St Johnstone striker Steve MacLean was one of a number of esteemed guests to attend the Peebles FC Youth Section presentation night recently.

The former Scotland U21 international was joined by club icons John O’Hara and player/coach Geri Rossi, along with top Borders referee Jim Darling and Ronnie Booth, who helped in the presentation of the prestigious Tom Booth Cup. Over 200 attendees were welcomed to the event by Alan Madden, Youth Club secretary, who invited the coaches from each age group to provide an update on their team’s performances. While there were no real success stories in terms of winning leagues or cups, the coaches universally agreed that the teams had competed very well at a high level and each coach expressed how encouraged they had been by the numbers that turned up each week for training and competitive games.

(Continued on page 47) (Continued from back page) Previous years, the players development had stalled during the winter months but with the introduction of the 2G surface at Peebles High School the training continued throughout the winter period an helped the teams compete with their opponents from the other regions. Next season will be particularly challenging for the club as it looks to kick off next season bigger and stronger than ever. While the coaches’ main focus will be on preparing their teams for next season’s competitions, they will also be looking to advance the development of a new changing and club room facility at Kerfield and consultative discussions are ongoing regarding the location of the new 3G all weather surface. The following awards were presented during the evening -Top goal scorer (Presented by Steven MacLean): U13, Luke MacLean; U14, Jordan Hogarth; U14 Colts, Alexander Church; U15, Donald Tait; U19 Liam Rutherford.

Most Improved Player: U13, Ben Duncan; U14, Jack Ferrand; U14 Colts, Lukas Bottcher; U15, Josh Pryor; U19, Kobe Stevens.

Players Player: U13, Luke MacLean; U14, Joe Robertson; U14 Colts, Kieran Frost; U15, Donald Tait; U19, Declan Lamb.

Coaches Player of the Year: U13, Michael Smith; U14, Findlay Jacob; U14 Colts, Theo Ward-Murray; U15, Szabolcs Braun; U19, Michael Cockburn.

The annual major awards were presented to the following players: Under 13 level - Tom Booth Cup (Presented by Ronnie Booth, Tom Booth’s nephew) Niall Hutchison-Reid. Under 14 level - Maxi Massie Memorial Shield (presented by Geri Rossi) Theo Ward-Murray and Joe Robertson. Under 15 level -Peebles FC Community Cup (Presented by John O’Hara) Szabolcs Braun. Under 19 level - Kirkpatrick Trophy (Presented by John O’Hara Chris Gorrie + Merit award The following Merit Award (Commitment & Dedication) were presented by Steven McLean: U13 Gavin McLachlan & Cameron Brown; U14 Tom Kaljee & Ross Aiken; U14 Colts, Euan CoyleU15  Jamie Falconer; U17 Andrew Clark & Josiah Swain; U19 Chris Gorrie, Daniel Madden, Reece Porter The evening finished with two special awards to Alan Madden (secretary for the last four years and coach of the 1997 team from 2007 to the present year) and Willie Stevens (bus convener and coach of the 1997 team from 2006 to the present year).

The Peebles Football Club would like to thank all the players, parents and helpers throughout the last year and hope for their continued support in the years to come.