timers. Over the course of a campaign the difference will shine through, as Stirling Albion found to their cost last season when they were relegated after a season in the First Division. Surely now, after the Gretna debacle, would be a great time to secure the future of Scottish football by increasing the size of the Premier League.
Of course, the summer is always a busy time for transfers and my own team, East Fife, have made arguably the biggest signings of any Second Division team with the capture of Stevie Crawford and Goran Stanic. The pair join an already large contingent of ex-Raith Rovers players at Bayview – eight at the last count. I can imagine the East Fife fans will be looking forward to derbies with Raith this season and, just to add a little more spice, our chairman was previously with Rovers.
The Kirkcaldy club just missed out in the play-offs last season on promotion to the First Division and John McGlynn and his squad will know what is needed to be done to go up this year. They will start as one of the favourites, although they will miss the hard work and goals of my old colleague Steven Hislop who has suffered a cruciate knee injury which will keep him out most of the season.
Stirling Albion will have high hopes of bouncing straight back up to the First Division and have been busy in the transfer market, compensating for losing some of their experienced players, including Paul Nugent who has signed for East Fife. Nugent's arrival looks like a good piece of business as he has done extremely well in pre-season games. Stirling will benefit from John O'Neill, who has joined as player/coach from Queen of the South and will add valuable experience to Allan Moore's squad.
The busiest team in the transfer market have been Ayr United. Manager Brian Reid has got hold of his chairman's wallet and proceeded to empty it with signings such as veteran defender Scott Walker (he's three years younger than me!) and striker Bryan Prunty.
The league will definitely be wide open with Brechin and Peterhead adding to squads that just missed out on the play-offs last year. Looks like an interesting season ahead: all I need now is Brechin in the Scottish Cup so we can play each other seven times (we've already been drawn against them in the League Cup). Surely that alone is enough for league reconstruction.
