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Club Information
Cove Rangers FC
Balmoral Stadium Wellington Circle, Altens Aberdeen, AB12 3JG T 01224 392111 F 01224 392859 coverangersfc.com
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@coverangersfc
Honorary President
Alan McRae
Directors
Keith Moorhouse - Chairman Graeme Reid - Vice Chairman/Financial Controller Duncan Little - Secretary/Stadium Manager John Sheran - Director of Football Darren Anderson Grant Moorhouse
Safety Officers
John Morgan & Bill Ogilvie
Committee
Michael Coull, Richard Forbes & Gordon Taylor
Football Manager - Jim McIntyre Assistant Manager - Jimmy Boyle Fitness Coach - Tam Ritchie
Goalkeeping Coach - Derek Soutar Head of Youth Development - Gary Hake Performance Analyst - Ryan Docherty Physios - Donal Gallagher & Eilidh McGregor Kit Manager - Adrian Thomson Club Doctor - David Fowler Commercial Manager - Angela Bruce Media Officer - Charlie Allan Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer - Kate Dean Club Chaplain - Dougie Simpson Club Photographers - Dave Cowe, Richard Forbes Head of Media & Communications - Richard Gordon
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St Johnstone 3 Cove Rangers 2
Pre-Season Friendly
Sat 12th July McDiarmid Park
The team rounded off our pre-season fixture list with a highly encouraging performance against Premiership opposition at McDiarmid Park.
Saints twice took the lead, but Cove hit back to level through Gerry McDonagh from the penalty spot – on his debut for the club – and Leighton McIntosh, who rounded off a fine move with a superb low angled finish.
In sweltering conditions, the Perth side were able to make wholesale changes, a luxury not afforded to Jim McIntyre, whose options were further limited by injuries to Rory McAllister and Blair Yule.
The home side edged it with a late close range winner, but Cove matched them for most of the encounter, both in terms of play and fitness, and the manager declared himself delighted with the overall showing ahead of the start to the competitive action.
St Johnstone: Parish, Cleary, Mahon (Brown 46), Considine, Gilmour (O’Halloran 46), Davidson (MacPherson 46), Hallberg (Trialist 86), Montgomery (Steven 76), Kucheryavyi (Carey 61), May (Bair 46), Crawford (Murphy 61).
Unused subs: Sinclair, Parker, Ferguson, Moreland.
Cove Rangers (4-1-4-1): McKenzie (Gourlay 46); Logan, Neill (Ross 46), Reynolds, Towler; Vigurs; Leitch, Fyvie, Scully, Masson (McIntosh 46); McDonagh (Megginson 46),
Referee: Dan McFarlane.
COVE RANGERS LEAGUE CUP HISTORY
Given the emergence of the club in recent seasons, and the fact that the League Cup was only expanded in 2016, Cove Rangers’ history in the competition is a fairly short one.
The club’s debut came on the 15th of July that year with the home games being played at Forfar Athletic’s Station Park, and the team got off to a flier with Ryan Stott giving them the lead against Championship visitors, Raith Rovers.
The advantage was to be short-lived, Benedictus heading in the equaliser, and Lewis Vaughan secured the points for the Kirkcaldy outfit, crashing in the winner off the underside of the bar. Four of the Cove starting line-up that afternoon would play a major role in last season’s League One title triumph: Stuart McKenzie, Blair Yule, Connor Scully and Mitch Megginson all key figures in the six years since.
Cove had qualified for the tournament as Highland League champions, and manager John Sheran gave Harry Milne his first League Cup start in the second Group D encounter at the Indodrill Stadium. Alloa Athletic were to prove far too strong, easing to a comfortable 4-0 victory.
Montrose would have a fine 2016-17 campaign, reaching the play-offs, but they were no match for Sheran’s side the following midweek as Cove secured their first ever win in the competition. Stuart Walker secured an early lead, Mitch Megginson opened his account for the season and midfielder Daniel Park rounded off the 3-0 success with a late third.
The final group match wasn’t to be quite as enjoyable for Mitch. He was sent off with the team 1-0 down in Dingwall and the League Cup holders ran riot after that, Ross County easing to a 7-0 stroll with Brian Graham notching a hat-trick.
Nevertheless, the side finished in fourth place, ahead of Montrose, who lost all four games.
2018-19 was to be a historic season for the club and it began with the side once again qualifying for the League Cup thanks to securing the Highland League crown. They landed in a tough Group C with Hearts, Caley Thistle, old foes Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath, who had beaten Cove in a stormy play-off final just two months earlier.
The opener was in Inverness, a quick-fire Nathan Austin double enough to secure the points for the home side. Next up, the first competitive fixture played at Balmoral Stadium, with Hearts as the visitors. The game drew a healthy crowd of 1,728 and the Premiership outfit soon took control, Olly Lee and Steven MacLean giving them a 2-0 lead. Paul McManus gave the home team some hope, but the Tynecastle side held on for what would become a controversial victory.
Andy Irving had been brought on as a second half substitute, but had not been correctly registered, and the club was ultimately docked two points, an outcome which still allowed them to qualify for the knock-out stages with a last day win over Caley Thistle.
A trip to Central Park followed three days later, David Cox winning it for the Fifers with just four minutes remaining, but the campaign finished in victorious fashion with a notable win over the men from Kirkcaldy.
Cove bossed the game, taking an early lead when Megginson struck the post and Daniel Park nudged home the rebound. Jamie Masson secured the win in the second half, beating the Raith keeper to a bouncing ball to convert with ease.
The victory might have been greater, the home side coming close to adding to their tally on numerous occasions, and Rovers blew the chance of what would have been a consolation goal late on, Buchanan hitting the post from a penalty.
The win, and a fourth place finish in the group, was a prelude to a season of dominance in the Highland League – one defeat and an eight point margin at the top of the table – and ultimate success in the play-offs over East Kilbride and Berwick Rangers.
As a League Two club, Cove Rangers had automatic entry to the 2019-20 Betfred Cup, and we were drawn in Group D alongside Dundee, Peterhead and regular opponents, Caley Thistle and Raith Rovers.
The opener was at Balmoor, and an early Jamie Masson penalty gave the side the lead in what was Paul Hartley’s competitive debut as Cove manager. It wasn’t to last as first Derek Lyle then Rory McAllister – who would of course later write his name large in the Cove history books – put Jim McInally’s men in charge.
Dundee arrived at the Balmoral four days later for what was a hard fought 0-0 draw. Martin Scott came close to breaking the deadlock for Cove, twice being denied by Jack Hamilton, and Daniel Park saw a twenty yard effort come crashing back off the crossbar.
In the penalty shoot-out for the bonus point, at 1-1 there were four successive misses before Park and McDaid found the net. Daniel Higgins fired over, allowing Paul McGowan to secure it for the Dens Parkers.
The following midweek saw a trip to the Highlands and a narrow 3-2 reversal against Inverness. The home team were ahead, but Mitch Megginson netted either side of half time to turn things around. Keatings equalised, Megginson was then sent off, and Todorov snatched the decider in the 71st minute. Martin Scott had a late ‘goal’ chalked off for handball.
Cove rounded off the campaign in style, recording an impressive 3-0 win over Raith. Jamie Masson opened the scoring just before the interval, Chris Antoniazzi doubled the advantage, and Declan Glass, at the start of an impressive loan spell from Dundee United, notched the third.
The victory secured another fourth place finish in the group.
The 2020-21 campaign was delayed by the Lockdown and staggered across October and November. The opener was against Hibernian and marked another milestone for the club; a first match televised live from Balmoral Stadium. It started well, Daniel Higgins’ stunning free-kick securing the early lead, but the Premiership side stepped it up second half and goals from Gullan and Nisbet saw them prevail.
Next up was a challenging encounter with Highland League champions Brora Rangers. Cove moved 2-0 up through McAllister and Jamie Semple, but Brora fought back to level the match and it went to a penalty shoot-out for the bonus point. Stuart McKenzie stepped up as the hero on the night, saving two and scoring the decisive spot-kick.
The team then began their League One campaign with four straight wins before returning to cup duty with a horror show at Dens, losing 3-0 and having both Blair Yule and Jamie Masson red-carded.
The group concluded a few days later when Rory McAllister’s penalty was enough to see off Forfar Athletic and secure third place behind Hibs and Dundee.
Last season saw us grouped once again with Caley Thistle, Hearts and Peterhead, alongside bottom seeds Stirling Albion. The Forthbank side had been beaten on all three League Two encounters in 2019/20, but they were to pull off a shock in the opener at Balmoral Stadium.
Rabin Omar and Nathan Flanagan had Albion two ahead before a Fraser Fyvie double levelled it up. With Cove pushing for a winner, it was the visitors who broke clear and Flanagan, stumbling into the box, diverted a low shot past McKenzie. The following midweek saw Cove well beaten at Tynecastle, Hearts strolling to a 3-0 success.
With qualification now a forlorn hope, it was Balmoor next stop, but although Mitch Megginson cancelled out an early Scott Brown opener, it was Peterhead who eased to a 3-1 win.
It was to be a different story in the final game; Paul Hartley made five changes and was delighted to see his side hit top form and romp to victory over Inverness. Leighton McIntosh and Mitch Megginson made it 2-0 before half-time, and Blair Yule rounded the game off. A late Caley Thistle penalty did nothing to take the shine off the performance. The 3-1 win was enough to secure 4th place in Group A ahead of Peterhead on goals scored.
2016-17
15.07.16 Cove Rangers 1 - 2 Raith Rovers 19.07.16 Alloa Athletic 4 - 0 Cove Rangers 27.07.16 Cove Rangers 3 - 0 Montrose 30.07.16 Ross County 7 - 0 Cove Rangers
2018-19
14.07.18 Inverness CT 2 - 1 Cove Rangers 18.07.18 Cove Rangers 1 - 2 Hearts 21.07.18 Cowdenbeath 1 - 0 Cove Rangers 28.07.18 Cove Rangers 2 - 0 Raith Rovers
2019-20
13.07.19 Peterhead 2 - 1 Cove Rangers 17.07.19 Cove Rangers 0 - 0 (P) Dundee 23.07.19 Inverness CT 3 - 2 Cove Rangers 27.07.19 Cove Rangers 3 - 0 Raith Rovers
2020-21
10.10.20 Cove Rangers 1 - 2 Hibernian 13.10.20 Brora Rangers 2 - 2 (P) Cove Rangers 10.11.20 Dundee 3 - 0 Cove Rangers 14.11.20 Cove Rangers 1 - 0 Forfar Athletic
2021-22
10.07.21 Cove Rangers 2 - 3 Stirling Albion 13.07.21 Hearts 3 - 0 Cove Rangers 17.07.21 Peterhead 3 - 1 Cove Rangers 20.07.21 Cove Rangers 3 - 1 Inverness CT
Preparations for the club’s first ever tilt at the cinch Championship began late last month with a day of celebration for Cove Rangers legend Stuart McKenzie.
The big goalkeeper had his testimonial match against Dunfermline at Balmoral Stadium, and was afforded a guard of honour by both teams as he walked down the tunnel holding hands with his young children, Belle and Ben.
Stuart was overwhelmed by the support he received from all who attended the match,
“It was really nice to be able to share the occasion with my family and I would like to say thank you to everyone who contributed. It was also really kind of Dunfermline to present me with a plaque and shirt; that was a lovely gesture. It was a special day; one I’ll always treasure.”
It was a first game in charge for new manager Jim McIntyre, who was quick to praise the man of the moment.
“I was delighted for Stuart that he got a decent turnout, and it was great to see the support there for him. I’ve quickly realised how much respect there is for the big man, and he fully deserved his day.”
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