Latest news with #HonestMen
Glasgow Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Celtic youngster completes Scottish Championship loan move
The teenager impressed in pre-season with Brendan Rodgers' first team, playing in a holding midfield role. He will now spend the season with the Honest Men and is on the bench for their Premier Sports Cup tie against St Mirren this afternoon. Read more: He joins fellow Celtic starlet Jude Bonnar in the squad, who also recently joined Ayr on loan. Bonnar made an impression on his debut, scoring in a 4-0 win over Arbroath last weekend. He told the club's media after the match: "Right from when I came in, all the boys and the staff have welcomed me very well. "When I heard I had the opportunity to come here, I agreed straight away. "It's good to be here, getting professional games under my belt. "My goal, I just dropped to the edge of the box, seen I had a lot of space."
Daily Record
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Ayr United's George Oakley on loving life on and off the pitch as striker sizzles at Somerset
The number nine has been in ruthless form during the Premier Sports Cup. George Oakley says life has never been better as he sets a sizzling early season pace. The striker has fired five goals in three Premier Sports Cup games to get his new campaign off to a flier. His rapid start is all the more remarkable following a low key pre-season in which he recovered from a knee injury. But Oakley reckons that may be the secret to his success as he sets the early tempo for Scott Brown's Honest Men. Oakley told the Ayrshire Post:"Pre-season was a bit slow for me if I'm honest, but it had to be that way due to the knee issue. "I had been playing with the problem towards the end of last season, but it's perfectly fine now. "I only played my first game a week before the League Cup season started, so I've managed to hit the ground running. "To be fair, having that extra time off has probably helped my body to recover and I feel fresher for it. "I'm just glad to be back out there and doing what I do best." Oakley has looked razor sharp since returning and scored in every game of Ayr's Group D campaign. He followed up a hat trick at Annan with a goal off the bench against Arbroath on Saturday - and struck with another fine finish against Forfar last night. Other first half goals from Dom Thomas and Curtis Main ensured Ayr eased to the top of the group. And Oakley believes United, who have been smart in their recruitment of experience this summer, are in good shape ahead of the new season. He added: "We've kept a lot of the core from last year and it was a case of adding the right type to that. The ones who've come in have settled very well as you can see. "Everyone knows what their job is and of course there's still a lot of bonding to do as a new team, but the early signs are good. "As a striker you just want to go out there without a care in the world and play freely, which is what I'm doing at the moment. I just want to keep that going. "Everything is good for me both on and off the pitch right now and that counts for a lot. I'm enjoying myself and looking forward to every game." Assistant manager Steven Whittaker hailed Oakley's quick start and said: "George missed a bit of pre-season, which we worried about, but he's been brilliant since coming back in. "We know what he gives us - he's got great running power and is clinical with his chances which he's showing right now. I'm looking forward to seeing him in the games coming up."
The National
21-06-2025
- Sport
- The National
Ayr United chairman on Scott Brown, new pitch, and legacy
Not that the Honest Men aren't doing well enough. They finished last season in third place in The Championship, with the only real disappointment being a late dip in form that eventually saw them crash out of the Premiership play-offs to the aforementioned Maryhill Magyars. You could be forgiven for thinking though that the Somerset Park side have been rechristened 'Former Celtic captain Scott Brown's Ayr United', a phrase which, thanks to the modern-day need to kowtow to our search engine masters, has featured in just about every headline about the club over the past year and a half. Still, for chairman David Smith, it's a small price to pay simply to have Brown in the dugout. 'We will never beat that in the press, it's always going to be there,' Smith said. 'It's clickbait, isn't it? We were fully aware of that, and we were fully aware that he was a bit box office and so was [assistant manager] Steven Whittaker when he came in. 'We can deal with that.' Another thing both Smith and Ayr have had to deal with this summer has been their management team being linked with just about every vacancy in Scotland, bar the one at Ibrox, of course. What added fuel to that fire was an emotional post-match interview after the defeat to Thistle at Somerset, where a clearly seething Brown blasted that he didn't recognise his team, accused his players of not even trying to win the game, and said he would have to think about his future. That may have set alarm bells ringing among the support, but Smith was confident that a bit of distance would result in some perspective being applied, and Brown returning laser-focused on bettering their efforts next season. 'I think Scott's interview was taking a bit out of context if I'm honest with you,' he said. 'Things have calmed down and we've reflected on what I look at as a really successful season for a variety of reasons. (Image: SNS Group) 'Off the park, we had the new stand opening, and it did exactly what we designed it to do. We smashed the hospitality last year with record numbers. So, that was good, and there are lots of other off the park infrastructure projects we're working on too. 'The academy stuff that we're doing in the community was really good, and then you come to the team. 'When we do our board meetings, we break the season down into quarters and Scott gets the stats, and the first three quarters were amazing. The last quarter, we kind of fell off a cliff a wee bit, and we all recognised that. Read more: 'So, whilst that was disappointing, it was still our highest points tally in The Championship, so that's a real great stat in itself. 'I think there was a lot of good to come out of last season. The fan numbers were up, we played some really good football, and I think everybody recognises that the last quarter wasn't brilliant. 'It's been a tough couple of months, but still it was a really successful season, and I think the relationship I've got with Scott is stronger than ever. 'If I'm honest, I don't feel any pressure about Scott and Steven potentially leaving. They get linked with every job really, but every conversation I've had with them, there's no short-term approach to it. It's all long-term. 'I think what we've given them and what they've given us really complements each other as a club and as people, and I'm not sure you would get that everywhere. "We've not quite thrown them the keys and said get on with running the football club, but what we have done is said look, you know we'll obviously do checks and balances and all that kind of stuff, but the style of play, recruitment, training days, all that kind of stuff, how we're going to run the catering and all that, it's your call. 'We'll check and balance it and discuss it and we'll see what we can and can't afford and have open conversations about that stuff, and I'm not sure you get that anywhere else. They're fully aware of that. 'We try to promote Ayr United as a family club and a community club, because that's what we are, and Scott and Steven's wives and kids are at every game, their mums and dads come to the games and we know them all, and we've socialised with them all. 'So, I don't see it as a short-term appointment, and I genuinely don't think they do either. 'Don't get me wrong, if the right opportunity came along and it was a big draw we'd have a conversation, shake hands, say all the very best and give us some loans if you end up at a really good club! 'We're fully aware that that's the deal with Ayr United. Come along, make us as successful as you can, and if we happen to be a stepping stone for you to go on to bigger and better things, that's fine.' Moving the club on to bigger and better things, both on and off the park, has been Smith's mission statement since he took the helm four and a half years ago now. And looking to the setbacks of the recent past, particularly the poor form he references in the final quarter of the season, has helped both him and Brown to understand how they can avoid similar pitfalls next term. Recruitment has been going at a steady clip, with experience at the level being one of the main qualities that Ayr have been looking to bring into the club. While the likes of Mikey Devlin have left, seasoned campaigners like David Mitchell, Shaun Want, Liam Dick and Stuart Bannigan have been brought in, and Smith believes their Championship know-how could be key. 'I think resilience in the squad in The Championship is really important,' he said. 'We lost that in the last quarter, and actually all the defensive frailties coincided with when Mikey Devlin got injured and stopped playing for the season. (Image: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group) 'Having his leadership was vital. We had a young squad on the pitch and there was probably a little bit of a lack of leadership, particularly in the back five, so that is predominantly the reason that we fell away in the last quarter. 'I think Scott has probably learnt a few lessons over the last year in terms of recruitment. Who we recruited in goals, for instance. We've got somebody in [in Mitchell] that we wanted, somebody experienced, who is vocal, that's good with their feet, so that's what we were looking for and I think that's a real step forward. 'In terms of the rest of the recruitment, everybody's shopping in the same marketplace, so we've tried to break that in the past by bringing people up from England and we've had varying degrees of success. 'This season, we're very much focused on Scottish Championship experience, Premiership experience, that's kind of where we are. 'But the squad's coming together well. I think potentially we've got a stronger squad this year than we did last year.' Off the field (well, the Somerset Park one anyway), Smith is hoping the community ties the club have been working to strengthen will be fortified further when the training pitch they are well on the way to delivering near the stadium opens its gates, as he looks to bring the women's team and youth teams closer to their spiritual home. 'In terms of a status update on that, we're just waiting for planning to come through and we've got we need to do some ecology stuff for that, so we're working on that just now and we're waiting,' he said. 'We've had some good vibes from the 'Pitching In' fund and we're waiting for a letter to come through. If that comes in, then we're kind of good to go, and we're expecting some support externally for that too. 'So, the update is that I would like us to be on site for possibly September. That would be really good and would be pretty quick. 'I think it's important that the women and girls find a home, because at the moment they play in East Ayrshire. No disrespect to East Ayrshire, but that's not where Ayr United are from, so if we can get the home games in next to the stadium that'd be great. And the academy having a base for their games there as well would be really important too. 'We've got lots of other things going on too. There's lots of tie-in with South Ayrshire Council that we can do on the park as well, so actually the first team training there is probably a tiny percentage of what it's going to actually deliver when we get around to getting it built.' Such projects are, Smith believes, a key factor in fostering trust between the fanbase and the board, showing evidence that they are constantly looking to take the club forward. 'For some reason there's a lot of tyre kickers in football, and I've never really understood why,' he said. 'People come into clubs and say they're going to do x, y and z and don't deliver anything, and they haven't got the money to deliver what they say. 'I've never really understood why that is, but it happens a lot, so I think people seeing progress year on year in terms of infrastructure and progression up the league and stuff like that is really important, and it maintains the buzz, it maintains the numbers coming into the stadium. 'If I'm honest, I do think we're probably one of the best run football clubs in Scotland, and we run it like a business. We know when to invest and when not invest. 'I think the fans appreciate progress, but they also appreciate the way I'm trying to do it. People keep saying to me, if you build it, they will come, and I suppose that there's a little bit of that in there. 'When I took over four and a half years ago, there wasn't a huge amount of expectation around Ayr United other than staying in The Championship. Fast forward four years, we've got The Hub, we've got a big shiny new car park, we've got a new stand, we've bought the land behind the ground, and it comes with expectation. 'The expectation is that we'll be in the playoffs every year and vying up the top end of the league, but I like that challenge, it's good. 'Community buy-in has been brilliant. The stuff that the academy do is utterly fantastic and we complement that as a football club with as much as we can do as well. 'I do feel we're in a really privileged position as owners and directors and people who run a football club, and I don't think I really understood until I got heavily involved about how much of a focal point it is in the community. 'It means the world to an awful lot of people this football club, and it's not just what's on the park.' Smith knows personally, in fact, the power that Ayr United have to impact the lives of their supporters. 'My dad unfortunately has got Lewy body dementia,' he said. 'He's in a nursing home now, but before that, I was taking him to our Ayr United Memories events that our academy run, and they're fantastic. 'You get 80, 90 people there at some of them, and it is people who just want to relive parts of their youth and chat about games and chat about history. But for us and others, from a family point of view, you kind of get your dad back or your mum back for a little bit during those conversations. 'I've seen it first-hand how important the community stuff is, so we do embrace it, and we do try and do as much as we possibly can.' The focus then is on creating more of those memories for the current and future generations of Ayr United supporters, with Smith hoping this can be the season where his beloved team finally break back into the topflight for the first time since 1978. And not only that, make a real go of it once they get there. 'Infrastructure wise, there's absolutely no reason why we wouldn't be able to cope with the step up,' he said. (Image: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group) 'I genuinely think a lot of the Premiership teams would really enjoy their day down at the seaside. We market ourselves as Scotland's best away day, coming down to Somerset and standing behind the goals, and when it's packed it's an old-fashioned atmosphere and it's fantastic. It doesn't take 30,000 people for it to feel busy and intense, it takes maybe 8,000 people to feel that. 'And I think we could make a fist of it. Budgets would change and stuff like that, but we have got some really good quality football players under contract already and I have to say, most of them have bought into what we're trying to do. So, I think we would make a fist of it, I really do. 'I hope my legacy at the football club will be Ayr United in the Premiership, and lots of infrastructure improvements.' Over to you, Broony.
Daily Record
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Ayr United head race to land Liam Dick as full back leaves Championship rivals Raith Rovers
The Honest Men are keen to add more experience to their ranks ahead of the new season. Ayr United are in pole position to land experienced left back Liam Dick. The Honest Men head the queue for the 29-year-old, who has just left Raith Rovers having played more than 150 games during his stint in Kirkcaldy. Dick, who has also enjoyed spells at Falkirk, Dumbarton and Stranraer, has confirmed he is set for his "next chapter" after deciding to leave Barry Robson's side following four years in Fife. Scott Brown is a keen admirer of the full back and would like to strengthen the position with another player who has been over Championship course and distance. It follows this week's capture of former Partick Thistle goalkeeper David Mitchell, with the 35-year-old swapping Maryhill for Somerset Park. United remain in talks with their out of contract players and could face competition from the top flight to retain the services of Connor McLennan, with the midfielder mulling over his future.
Daily Record
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Premier Sports Cup draw sees Ayr United set for clash with St Mirren as group stage revealed
The Honest Men will test themselves against the Saints as part of their group campaign. Ayr have learned their Premier Sports Cup fate this lunchtime after being drawn in Group D of the new season's first competition. Scott Brown's side will tackle Premiership opposition in the shape of St Mirren, who enjoyed an excellent season to finish inside the top six under Steven Robinson. The Honest Men will also face newly promoted Arbroath after the Red Lichties won promotion back to the Championship following a great season at Gayfield. United's group is completed by League Two sides Annan Athletic and Forfar. The group stage will kick off on the weekend of July 12 and run through until the end of the month before the curtain is raised on the new league season.
