The 2018–19 season is Motherwell's thirty-fourth consecutive season in the top flight of Scottish football and the sixth in the newly established Scottish Premiership, having been promoted from the Scottish First Division at the end of the 1984–85 season. Motherwell also competed in the League Cup and the Scottish Cup,
Season review Pre-season On 26 June 2018, Maguire signed a new one-year contract with Motherwell, until the end of the 2018–19 season.
Transfers On 5 June 2018, Motherwell announced the signing of Mark Gillespie on a two-year contract from Walsall, with the transfer becoming official when the Scottish Transfer window opened on 9 June.
On 7 June 2018, Motherwell announced the signing of Liam Donnelly on an initial two-year contract from Hartlepool United.
On 13 June 2018, Motherwell announced the signing of Danny Johnson on a two-year contract from Gateshead.
Motherwell announced their fourth signing of the summer on 19 June 2018, with Aaron Taylor-Sinclair signing a one-year contract with the club following the expiration of his Plymouth Argyle contract on 30 June 2018. The following day, 20 June, Motherwell announced the signing of Alex Rodriguez on an initial one-year contract, whilst Ross MacLean moved to Greenock Morton on a season-long loan deal.
On 2 July, Shea Gordon joined Partick Thistle on loan for the season.
On 7 July, Jake Hastie joined Alloa Athletic on loan until January 2019. On 10 July, Motherwell announced that Broque Watson had joined the reserve team from Celtic and Neil McLaughlin had joined from Partick Thistle and would be immediately loaned out to Stirling Albion for the season.
On 16 July, Motherwell announced the season-long loan signing of Conor Sammon from Hearts.
On 3 August, Motherwell announced that Cédric Kipré had left the club to join Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee.
On 9 August, Tom Aldred returned to Motherwell for a second loan-spell, agreeing a deal until the end of the season. The next day, Christian Mbulu signed a one-year contract with Motherwell after his release from Millwall at the end of the previous season.
On 10 December 2018, Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced that they had signed Rose to a two-year contract, following the acquisition of his MLS rights from Seattle Sounders FC, with Motherwell confirming that Rose would join Vancouver Whitecaps on 1 January 2019.
On 1 January 2019, Barry Maguire joined Queen of the South on loan for the remainder of the season, whilst Jason Krones and Jordan Armstrong left the club after the expiration of their contracts. The following day, 2 January, Ryan Bowman moved permanently to Exeter City for an undisclosed fee.
On 3 January 2019, Ross MacLean ended his loan deal with Greenock Morton to join Falkirk on a permanent basis. 2 days later, 5 January, Ross McCormack joined on loan until the end of the season from Aston Villa after his loan deal with Central Coast Mariners was cut short. On 7 January, Gboly Ariyibi joined Motherwell on loan for the remainder of the season from Nottingham Forest.
On 30 January 2019, David Turnbull signed a new contract until the summer of 2021, whilst Aaron Taylor-Sinclair joined Crewe Alexandra on loan for the rest of the season.
On 31 January, Transfer deadline day, Broque Watson joined East Fife on loan for the remainder of the season, George Newell went on loan to Albion Rovers for the rest of the season, and Gaël Bigirimana left the club in a permanent move to Hibernian.
On 7 March, Barry Maguire signed a new contract, until the summer of 2020, whilst Liam Grimshaw agreed a new deal on 12 March, keeping him at club until the summer of 2020.
On 29 March, Adam Livingstone extended his contract until the summer of 2020.
On 10 April, Jamie Semple extended his contract until the summer of 2021.
On 11 April, Motherwell signed a pre-contract agreement with Inverness Caledonian Thistle defender Declan Gallagher, on a contract that will run until the summer of 2021. 6 days later, 17 April, Motherwell signed another pre-contract agreement with an Inverness Caledonian Thistle player, with Liam Polworth agreeing to a contract that will also run until the summer of 2021.
On 1 May, Rangers announced that they had signed Jake Hastie to a pre-contract agreement, with the winger signing a four-year contract to begin once his Motherwell contract ends. On 15 May, Motherwell confirmed that Shea Gordon would leave the club when his contract expired at the end of the season, and would sign a permanent deal with Partick Thistle where he had been on a season-long loan.
On 21 May, Motherwell announced that they had offered new contracts to Craig Tanner and Chris Cadden, whilst first teamer Christian Mbulu, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Elliott Frear, Carl McHugh, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Main, George Newell and Jake Hastie would be leaving the club at the end of their contracts after turning down new deals or not being offered new terms. At the same time, Motherwell also confirmed that youngsters Shaun Bowers, Akeal Rehman, Shea Gordon, Liam Brown, Kyle MacDonald, Broque Watson and Neil McLaughlin would also be leaving the club.
Transfers
In Date Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref 5 June 2018 GK Mark Gillespie Walsall Free 7 June 2018 DF Liam Donnelly Hartlepool United Undisclosed 13 June 2018 FW Danny Johnson Gateshead Undisclosed 19 June 2018 DF Aaron Taylor-Sinclair Plymouth Argyle Free 20 June 2018 MF Alex Rodriguez Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe Free 10 July 2018 MF Broque Watson Celtic Free 10 July 2018 FW Neil McLaughlin Partick Thistle Free 10 August 2018 DF Christian Mbulu Millwall Free Gillespie's move was announced on the above date, becoming official when the Scottish transfer window opened on 9 June.
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Date to Ref. 16 July 2018 FW Conor Sammon Hearts 31 May 2019 9 August 2018 DF Tom Aldred Bury 31 May 2019 5 January 2019 FW Ross McCormack Aston Villa 31 May 2019 7 January 2019 MF Gboly Ariyibi Nottingham Forest 31 May 2019
Out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 3 August 2018 DF Cédric Kipré Wigan Athletic Undisclosed 10 December 2018 MF Andy Rose Vancouver Whitecaps FC Undisclosed 2 January 2019 FW Ryan Bowman Exeter City Undisclosed 3 January 2019 MF Ross MacLean Falkirk Undisclosed 31 January 2019 MF Gaël Bigirimana Hibernian Undisclosed Rose move was announced on the above date, becoming official when the Scottish transfer window opened on 1 January.
Loans out Date from Position Nationality Name To Date to Ref. 20 June 2018 MF Ross MacLean Greenock Morton 3 January 2019 2 July 2018 MF Shea Gordon Partick Thistle End of Season 7 July 2018 MF Jake Hastie Alloa Athletic January 2019 10 July 2018 FW Neil McLaughlin Stirling Albion End of Season 26 October 2018 FW Alfredo Agyeman East Kilbride January 2019 1 January 2019 DF Barry Maguire Queen of the South End of Season 30 January 2019 DF Aaron Taylor-Sinclair Crewe Alexandra End of Season 31 January 2019 MF Broque Watson East Fife End of Season 31 January 2019 FW George Newell Albion Rovers End of Season
Released Date Position Nationality Name Joined Date Ref. 1 January 2019 DF Jason Krones Albion Rovers 11 January 2019 1 January 2019 MF Jordan Armstrong Stenhousemuir 18 October 2019 5 January 2019 FW Alfredo Agyeman Queen's Park 31 May 2019 DF Christian Mbulu Crewe Alexandra 30 October 2019 31 May 2019 DF Shaun Bowers BSC Glasgow 23 August 2019 31 May 2019 DF Aaron Taylor-Sinclair Livingston 6 November 2019 31 May 2019 MF Elliott Frear Forest Green Rovers 18 October 2019 31 May 2019 MF Akeal Rehman Nuneaton Borough 31 May 2019 MF Carl McHugh ATK 28 May 2019 31 May 2019 MF Shea Gordon Partick Thistle 15 May 2019 31 May 2019 MF Liam Brown Edinburgh City 10 August 2019 31 May 2019 MF Chris Cadden Columbus Crew 23 July 2019 31 May 2019 MF Kyle MacDonald Airdrieonians 27 May 2019 31 May 2019 MF Broque Watson Annan Athletic 16 August 2019 31 May 2019 MF Alex Rodriguez Oxford United 20 June 2019 31 May 2019 FW Curtis Main Aberdeen 5 June 2019 31 May 2019 FW George Newell Southport 10 September 2019 31 May 2019 FW Jake Hastie Rangers 1 May 2019 31 May 2019 FW Neil McLaughlin Edusport Academy 21 June 2019 Hastie & Gordon's moves were announced on the above date, with their Motherwell contracts officially ending on 31 May 2019.
Trial Date from Position Nationality Name Last club Date to Ref. DF Christian Mbulu Millwall 10 August 2018
Squad
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (age) Signed from Signed in Contract ends Apps. Goals Goalkeepers 1 Trevor Carson GK Hartlepool United 2017 2020 63 0 13 Rohan Ferguson GK Airdrieonians 2017 2020 1 0 20 Mark Gillespie GK Walsall 2018 2020 29 0 31 P. J. Morrison GK Academy 2009 0 0 41 Robbie Hemfrey GK Academy 2018 0 0 Defenders 2 Richard Tait DF Grimsby Town 2016 2020 122 5 3 Aaron Taylor-Sinclair DF Plymouth Argyle 2018 2019 9 0 5 Tom Aldred DF loan from Bury 2018 2019 62 4 6 Peter Hartley DF Blackpool 2018 2020 35 5 18 Charles Dunne DF Oldham Athletic 2017 2020 71 1 21 Christian Mbulu DF Millwall 2018 2019 6 0 22 Liam Donnelly DF Hartlepool United 2018 2020 11 1 29 Adam Livingstone DF Academy 2020 5 0 30 Barry Maguire DF Academy 2015 2020 5 0 34 David Devine DF Academy 2019 1 0 37 Shaun Bowers DF Academy 2019 0 0 43 Jack Brown DF Academy 0 0 45 Yusuf Hussain DF Falkirk 2018 0 0 Midfielders 4 Carl McHugh MF Plymouth Argyle 2016 2019 104 4 7 Chris Cadden MF Academy 2013 2019 139 12 8 Allan Campbell MF Academy 2016 2021 83 5 11 Elliott Frear MF Forest Green Rovers 2017 2019 74 8 12 Gboly Ariyibi MF loan from Nottingham Forest 2019 2019 18 2 14 Liam Grimshaw MF Preston North End 2017 2020 71 0 23 Alex Rodriguez MF Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe 2018 2019 24 0 26 Shea Gordon MF Stalybridge Celtic 2017 4 0 28 David Turnbull MF Academy 2017 2021 34 15 32 Jake Hastie MF Academy 2016 18 7 33 Liam Brown MF Queen's Park 2017 2019 1 0 40 Kyle MacDonald MF Academy 2019 0 0 42 Broque Watson MF Celtic 2018 2019 0 0 38 Dean Cornelius MF Hibernian 2018 2020 1 0 46 Adam Kettings MF Academy 0 0 47 Reece McAlear MF Academy 0 0 48 Stuart McKinstry MF Academy 2020 0 0 Forwards 9 Curtis Main FW Portsmouth 2018 2019 58 13 16 George Newell FW Bolton Wanderers 2017 2019 9 0 19 Conor Sammon FW loan from Hearts 2018 2019 21 3 24 Danny Johnson FW Gateshead 2018 2020 28 8 27 Craig Tanner FW Reading 2017 2019 36 9 35 James Scott FW Academy 14 1 39 Jamie Semple FW Academy 2018 2021 3 0 44 Ross McCormack FW loan from Aston Villa 2019 2019 61 14 49 Cole Starrs FW Academy 0 0 50 Neil McLaughlin FW Partick Thistle 2018 2019 0 0 Left during the season 5 Cédric Kipré DF Leicester City 2017. 2020 52 1 12 Ryan Bowman FW Gateshead 2016 2019 86 14 15 Andy Rose MF Coventry City 2017 2019 57 2 17 Gaël Bigirimana MF Coventry City 2017 2019 57 3 25 Ross MacLean MF Academy 2014 2019 19 1 34 Jordan Armstrong MF Academy 2019 0 0 36 Jason Krones DF Academy 2019 0 0 38 Alfredo Agyeman FW Academy 2019 0 0
Out on loan
Left club during season
Friendlies
Competitions Premiership
League table
Results by round
Results summary
Results
Scottish Cup
League Cup
Group stage
Table
Matches
Knockout phase
Challenge Cup
Squad statistics Appearances
|colspan="12"|Players away from the club on loan:
|colspan="12"|Players who left Motherwell during the season:
Goal scorers
RankingNationPositionNumberNameScottish PremiershipScottish CupLeague CupTotal1 MF28David Turnbull1500152 FW24Danny Johnson60283 MF32Jake Hastie61074 FW9 Curtis Main30365 MF11Elliott Frear10346 DF5 Tom Aldred3003FW19Conor Sammon00338 MF8 Allan Campbell2002MF12Gboly Ariyibi2002DF6 Peter Hartley1012FW12Ryan Bowman1012DF2 Richard Tait101212MF4 Carl McHugh1001MF17Gaël Bigirimana1001MF7 Chris Cadden1001FW35James Scott1001DF22Liam Donnelly1001TOTALS4611461
Clean sheets
RankingNationPositionNumberNameScottish PremiershipScottish CupLeague CupTotal1 GK20Mark Gillespie70182 GK1 Trevor Carson2024TOTALS90312
Disciplinary record