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