Stephen, Jack and Maxwell's sponsored head shave planned for the 7th of April is gathering momentum and their fundraising for the NHS is proving a success so far. While they are doing their bit to support the doctors and nurses, poor Susanne (wife of Stephen and Mum of Jack and Max) has been ill for the last week with what is almost certainly the coronavirus. Typical Susanne - she is just getting on with things and doesn't want to make a fuss as she feels there are far more people worse off than her.

Everyone at the club would like to wish Susanne a speedy recovery.

To donate to Stephen and Boys fundraiser -  Donations can be made via their fundraising page HERE

#shaveitoff #staysafe

As you will have seen from an earlier post Club Captain Stephen Dobbie and his sons, Jack (10) and Maxwell (7) are raising money for the NHS Covid 19 Appeal.  The three of them plan to shave their heads on the 7th of April with all money raised going to the appeal. 

Donations can be made via their fundraising page HERE

Stephen said “We love our football and miss being able to play but this horrible virus puts things into perspective and football has to take a back seat.  When you hear stories from around the world we are so lucky to have our NHS so we want to do what we can to show our support for those in the frontline”.

The boys added “we are so grateful for what the doctors and nurses are doing to help save lives so we just want to say thank you really".

The link for the fundraiser is below.

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?pageId=1156371

Queen of the South supporters group The Barflies have continued to show their loyal support to the club.

The group annually make a £9000 donation towards Youth development at Palmerston and have generously brought forward this year’s contribution to help during this enforced shut down.

Queens chairman, Billy Hewitson said "We are in an unprecedented situation and clubs across the country are relying on the generosity of their supporters.  On behalf of the directors, I'd like to thank The Barflies for their continued backing and would also like to thank all other supporters who have already donated finances as we work our way through these uncertain times ".

Members of the Barflies are pictured handing over a previous cheque to the Chairman.

Following developments over the last few days we can confirm that Queen of the South Football Club has effectively locked down all operations from yesterday.The King George V Complex and Lochmaben Community Centre had already closed from last Thursday and the Arena pitches closed on Friday evening. Football activities had ceased before that with First Team, Reserves and Youths activity all stopped until further notice. The Arena building is closed for public access. Only security is still in operation.

It follows that the club shop and office is also closed. Please do not call or email the club as there are no staff there. Emails may occasionally be collected but this will not be frequent. The online shop remains technically open but we would recommend that for the time being you DO NOT order any shop goods online. Orders will not be despatched or even checked to see if we have the stock. However, completed orders would see funds taken inevitably.

The Club Lottery and Deluxe Draw will continue to be run remotely for now and online entries to that are welcome. We will continue to review the position as inevitably much of the business comes from agent collection. If it cannot be run profitably we may have to consider suspending this but for now we expect to continue it.

We have made the watch raffle and shirt draw available for online entry also. The shirt draw will be considered nearer the time but may need to be delayed. It will take place at some point though so entries are still welcome. The watch raffle will also run remotely and entries are welcome. It will however not be physically drawn until after restrictions are lifted.

If anybody wishes to it is also possible to make a straight donation to the club online.This can be done via the Online Shop or the following direct link. Make a Donation

These are difficult times for the whole of the UK, not just Scottish football. To all our fans, sponsors and customers, stay safe, stay home if you can and we'll see you all as soon as possible.

With football currently in lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus, it is a difficult time for everyone but as a club we need to continue to plan for the future and work on keeping the club viable. Therefore we have launched our annual Shirt Sponsorship Draw for season 2020/21. This is our 24th season conducting the annual draw which has proved very successful over the years.

The main aim of Queen of the South FC is to build a sustainable club which can compete in the top flight of Scottish football.

When football eventually makes its return, you could have your company name on the front of our home and away shirts for the next campaign, the advertising and reach winning first prize gives you is huge and has proved to be fantastic advertising for our previous winners.

Behind the scenes we are constantly improving facilities. This season we have welcomed James Hallam’s Scottish HQ in to the Arena and we have just rounded off our centenary which provided new community projects as well as a range of merchandise and a centenary dinner which was well attended and we have taken over the running of Lochmaben community centre to add to our already successful community programme.

All this is only possible with the support of our local companies, organisations and individuals.

To enter please contact the club for an application form. Each entry costs £425 as well as a chance of winning your name on the matchday shirts, every entry entitles you to a season ticket.

So what better way to help support the team in difficult times.

We are currently offering supporters the chance to win a Queen of the South watch.  These are very limited and valuable with only 10 made.  Each watch retails at £2000 and we have two up for grabs in our 100 square per watch raffle. 

Each square costs £20.

In order to be in with a chance to win, contact the club on 01387 254853 and pay your £20 per entry.  You will be allocated a numbered square (1 – 100 for watch one and 101 – 200 for watch two) and once we have sold all the squares we will announce our winners.

Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, football clubs across Scotland were today invited to take part in a series of conference calls with the football authorities.  We as a Board took part in the Championship conference call.  

Following the discussions, the situation isn’t much clearer, other than that this will not be a short term issue and that there is no quick fix.  We still have no idea when football will restart and although UEFA have suggested games will resume in June, there is nothing to suggest that this will be possible.

It is an unprecedented situation we find ourselves in as a nation; it is one that is fast moving and changing by the minute and all we can do is listen to the advice we are being given and act accordingly. 

Our priority has to be the well-being of our staff and supporters while we continue to do what we feel is best for the football club, with the aim of keeping it on a sound footing and looking at its long term survival.

With the uncertainty of what is happening in the game as a whole it leaves a number of unanswered questions and problems to overcome.  We are still unclear if the season will finish or when it will restart and we have no idea what league we will be in.

Therefore, due to the issues outlined above, we are not in a position to start selling season tickets.

We understand supporters are looking for ways of generating income whist we are without matches.  It is difficult times for everyone and all we can suggest is that other than donations, people can take part in the schemes that we currently run, like the lottery or our annual shirt draw that we are about to launch.  People could club together and purchase entries, that way supporters have the chance of getting something back in return for their money.  We are also currently offering people the chance to win one of our very limited edition watches. And we are selling our current Macron stock and hugely reduced prices.  All replica tops are now half price with the other items selling at 30% discount.  These items are available both in store and online. 

With it highly likely that the Arena facilities will be forced to close in the very near future, we encourage supporters who wish to purchase items in person to do so soon.

Following the announcement that players from other Championship sides were showing signs of the Covid 19 virus we took the decision to give the management and players two weeks off, as we need to reduce the risk where possible.

As we remain in limbo, today’s call was the first of what will be regular communication with Clubs across Scotland and we will issue any further updates in due course.