Looking Rosey

 

Last season as Edinburgh City hurtled back towards League Two, many Citizens were clutching at straws in a similar fashion to the way their esteemed programme editor clutches to his wallet when it’s his round in the pub. The points deduction following the late payment of wages to players, the departure of many of those players at a key point in the season and a constant battle to try and keep in touch with the rest of the teams in League One meant dark skies were almost constantly hovering over Meadowbank Stadium.

However, there are some Citizens for whom their glass is always half full. Among the plus points we looked at were a considerable increase in the number of local derbies in the 2024/25 league campaign. Not only do we have four games against our capital city rivals and former landlords The Spartans to look forward to but there are four games against our near neighbours Bonnyrigg Rose to relish.

Just over a decade ago I lived in Mayfield, one of the many suburbs of Dalkeith, one of Midlothian’s main towns. There are other satellite villages of Dalkeith such as Eskbank, Woodburn, Easthouses, Newtongrange and, further south Gorebridge. Although it has something of a reputation, I spent twenty happy years in Mayfield, where former Manchester United and Scotland international Darren Fletcher was brought up (a very articulate 16-year-old Darren once phoned our house wishing to speak to my elder daughter – but that’s a story for another day…)

When I first moved to Mayfield, I recall going for a family walk one fine Sunday afternoon in the spring of 1991 and we strolled down to the next village, Newtongrange. It was like the scene from one of those apocalyptic films. There was no one around, the streets were deserted. It seemed like we were the only ones in the village. The reason for the deserted streets of the former coal mining village? The local football team, Newtongrange Star, were playing in the Scottish Junior Cup Final and it seemed the whole community was at Brockville Park, Falkirk that day to see the Star lose 1-0 to junior giants Auchinleck Talbot.

Just along the road from Newtongrange (Nitten to the locals) was another Midlothian community. Bonnyrigg. Again, because of Scottish Junior football, I had heard of the town of Bonnyrigg. The Rosey Posey, as the town’s football club is affectionately known, won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1966 and 1978 and their rivalry with Newtongrange Star, just a couple of free kicks away, is legendary.

When Bonnyrigg Rose left the junior ranks to enter the East of Scotland League in 2018, few could have predicted their meteoric rise since. Just a year later they won promotion to the Lowland League and in 2022, with the Covid pandemic still prominent, they won the Lowland League thereby gaining promotion, via a play-off victory over Cowdenbeath, to the SPFL League Two.

The Rosey Posey’s heroics aren’t just confined to the league. A pal of mine from Aberdeen, an avid Montrose supporter, accompanied me to New Dundas Park in November 2019 to see then non-league Bonnyrigg Rose take on the Gable Endies in the Scottish Cup. In an afternoon of teeming rain, Rose produced a memorable performance and a historic 2-1 win over their opponents. I may have been soaked to the skin that afternoon, but I stayed well after the final whistle to applaud their victory – while my Montrose supporting pal skulked off to the pub… (last in the pub again? I know, I know)

It's great to see Bonnyrigg Rose do so well, even if they did have a flirtation with a League Two relegation play-off last season. Former Hearts striker Calum Elliott is now in charge of first team affairs. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Calum was part of the famous Hearts team of season 2005/06 that took Scottish football by storm. Under the tutelage of George Burley, the Maroons made a storming start to the league campaign that season with Calum Elliott among the goals. Sadly, Burley departed under acrimonious circumstances in October 2005 with Hearts unbeaten and sitting at the top of the Premier League. I’m sure Calum and the Hearts support will always think of what might have been…

For too many years it was just Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian from Scotland’s capital city and its surrounding area in the various guises of Scottish League football. Now we have Edinburgh City, The Spartans, and a club from the heart of Midlothian – Bonnyrigg Rose.

And Scottish football is all the better for it.

 

 

Mike Smith

Twitter @Mike1874

It's All Kicking Off

 

There's no obvious reason for having a photo of Sid James accompanying this article...

My wife had her suspicions when I told her the SPFL season was kicking off today. ‘What?’ she barked in her inimitable manner. ‘But it only just finished a couple of weeks ago!’

‘Ah, oh love of my life,’ I replied, ‘that was the European Championships. Today is the start of the real fitba’ season.’

Of course, we’ve already had the Premier Sports League Cup, but the league campaign is what every club is gauged on over a season. Clubs will be either hoping to build on last season's success or bounce back after the disappointment of last season and another long, hard season beckons.

The opening day of the league campaign always has a special feel to it. No matter who you follow, feelings of optimism abound.  Early August is the time of the year one dreams of winning the league, a decent cup run and of glory come the end of the season in spring. Of course, the intervening months of colder weather, dark afternoons and shuffling to football grounds around the country wearing several layers of clothes to keep out the wind and rain, will alter one’s outlook considerably.

Being a fellow of the maroon persuasion as well as having a soft spot for Edinburgh City,  my opening day challenge was to make it from Tynecastle where Hearts were entertaining Rangers at 12.30pm today to Meadowbank Stadium in time to see The Citizens kick off at 3.00pm. Hearts could and should have beaten Rangers so any idea of leaving Tynecastle early were banished after a fine performance from the Maroons. 

The opening day of the league season has often proved memorable for this ageing scribe. Back in the black and white days of the 1970s, I was living in Aberdeen (for my sins) The opening league game of season 1976/77 saw Aberdeen play Hearts at Pittodrie. A pal of mine was a fellow Hearts supporter but he was late in meeting me outside the ground and we entered the old Merkland Road end, where the massed ranks of the Hearts supporters were congregated, a couple of minutes after kick off. We assumed the cheer we heard a few moments earlier was the Hearts supporters greeting their heroes on to the field of play. What we hadn’t realised as we planked our backsides on the old wooden bench seats was that Drew Busby had put Hearts in front after just 24 seconds. So, when Aberdeen scored, we thought the Jambos were a goal behind.

To explain to young 'uns, we didn’t have the internet and mobile phones fifty years ago. So, when Ian Fleming scored for Aberdeen, we spent the rest of most of the game thinking Hearts were losing, a feeling compounded when Davie Robb added a second for the Dons with five minutes to go. I have to admit to thinking some of the Hearts support got a bit over excited when Donald Park scored two minutes later. As we headed for the exits at the end of the game, we overheard one of our fellow Hearts fans say ‘2-2 wasn’t a bad result to get at Pittodrie…’ Talking about feeling like a right Wally (a feeling that has remained with me all of my life...)

As a Jambo, I hesitate to refer to season 1985/86. This was the season Hearts had gone unbeaten from the beginning of October to the end of April and only needed a draw from their final league game at Dundee on the first Saturday of May to become champions of Scotland. But the roof fell in during the last eight minutes of the season…

 The opening game of that league campaign was between Hearts and the team who would ultimately pip them for the league title – Celtic. Hearts were 1-0 ahead at Tynecastle thanks to a goal from a player whom Celtic had just released – John Colquhoun. But the maroons were denied a famous victory when Paul McStay stroked home a last minute equaliser – a result which, despite being the opening game of the season, would cost Hearts the league at the very end of the campaign.

To cut a long story very short I was hoping the number 44 bus wasn't delayed this afternoon and that I could reach Meadowbank Stadium in time to see Michael McIndoe’s boys start the new league season.  Sadly, I couldn't beat the crowds and I missed the opening five minutes.

If only I had missed the final five minutes... 

 

Mike Smith

Twitter @Mike1874