Pollok Match Preview

10 weeks after a record-breaking 2025-26 season came to a close at home to Arthurlie, Troon are back in competitive action as we head to Pollok for our first ever match in tier 5 of Scottish football in our first Scottish Lowland Football League match of the season.

⚽️ Pollok versus Troon F.C. ⚽️
Saturday 25th July 2026
Scottish Lowland Football League (West)
Newlandsfield Park, Shawlands
Kick-off 3pm

FOOTBALL’S BACK!

It’s the start of a new season, and everyone is coming into Saturday full of confidence & enthusiasm.

Last year was a record breaking season for Troon, by any metric;

West of Scotland Cup winners, on that amazing day in May
Promotion to tier 5 of Scottish football for the first time in our history
Led the Division for a long time, before securing a club record highest league finish, after guaranteeing a top 3 finish in the WOSFL Premier Division
Achieved our Scottish FA Licence, which will see us take part in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup for the first time ever this season

So, how do you follow that? That has exactly been Jimmy’s focus this summer.

Seven new signings has strengthened the player pool in key areas, and with a few tweaks in the coaching staff we are ready to go again. Strength in depth was vital to our success last season and it will be a major factor again.

Troon have had a solid, if unspectacular, pre-season as the squad was heavily rotated to get minutes into the legs, but last weekend’s WOSFL Charity Cup against Auchinleck Talbot certainly showed enough to the supporters that the hard work has been done ahead of a season of firsts.

But, the real stuff starts this weekend.

Pollok had almost a season of two halves last time out; with a number of new signings they endured a bit of a slow start, but with some mid-season tweaks and a bit of bedding in, they were one of the division’s form teams in the latter part of the campaign. Given few pundits predicted they would even be in the promotion hunt, a 4th place finish was an excellent achievement and Manager Stewart Maxwell will rightly be looking forward with optimism. A few key additions this summer will have the ‘Lok competing in the new-look Lowland League.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match…

We have seven players who are looking to make their competitive debuts for the club on Saturday;

Jack Allan will miss out this weekend after being carried from the pitch last Saturday at Auchinleck Talbot following a bad challenge. He isn’t expected to be out long & is targeting next Saturday for a comeback, while Ben Armour is likely to sit out with a tight hamstring from pre-season.

We do have a couple of injury issues still hanging over from last season. Jack Sherrie is still awaiting news on a date for surgery for his ACL injury, but Club Captain Mark Morrison is hoping to get the all-clear to return to training when he visits the hospital this week following successful hip surgery in the summer.

Season 17 for me at Troon now, here we go!

A season of firsts for us all this year, there’s going to be something new to embrace regularly this season and it’s something that has us all very enthusiastic this summer. There is always anticipation before any season, it’s certainly heightened this summer for sure.

Last season was absolutely superb, everyone at the club from players to coaches, committee to supporters should take plenty of credit for what was achieved. But football doesn’t stand still, and plans for next season started almost immediately as soon as knew what league we would be in. So much for the summer off, it never really stops these days.

A few changes off the field this summer, Andy Bell made the difficult decision to step down at the end of last season to spend more time with his family and we were all really sorry to see him go. Marty and Andy really worked hand in glove for the past two seasons, so the natural progression is for Marty to step into the Assistant Team Manager position. Very few people know the club better than Marty, and it really means something to him so we are in extremely safe hands there. Johnny Sinclair is taking on more responsibility in terms of the training field this season, he will set the tempo in what we do and he has absolutely shown just how good he is at that. On the same vein, absolutely delighted to welcome Chappy back to the club as a Coach. An absolute constant in almost all of my time at the club, he’s been sorely missed the last couple of seasons to be honest so to welcome him back as a Coach working with Johnny, that gives us one of the strongest coaching teams we could ask for right now. Crucial to everything we do.

In terms of players, we have recruited really well in my opinion ahead of a tough season; our first in a new level and the senior Scottish Cup.

I have to say a big thank you to the Chairman for his support this summer and for last season, we have pushed the boat out a little to secure the players we wanted and he has been fully supportive of that from the beginning. When you look at where the club is compared to where it was when he came in, he really is a man who deserves far more credit than he gets.

New signings do not block the player pathway we have from our brilliant youth academy, and this summer doesn’t change that at all. We have all seen some of our excellent Development Team players making an impact in the summer. Hammy, Rohan and Clayton have been in almost every squad in pre-season and have all fared well. So the future is certainly bright for young players, even with our step up to tier 5.

I stated last summer that our objective was crystal clear; we wanted a trophy, and we got one in the West of Scotland Cup, a trophy that has real significance with our supporters. But is that us satisfied? Hell no! If anything it has whetted the appetite for trophies further, so we want to do better in the Scottish Junior Cup and we look forward to the Scottish Cup 1st Round in October.

As always, your support is vital to the fortunes of the team, and we ask you to do the same again this season & get out in numbers to get behind the team. A season not to be missed.

Jimmy Kirkwood (Team Manager)

Full Name	Pollok Football Club
Nickname(s)	The ‘Lok
Founded	1908
Ground	Newlandsfield Park, Shawlands
Capacity	2,088
President	Paul Regan
Manager	Stewart Maxwell
Captain	Jamie Bain
2025-26	WOSFL Premier Division, 4th from 16

⚽️️ JAMIE BAIN ⚽️

The 34 year old is the Club Captain at Newlandsfield and is a strong influence on his side from right-back. Now beginning his third season under Maxi, his pedigree is evident and is a driving force in the team.

First burst on to the scene with Kenny Black’s Airdrie in 2008, where he eventually chalked up nearly 200 appearances for the North Lanarkshire side. Gary Bollan took him north to Forfar Athletic in 2016 and he would go on to chalk up another 120+ appearances before heading for a season at Clyde following Covid. Brechin City was the next stop, before he was back in Airdrie at Gartcairn, where he really impressed in Mick Dunlop’s title-winning team.

⚽️️ LEE GALLACHER ⚽️

The 31 year old winger, a threat from either flank & with a keen eye for goal, is arguably the signing of the season for Pollok, coming in after six glorious seasons at Clydebank.

Lee began his career at Partick Thistle before spells at Stenhousemuir and Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, but it was at Glenafton Athletic where he really made an impact on the league with some fantastic displays and the occasional “worldy” of a strike. He departed Loch Park in October 2020 after Glenafton decided not to compete in the Covid season, and their loss was certainly Clydebank’s gain.

212 appearances and 130 goal contributions later, Lee departed as a WOSFL Premier Division winner, as well as numerous individual awards, and Maxi will be hoping he brings that winners mentality to his squad.

© Thanks to our club photographer Graeme McKenzie for his photos – fantastic, as always!

Pollok

22nd July	Pollok	4-0	Easterhouse	Pre-Season Friendly
18th July	Pollok	2-1	East Stirling	Pre-Season Friendly
15th July	Pollok	4-2	Petershill	Pre-Season Friendly
11th July	Gala Fairydean	3-1	Pollok	Pre-Season Friendly
8th July	A. Winton Rovers	1-1	Pollok	Pre-Season Friendly

Troon F.C.

18th July	Auchinleck Talbot	1-0	Troon F.C.	Pre-Season Friendly
13th July	Troon F.C.	2-2	Craigmark	Pre-Season Friendly
11th July	Troon F.C.	2-1	Glenburn MWFC	Pre-Season Friendly
8th July	Troon F.C.	3-2	Maybole	Pre-Season Friendly
4th July	Glenafton Ath.	1-2	Troon F.C.	Pre-Season Friendly

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:

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Live updates from the official Troon F.C. Twitter feed

FACEBOOK

Match news via the official Troon F.C. Facebook page

All news on the club FIRST via the official Troon F.C. WhatsApp Supporter’s Group chat

It was a win apiece in the Premier Division for each side last season with two exciting contests at Newlandsfield and then Portland.

AWAY MATCH

POLLOK	1-0	TROON F.C.
Newlandsfield Park, Shawlands	Saturday 11th October 2025	WOSFL Premier Division

The first encounter of 2025-26 was a frustrating encounter for Troon, who were in a rich vein of form as they entered the fixture.

A barnstorming start to the match should have given the visitors a comfortable lead, but their profligacy kept the encounter level at the interval, and Bob McHugh was to make them pay with a lesson in clinical finishing.

Following what would have been a rousing team talk at half-time, Troon took the lead within two minutes but controversy reigned as the linesman’s flag went up to deny them. Almost immediately after that, the veteran former Motherwell striker pounced on the 52nd minute to spin his marker & fire past Burgess to give the home side the lead with their first clear cut chance of the afternoon to grab what was a vital 3 points at that stage of the season.

HOME MATCH

TROON F.C.	1-0	POLLOK
Portland Park, Troon	Saturday 11th April 2026	WOSFL Premier Division

The return match in April was another 1-0 and was every bit as much of a tight affair as the encounter in October, but it was to be 3 points for the Seasiders this time.

Despite a quick start from the in-form ‘Lok, it was the hosts who took the lead thanks to a Leyton Dunlop penalty shortly before half-time, and his cool finish proved to be the only goal of the game.

(before this week’s matches)

	REFEREE:
	Gary Hanvidge
Assistant Referee 1:		Assistant Referee 2:
Colin Whyte		Barry Cook

Referee Observer:

Not yet appointed

Tickets are available at the cash turnstiles at Newlandsfield Park:

Adult:	£10
Concession:	£6

To pay by card, you can buy your tickets online & download your match tickets to your smartphone, using the Fanbase app. Just click on the image below:

You can find out all about the match itself by visiting the match centre both before and after the game, with the team line-ups, scorers & bookings on the specific match page for the fixture.

To visit the match centre, CLICK HERE.