Gala Fairydean Rovers are an amalgamation of former East of Scotland side, Fairydean and the amateur team, Rovers both clubs going back a long way. Gala Fairydean came to be in 1907 and were founder members of the East of Scotland League in 1923. They’ve had a relationship with Gala Rovers all that time and although these were somewhat strained for a period of time, the teams merged in 2013 just in time to become part of the newly formed Lowland League.

In their first season in the Lowland League Gala finished tenth from twelve but the following year they climbed to eighth. In the Covid halted season this year they finished eleventh from sixteen with five games to play. They have moved to seventh, just above Bo’ness, in the current table thanks to their share of the points at East Stirlingshire on Wednesday. It is interesting to note that all of their four losses have been against the teams above them and they did beat BSC Glasgow as well as that draw against the Shire. Their other results prove Gala are one of the best of the rest sides in this tough league, and will provide formidable opponents on Saturday.

It is more than three weeks since Bo’ness had a league game and are now in catchup mode, the teams around them all having played more games with Gala being two fixtures ahead. Their last league match at University of Stirling was disappointing in that it provided the first defeat of the season, the team putting in lacklustre display A win against Gala will keep the BUs in the top half of the table with the prospect of improving that position in the weeks and months ahead.

The win at Coldstream came about after a decent display with a smart goal from Nicky Locke just before half time and a late penalty conversion by Ryan Stevenson after Locke was downed in the box. Bo’ness will hopefully have gained some confidence from this game and although they now look forward to a round one tie at Bonnyrigg Rose on boxing day, they are only thinking about the tussle with Gala and the need for a top-drawer performance to achieve a positive result.

Unfortunately, once again no fans are allowed in the ground but thankfully the BU Faithful will be able to watch from the comfort of their home, the game being filmed by Sanctus Media, access to the live stream via Fanbase at www.fanbaseclub.com. Tickets are purchased through the site, where registration is required, and the link to watch will appear on the Fanbase site prior to kick off. The advice is to buy your ticket early to ensure access to the link in ample time. The coverage provided by Sanctus Media is excellent with the use of multi cameras following the action completely.

John Spowart
17 December 2020

Match details

Match date

Sat 19 Dec 2020

Kickoff

15:00

Team overview

Team Sponsors

Shirt Sponsor - J B Training and Lifting Solutions