Brand New Signing

Andrew Brand has signed for Shire from Knightswood Juveniles. The 21 year old comes highly recommended and was being tracked by other senior, and some junior, teams. He is basically a midfielder with what manager Dennis Newall describes as, "a good engine", but he can also play at wing-back or in defence and should be a useful addition to the squad. Andrew is Shire's second close season signing following on from striker Steven Dymock last week.

Extra Pre-Season Friendly.

Shire have added one more pre-season friendly to the list. Dennis Newall's team will travel to Kirkintilloch Rob Roy on Saturday July 23rd. It's not yet known whether this game will take place at Adamslie Park or at another venue and the kick-off time has yet to be arranged. We are also unsure whether it will be an official friendly or simply another closed door training exercise, but we will keep you posted.

League Fixtures Announced

Shire will be at home to Cowdenbeath in the first league game of the 2005/06 season on August 6th. The first away game of the season will be at Shielfield against Berwick Rangers on Saturday August 13th. For a full list of the 2005/06 fixtures click on www.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/east_stirlingshire/fixtures/default.stm .

Jersey Sponsorship Deal Agreed.

Littlewoods Pools is proud to announce that it will be re-newing its sponsorship agreement with East Stirlingshire F.C. for the 2005/06 season.

The Littlewoods Pools partnership with East Stirlingshire began last season and saw the team win five and draw seven of their 36 fixtures; a significant improvement on the previous season's results and one that Littlewoods hope to see continue.

As part of the sponsorship, Littlewoods Pools designed and developed the club's first website (www.eaststirlingshire.com) which includes "The Shire" shop, where fans can go online and order East Stirlingshire merchandise.

Littlewoods Pools also introduced a bonus scheme for points picked up by the team and introduced a new and improved match programme. Other initiatives included local match advertising and free entry into games, which saw increased attendance at Firs Park last season.

The 2005/06 season will see Littlewoods Pools sponsor East Stirlingshire's strip again, and with East Stirlingshire playing Scottish First Division Dundee F.C. in the Bell's Cup first round, all eyes will be on the club to see what they can do.

Dave Raywood, head of marketing at Littlewoods Pools, said : "We are delighted to be continuing our relationship with East Stirlingshire for the forthcoming season. We hope with our continued support the team can build on the strong performances they displayed last season, and that this season they really give the fans something to cheer about. Team boss, Dennis Newall, and the players have worked really hard this year and we look forward to watching their progress in 2005/06."

Les Thomson, Chief Executive of East Stirlingshire F.C., said : "It's fantastic for East Stirlingshire that Littlewoods Pools will be continuing their sonsorship agreement. Last season Littlewoods Pools really proved what active sponsors they are and we hope that with their help we can build on the improvement made."

Pre-Season Friendlies Confirmed

Shire have confirmed the full details of the pre-season friendlies.

Wednesday 13th July vs. St. Johnstone
Wednesday 20th July vs. Stirling Albion
Wednesday 27th July vs. Cumbernauld United

As in seasons gone by all the games will be played at Grangemouth Stadium with a 7p.m. kick-off. Officially, the matches are closed-door, but that has not stopped people in the past from popping along for a view.

First Signing

Shire have announced the first new signing for the current season. 21 year old striker, Steven Dymock, has joined on at Firs Park on a one year deal. Steven (left) joins up from Glasgow amateur side Harmony Row, and, apparently, had been highly sought after. His former club are one of the top teams in the Scottish Amateur Youth F.A.

Deux Ou Trois Choses

Pre-season training is due to start on July 2....Shire have set aside three dates for friendlies before the first competitive games of the season. They are scheduled for July 13th versus St. Johnstone, July 20th opponents TBA and July 27th again opponents TBA. All three games will be played at Grangemouth Stadium....Dennis Newall has appointed Gordon Wylde as the club's Assistant Manager for the coming season. The former Shire midfielder replaces Greig Denham....Shire have drawn Dumbarton (a) and F*****k (h) in the group stages of the Stirlingshire Cup. These games must be played by September 30th, although it is unlikely they will be pre-season matches....Littlewoods Pools look set to be the club's jersey sponsor for another season....The fixture list for the 2005/06 season will be published on Thursday June 23rd.....Shire's first competitive game of the new campaign will be Dundee (a) in the first round of the Bell's Challenge Cup on Saturday July 30th.

Staying And Going.

Players Who Have Signed for This Season :Grant Findlay, Derek Jackson, Scott Livingstone, Chris Miller, Stephen Oates, Paul Ross, Carl Thywissen, Mark Tyrrell, Paul Tyrrell, Derek Ure, Johnny Walker.

The Free Transfers : Chris Baldwin, Greig Denham, Ross Donaldson, David Harvey, Jamie MacKay, Graham McGhee, Chris McGroarty, Tony Mitchell, Derek Rae, Joe Robertson.

We're Here Because....

This blogspot is an attempt to keep fans and others who are interested, or curious, informed about what is happening at East Stirlingshire F.C. It is not generally about opnions and it certainly not a soapbox; the only intention is to create a source of information, an electronic newspaper, if you like. As the season gets busier so the entries should get more numerous, and it may well develop further. One day, it could become a proper website, but that's for some time in the future. As for the name, "The Zebras" was how Shire were known from the time in the 1880's when people first started paying attention to them until the name fell out of fashion in the late 1920's or early 1930's. With the 125th anniversary of the club's founding happening this season, we thought we should revive it.