Latest news with #DavidMartindale
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Inside crunch SPFL talks as David Martindale reveals Livingston were ORDERED to rip up their plastic pitch
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DAVIE MARTINDALE has revealed Livi were ordered to ditch their much-maligned pitch. The Lions booked an immediate return to the Premiership by seeing off Ross County in last month's play-offs. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Livingston boss David Martindale Credit: Kenny Ramsay 2 His Lions team will be back in the top flight next season after their play-off triumph Credit: Kenny Ramsay And while top flight clubs voted in 2024 to ban artificial surfaces by the start of the 2026/27 campaign, Livi have just replaced their old plastic pitch with a brand-new MX Elite surface. While the timing has surprised some, Martindale insists his club weren't given a choice by the SPFL. Martindale said: "The season only finished a few weeks ago and we didn't have much choice. "There was a meeting between ourselves and the SPFL and we were told that if we were getting promoted, we'd need to lift our pitch and replace it. "So we've had a six-week window to try and source a training facility and a playing facility. "Naturally, that's going to have to be an artificial surface. "There's no way on earth we could put a grass pitch down, because where would we have trained? And the academy team and the women's teams? "It wasn't until we knew we were going up that we knew we had to change our surface. "It was all very last minute. I think long-term, we'll need to look at the strategy. "But right now, getting told we had to lift our surface and we had to have a new surface to be in the Premiership, there wasn't a lot of choice to be honest." Livingston boss David Martindale opens his heart on life before, during and after prison.. and the managers he admires most Livi were yesterday handed a difficult opening day trip to Rugby Park to take on Stuart Kettlewell's Killie on their top-flight return. The two clubs will also face off in Ayrshire in the Premier Sports Cup group stage. Martindale told Sky Sports: "We'll be fairly familiar with each other by the opening day! "It's good to be back into the Premiership and it'll be interesting. "There's been a lot of change in the year we've been away so we're looking forward to it." Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
BBC News
4 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Tough early run & festive fixtures for Livi
It didn't take long for Livingston to be back dining at the top table in Scottish football, and they've certainly been served a kicking off away to Kilmarnock on Saturday, 2 August and welcoming last season's Championship rivals Falkirk to West Lothian one week later, David Martindale's side have - on paper - a wretched often disputed, but often decided 'big six' are all up next.A trip to champions Celtic on Saturday, 23 August is followed by the visit of Hearts one week the Premiership resumes on Saturday, 13 September, a trip to Aberdeen awaits. Two weeks later, Rangers visit the Home of the Set Fare sees trips to Dundee United and Hibs. Lions head into Christmas on the back of a trek through to St Mirren on Saturday, 20 December while Celtic visit a week later and United three days after it's a trip up to Tannadice on Saturday, 11 April for Livi's final pre-split at the fixtures, where do you think Livingston will be after 10 games? Tell us here.
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Premiership fixtures announced - how do you think Livi will start?
Livingston's first Scottish Premiership game after a year in the second tier will be a trip to match will take place on Saturday, 2 August at 15:00 BST, with Livi's first home fixture against fellow newly-promoted side Falkirk on Saturday 9, August at 15: Livi's Scottish Premiership fixtures in full do you think David Martindale's side will be after 10 games and what do you make of how the fixtures have fallen? Share your views here.
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Hamilton signs two-year contract to remain at Livi
Goalkeeper Jack Hamilton has agreed a two-year deal to stay with newly-promoted 31-year-old, who was Livi's back-up keeper for their last two seasons in the top flight, returned to West Lothian in January on a short-term deal until the summer after spending the first half of last season with Ross being restricted to an unused substitute role behind number one Jerome Prior as David Martindale's side secured promotion from the Championship via the play-offs, Hamilton has been given the opportunity to remain with the Lions.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
SpongeBob & GPS out the window - inside story of pre-season
"I've had boys being caught driving round the stadium with their GPS hanging out the window, claiming they've done 5K in 16 minutes."Pre-season training isn't the place for the faint days of running up and down sand dunes in the mid-1970s may be over. Long fortnights in Largs have since been switched for private jets, Austrian training camps and sports it still plays a hugely pivotal role in the outcome of a team's season. With many teams returning already to hit the training pitch, how are they put together, and what happens to get teams ready? 'We went to Hungary and it was 40 degrees' – the manager So, while players are off sunning themselves in some picture perfect beach club, or perhaps playing Ludo with the kids on a staycation at a midgie-infested glamping site, back at base camp there will be some poor sod plotting their stage left, Livingston manager David the break between the season finishing and preparation for the next shortening by the year, you'd think it would be difficult for players to allow their fitness to slide too much. Right?Well, Martindale is one of many managers who will make sure their players aren't coming back battling the holiday bulge."It's changed now," he told BBC Scotland. "The boys will have a two-week programme before they come back into the club, so when they come back in, they're not a million miles away from when they left the club."They'll be given 5Ks, they'll be given 10Ks, they'll be given some mobility exercises, and light gym work."You might have boys that have, how do I put this, had a better summer than others. So, it's important that you don't treat it in a general way… so the players come in, we test them, check their body fats, check their body weights and then adjust the programme accordingly." Footballers are professionals, so let's go on the notion every single one of them watches what they eat and drink and follows the holiday programme to the what happens if that maybe hasn't happened?"I've had everything," said Martindale. "But they're only cheating themselves. You find out very quickly on the first day back if they've been telling porkies."I remember one player telling me he had an all-inclusive two weeks in Mexico, I said, 'well, you're going to have to get out and you're going to have to go run, you're going to have to watch what you're eating slightly, you're going to have to watch what you're doing'."He came back in, I think his body fat had nearly doubled, and he'd put on about 8kg, and from that moment onwards he was playing catch up. He went out on loan two weeks later…"Martindale says he's not all old school when it comes to pre-season training. After the first day test, the footballs are out and friendlies will soon be are off to the Netherlands this summer with their boss saying finding the right location for a trip is crucial."One year we went to Hungary, and I think it was like 40 degrees," he added. "The first couple of sessions weren't bad, then the last ones after that, it was just taking the energy straight away from the boys, so the element of the weather can play a part in your training intensity." 'From laundry to private dining… it's never ending' – the club secretary Livingston won't be the only team heading abroad to get rid for the rigours of the season. In fact, dozens of sides across the UK will be doing the what goes into planning such a trip?"Once the board and the manager determine there's going to be one, the manager would normally tell me where he would like to go," Karen Castello, Kilmarnock's club secretary, explains."Once a venue's available and we have a hotel, then obviously flights or ferries have to be organised. Then we have to also gather everyone's passport details and ensure they're all valid within the six months of travel."From laundry, dealing with the food that the sports scientists advise, it's never-ending. Also, within the hotel we also have to arrange meeting rooms, physio rooms, private rooms, private dining…"While Castello is in charge of the logistics after listening to the manager's wish list, clubs can also pull in agents to pull together the perfect the jaunt, which is typically around one week, players will also get some down time. And if anyone fancies a round of golf, then you guessed it, Castello has to organise this too."It's also good when you've got fresh players coming in as well," said Castello of the social benefit of going away for pre-season."It's the only time you actually get a chance to actually get to meet the boys on a daily basis."I mean, I see them here at the club, obviously, but it's good to get to know them. It's really nice because you get to see the personal side as well." 'There was a 22-man brawl' – the player So we've heard from a manager and a club secretary, but what about those who are being put through their paces in a bid to ready themselves for the new season?It may seem a bundle of laughs jetting away. Maybe to Spain, maybe to Portugal, maybe to the United States to get your photo taken with SpongeBob Squarepants like Rangers did back in this is where the hard graft begins, and as Martindale alluded to, there's nowhere to hide."My first full-time pre-season I'd did the runs on Gullane sands with Livingston. Thankfully that's long gone, because I don't think I could have done 17, 18 of them," said Motherwell midfielder Andy Halliday."We're very lucky to do what we do, but everyone sort of dreads that first day back in pre-season because they know they're going to be putting in the tough yards."But after it's done you obviously always feel the benefits for it and you know you're better off for it as a player and obviously as a team as well.""We were in Holland last year, I've been to Marbella, I've been to Portugal so we're really lucky to be going to nice places with warm weather as we're not blessed with brilliant weather here in Glasgow and in Scotland so I think it's always nice to get a bit of sun on your back as well."In saying that Halliday's pre-season experiences haven't always gone to plan…he remembers one trip for all the wrong reasons."It was either my first or my second season at Hearts, and we played a friendly against a Spanish team and there was a 22-man brawl," he recalls."I think there was about 12 sending offs and the game got cancelled after 30 minutes. That was the only game we had in that week of pre-season and the trip away so we ended up not even having a game but we started the season well so it didn't really matter."
