The History of Newtongrange Star
1947/48
STORY OF THE SEASON
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    The Edinburgh and District League had now expanded to 22 clubs with Loanhead Mayflower making a welcome return, along with Camelon Juniors. The 42 game league programme was a gruelling marathon for teams that also did well in Cups. Towards the end of the season champions elect Bo'ness United had to play 16 games in 22 days -makes today's fixture scheduling seem pretty straightforward.

    Star improved on their 46/7 placing by climbing the league to an eventual fifth place. Scoring goals was still not a problem, with 111 scored in league matches alone, but they also conceded 98. Star were almost unbeatable at home but struggled badly in away matches. Even Champions Bo'ness United failed to win at Victoria Park, having to be happy with a 3-3 draw. However, over at Newtown Park Bo'ness won 5-0. Star also crumbled to five goal defeats at Armadale, Arniston and Grange Rovers.

    The first couple of rounds in the Scottish Junior Cup were played on a regional basis. Star came out of the hat at home to Port Seton's Thorntree United in Round One, and deservedly won 5-2. In the second round they were faced with a tricky trip to Haddington, one of the teams to finish above them in the League. Given Star's dodgy away form in the league, their 1-0 win at Brewery Park, courtesy of a Davie Pryde goal, was one of their best results of the season. In Round 3 Star were sent off to play Strathclyde Juniors in Glasgow. The Strathies played at Springfield Park, in the shadow of Celtic Park, and a big crowd watched the home side demolish Star to the tune of 5-0.

    Star made it to round two of the East of Scotland Cup with a 4-2 win over Bonnyrigg which included a fine hat trick from Davie Pryde. Sadly they then went down 4-2 away to eventual runners-up Arniston Rangers. In the Thornton Shield it was another local side, Loanhead Mayflower, who knocked Star out.

    By the end of the season it was time to take stock on three years back in football and the Star committee were reasonably satisfied with how things had gone. The League position had improved and Star were the most successful of the Midlothian clubs. Attendances were good, especially for local derbies and Cup ties. The biggest disappointment was the lack of impact made in Cup competitions.

    Source: Newtongrange Star FC match programme [9-Aug-2008]
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE
Pld W D L F A Pts
Bo'ness United 42 28 6 8 146 69 62
Armadale Thistle 42 28 3 11 143 66 59
Haddington Athletic 42 27 5 10 129 77 59
Bathgate Thistle 42 21 7 14 101 78 49
Newtongrange Star 42 21 6 15 111 98 48
Camelon Juniors 42 20 6 16 111 89 46
Bonnyrigg Rose 42 20 5 17 105 96 45
Dunbar United 42 18 8 16 105 103 44
Polkemmet Juniors 42 17 9 16 97 82 43
Stoneyburn Juniors 42 18 6 18 104 104 42
Whitburn Juniors 42 19 3 20 99 85 41
Loanhead Mayflower 42 14 11 17 96 99 39
Musselburgh Athletic 42 15 9 18 78 87 39
Fauldhouse United 42 16 6 20 95 112 38
Dalkeith Thistle 42 16 5 21 96 118 37
Ormiston Primrose 42 17 3 22 97 125 37
Arniston Rangers 42 16 3 23 101 119 35
Thorntree United 42 17 1 24 93 123 35
Grange Rovers 42 13 7 22 75 110 33
Rosewell Rosedale 42 15 2 25 101 127 32
Preston Athletic 42 12 8 22 100 126 32
Tranent Juniors 42 12 3 25 86 133 27
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Info
Armadale Thistle H 1 1 Young
A 0 5
Arniston Rangers H 2 3 D. Pryde, Dingwall McKay, W. Pryde, Laurie, Glidden, McKillop, Higginson, Gibson, Dingwall, D. Pryde, Slater, Hope.
A 0 5
Bathgate Thistle H 3 5 J. Young, Dingwall
A 3 2 Bird 2, Hunter
Bo'ness United H 3 3 D. Pryde, Slater, Hope
A 0 5
Bonnyrigg Rose H D D
A 2 3 Young 2
Camelon Juniors H 3 2 Cockburn 3
A 4 5 ?
Dalkeith Thistle H 1 0 Young
A 3 5 Hope, ?
Dunbar United H 5 3 ?
A 0 2
Fauldhouse United H 5 0 ?
A 0 3
Grange Rovers H 4 1 Young 2, Dingwall, Bird
A 0 5
Haddington Athletic H 0 2
A 3 3 D. Pryde, Hope, ?
Loanhead Mayflower H 2 2 Dingwall 2
A 2 2 Hope, Young
Musselburgh Athletic H 3 0 Glidden, Slater, Young
A 2 1 Cockburn, Young
Ormiston Primrose H 6 0 Dingwall, ?
A 4 2 Pryde 2, Slater, Dingwall McKay, Black, Laurie, Higginson, McKillop, Bird, Pryde, Dingwall, White, Slater, Hope.
Polkemmet Juniors H 3 2 ?
A
Preston Athletic H 5 0 Young 2, Jamieson, Cockburn, Bird
A 5 2 ?
Rosewell Rosedale H 3 2 Slater, Glidden, D. Pryde
A 4 2 ? McKay, W. Pryde, Higginson, Glidden, McKillop, Bird, D. Pryde, Dingwall, Newman, Brown, Hope.
Stoneyburn Juniors H
A
Thorntree United H 4 2 Thomson, Dingwall, Young, Hope
A 3 1 ?
Tranent Juniors H 2 3 Hope, Slater
A
Whitburn Juniors H 3 1 Wilson 3
A 2 1 Dingwall, Gibson
Spectators at a Newtongrange Star v Arniston Rangers match.
SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Thorntree United 1 1 Slater
H Thorntree United 5 1 Slater 3, Young 2
2 A Haddington Athletic 1 0 D. Pryde
3 Bye
4 A Strathclyde 1 5 Dingwall
THORNTON SHIELD
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Camelon Juniors 3 0 Slater, Dingwall, Young
2 A Loanhead Mayflower 1 2 H. Pryde (* Star lodged a successful protest against an ineligible player.)
A Loanhead Mayflower 1 5 Young
EAST OF SCOTLAND CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Bonnyrigg Rose 4 2 Pryde 3, Young
2 Bye
3 H Arniston Rangers 0 0
A Arniston Rangers 2 4 Hope, Slater
Arniston Rangers and Newtongrange Star players photographed before their East of Scotland Cup tie at Newbyres Park.
ST MICHAELS CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Musselburgh Athletic 6 1 D. Pryde 3, Slater, Young, Hope
2 H Dalkeith Thistle 0 1
BROWN CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Loanhead Mayflower 2 2 D. Pryde, Young
A Loanhead Mayflower 2 0 Dingwall, Bird
2 Bye
3 H Dalkeith Thistle 2 2 Slater, Young
A Dalkeith Thistle 4 0 ?
SF A Arniston Rangers 0 5