Doors closed but Braves fans given unique friendly access

After a long wait, friendly matches are finally back on the agenda for teams outwith the SPFL Premiership. We begin today with an internal squad match and we are looking forward to our first match against proper opposition on Tuesday.

In Ricky's blog earlier this week he spoke about provisional matches against Stirling Albion, Benburb, East Fife, Troon, Shotts and Sauchie. However, last night news broke that teams in North Lanarkshire could only play other teams within the same council area. As a result, friendlies have been swiftly arranged against Gartcairn and Albion Rovers in the next seven days, with others to follow.

It will come as a disappointment but no surprise to hear that supporters are not allowed into the match. The regulations are based around keeping personnel to a minimum, with only four match officials and four club officials (per team) allowed outwith the playing staff.

We have discussed our options internally, and in order to give fans the best possible matchday experience from home, we have set up a pre-match supporters Zoom call with manager Ricky Waddell. It'll take place at 6pm and Ricky will exclusively confirm the matchday squad (not starting lineup... we need to keep something under wraps!), introduce the new signings and talk supporters through his hopes for the match. Supporters will then have the chance to ask him their questions. 

We also hope to include one cameraman within our club officials and make use of our club's Veo camera, which allows filming of the match in full for tactical analysis without a person present. This will allow the supporters to watch back the highlights and key moments. This season we will be live streaming our competitive matches, so the intention is to use our pre-season friendlies to pilot this initiative as soon as possible. Fans will be alerted when any streaming is confirmed.

We hope as many supporters as possible can join us at 6pm (GMT) on Tuesday. The link and password will be made available to app users, approximately half an hour before it is due to begin.