United beat us 1-0 and we scarcely managed a shot on target throughout the ninety minutes. The next week we went to Leith and were subjected to a 4-0 hammering. At least we forced their goalie into a save, Fererre coming close to getting an equaliser, but we were subjected to the Proclaimers every time Hibs scored. Ouch.
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On the morning of the 24th of April, the back page of the Sun suggested that John Boyle would be putting the club into liquidation. After choking on their cornflakes, ‘Well fans were in for worrying morning. Information began to creep out as the day progressed and it soon became clear that Black would be leaving along with Director of Football Pat Nevin. Eventually the time arrived for the Fir Park press conference and a tearful John Boyle announced that he was putting the club into interim administration and would be looking to sell his majority shareholding. Financial reference books were rapidly checked and the ‘Well support heaved a collective sigh of relief. We weren’t in any danger of going out of business, as long as we could find a buyer.
The response which followed was amazing. Not only were the fans (in general) very supportive of the move, a campaign team (‘Well Worth Saving) was formed within a day. A large support travelled to Rugby Park and gave the team tremendous backing throughout. The players realised that this could be their last game in a ‘Well shirt and turned in an excellent performance. A three goal burst in about eight minutes guaranteed us the win and we romped to a 4-1 win. Wow! This match marked a return to management for Terry Butcher who had taken charge after Black’s departure. Terry is still in the Fir Park hot seat but for how long?
With the help of Dundee, the club arranged a friendly with Italian Serie A side Chievo. Over 4000 turned out on a horrible Tuesday night to show their support for the club and were rewarded with a 1-1 draw. The team was missing Karl Ready and Greg Strong who had been made redundant but these were the only long term players who had been released. The move into administration had let us slash the wage bill along with other running costs. The moral aspect of what John Boyle had done was questionable but there can be little doubt that he made the right decision for Motherwell FC. The players are still threatening action of some sort but short of rewriting British law, they’ll have to take their statutory redundancy money and find another club.
The last game of the season saw us defeat Dundee 2-1 at Fir Park. A crowd of 6500 watched the match – an increase of 3000 since Dundee’s last visit in January. Goals from Elliott and Lehmann were enough to give us three points and while McFadden couldn’t quite convert his chances into goals, he did enough to impress Berti Vogts; the new Scottish manager included Faddy in the squad for a trip to the Far East.
The season certainly turned out to be eventful. With a poor team, we survived in the SPL for another season and played under four different management teams. The club looked doomed for one horrible morning but now it looks like we’ll emerge stronger than we were before. The fans, officials and players were split at the beginning of the season and united by the end. If we can find a buyer before the end of July, the momentum we have might allow us to make a good start to the season. The night is always darkest just before dawn, we’ve already hit rock bottom and lived. It’s time to be positive but whatever happens, it won’t be boring – it is Motherwell, after all.
| Season Review 2001/2 Part 4 |