The History of Newtongrange Star
1948/49
Back: W. Young (Trainer), C. Robertson, M. Haughney, G. Dingwall, V. McKay, W. Hutchison, C. Bird, J. Denholm (Trainer)
Front: J. Sneddon, J. Allan, J. Young, J. Cockburn, A. Hope
STORY OF THE SEASON
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    Following on their fifth placed finish in 1947/8, Star had another solid season in the Edinburgh and District League, finishing 6th. The leading trio of Bo'ness, Armadale and Bathgate were well clear of the rest of the field in a league where standards varied greatly. Eventual Champions Bo'ness United scored 139 goals that season; bottom club Rosewell Rosedale conceded 173.

    The Scottish Junior Cup provided a run to remember. Drawn at home to Dunbar in Round One, Star won 7-3. Dalkeith Thistle were then defeated 4-0 before a crowd of 4000 at the old Kays Park with goals by Cockburn (2), Haughney and Young. Next up were Camelon Juniors who held out for a 1-1 draw at Victoria Park. A special train was chartered to take the Star fans to the replay at Carmuirs Park and they returned home happy with a 4-1 win.

    The Fourth Round tie against Blairgowrie turned into a real marathon. The teams drew 1-1 at Victoria Park. Sneddon scored Star's goal, and for the record the line up was: McKay, Haughney, Hutchison, Robertson, Dingwall, Bird, Sneddon, Allan, Young, Hope, Cockburn. For the replay in Perthshire a total of 1200 Star fans made the trip on another special train. Late in the game it looked as if they were going to be disappointed. Star trailed 2-1 going into the final minutes before being awarded a penalty. Mike Haughney drilled it into the net in typical fashion, sparking off a pitch invasion from the travelling support. There were no penalty shoot outs in those days so a third game was required, on a neutral ground. Because of the level of interest the match was played at Cowdenbeath's Central Park and attracted a crowd of just over 8000. Goalless after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. Tiredness set in and both teams conceded soft goals. Grant gave Blairgowrie the lead in the 95th minute and they seemed to be heading for victory until a late leveller by Hope.

    The teams had now met of three successive Saturday's without a result. The press dubbed them the 'Inseparables'. The weather intervened meaning that the Third Replay was postponed for a week. Incredibly the teams again failed to reach a conclusion, with another 1-1 draw, again at Cowdenbeath.

    Finally, on March 24th 1948, 6 weeks after the first game, a result as achieved. Goals from Mike Haughney and Allan saw Star to a 2-1 win, and the chance to play Cambuslang Rangers in a much delayed Fifth Round tie. It went ahead at Cambuslang the following week. Local interest and a big travelling support saw an estimated crowd of 9000 inside the ground. Star won 2-1 - Haughney again scoring from the spot, with Sneddon getting the other goal. By this time Haughney's scoring exploits had been recognised by the seniors and he signed for Celtic in January 1949, remaining with Star until the end of the season.

    Star were now into the Semi Final where they awaited the challenge of Auchinleck Talbot, Ayrshire's finest. The match was played at Shawfield in Glasgow on May 7th 1949. A crowd of 23,000 turned up and saw an entertaining match. Star led thanks to a goal by Young until Auchinleck equalised with just 9 minutes left to play. The replay, again at Shawfield, ended in disappointment as the Ayrshire side won 2-0. Star's semi final team was: V McKay, W Pryde, C Bird, C Robertson, G Dingwall, J Cockburn, J Young, J Sneddon, M Haughney, J Allan, A Hope.

    The other Cup competitions brought little pleasure for Star. Their marathon Scottish Cup run had caused a big fixture pile-up meaning that weakened and tired teams took the field for many games. Armadale knocked them out of the East of Scotland Cup. In the St Michael Cup they fell to Stoneyburn. The Brown Cup and Thornton Shield also brought early defeats.

    At the end of the season four of the team turned senior. Striker Jim Young signed for Hibernian. He had three seasons at Easter Road but managed just four first team appearances at a time when Hibs were one of the finest teams in Britain. He later moved to Cowdenbeath, scoring 10 goals in 18 league games during his only season at Central Park.

    George Dingwall, who had previously been with Hearts, had a second try at senior football with Airdrie. James Cockburn signed for Clyde. But the most successful Star product of that team was the striker known as the 'Cannonball'.

    Mike Haughney had been a pupil at Dalkeith's St Davids High School when he came to Star's attention. Although born in Paisley, his family had moved to Dalkeith when he was a youngster. Mike was one of a family of eight and he perhaps saw sport as a way of standing out. He had a great scoring record in schools and juvenile football and was given a trial by Celtic in 1944. He wasn't signed at that time, partly because he was in the Army. He rose to the rank of Captain in the Commando Unit of the Seaforth Highlanders. He left the Army at the end of the War and quickly signed for Newtongrange Star. His scoring exploits in 1948/9 renewed the interest from Celtic and they signed him on a delayed transfer midway through 1948/9. It was no great surprise that he had football talent -his uncle Andy Haughney had played for Aberdeen, and his great-uncle Peter Dowds was one of Celtic's early stalwarts in the late 19th Century.

    His Celtic debut was in an Old Firm match and Haughney won immediate fame by scoring the winner for Celtic in a 3-2 victory. He was highly rated at Celtic Park despite being a part-time player throughout his time at the club. Mike was a student and graduated from Edinburgh University in 1953 with a B.Comm degree. By that time he had moved back to playing in defence. In total he made 233 appearances for Celtic, scoring 44 goals between 1949 and 1957. He actually scored for the Celts in the 1956 Scottish Cup Final against Hearts when they lost 3-1. Mike was capped by Scotland on one occasion, playing at Hampden against England in 1954. At the end of his playing career he emigrated to the USA. He worked for a bakery firm and rose to an executive position. Latterly he lived in Palos Heights, near Chicago, where he died in February 2002, aged 76.

    Source: Newtongrange Star FC match programme [13-Aug-2008][16-Aug-2008]
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE
Pld W D L F A Pts
Bo'ness United 44 32 5 7 139 66 69
Armadale Thistle 44 31 4 9 120 61 66
Bathgate Thistle 44 28 8 8 148 90 64
Haddington Athletic 44 24 9 11 139 103 57
Tranent Juniors 44 24 6 14 137 77 54
Newtongrange Star 42 22 7 13 120 96 51
Whitburn Juniors 44 22 5 17 122 110 49
Bonnyrigg Rose 44 19 9 16 129 101 47
Dunbar United 43 20 7 16 119 110 47
Camelon Juniors 41 19 7 15 112 100 45
Fauldhouse United 43 18 7 18 103 129 43
Thorntree United 44 20 1 23 103 129 41
Grange Rovers 43 18 5 20 105 110 41
Polkemmet Juniors 44 17 6 21 105 109 40
Ormiston Primrose 43 18 3 22 95 96 39
Stoneyburn Juniors 40 16 6 18 77 82 38
Loanhead Mayflower 43 17 3 23 81 111 37
Arniston Rangers 42 15 5 22 91 97 35
Musselburgh Athletic 44 16 3 25 84 135 35
Broxburn Athletic 44 14 6 24 89 109 34
Dalkeith Thistle 43 10 12 21 78 107 32
Preston Athletic 43 8 8 27 71 119 26
Rosewell Rosedale 43 3 2 38 59 173 8
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Crowd
Armadale Thistle H 2 0 ?
A 3 4 Robertson, Allan, Sneddon
Arniston Rangers H 2 1 Davidson, Allan 1500
A 1 1 ?
Bathgate Thistle H 3 4 Kinghorn 2, Dickson
A 4 5 Davidson, Young, Allan, Ewing
Bo'ness United H 2 4 ?
A 1 5 ?
Bonnyrigg Rose H 4 4 ?
A 3 0 Young, Sneddon, ?
Broxburn Athletic H 0 3
A 1 4 Hope
Camelon Juniors H 4 2 Whitelaw, Haughney, Wood, McKay
A 1 5 ?
Dalkeith Thistle H 1 3 Cockburn
A 3 1 ?
Dunbar United H 2 3 ?
A 2 0 ?
Fauldhouse United H 3 3 Young 3
A 3 2 Cockburn 2, Kinghorn
Grange Rovers H 5 1 Haughney 3, Cockburn, Kinghorn
A 3 2 ?
Haddington Athletic H 1 0 Cockburn
A 3 6 ?
Loanhead Mayflower H 4 0 Young 2, Allan 2
A 3 1 ?
Musselburgh Athletic H 5 2 Haughney 3, Kinghorn 2
A 1 2 ?
Ormiston Primrose H 2 0 Hope, Cockburn
A 3 1 Watson 2, Cockburn
Polkemmet Juniors H 1 1 Young
A 1 4 ?
Preston Athletic H 5 2 Haughney 3, Allan, Cockburn
A 2 1 Sneddon, Purves
Rosewell Rosedale H 7 2 Hope, Young 3, Cockburn 3
A 2 1 Cockburn 2 McKay, Pryde, Hutchison, Miller, Dingwall, Robertson, Sneddon, Haughney, Young, Cockburn, Newman.
Stoneyburn Juniors H 4 0 Young 2, Cockburn, Hope
A 3 3 Haughney 2, Young
Thorntree United H 5 1 Cockburn 2, Watson 2, Young McKay, Pryde, Haughney, Dingwall, Ewing, Bird, Sneddon, Allan, Young, Cockburn, Watson.
A 4 1 Newman, Kinghorn, Haughney, Young
Tranent Juniors H 2 2 Sneddon, Hope
A 5 4 ?
Whitburn Juniors H 3 3 Haughney, Smith, Allan
A 4 5 ?
SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Crowd
1 H Dunbar United 7 3 Hope 3, Cockburn, Young 3
2 A Kinglassie Colliery 6 2 ?
3 A Dalkeith Thistle 4 1 Haughney, Cockburn 2, Young 4000
4 H Camelon Juniors 1 1 Young McKay, Pryde, Hutchison, Robertson, Dingwall, Bird, Sneddon, Allan, Young, Cockburn, Haughney. 4000
A Camelon Juniors 4 1 Haughney 3, Young 4000
5 H Blairgowrie 1 1 Sneddon McKay, Haughney, Hutchison, Robertson, Dingwall, Bird, Sneddon, Allan, Young, Cockburn, Hope.
A Blairgowrie 2 2 Allan, Haughney
N Blairgowrie 1 1 Hope
N Blairgowrie 1 1 OG [Report]
N Blairgowrie 2 1 Haughney, Allan McKay, Pryde, Robertson, Cockburn, Dingwall, Bird, Haughney, Young, Speirs, Allan, Hope.
QF A Cambuslang Rangers 3 1 Haughney, Sneddon, ? 9000
SF N Auchinleck Talbot 1 1 Young McKay, Pryde, Robertson, Haughney, Dingwall, Bird, Sneddon, Cockburn, Young, Allan, Hope. 23,000
N Auchinleck Talbot 0 2
The Star team pictured before the semi-final on 7th May 1949
Back: W. Pryde, C. Robertson, V. McKay, M. Haughney, G. Dingwall, C. Bird
Front: J. Sneddon, J. Cockburn, J. Young, J. Allan, A. Hope
THORNTON SHIELD
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Fauldhouse United 4 1 Haughney 2, Young, Sneddon
2 A Bo'ness United ? ?
EAST OF SCOTLAND CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Haddington Athletic 4 4 ?
H Haddington Athletic 2 1 Haughney, Cockburn
2 A Armadale Thistle 0 1
Star line up before the East of Scotland Cup tie against Haddington Athletic at Victoria Park on 27th November 1948
Back: Cockburn, Haughney, Robertson, Davis, Hutchison, Bird
Front: Sneddon, Young, Pryde (captain), Dingwall, Hope
ST MICHAELS CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Tranent Juniors 2 0 Sneddon, Cockburn
2 A Dunbar United 2 0 Cockburn, Young
3 A Stoneyburn Juniors 0 1
BROWN CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Dunbar United 5 2 Haughney 3, Young 2
2 Bye
3 H Armadale Thistle 0 1
BENEFIT MATCH
A benefit match was arranged between the Star's Scottish Junior Cup winning side of 1930 and a select team in aid of the Newtongrange and District Burns Club's Old Folks Fund.
Newtongrange Star 1930 - 3
Newtongrange Star XI - 1
Teams:
Newtongrange Star 1930 - Currie, Todd, Letham, McPherson, Henderson, Marman, Thomson, Walker, McAuley, Allan, Barclay

Newtongrange Star XI - O'Rourke, Duncan, D. Stoddart, Kirk, Morris, Dryden, Fletcher, Blythe, Hay, McCartney, H. Imrie