After three wins in three different competitions in October, it’s a change of pace this weekend as we welcome our old friends from Kirkintilloch Rob Roy to Portland Park for a mid-season friendly match with both teams otherwise scheduled to be idle.
⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Kirkintilloch Rob Roy ⚽️
Saturday 26th October 2024
Friendly Match
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 2pm
We’re now nine league matches into the new season and we’re sitting in joint second in the table and into the fourth round of both the Scottish Junior Cup & South Challenge Cup, so it’s a promising start which demonstrates real progress from recent seasons. Our current points tally is 18, it took us until mid-February to register that tally last season.
Encouraging? Absolutely, but still plenty of big games to come & a lot of hard work ahead of us.
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy are embarking on a new era for the club as they creep closer to their 150th Anniversary – they are finally in their new home! We have so often sympathised with their plight in the last few seasons, but we are absolutely delighted to have watched them move in, celebrate their first match & celebrate their first win at their new home; the Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex. We know the hard work that has gone into getting to this stage, and could not be happier for Neil, Jim & all at the club.
YouTuber Sam North recorded their first home match in Kirkintilloch in over 10 years, and you can watch it below:
Their new era begins with a new Manager in former Blantyre gaffer John Gibson, and under his tutelage they are bidding to return to the Premier Division at the first time of asking.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match…
Ewan McLevy missed last weekend’s Cup win against Glasgow United after limping off following a heavy challenge in the first half of our win at St. Roch’s, and he’ll be assessed by Darrell as the week continues. Scott McLean also misses out after a flare-up of the knee injury he suffered last season with Glenafton.
Jack Sherrie will be involved this weekend after his rehabilitation work, following his ankle injury sustained in our friendly against Lugar in August, which will be a very welcome sight to our supporters!
Great to be keeping some football going this weekend, after our match against Auchinleck Talbot was postponed due to their progression in the Scottish Cup. Nobody wants a blank weekend, especially not at this stage of the season.
What a battle that was last weekend, it was a proper Cup tie! Hugh Kelly & his Glasgow United side deserve a lot of credit, they played some really good football & set us some real challenges so I was delighted to get through what was a massive banana skin for us. The be all and end all of Cup football is making sure you’re in the hat for the next round & we did that, which sets up a fascinating November for us with some really big matches. This season delivers again.
Good opportunity for me to pause & take stock of the season to date, and there is a lot to be pleased with, and not just on the pitch. Off the pitch, the support we have had has been fantastic this season in particular & our fans deserve a lot of credit. At games is perhaps obvious, but we’ve seen a rise in support for our Development Team at matches, social events like the Development Team race night a few weeks ago & our Speaker’s Brunch in a few weeks is almost sold out, which is great news. It’s a good time to be involved with Troon that’s for sure, and it’s great to see the buzz about the place. Long may it continue.
Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)
| Full Name | Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | The Roy or The Rabs |
| Founded | 1878 |
| Ground | Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex, Kirkintilloch |
| Capacity | 1,000 |
| Chairman | Neil Anderson |
| Manager | John Gibson |
| Captain | Scott Walker |
| 2023-24 | WOSFL Premier Division, 15th of 16 |
⚽️️ JORDAN PIRRIE ⚽️
The 25 year old was recruited from Ashfield in March ’23 after an exciting spell at Saracen Park, which included a scintillating display at Portland Park in a West of Scotland Cup upset last January.
Worked under previous Manager (and now Head of Football Operations) Kevin McGoldrick at Kilsyth Rangers, before a spell in the Lowland League with Cumbernauld Colts, Pirrie is equally dangerous from wide, deep or up front. Excellent on the ball & always a goal threat.
⚽️️ SCOTT WALKER ⚽️
The 34 year old has been a fixture on the right hand side of the Rabs defence for the last nine seasons, most of which has seen him lead the side as Club Captain. He is now well over 200 starts in the red & black since joining in 2016, which is some achievement.
A constant threat down the right flank with his boundless energy, and a powerhouse of the team with his leadership qualities, Scott is always a stand-out in previous encounters.
© Thanks to our club photographer Graeme McKenzie for his photos – fantastic, as always!
Troon F.C.
| WON | WON | WON | WON | WON |
| 1-1 (4-2 on pens) | 1-3 | 4-1 | 3-2 | 2-12 |
| Glasgow Utd (H) | St. Roch’s (A) | Beith (H) | Benburb (H) | Dufftown (A) |
| Sat 19th October | Sat 12th October | Sat 5th October | Sat 28th September | Sat 21st September |
| Scottish Junior Cup R3 | South Challenge Cup R3 | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | Scottish Junior Cup R2 |
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
| DREW | WON | LOST | LOST | WON |
| 2-2 | 2-1 | 3-1 | 3-2 | 1-2 |
| Thorniewood (H) | Whitehill Welfare (H) | St. Roch’s (A) | Glasgow Uni (A) | Royal Albert (A) |
| Sat 19th October | Sat 12th October | Sat 28th September | Fri 20th September | Sat 14th September |
| WOSFL First Division | South Challenge Cup R3 | WOSFL First Division | Scottish Junior Cup R2 | South Challenge Cup R2 |
If you can’t make it along to the game , you can keep up to date with all the latest info via the club’s social media channels:
Live updates from the BRAND NEW official Troon F.C. Twitter feed (I’m not calling it X yet):
- Team news pre-match
- Goal alerts
- News flashes
- Real time alerts
Make sure you follow our NEW feed!
Match news via the official Troon F.C. Facebook page
- Team news pre-match
- Half-time score & update
- Full time results
The spoils certainly went to the Rabs last season in our encounters, with them unbeaten in all three of our matches.
HOME MATCH
| Saturday 26th August 2023 | Match Centre |
| TROON FOOTBALL CLUB |