The players and manager have given the Binos a fantastic season and this was capped with winning promotion to the first division yesterday after beating Airdrie. The supporters club still have player of the year dance tickets and the website is appealing to all Stirling fans to snap these up and come along to thank them. The dance will be held in Cowie Miners Welfare on Friday 18th May starting at 7-30pm. Tickets are priced at only £13 per person and this includes a meal and disco. Please phone Jimmy on (01786 475573) or Stef Torrance (01259 219570) to make other arrangements to buy your tickets.

Stirling Albion finally got justice yesterday when they were promoted to the first division after winning the second leg of the play off finals 3-2 (5-4 on aggregate). Stirling were relegated from the first division in May 1998 and it has taken them nine years to get back there. Alan Moore has taken the club from ninth in the third division in 2002 to the first division after five season's on a restricted budget. The fans of Stirling Albion are also indebted to Peter McKenzie who has funded the Binos for more than twenty plus season's and this may well be his last season in charge if the take over goes through. All at Stirlingalbion.com would like to thank all the players, the manager and back room staff for what has been a fantastic season. Back to the game and the Binos lined up with the same team as mid week in which the Binos played Airdrie off the park. Stirling made a great start with Robert Snodgrass scoring two headers to put the Binos ahead before Airdrie pulled one back before half time. Airdrie had a lot of the ball in the second half, but the Binos went 3-1 ahead through Stewart Devine. The 1300 Stirling fans were still celebrating when Airdrie pulled one back and that made the remaining minutes very tense for the huge travelling support. The Binos held out and there was fantastic scenes at the end after the fans and players celebrated promotion to the first division. Match report below with some photo's.

Photo courtsey of www.stirlingalbionfc.co.uk

There is still four spaces available on a private luxery coach for anyone to book and go on. At the moment it is unknown how many non members the supporters bus will be able to take (see post below) and there is currently travelling difficulties by train (check with Scotrail), however, to be guaranteed to get there, then phone Neil on 01334 472167 Day or 07789825422 Evening. Cost was originally priced at £10 per head, but that may have decreased to £8 per head. Here is the details below again-

"This is the Itinerary:

8 SEATS LEFT - Tel Neil on 01334 472167 Day or 07789825422 Evening

11.00 ALL THAT JAZZ BAR OR ATJs as it's known
11.45 LEAVE FOR THE CASTLECARY HOTEL, CUMBERNAULD - ( LUNCH AVAILABLE IF YOU WISH )
2.00 LEAVE HOTEL FOR GAME
AFTER GAME STRAGHT BACK TO STIRLING - NO STOPS EN-ROUTE

BUS HIRE IS £150 AND WILL BE DIVIDED BY NUMBER ON BOARD.
IF ITS 15 THEN THE COST WILL BE £10 PER HEAD!" Also a note of caution about fans who will be travelling by train as they are not operating a full service. Please pre plan your journey through the Scotrail website. "

On a final note the supporters club will only be running 1 bus to the game on saturday, if there are seats left on the bus NON MEMBERS may only get on the bus at the halfway house, as we cannot guarantee any non member a seat it is advisable that you make alternative arrangements to get to the game,if the bus is full at the halfway we will not be able to take you on board.will be running a bus for the final game of the season this Saturday and the all important second leg of the play off final. The bus for Airdrie will leave Bannockburn 1.30, Borestone bar 1.35, Islamic centre 1.40 and the Halfway House 1.45.
As usual members will be allocated seats first, but there is never been a problem with people getting seats all season. The prices for this will be £5 for adults and children. A mini bus is also running and there is currently right free seats for anyone to book. This is not the supporters bus that is running, but a group of fans trying to help with travel arrangements-

" Guys, After discussing this with Steff I have ordered a 16 Seater Luxury Coach which will leave The Craigs in Stirling at 11.45 Sharp! A Couple of months ago we agreed that we would travel in style to the Final if we got that far ( We are Supporters Club Members )! It was going to be an 8 Seater but due to the worry of people being stranded at the Halfway House tomorrow I have ordered a 16 Seater! We do need as much Support as we can get!!!

This is the Itinerary:

8 SEATS LEFT - Tel Neil on 01334 472167 Day or 07789825422 Evening

11.00 ALL THAT JAZZ BAR OR ATJs as it's known
11.45 LEAVE FOR THE CASTLECARY HOTEL, CUMBERNAULD - ( LUNCH AVAILABLE IF YOU WISH )
2.00 LEAVE HOTEL FOR GAME
AFTER GAME STRAGHT BACK TO STIRLING - NO STOPS EN-ROUTE

BUS HIRE IS £150 AND WILL BE DIVIDED BY NUMBER ON BOARD.
IF ITS 15 THEN THE COST WILL BE £10 PER HEAD!" Also a note of caution about fans who will be travelling by train as they are not operating a full service. Please pre plan your journey through the Scotrail website.

The Binos went into the first leg of this play off final with the same starting line up as Saturday. In front of a bigger than usual home support, the Binos found themselves 2-0 at half time, but the scoreline didn't do justice to the dominance the Binos showed in the first half. Stirling then put in their best second half of the season as they outclassed their full time counterparts. Paul Nugent scored a world class goal after beating a couple of players and curling the ball into the net from outside the box. The script was written and Chris Aitken stepped up to score an equaliser in the last few minutes of the game. The whole season now hinges on this Saturday's second leg of the play off final. We would advise any Stirling fans travelling to the game on Saturday to be at the turnstyles for 2-30pm on Saturday as there is sure to be a large travelling support backing the Binos at this game. If your a Stirling fan or not, then this game is unmissable and we are appealing for the people of Stirling to go and back the Binos in Airdrie this Saturday. Match report below.

The Stirling Albion supporters club will be running a bus for the final game of the season this Saturday and the all important second leg of the play off final. The bus for Airdrie will leave Bannockburn 1.30, Borestone bar 1.35, Islamic centre 1.40 and the Halfway House 1.45.
As usual members will be allocated seats first, but there is never been a problem with people getting seats all season. The prices for this will be £5 for adults and children . Please come along and back the Binos in what will be their biggest game of the season.

I talked to the club on Friday and they have allowed us permission to play a match on the Forthbank pitch to help raise funds for the pie oven appeal. The original date was meant to be the 26th, but I am hoping to be able to play this match on SUNDAY 20TH MAY with a 3pm kick off time. This is a once in a lifetime experience as I doubt you will ever have another chance to play on the holly turf.

-There will be 22 spaces available and if demand is good, then that may rise to 24 so therefore everyone is guaranteed 80 minutes on the pitch.

-This will be set up in a ebay style bid with the minimum bid being £25 per person, this will cover all expenses.

- You must be at least 16 years of age, but everyone over that age is welcome to bid and play. It doesn't matter how fit you are or how good you are at football, please just post a bid and your preferred position and also your second choice position.

-Fans of all teams are welcome to make a bid.

- Bidding for this will end at 8pm on Tuesday 15th May

- All profits from this will go to the pie oven appeal.

There is a thread on our website forum and I have posted this link below if you want to place a bid to enter this game. If you are unable to post on the forum, then please e-mail myself on the website e-mail address with your name, position(s) and bid. Photo's of this match will be taken during the game and all spectators are also welcome to attend. If you feel you are unable to play football, but would like to take part, then there is also two managers position's available to bid on with a minimum bid of £25 as well. The pie oven appeal was set up by this website to raise money for a new pie oven for the club. Further details are available in the archived news if you would like to read more about it. At the monet, the website has almost raised £1000 towards this appeal. Many thanks to all who have contributed to date.

"So far only a third of the tickets have been sold for the the supporters club's player of the year dance and unless we meet our quota for sales I'm afraid the dance will have to be cancelled in what would be a disappointing end to a fantastic season.
Whatever happens against Airdrie, win or lose we have enjoyed a good season and it would be nice to honour the players and staff at our annual dance. Most of the players and management team will be there on what would be a great night so I would urge anyone who intends to go to get there ticket on Wednesday or Saturday from Jimmy Watson or any committee member.
While we don't want to cancel, we may have to if we do not sell enough tickets." The dance will be held in Cowie Miners Welfare on Friday 18th May starting at 7-30pm. Tickets are priced at only £13 per person and this includes a meal and disco. The website is appealing for supporters to please back this event as it's a fantastic night for all involved. Jimmy or Stef can be found up at the back of the stand in the section nearest the Morrision's end. Alternatively you can phone Jimmy on (01786 475573) and Stef Torrance (01259 219570) to make other arrangements.

Stirling Albion sealed their place in the second division play off final's thanks to a wonderful 3-1 win over third placed Raith Rovers. The Binos started the second tie of this leg with almost the same team that drew mid-week in the first leg of this semi final. The only change to the team was that Robert Snodgrass replaced top scorer Colin Cramb in the starting line up. The Binos lost the first goal despite being the better team, but Raith's lead lasted only a few minute's as Stewart Devine won a penalty and Chris Aitken calmly slotted home. The Binos continued their dominance of this game in the second half and Chris Aitken slotted home a second in what is surely a contender for goal of the season. Colin Cramb was brought on for the injured David Bingham and he was soon on the score sheet to seal the Binos place in the final. The Binos will now take on Airdrie in a two legged final in the coming week. The Binos will be at home to Airdrie on Wednesday night and then the final leg will take place in Airdrie on Saturday. These games will decide if the Binos will be playing first or second division football next season so please come along and back the Binos on these two days. Match report below.

Stirling went into the first leg of this play off semi final on the back of four straight defeats whilst Raith were the form team in the league. The Binos made six changes to the line up that got beat off Stranraer on Saturday. Myles Hogarth returned to goals; a more familiar back four of Forsyth, McNally, Nugent and Forsyth were in place; O'Brien was the only player from Saturday to maintain his starting place whilst Bell, Aitken and Devine played alongside him whilst Cramb and Bingham started up front. On the bench was Christie, Fraser, Taggart and Tomana whilst Robert Snodgrass joined them after recovering from injury. The Binos should have won this game by a couple of goals, but there more than enough to encourage the 300 or so Stirling fans there tonight that they can complete the job on Saturday. Steven Bell is likely to miss the Saturday home game against Raith after a shocking tackle from Raith's Marvin Andrews in which the player never received any punishment for the challenge! The Binos will be looking to complete the result on Saturday and hopefully take the Binos into the play off final's against either Airdrie or Brechin. The website is hoping that the people of Stirling will come out in large numbers to back the Binos in what will be their biggest game of the season so far. Match report below.