MVP: wWl

Team DPs: 20

MOT are rivals to 0 teams.

To replace about 5+ oldies with new blood. Player acquisition a must this season

Season 61 Update

Motherwell's season was highlighted by two big cup runs: A runner's up medal in the CECIL Cup and winning the whole thing in the SESL Cup! The SESL cup victory was the club's first ever, and was a big in preventing it from being a season of 'what if's. The squad was definitely strong enough to compete for trophies, so making two cup finals was huge (and is a huge financial boost for MOT). We faced strong competition in both cups, facing most of the strongest clubs in the game (DEE in both cups, SRA in both cups, STE in the CECIL Cup - all of the top 3!), which made our runs feel that much more magical. The CECIL cup final was a tough one, losing our star WG to a red card and penalty conceded just 2 minutes in. The SESL cup saw the reverse happen - with SRA losing a player 5 minutes in. Ref certainly made his presence felt in the finals! Winning one of two probably would have been fair even without the reds, as both matchups looked pretty even at the start, unlike the final scorelines.

The league went a bit worse, with the first half being especially difficult. 4th place seems about right for how we performed, though it does feel like we hit a patch of bad luck early on there.  We will hope that the league campaign goes a bit better this next season as our youth rebuild continues. Two new defenders and a new midfielder started the rebuild last season, and now recruitment will focus on wingers as a primary focus. The squad is getting a bit old here, so we should expect to spend a decent chunk of our newfound riches on youth and squad turnover.

Season 60

Motherwell end on top for the first time ever!  73 points in total with a 10 point gap to second place. The league was officially sealed with two matches to go, a 3-1 win over East Fife in the last match of the season at Fir Park. Motherwell win the league by being unblemished at home - 15 wins from 15 matches at Fir Park. 99 goals scored, with 40 conceded for a healthy +59 GD. Feels good to have made it across the finish line this time, after the disaster of last season. My favorite little snapshot from the season is summed up below:

The big lead atop the standings came from a 12 match winning streak that stretched from match 13 to match 35. Before match 13 (7 league matches played), Motherwell were sitting in 4th place, 7 points behind leaders Hibernian. After match 35 (19 matches played), Motherwell were in first place, 10 points clear of second placed Fraserburgh

Cups were rather disappointing. We went out in the QFs of both.  CECIL cup saw us knocked out by a tough draw against SRA. Some bad finishing in the first leg really cost us there. In the SESL cup we were knocked out by Fraserburgh in a truly bizarre match. 18 shots to FRA's 7, with a parity on GK SL, but the score ended up 2-2. Due to subs, then, MOT had a huge expected advantage in the shootout (ShSLs of 33, 33, 29, 27, 27 to Fraserburgh's 28, 19, 16, 16, and 15), but alas it was not to be. That's how OLMEC games go sometimes. We'll hope that next season we can put a deeper run in for at least one of the cups.

Only individual award came from Age 1 FW Billy Bland winning the youth boot - 16 goals in the league topping the 12 from second place.

Great season! One for the record books and a big, big addition to the trophy cabinet!

Season 59

Great season! Almost. Disaster of a final weekend ended up ruining what could have been the best season in Motherwell's history.

Motherwell entered the final two matches of the season in first, knowing that two good results would bring their first title home. However, a loss away to last-placed CEL really ended up being the big missed opportunity. It turns out a win (or even a draw) here would have brought home the title, but MOT's big GK had an absolute shocker of a match and blew it for the Well. The 3-2 loss an absolute disaster and left it all to the last match. That last match was against DUM as has been recent tradition and...a 3-3 draw ends up losing the title. Disappointing for Motherwell, but a good season overall.

The cups were generally sacrificed for the league form, though the CECIL cup was more lost with a rare NMR rather than poor play. Forgetting to put in orders for the first Monday match of the season caught me this time - will be a good lesson for future seasons! The SESL cup R32 match was given a weak side in order to prioritize a league push, but it might have been a tough run even had it been given priority.

Motherwell will have to wait at least another season to claim the big trophy, with this being the third runners up medal in the past 9 seasons. We'll hope for a bit of better luck this next time we find ourselves in the running late on!

Some positives include Ray Wylie Hubbard winning the golden boot - 28 league goals made it a comfortable margin in the end - and Motherwell scoring 92 league goals in total, their highest total ever.

Season 58

This past season was a tough one for Motherwell.  

Motherwell went into the final match against DUM needing the win to secure 6th place and a big financial boost for next season. Therefore, MOT put out the big £120k home bonus and went full tilt for the win. 

A big, big shot % advantage as well as the better GK had MOT feeling confident, and we did end up with the 10-5 shot advantage, with more shots falling to better shooters against a worst GK. But, it was not to be our day. DUM were able to have 3 goals creep in on 5 shots, for a final miserable day in net for our SL34 GK. 1-3 loss with 9 saves for the opposing GK, and MOT end up in 7th, no morale bonus in store for next season.

Our worst season in the division by far, despite the team not being in too bad of shape. We detailed how hard opponents were playing against us in the blog by nature of always having to play sides after they rested against STJ. I was surprised we even had the chance to rescue 6th place, but it's the hope that kills you.

In the cups, we went out in the round of 32 to DUM on away goals after blowing it in a 4-4 home leg at the very end. The SESL cup fared slightly better, making the last 16 before losing to DFA 0-1.

A season to forget.

Season 57

Motherwell finally deliver the goods - CECIL Cup Winner, season 56!  Early cup matchups saw MOT defeat several Div. 1 sides, with a 2-0 aggregate win over INV kicking things off. A tough matchup against STJ awaited, but a 6-2 home blitz in the first leg was enough to see MOT through at 6-4 on aggregate. After a tight 1-0 away loss to SRA in the quarterfinals, the match of the season played out at Fir Park. SRA were able to go up early, but a lot of fight and spirit led to a back-and-forth match that ended 6-4 to the home side and MOT barely progressing. OHannigain the key to the victory with 4 goals in this one. MOT were able to skip past FAL in the semifinals 8-3 on aggregate, setting up a Lanarkshire derby for the final: MOT vs AI. OHannigain again the hero on the day with a big hat-trick to take home the cup with a 3-0 victory.

Whenever we do well in the CECIL cup, there is always the worry that league performances will suffer. Given that 4th-8th were all within 4 points of each other, the margins were very narrow for making the top 6 and getting the financial boost that comes with it. 4 points in the final weekend were enough for MOT to secure a 5th placed finish and keep in good shape going into next season. In the SESL cup, results wer promising, though the draw was not the easiest we've seen. Elimination by the hand of CLY in the quarterfinals meant that MOT missed out on a chance at the cup double, but making the QFs is not a bad result by itself. Meant that MOT played 47 matches of a possible 49 (without counting a possible playoff that would be ideally avoided), so, not bad for excitement nor bank accounts.

Sean OHannigain comfortably was MOT's top scorer for the season, bagging 38 goals on 70 shots. An even 10 goals on 15 shots in both the CECIL and SESL cups, and then 18 goals on 40 shots in the league (some tough GKs faced all season). His 38 goals amounted to one of the best seasons for a MOT striker in recent memory, a total that vaults him up to second highest scorer ever for the club, at 102 goals. He should pass record goalscorer Kristofferson (105 goals) fairly early this season, as OHannigain's tear during his 5th season far exceeded what Kristofferson was able to accomplish at age 4.

Season 56

Well, talk about a season of near-misses. Early season Motherwell pushed hard to make the final of the CECIL cup, but with the new format (Semis right before final), Motherwell were unlucky enough to get their star GK suspended for the final due to yellow card accumulation. This meant a transfer for a new GK, which fortuantely worked out. However, our luck ran out in the final against superstar manager Stewart and his Rangers. MOT were able to put up the superior shot % through the 90 minutes, but the shots did not go our way, nor did the goalkeeping, en route to a 5-1 loss. Another final, another loss for manager Foss-Grant.

Motherwell then found themselves in contention in both the SESL cup and the first division with just a few matches to go. A second consecutive semifinal matchup with top T-11 side St. Johnstone awaited (with a second final against Rangers looming after that), as well as 3 away games in the last 4 to hold onto their top spot in the division. Motherwell decided to prioritize the league, not putting out their strongest side against St. Johnstone. So, the league would come down to 4 matches for MOT's first ever division 1 title. Alas, Celtic showed up big in the first match to beat MOT 6-3, NMR'd against St. Johnstone in the next match, and then MOT lost in the last match away to a HB40 RR fighting for survival - losing the title to St. Johnstone at the very end. 3 separate chances for a trophy, and nothing at all to show for it for Motherwell. What a life!

Season 55

Another season, another finish stalled out just shy of making a real impact. Results have been good, and 19 wins matches our best total in the first division. However, that's just not good enough to compete with teams that are winning the division. Similarly, we have ended up falling just short after a great cup run - MOT was able to beat the 6th best squad and the top t-11 on the way to the SESL cup semifinals, but ended up falling to the 3rd best T-11 (all while MOT sat at 7th). We had some luck getting to that point, but it did feel harsh to go out in the one match where we created both a clear shot % advantage and a clear scoring probability advantage (by having a vastly stronger GK). But, the results don't always work out as what is 'most likely,' part of why this game is so fun. MOT enter the new season in a similar starting position in terms of t-11 (7th overall) and t-17 (7th). The squad will need refreshing at most everywhere but perhaps MF this season, so getting good trades and auction wins will be a must this year. We'll have to see whether or not pushing hard for trophies early in the season makes sense or not...it's always a trick trying to figure out if the cecil cup will bear any fruit. Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw.

Season 54

Season 53 had us making incremental progress still here. Focusing on ensuring financial improvement, we both ended the season pretty much at max cash as well as ensuring a good morale bonus for the next season. FW Kristofferson (21 goals) again finished just short of the golden boot (this time by 2 goals), but second highest for two straight seasons is no small feat. Our cup runs both ended with somewhat surprising upsets where we were upset against the stats, but that's how things go in these games. A good trade for a top-level Age 2 DF (now age 3) seems to have really helped us late in the season. Until losing against STJ in the last match of the season (with a HB40), we had had a nearly perfect second half of the season, with a long winning streak in the league as well as only having a few blemeshes in total. MOT still not quite sure how to up the consistency in the first half, but perhaps we have to resign to just being a cup team for the time being. Very successful season, and again we will be looking to build up the squad to get to the point where we have a strong t-17 and not just a good t-11. Perhaps this year pushing harder for a cup run will be in order.

Season 53

Season 52 was an improvement and mild success for Motherwell. A 5th-placed finish was achieved by a great late run in the league to finish above 6th on goal difference. Striker Kristofferson (24 goals) missed out on the golden boot by a single goal after another player scored 5 goals in the final match against an NMR team. So close! A narrow loss to PT in the CECIL Cup Quarterfinals ended a good run there, while MOT lost a heartbreaker on penalties against COV in the SESL Cup Semifinals, nearly making it through before conceding a late equalizer. Three age-0 players, two MPP, means that MOT will be well set up to work towards financial stability and consistent top-6 placement. The goals for this season will be staying in the top 6 while building up more of a year-end balance in our accounts. Cups may be prioritized if we face favorable runs, or the league may be put first if we are struggling to keep up with the top of the table.

Season 52

Season 51 was a somewhat down year for Motherwell, as they failed to finish towards the top of the table for the first time since their new manager joined. Some rough luck and a weakened roster in the first half of the season saw MOT sitting in risk of relegation by the midway point in the season. MOT did well in both cups, reaching the quarterfinals in the first cup and the semifinals in the second half of the season with the SESL cup. The SESL cup run was a nice bonus to a more successful second half, where MOT moved safely up the table and was within a timely goal of reaching the top 6. This was done while training a youth GK, which helps set the club up for future success. The lack of a morale bonus for missing the top 6 will hurt the finances, but MOT hopes to overcome that with other sources. MOT will be happy to start the season in a good place, as a focus on youth recruitment will continue to keep the club in a safe spot in terms of starting squads. Focus this season will be continuing to add to the squad with shrewd purchases and good finances in order to have a top side next season for a real challenge in either the cups or the league.

Season 51

Season 50 saw Motherwell back in the 1st division for the first time since season 43. A 2nd placed finish in season 49 just 2 points off the title saw the promoted, and it was certain to be a steep learning curve back at the top of the pyramid. A rough start to the season saw the side lose 3 of the first 4 league matches and both of their cup legs. Even for one of those, the manager didn't even turn up. However, fortunes would turn as the season progressed, and the side continued to grind out narrow victories to stay in a decent league position. Some auction slip-ups saw MOT load their lineup with youth talent, but after moving along striker Seedorf and playing mainly kids, the side were suddenly rejuvenated and went on to not lose a match from that point forward. A run of 9 straight league wins put the Well into a guaranteed 2nd place in the league, and they were able to draw their last two to cruise to their best ever league placement, beating out a third placed finish from season 9.

Season 49

Season 48 saw Motherwell secure their first ever trophy in SESL, winning Division 3 with a record of 23-6-1 for 75 points and a 6-point margin of victory over high-flying CEL. The two cups ended in disappointing losses, though making it out of the group in the SESL cup was nice for a little extra cash. Consistently 2nd or 3rd in stats throughout the season, the trophy feels more of an achievement when considering we were pushed so hard by CEL's Div 1-quality squad. MOT will look to take a similar approach to building sustainably into Div 2 (and will look forward to the extra cash coming in for the morale bonus)

Season 48

Season 48 marks the start of Andy Foss-Grant's spell in charge of Motherwell.  The club is in strong shape, despite suffering a 13th place relegation from division 2 (by 2 points).  We start off the season with a T-11 of 23.1, which is 2nd best in Div. 3 and 16th best in all 3 tiers. A very balanced T-17 of 21.2 is not only highest in Div. 3, but 6th best in SESL!  Motherwell also have by far and away the youngest squad in the game at an avg of 2.85, the only club in all tiers south of 3.00.  What does this all mean? Well, expectations will be high for the club. There won't be any grace period for this club, as the time is now to start moving back up the ladder.  Money management will be key and appropriate allocation of TP and CP will be crucial.  With the strength of this squad, I think anything less of promotion will be seen as a disappointment from the board.

THE CLUB HISTORY IN SESL

An overview of league positions can be found here:  http://109.228.6.206/sesl/teams.php?teamid=21&type=history
 

Andrew's seasons in charge:

Season 61 update:

The local club kicks off their 2026 campaign soon, though I'm sure most will look forward more to the world cup interruption that is to come over the summer. This season looks pretty dire for the club, and it is finally starting to show in declining season ticket renewals. They really have not provided a product that most can enjoy watching week in and week out, and the good grace only lasts so long when the club is less than a decade old. It would help if the seat prices were reasonable, but I'm fairly certain that the average MLS fan pays more for their season ticket than the average Arsenal or Manchester United supporter. Let's hope they turn it around with recruitment, but I'm not holding my breath.

Kids are good, family is making it through another tough winter of illnesses always coming and going. Between the kids, work, and all of my other commitments we will see how well I can do juggling an overfull schedule this year. Fingers crossed I find some balance there!

February 2021:

Andrew Foss-Grant dramatically returns to SESL.

Ranked 95th best manager stats in SESL, EVER!   With 64 wins from his 180 previous matches.

95.

Andrew Foss-Grant

180

64

34

82

227

302

0.450

A bit about me:

Andrew was first introduced to the SOS leagues by former East Sterlingshire and current OASL manager Bryce back when they were both graduate students.  Over a couple of stints in OASL, SESL, and SFLSL between 2010ish and 2016ish, Andrew has a little success, most notably with OASL club Portland and their youth team, Mt. Tabor. I am looking forward to my re-entry to SESL and the joy and escapism that such an immersive league brings, along with getting to rejoin such a vibrant community of good people.