⚽ The Kick-Off - Monday 13th July 2026
Busy weekend of SPFL signings. Premier Sports Cup kicks-off. Aberdeen sell Topi Keskinen. Trevor Carson retires. Dundee and Dundee United granted alcohol licences as part of pilot.
Random Scottish Football Fact #346:
In 1978, St Mirren sacked manager Alex Ferguson, with an industrial tribunal ruling he had: “neither by experience nor talent, any managerial ability at all.”
WEEKEND ROUND-UP
And the competitive action is back, which means the weekend round-up is back.
🏆 PREMIER SPORTS CUP GROUP STAGE
Partick Thistle were the biggest winners over the weekend. They beat Lowland League East side Brechin City 6-0 at Firhill. In the other Group E match, fellow Championship side Stenhousemuir beat Forfar Athletic 2-1.
Linlithgow Rose had the biggest upset of the weekend, beating Greenock Morton 1-0 at Cappielow.
In another shock, East Kilbride beat Dunfermline Athletic 3-0 at K-Park.
St Mirren beat Dumbarton 4-0 with Samuel Ramos and Chris Mochrie scoring on their debuts.
Falkirk beat Edinburgh City 5-0 away. Ayr United came from behind twice to beat Stranraer 3-2 away.
This time last year, Steven Pressley suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Airdrieonians in his first game in charge. This year, his Dundee side beat Airdrieonians 4-2, but they did concede this goal by Sam Fisher from just inside their own half.
City rivals Dundee United left it very late to beat Stirling Albion 1-0.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle drew 1-1 with East Fife. Highland rivals Ross County beat Annan Athletic 4-1. Brora Rangers fell to a 3-1 defeat away to Queen’s Park.
⚽️ THE LATE GOALS SOCIETY
(goals scored in the 85th minute or later)
Aidan Smith (Annan Athletic - 85’), Ryan Flynn (Arbroath - 86’), Ross MacIver (Falkirk - 88’), Adam MacKinnon (90+1’ - Inverness Caledonian Thistle), Zac Sapsford (Dundee United - 90+3’)
🔴 THE RED CARD CLUB
(sent off over the weekend)
No new members this weekend.
LATEST NEWS
🔵 After Cammy Devlin decided to leave Hearts, he agreed a deal to sign for Rangers. He joins Derek McInnes and Lawrence Shankland in making the move along the M8 this summer. - Nick McPheat, BBC
🟢 Celtic made Colombian forward Camilo Duran their first signing of the summer. The 24-year-old has joined on a five-year deal from Qarabag, believed to be worth around £6 million. - Matthew Fulton, STV
🔴 Aberdeen sold Topi Keskinen to Danish club Odense for a fee believed to be worth £ 1 million plus. The Finnish international winger signed for the Dons two years ago. - Sean Wallace, The Press & Journal
✍️ Following a successful trial, Dundee have signed defender Owen Bevan from Bournemouth. - Dundee FC website
🟠 Dundee United announced the signing of attacker Mehdi Merghem on a two-year deal, following his departure from Ligue 2 side SC Bastia last night. - Dundee United website
✍️ It has been yet another busy weekend of signings across the rest of the SPFL.
Airdrieonians were busier than anyone. The Diamonds have signed defender Evan Easton following his release by Sheffield United. They also signed former Queen’s Park striker Liam McLeish and goalkeeper Ruairidh Adams on loan from Dundee United. - Airdrieonians website
Arbroath signed young Dundee United midfielder Calvin Beattie on a two-year deal. - Arbroath FC on X
Clyde have brought in Partick Thistle right-back Liam Rooney on loan. - Clyde FC website
Cove Rangers signed Italian winger Edimond Oppong on a one-year deal. He was most recently at English non-league side Hereford. - Cove Rangers website
East Fife have signed forward Tyrell Skeen-Hamilton from English non-league club Chasetown. - East Fife website
East Kilbride made their 14th signing of the summer. Defender Owen Calder has joined the League One club after leaving the Hibs Academy. - East Kilbride on X
Kelty Hearts have re-signed Kallum Higginbotham. The attacking midfielder was part of the Kelty team that was promoted to the SPFL and subsequently won the League Two title. - Kelty Hearts website
Queen of the South have signed defender Christopher McQueen. The 24-year-old was most recently with Edinburgh City. - Queen of the South website
Queen’s Park have signed Kilmarnock’s Ben Brannan on loan. The 19-year-old had a previous loan spell at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. - Queen’s Park website
Stenhousemuir announced the signing of left-back Scott Bright on a one-year contract following his departure from St Johnstone. - Stenhousemuir FC website
Stranraer made a double loan signing from Hibs. Lewis Gillie and Zach Bruce joined as part of their co-operative agreement. - Stranraer FC website
🔵 After only joining at the start of the summer, Queen of the South goalkeeper Trevor Carson has had to announce his retirement due to injury. - Queen of the South website
🔴 Stirling Albion’s Craig Brown has been ruled out for the majority of the season with an ACL injury. The midfielder only joined the Binos this summer. - Stirling Albion website
🆕 There were a fair few kit launches over the weekend:
Dundee United have gone grey for their new away kit.
Rangers launched their third kit.
Dunfermline Athletic went bold for their new away shirt.
Partick Thistle revealed their away shirt.
East Kilbride also went white for their away shirt.
And East Kilbride went black for their third.
The Spartans revealed their home and away shirts.
SWPL side Glasgow City released their new home shirt.
🍺 Both Dundee and Dundee United announced they were granted alcohol licences for Premier Sports Cup games. Dundee took part in the trial on Saturday. United will sell alcohol this weekend against Arbroath.
While nothing public has been announced about plans for the pilot, it is evident that it is now running into a second season. - Dundee FC website and Dundee United website
🤝 Falkirk and Lowland League East side East Stirlingshire have entered into a co-operation agreement. - Falkirk FC website
⚫ St Mirren announced that Marcus Fraser will be their new captain, with Alex Gogic becoming vice-captain. - St Mirren website
🔴 Stephen Hendrie has been named Hamilton Academical’s club captain. Kyle MacDonald has been named vice-captain. - Hamilton Academical website
🔵 Rangers confirmed their £16 million share issue has been completed. - David Irvine, Rangers Review
⚽ Robbie Ure scored his 12th league goal this season for Sirius as they defeated Brommapojkarna 2-1 to remain top of Sweden’s Allsvenskan.
🆚 The PFA Scotland pre-season camp has been extended, with the free agents now due to face St Mirren in a bounce game on Tuesday. - PFA Scotland website
SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY
🆚 PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES INCLUDE…
Beith Juniors v Glenvale (7.30pm)
Culter v Turriff United (7.30pm)
Hall Russell United v Formartine United (7.30pm)
Troon v Craigmark Burntonians (7.30pm)
View all Scottish pre-season friendlies today on the Scottish Football Fixtures website
🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off. 🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported. 📱 Latest subscriber number: 3045 🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

