Killie: Season to forget part 2

Jul 2 2008

KILLIE managed a win against top six clubs Motherwell, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hibernian, but they lost twice to each of them as well.

The 2-1 away victory against Motherwell on August 18 was the ninth time Killie had beaten them at Fir Park in the Premier Division/SPL and 29th time in all league games since 1895 – both these totals making ‘Well the club Killie have had the most away wins against, not only in the Premier Division/SPL, but also in all league games.

It was also Killie’s 72nd overall league win against them, home and away, making Motherwell the club Killie has recorded the most wins against in league football.

In the other two meetings, Motherwell won 1-0 on both occasions. The first of those wins was at Rugby Park on November 24, with the goal-scorer being Phil O’Donnell – who tragically collapsed and died during a game against Dundee United at Fir Park five weeks later. The goal against Killie was his last-ever goal for ‘Well.

The other 1-0 win for Motherwell was at Fir Park on February 9, their winning goal in injury time scored by David Clarkson, Phil O’Donnell’s nephew.

Kilmarnock unluckily lost 1-0 at home to Aberdeen on September 1, and lost again 2-1 away on December 8. However, they recorded a 3-1 win at home against Aberdeen on February 24 – their 26th win home and away against them in the Premier Division/SPL — making Aberdeen the club they have beaten most often in the Premier Division/SPL since it began in 1975.

In the three games against Dundee United, Killie won 2-1 at home on August 13, but then lost the next couple of meetings, 2-0 away on November 10 and 2-1 at home on January 26.

Killie beat Hibernian 2-1 at home on Boxing Day, their 75th home win in the SPL since it began in 1998, but lost twice away, 4-1 on September 29 and 2-0 on March 15.

Kilmarnock began the season well, a brave 0-0 draw away to the reigning Champions, Celtic on August 5 ending a terrible run of 14 successive defeats at Celtic Park in the league, and earned them their first point at the home of Celtic since a 1-1 draw on 12/9/1998.

They were a shade unlucky to lose the other two games against Celtic, 2-1 at home on November 3, and 1-0 at Celtic Park on January 19, which means Celtic have won on their last 10 visits, stretching their unbeaten league run at Rugby Park to 13 games (12 wins and a draw) since Killie’s last win — 1-0 on 20/5/2001. Kilmarnock has now gone almost 53 years without a win at Celtic Park, spanning 55 games (50 league, five Cup ties). They last won at Celtic, 2-0 on 10/12/1955.

Rangers were the only club Kilmarnock failed to get a point from in the league, with the eventual league runners-up winning all three games, 2-1 on August 25 and 2-0 on February 17 at Rugby Park, and 2-0 at Ibrox on December 1. Rangers are unbeaten in the league at Killie’s home ground in 25 games (9 draws, 16 wins). Killie’s last home win was on 7/5/1994, when they won 1-0.

Alan Combe was the Kilmarnock player with the most league appearances, playing in 37 of the 38 games.

The only game he missed was the embarrassing 4-2 away defeat from Gretna. James Fowler celebrated his 250th league appearance for the club in the 2-0 away win over Hearts.

He has now made 251 (210 +41 sub) appearances, and has moved into 21st place in the all-time league appearances list at the club.

Garry Hay has moved into 28th place in the all-time league appearances list, with a total of 233 (214 +19 sub) appearances.

Top league goal-scorer was Colin Nish with seven, even although he left the club at the end of January, after 22 (20 +2 sub) league appearances this season.

The departure of both the club’s top goal-scorers from the last couple of seasons was a severe blow. Steven Naismith left in August for Rangers having made 87 (+15 sub) league appearances, scoring 28 (7 pens) goals. In all competitions, he made 98 (+17 sub) appearances, scoring 34 (8 pens) goals.

Colin Nish left in January for Hibernian, having made 100 (+45 sub) league appearances, scoring 41 (2 pens) goals. In all competitions, he made 115 (46 sub) appearances, scoring 47 (3 pens) goals.

In the CIS Insurance Scottish League Cup, Killie beat Peterhead 3-0 away in the second round on August 28, but lost in the third round 2-0 away to Hamilton Academical on September 25. The game against Peterhead was Killie’s first-ever meeting with the Aberdeenshire club in any competition, and it was also the last appearance in a Killie jersey by Steven Naismith, who scored one of the goals.

In the Scottish Cup, Killie won 2-0 away to Airdrie United in the fourth Round on January 28, but they ended up being heavily beaten 5-1 at home by Celtic on February 2 in the fifth round. Incidentally, the attendance at this cup game with Celtic was only 6,491 — the lowest post Second World War attendance at Rugby Park for a Scottish League/SPL, League Cup or Scottish FA cup game between Kilmarnock and Celtic.

The game with Airdrie United had been postponed a few times before being eventually played.

It was Killie’s first official visit in a competitive game to the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium, more commonly known as New Broomfield Park, where Jamie Hamill scored his first goal for the club, and Colin Nish scored his last from a penalty.

Nish thus became the first Kilmarnock player in over 70 years to score in five successive seasons in the Scottish Cup. Jock McEwan was the last, actually doing it in six successive seasons (1929-1934).

The league attendances at home showed a substantial drop. The biggest attendance was 11,546 v Rangers on August 25, the lowest being 4,086 v Gretna on April 26.

The total of attendances at the 19 home games was 117,445, giving an average of approximately 6,181.

In comparison to the 2006-07 season, this showed a worrying drop in the total attendance of 18,754, with the average falling by 1,385. Note: In only 18 home games in the league in 2006-07, the total was 136,199, giving an average of approximately 7,566.

Six Kilmarnock games were shown live on television during the season, five SPL games by Setanta Sports, and the cup match against Celtic by the BBC.

Killie managed to win only one of these games, the Monday evening 2-1 home win over Dundee United on August 13. They drew 0-0 with Celtic on August 5 in the only away game shown live, but lost all the others televised at home.

On the international front, a trio of Killie players won honours with Scotland at under-21 level. Steven Naismith, Jamie Hamill and Ryan O’Leary all played in the 1-0 win over the Czech Republic at the Falkirk Stadium on August 21, with Naismith captaining the team and scoring the only goal. Hamill and O’Leary were actually making their under-21 debuts in the game.

The game was Steven Naismith’s last honour whilst a Killie player, and brought his total of under-21 caps with Killie to eight (he also won a full cap and two B caps), while Jamie Hamill went on to win nine caps by the end of the season, and Ryan O’Leary ended up with two.

For the seventh time in the club’s history, Rugby Park was used as the venue for the final of the Scottish Junior FA Cup. On June 1, Bathgate Thistle beat Cumnock Juniors 2-1 watched by a crowd of 6,100.

There was also a Scottish under-21 international at the ground on May 20, but Scotland lost 4-1 to Norway.

There was sad news towards the end of the season when former Kilmarnock player and manager Tommy Burns died.

The 51-year-old had been a great servant and inspirational figure on the field in the club’s rise from the second division to the first, and then, as player-manager, he guided the club to the premier division and helped preserve that status in the first all-important season back up.

All true Kilmarnock supporters will never forget his considerable contribution during this legendary period of the club’s history.

Despite the fact that 2007-08 was undoubtedly a poor one by the standards of the previous seasons, there were a few good points that give hope that next season could well see a return to better times.

Mehdi Taouil certainly proved a classy signing, and hopes are high that he will remain at Rugby Park and sign a longer deal for next season.

Willie Gibson and Craig Bryson will also have benefited from their first full season in the SPL, with Bryson especially being a real find. Full marks to the manager for snapping him up from Clyde last summer.

Tim Clancy also looked good at full back until his nasty ankle injury towards the end of the season, and hopefully he can regain that form.

Jim Jefferies is also still hoping to add a couple of more players before the season starts, in addition to the couple of new signings (Allan Russell and Gavin Skelton) that he has already made.

If he does get them, and they can all slot in quickly, and more importantly, the squad can stay relatively injury-free, then we may well see Kilmarnock back up where they should be — challenging for a place in the top half of the table.

Five other players were named as substitutes in the league campaign, but not used: Paul McInnes (3), Kyle Wright (2), Scott Noble (4), Damien Rascle (12) and Scott Anson (1). The last named player, Scott Anson was voted the under-19 Player of the Year by the SPFA.

Gary Wales made 67 (+ 39 subs) league appearances, scoring 16 times. In all competitions he made 75 (+ 45 subs) appearances and scored 18 goals.

Paul Di Giacomo spent 10 years at the club, during which time he had loan spells with Stirling Albion and Partick Thistle. He made 41 (+ 63 subs) league appearances, scoring 13 goals. In all competitions, he made 47 (+ 69 subs) appearances, scoring 14 goals. He holds the club record for appearances as a substitute in the league. His 63 substitute appearances beat the previous holder Mark Roberts, who came on as a substitute in league games on 58 occasions.