Annan Athletic
Formed: 1942
Ground: Galabank No longer the new club on the block. Took the conventional route into the Third Division four years ago and appear comfortable in their milieu, closing in on promotion during the least two seasons only to throw it all away by the end of it. Have spent the summer laying a shiny new artificial pitch, although those two issues are not necessarily related.
Berwick Rangers
Formed: 1884
Ground: Shielfield A Scottish club with "Rangers" in their name playing in England. A club crest which includes two lions and a bear wandering about in front of a tree adds to the exotic theme, or at least allows it to be laboured a little longer. The club have gone through five managers in as many years, with veteran midfielder Ian Little the latest incumbent. Funny that results should improve following his departure from the line-up.
Clyde
Formed: 1877
Ground: Subject to change A club with a proud history now little more than a footnote at the end of a season. Clyde even engaged in talks to try to rediscover past successes by moving to East Kilbride. Well, desperate times and all that. The arrival of Jim Duffy as manager last year offered a sense of security on the playing side, while also allowing the club to fill an empty seat in the boardroom when he combined coaching with a role upstairs.
East Stirlingshire
Formed: 1881
Ground: Ochilview Forced to ground-share with neighbours Stenhousemuir as Firs Park needed to be upgraded to meet league criteria. That was three years ago. The club gained further pity last season after finishing bottom of the division following a campaign which garnered just six wins but 24 defeats. Benefits of an artificial surface seem lost on them.
Elgin City
Formed: 1893
Ground: Borough Briggs Scottish football's northern-most outpost. Often the subject of the curses of weary squads who have just pasted Inverness, but are seldom heard complaining when making their own onerous journeys every other week. Were awarded a place in the SFL in 2000 at which time the Milburn Stand was kitted out with 478 seats previously seen inside St James' Park. Presumably, fewer seats had been needed after Ruud Gullit's tenure.
Montrose
Formed: 1879
Ground: Links Park Another horticulturally challenged club. The most significant signing of the summer might be to the coaching staff, with former Scotland defender Lee Wilkie having joined as assistant manager. They already had last season's league top scorer on the books in Martin Boyle: the striker weighed in with almost half of the club's goals last term. Wilkie is likely to decline invitation to take part in game of five-a-sides in training as a result.
Peterhead
Formed: 1891
Ground: Balmoor Two words: Rory McAllister. Formidable striker ignored interest from St Mirren and clubs in England to join up with the north-east side and continue his training to be a plumber, drawing even more covetous glances with a haul of 22 goals. Also handy to have around should a pipe burst inside Balmoor Stadium. Finished fifth last term despite a poor start. Another long haul for visiting teams.
Queen's Park
Formed: 1867
Ground: Hampden Keep Hampden staff busy between international fixtures and to this day the club badge has never been replaced inadvertently by a South Korea flag on the National Stadium's big screens. A reputation for developing young talent but have struggled to outgrow lower leagues. Will revel in the chance to fill vacancy for Rangers' local rivals this season and should get the gig.
Stirling Albion
Formed: 1945
Ground: Dunblane Doubletree Stadium Scotland's inaugural community-run club and distinguished further by playing at the ground with one the daftest names. That may have come as little comfort last season, of course, with the club stumbling into relegation from the Second Division. Showed commendable initiative by charging for trials last summer although were evidently stingy with the contracts. (note to editor: please list email address in case left-back slot is still available.)
Rangers Formed: Touchy subject . . . with possible dates of 1872 or 2012
Ground: Ibrox Are still waiting on full SFA membership after only being given a conditional version. Aren't we all? Knocked on the door of the SPL and First Division but have been made to start out here in the Third. They intend to make their stay a brief one. Rangers' history does not need recounting, although the newco may be left with an abridged version depending on the outcome of the investigation into illegal use of EBTs. They come with an intrepid Sky crew charged with documenting their time in uncharted territory.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article