Girl Power?

The recent takeover bid by Klin Investments caused a huge splash in the media, in fact the first time in living memory that Killie were the number one item in the main news bulletins. While it would be nice to assume Scotland's oldest professional club received such an accolade on it's own merits, truth be told the main reason we got such coverage was that the bid was spearheaded by local business woman Marie Macklin. The gender angle, especially when it comes to a male dominated bastion such as Scottish football, is always going to be big news...or is it?

Kilmarnock Football Club is clearly one of the most progressive in the country when it comes sexual equality. Laurel Chadwick, Bobby Fleeting's

mother-in-law was one of the first ever female directors of a Scottish club. Indeed Jim McLean nearly choked on his half time pie when she dared to enter the director's lounge at Tannadice, the first ever woman to enter their inner sanctum, whether they like it or not!

There are a whole host of other ladies who have been involved with Killie of late. Where better to start than with the current club secretary Angela Burnett and her team, Anne Clark, Nicola McCulloch, Debbie Milligan and Kim Rubertazzi. Then there is Margaret Wilson and Anne Young in accounts, not forgetting of course Josie Corrie, Elsie Gibson and the girls who run the club shop.

Donna Cheyne was probably one of if not the first woman community coach appointed by a football club in the country, before she headed for the States, and there lies the connection to FC Kilmarnock. Officially the best women's football club in Scotland with an astonishing record in all competitions, this is one area that Killie should be 'bigging up' a bit more. They've just signed top rated internationalists Stacey Cook and Nicki Grant and despite a strong challenge from Hibernian manager Jim Chapman is confident that they can bring more silverware back to Kilmarnock.

They say that the female of the species is deadlier than the male, and when it comes to being deadly in front of goal you need look no further than our ladies and girls teams. Recently retired (but feel free to come back at any time) Linda Brown is rated as one of the greatest players Scotland has ever seen, including the legendary Rose Reilly, and she scored more goals in her career than A*r have in their history.

Stepping into her shoes at FC Killie we have a host of current Scotland internationals with more caps than a crocodile with a sweet tooth. Julie Smith, Joanne Love, Megan Sneddon, and Claire Johnstone all represented Scotland in the Czech Republic last Sunday and Sarah Hough is the most capped Under 19 players ever. Young hot shots Darlene Campbell and Naomi Johnstone look certain to make the grade as well and they are also scoring for fun in the SWFL.

On the supporter front Ann Reid from the Ardrossan & District Supporter's Club has just been nominated as the first ever female chairperson of the Supporter's Association and in general terms the club is well supported by the fairer sex...and (just before we get a slap) why shouldn't it be? We bet you never realised just how many women have been and still are associated with our great club and football in general, and we wont even end with a smart ass comment as the gaffer, Clair, could just cut it...bring on equal rights for men!

Rab Miller

A couple of events have been arranged to raise funds to provide a suitable memorial for one of Killie's most faithful fans, Rab (The Puddock) Miller. The first is a Race Night which will be held in the Pyramid Club on Saturday 8 November 2003. The first race is at 7.30pm. Anyone wishing to sponsor a race, buy a horse or merely give a donation, please contact any of the Travel Club members. The second event is a Buffet Dance which will take place on Saturday 24 January 2004, in the 505 Social Club, Hurlford. Details will be available nearer the time. Watch this space!

An Apology

Killie's win over the Pars gave us a great three points and was well received by the travelling fans however we still owe you all an apology. We put in details last week stating fans that showed their season tickets at the turnstiles would receive a 10% discount. We had received this information in good faith and as Dunfermline had done this with other teams earlier in the season we had no reason to doubt it. Sadly we never got the discount, as according to the stewards both clubs had not agreed the deal prior to the game. This is an initiative aimed at helping the travelling numbers and we'll check with the club to see if we have agreed similar schemes with any other clubs. Sorry for the misinformation but I'm sure most folk weren't too bothered about the extra expense as Gary McSwegan clipped home the winner.

Plastic Football

Killie have a few "firsts" to their name over the years and last Saturday saw us make history again by becoming the first away team to win on Dunfermline's plastic pitch. If you talk to anyone who was there they'll tell you Killie rode their luck as the home team missed several decent chances. We can't dispute that however there have been plenty of games that we've dominated and left with nothing so you just take the points and keep smiling.

The manager was keen to be positive about the new surface (unlike Gerry Collins) but it didn't impress us. There were very few serious tackles in the match and it was no surprise that no yellow cards were dished out - the pitch is just another step towards making football a non-contact sport. It was clear that the Pars had a bit of an edge on how to handle the pitch so it speaks volumes that we still collected all three points. JJ stressed that we have to return to East End Park later in the season so there's no point in being negative. That's the correct approach but there's no doubt that given the choice he'd rather be playing on grass rather than on a glorified five-a side pitch.

Kadikoi Tartan Army

You may recall that a few weeks ago we were telling you about the Kadikoi lads getting a Scotland Supporters Club organised. Thankfully Darren Fletcher's sweet strike earned us a play-off game with Holland and the troops are sorting out transport for both home and away legs but you better move fast as seats are going fast. The bus for the away trip will leave on Tuesday 18th November and the package will include a ferry trip and one night's accommodation then back home on Thursday 20th. To book up or for more information give Rab Robb a call on 01563 544217.

Read the B&H column in the Kilmarnock Standard every week