⚽ The Kick-Off | Monday 18th August 2025
Weekend round-up. New contracts for Stephen Robinson & David Martindale. Rhys McCabe leaves Airdrieonians. Signings for Motherwell, Rangers, Dunfermline, East Fife, Cove, Elgin and Stirling Albion.
📒 Random Scottish Football Fact #126:
Dunfermline Athletic hold the record for most League Cup Final appearances without winning - threeWEEKEND ROUND-UP
🏆 PREMIER SPORTS CUP SECOND ROUND
Celtic 4 -1 Falkirk
Greenock Morton 0-3 Aberdeen
Livingston 0-2 Hibernian
Kilmarnock 2-1 Dundee United
Partick Thistle 2-0 Ayr United
St Johnstone 0-1 Motherwell (AET)
St Mirren 1-1 Heart of Midlothian (St Mirren won 5-4 on penalties)
➡️ WILLIAM HILL LEAGUE ONE
Inverness and Hamilton both lost their first games of the season. Cove Rangers are currently bottom on goal difference after three games.
Cove Rangers 3-3 Montrose
Hamilton Academical 1-2 East Fife
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1-2 Stenhousemuir
Queen of the South 4-0 Peterhead
View the League One table here
➡️ WILLIAM HILL LEAGUE TWO
Forfar Athletic sit top of League Two with seven points after three games. Dumbarton remain undefeated in the league after their 1-1 draw with Elgin City. That is Elgin’s first point of the season. Stranraer are yet to register a point.
Clyde 1-3 Spartans
Dumbarton 1-1 Elgin City
East Kilbride 3-1 Stranraer
Edinburgh City 2-2 Annan Athletic
Forfar Athletic 4-2 Stirling Albion
View the League Two table here
➡️ SWPL 1
Wins for the top four from last season on the opening day.
Glasgow City 3-0 Motherwell
Hamilton Academical 1-2 Partick Thistle
Heart of Midlothian 1-2 Celtic
Hibernian 5-1 Aberdeen
Montrose 1-6 Rangers
⚽️ THE LATE GOALS SOCIETY
(goals scored in the 85th minute or later)
Lukas Fadinger (Motherwell - 108’), Findlay Curtis (Rangers - 89’), Josh Mulligan (Hibernian - 87’); David Eguaibor (Cove Rangers - 90+4’); Joao Balde (East Kilbride - 90’), Robbie Mahon (Edinburgh City - 90+5’); Georgia Timms (Heart of Midlothian Women - 90+1’); Erin Rennie (Partick Thistle Women - 90+4’); Jessica Broadrick OG (Hibernian Women - 90’)
🔴 THE RED CARD CLUB
Keir Bertie (Montrose); Joao Balde (East Kilbride); Cassie Cowper (Montrose Women)
A special mention for Joao Balde, who becomes the first player to be a member of The Late Goals Society and The Red Card Club in the same week.
NEWS
🏆 The Premier Sports Cup Quarter-Final draw was made on Saturday night.
Aberdeen v Motherwell
Kilmarnock v St Mirren
Partick Thistle v Celtic
Rangers v Hibernian
Ties to be played weekend of September 20/21.
♦️ Rhys McCabe resigned as player-manager of Airdrieonians on Friday after three years in the role. - Anthony Brown, The Herald
⚫️ St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson has signed a new contract until the summer of 2028. - St Mirren website
🦁 Friday also saw Livingston announce that David Martindale had signed a new contract extension. His new deal runs until the summer of 2027. - Livingston FC website
✍️ Motherwell signed 20-year-old forward Esapa Osong on loan from Nottingham Forest. - Andy Coyle, STV
🔵 Rangers have signed Brentford left-back Jayden Meghoma on loan. - Rangers FC website
⚫️ Dunfermline Athletic made a double-signing on Friday.
The Pars signed defender Robbie Fraser from Rangers on a three-year deal. - Dunfermline Athletic website
They also signed attacking midfielder Jefferson Cáceres from Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee. - Dunfermline Athletic website
🤝 St Johnstone and Cove Rangers have entered a co-operation agreement, with Cove signing forward Jackson Mylchreest as a result. - Cove Rangers website
🏟️ Dundee Managing Director John Nelms has revealed the club have spent £3.5m on their new Camperdown Park stadium development so far as they await planning permission.
Nelms went on to say the club have been “increasingly alarmed by unhelpful procedural developments” and “It is merely the latest in a series of inexplicable procedural anomalies, which are becoming increasingly commonplace.” - Laura Devlin, The Courier
🚓 East Kilbride’s Joao Balde was subjected to racist abuse during their League Two match with Stranraer on Saturday. An investigation has begun after footage was passed to the relevant authorities. - Keiran Fleming, STV
✍️ Dundee United goalkeeper Ruairidh Adams has joined League One East Fife on loan. - Dundee United website
🔴 Stirling Albion signed goalkeeper Robert Duffy following his departure from Alloa Athletic over the summer. - Stirling Albion on X
⚫️ Elgin City announced the loan signing of Ally Spalding from Arbroath. - Elgin City website
✍️ Former Dundee United youngster Kerr Smith has joined EFL League Two side Barrow on loan from Aston Villa.
💯 Brechin City made a statement in the Breedon Highland League on Saturday with a 5-0 win over Buckie Thistle.
Brora Rangers moved into second with a 3-1 home win over Nairn County after Formartine United drew 0-0 away at Lossiemouth.
The most surprising result of the weekend was Rothes’ 2-2 draw with Banks o’Dee - the Speysider’s first point of the season. - view the Highland League table here
🔝 There was a limited card in the Parks Motor Group Lowland League due to cup commitments, which allowed Linlithgow Rose to move to the top of the league after a 3-0 win over Celtic B.
East Stirlingshire is the only Lowland League team not to register a win so far. They lost 4-0 at home to Cumbernauld Colts on Saturday. - view the Lowland League table here
⚽️ Max Johnston scored for Sturm Graz in their 3-1 win against Ried in the Austrian Bundesliga.
Josh Doig also scored over the weekend, netting for Sassuolo in their Coppa Italia victory.
🔙 After 659 days out, Aaron Hickey made his competitive return for Brentford in their 3-1 defeat away to Nottingham Forest.
⚽️ In the EFL Championship, Lyndon Dykes and Oli McBurnie scored added-time winners for Birmingham City and Hull City over the weekend.
🆕 Queen of the South launched their new third kit on Friday.
🏟️ West of Scotland Football League Third Division club Craigmark Burntonians experienced vandalism during the week, which included spreading screws across their pitch and smashing corner flags. - Craigmark Burntonians on X
🏟️ North Caledonian League club Inverness Athletic have a new permanent home in the city of Inverness. They entered a partnership with ICT Community Development Trust, which will see the club based at their brand-new football hub. - Inverness Athletic website
⚽️ After Kilmarnock Women took down Skye Stout’s signing posts after online trolls targeted her, the 16-year-old made a goalscoring debut for Kilmarnock yesterday in their SWPL 2 win over St Johnstone. - Blair Meikle, The Herald
📺 Partick Thistle v Airdrieonians has been moved to Friday 12th September for live BBC Scotland coverage.
Dundee United v Hibernian has been moved to 5.45pm on Saturday 13th September for live Premier Sports coverage. - SPFL website
SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY
🤝 CAS Elite Under-19 League
Rangers v Heart of Midlothian (4pm)
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