2019-20 Queen's Park Recap and Statistics
2019-20 Queen's Park Best Eleven
GK - Jordan Hart - 38 apps 0g 6.96 avg
DL - Michael Kennedy - 32 apps 2g 7.16 avg
DC - Harris O'Connor - 33 apps 2g 7.14 avg
DC - Kesi Omolokun - 39 apps 3g 7.20 avg
DR - Craig Thomson - 36 apps 4g 7.45 avg
MC - Jack Breen - 34 apps 5g 7.04 avg
MC - Jamie McKernon - 37 apps 7g 7.09 avg
AML - Adam Martin - 37 apps 8g 7.07 avg
AMC - Kurtis Roberts - 38 apps 13g 7.33 avg
AMR - Danny Carmichael - 39 apps 11g 7.17 avg
ST - Kieran McGrath - 23 apps 13g 7.22 avg
Other notables: DC Josh MacDonald 20 apps 1g 6.95; DL Jack Wilson 14 apps 0g 7.25; MC Liam Miller 19 apps 0g 6.77; AMC Scott Banks 10 apps 3g 7.23; AMR Archie Morrison 24 apps 3g 6.83; ST Josh Peters 31 apps 17g 7.09; ST Leeroy Makovora 15 apps 5g 6.78
Queen's Park Fans Player of the Year: Craig Thomson
The stats shown above take into account all competitions with our senior team and include everyone who played at least one game for the big club this past season.
Goalkeeping
--
Jordan Hart once again was ever-present for our squad and he was even stronger this year despite the higher level of football.
Defence
-- It's interesting that we had an all-league central defender in
Kesi Omolokun who barely could get on the pitch last season in a lower league. Needless to say, when he got his opportunity this year, he ran with it. Loanee
Harris O'Connor paired up with him on most gamedays and he was also excellent.
Josh MacDonald was our main backup and was also solid.
-- New signing
Craig Thomson was superb at right fullback, garnering all-league honours in addition to our supporters choice as Queen's Park player of the year. He was a solid leader and equally impressive on both ends of the pitch.
Michael Kennedy split time early in the season with
Jack Wilson on the left side but Kennedy took over in the second half of the year when Wilson left the club. Last year's main right back,
James Grant, was fine in a backup role.
Midfield
-- The straw that stirred the drink continued to be AMC
Kurtis Roberts, who once again was sensational on offense, notching 13 goals and 7 assists sitting directly behind the striker. Team captain
Jamie McKernon played our box-to-box role well and he was supported by
Jack Breen in more of a holding role.
Scott Banks was grabbing a bigger role as the season progressed but he was poached when the January transfer window opened.
Liam Miller was the main backup.
-- We had impressive performances from both of our main starting wingers, with both
Adam Martin and newcomer
Danny Carmichael being named to the League One Starting Eleven. Young
Archie Morrison was the main backup and played very well when needed.
Striker
-- We went with one striker for the majority of the season, with incumbent
Josh Peters getting most starts early in the season. He was certainly solid but battled injuries throughout the year, which opened up an opportunity for young Celtic loanee
Kieran McGrath. McGrath was sensational in the late stages of the season and could be an exciting player to watch in Scottish football.
Matthew Aitken and
Leeroy Makovora provided solid support.
Year-End Financials
I once again forgot to note our financials for the 2019/20 season but our balance sheet continued to be *very* strong due to having no wages for players or coaches.
Closing Thoughts
I must say I was surprised at how smooth this season went. I definitely figured guys like
Jordan Hart,
Kurtis Roberts or
Josh Peters would be targets for bigger clubs but we were somehow able to avoid losing anyone important.
Having some continuity with our roster certainly helped make my job easier, although injury concerns throughout the season meant that a whopping 49 (!!!) players played at least one game for our senior team in 2019/20.
We only lost two games in a row once all year...and that was in the preseason. We never had to battle adversity and our 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress system worked wonders all year, enabling us to earn our second promotion in as many years.
However, my mind was on furthering my career.
I've spent two years at Queen's Park, won two promotions but in the end, I'm just a simple volunteer at this staunchly amateur club.
I hoped that my two years of incredible success would open some eyes and more importantly, offer some opportunity.
Therefore, on May 3, 2020, the day after our season-ending 4-2 win over Edinburgh City, I went into the office of chairman Gerry Crawley, thanked him for believing in me and handed him my resignation.
It was time for a new challenge...