The History of Newtongrange Star
1952/53
Back: Terry Tighe, Alex Skinner, Jim McGhee, Dave Mackay, Alex Mann, Bob Kinghorn.
Front: Danny Paton, Tom Halliday, Bill Ferguson, Eddie Adams, Andrew Morris.
Thank you to Andrew Morris for supplying this photograph.
STORY OF THE SEASON
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    For the third year in a row Star won the Mid / East Division of the Edinburgh and District League. In the end they won by a seven point margin with the strongest challenge being provided by Dunbar United. Particularly at home, Star proved to be invincible. They racked up some impressive results including an 8-1 win over Preston. Rivals Arniston were beaten home and away with five goals for Star on each occasion. 133 goals were rattled into opponents nets in just 30 games. But whilst in the previous two seasons Star went on to win the overall championship by beating the West Division winners, on this occasion they met their match in the form of Armadale Thistle.

    The Play-Off match was held at Bo'ness United's ground and proved to be a real thriller. Both teams played great football with the West Lothian side eventually winning by a 5-4 margin.

    The Scottish Junior Cup proved to be a disappointment. The campaign began well with a win at Bonnybridge followed by a 7-1 home win over Fauldhouse - Slater scored a hat trick in this game. Star were strong favourites to beat Loanhead Mayflower in Round Three at Victoria Park. It was a big surprise when Mayflower won 3-1.

    In the East of Scotland Cup Star fell at the first hurdle, losing to Bo'ness United. There was some compensation in other local Cups with the Thornton Shield, Brown Cup and the Murray Cup all being returned to Victoria Park. Star got some revenge on Bo'ness by beating them in the Final of the Thornton Shield at Easter Road - score 2-1, with goals from Kinghorn and Adams. Arniston had been dispatched 5-1 in the Semi Final. The Murray Cup Final was played at Dalkeith where Arniston were defeated 2-0.

    In the Brown Cup Star had a great run beating Camelon, Alva and Musselburgh before meeting Tranent in the Semi Final. The match was played up at Gorebridge and Star ran out 9-0 winners. Paton (2), Adams (2), Kinghorn (2), Mann, Tighe and Mackay were the scorers. In the Final the opposition were Bo'ness United, at Tynecastle. Again the Star came out on top of the Wes Lothian side, winning 3-2 with Adams, Ferguson and Mackay on the scoresheet.

    The season was most significant for the scoring exploits of Bobby Kinghorn. He scored no fewer than 78 goals for Star that year, taking his total over 3 seasons to an incredible 210 goals. The end of the season also saw the departure of Dave Mackay to Hearts. He had been a powerful influence during a golden spell for the Star and his contribution would be greatly missed.

    During Star's Thornton Shield tie with Ormiston Primrose on 22nd April 1953, Charlie Elms was led from the field injured. He would sadly pass away moments later. CLICK HERE to view a newspaper extract.

    Source: Newtongrange Star FC match programme [27-Sep-2008]
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE MID/EAST DIVISION
Pld W D L F A Pts
Newtongrange Star 30 26 1 3 133 36 53
Dunbar United 30 21 4 5 115 64 46
Arniston Rangers 30 18 5 7 94 59 41
Ormiston Primrose 30 10 12 8 68 63 32
Easthouses Lily 30 15 1 14 82 67 31
Tranent Juniors 30 13 5 12 78 77 31
Thorntree United 30 12 7 11 62 62 31
Edinburgh City 30 11 9 10 65 73 31
Loanhead Mayflower 30 11 7 12 58 66 29
Bonnyrigg Rose 30 11 4 15 70 78 26
Musselburgh Athletic 30 10 6 14 70 79 26
Haddington Athletic 30 11 4 15 68 90 26
Rosewell Rosedale 30 7 7 16 58 79 21
Penicuik Athletic 30 6 8 16 59 88 20
Dalkeith Thistle 30 6 7 17 62 100 19
Preston Athletic 30 5 7 18 44 84 17
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Info
Arniston Rangers H 5 1 Slater 4, Kinghorn
A 5 4 Kinghorn 2, Veitch, Halliday, Mann
Bonnyrigg Rose H 6 0 Kinghorn 3, MacKay 2, Slater
A 2 0 Johnstone, Slater
Dalkeith Thistle H 4 2 Paton 2, Adams, Kinghorn
A 7 2 MacKay 2, Tighe 2, Morris, Kinghorn, Halliday
Dunbar United H 7 2 Adams 2, Kinghorn 2, MacKay, Paton, Ferguson
A 2 1 MacKay, Kinghorn
Easthouses Lily H 6 2 Halliday 2, Elms 2, Kinghorn, Anderson
A 3 1 Kinghorn 2, Slater
Edinburgh City H 7 2 Kinghorn 3, Morris 2, MacKay, Adams
A
Haddington Athletic H 4 3 Kinghorn, Tighe, Elms, Veitch
A 7 0 Kinghorn 4, Elms, Morris, Halliday
Loanhead Mayflower H 3 1 Morris, Ramsay, Kinghorn
A 3 1 McManus, Morris, Halliday
Musselburgh Athletic H
A 3 4 Mann, Slater, Kinghorn
Ormiston Primrose H 4 1 Halliday 2, Kinghorn, ?
A 3 3 Halliday 3
Penicuik Athletic H 6 1 Veitch 2, Slater, Kinghorn, MacKay, Kelly
A
Preston Athletic H 8 1 Kinghorn 3, Elms 3, Slater 2
A 5 2 Slater 3, Elms, Paton
Rosewell Rosedale H
A 5 0 Kinghorn 3, Morris, Tighe
Thorntree United H 5 3 Tighe 2, MacKay, Slater, Elms
A 2 1 Slater, Johnstone
Tranent Juniors H 4 2 Kinghorn 2, Morris 2
A
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
Mid/East Division winners v West Division winners
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
F N Armadale Thistle 4 5 Halliday, Kinghorn, Adams, Tighe Steadman, Mann, Ferguson, Tighe, Skinner, MacKay, Paton, Halliday, Kinghorn, Adams, Morris.
SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Crowd
1 A Bonnybridge Juniors 3 0 MacKay, Slater, Kinghorn
2 H Fauldhouse United 7 1 Slater 3, Kinghorn 2, Morris, MacKay
3 A Loanhead Mayflower 4 4 Johnstone 2, MacKay, Kinghorn 2000
H Loanhead Mayflower 1 3 Halliday Dalgleish, Mann, Ferguson, Tighe, Skinner, Mackay, Halliday, Elms, Kinghorn, Slater,Johnstone. 4000
THORNTON SHIELD
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 Bye
2 H Ormiston Primrose 5 3 Paton 2, Adams, Kinghorn, MacKay
SF N Arniston Rangers 5 1 Paton 2, Kinghorn 2, Morris
F N Bo'ness United 2 1 Kinghorn, Adams
EAST OF SCOTLAND CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Bo'ness United 1 2 Elms Dalgleish, Kelly, Ferguson, Tighe, Skinner, MacKay, Halliday, Elms, Kinghorn, Slater, Johnstone.
ST MICHAELS CUP
Pld W D L F A Pts
Newtongrange Star 6 6 0 0 26 7 12
Easthouses Lily 6 4 0 2 16 7 8
Edinburgh City 6 1 0 5 3 16 2
Ormiston Primrose 6 1 0 7 6 22 2
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Info
Easthouses Lily H 3 0 Kinghorn 2, Tighe
A 3 0 Morris, Slater, MacKay
Edinburgh City H 5 1 Kinghorn 3, Johnstone, Slater
A 3 0 Brownlee, Elms, OG
Ormiston Primrose H 8 4 Kinghorn 3, Slater 2, Johnstone 2, Halliday
A 4 2 Kinghorn 2, Slater, Morris
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
QF H Bathgate Thistle 7 1 Johnstone 2, Kinghorn, Halliday 2, Slater 2 Dalgleish, Kelly, Ferguson, Tighe, Skinner, MacKay, Halliday, Johnstone, Kinghorn, Slater, Veitch.
SF N Bo'ness United 1 1 MacKay Dalgleish, Mann, Ferguson, Tighe, Skinner, MacKay, Halliday, Elms, Kinghorn, Slater,Veitch.
N Bo'ness United 0 2 McGhee, Mann, Ferguson, Tighe, Skinner, MacKay, Halliday, Elms, Kinghorn, Slater, Veitch.
BROWN CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Crowd
1 H Camelon Juniors 1 0 Veitch
2 A Alva Albion Rangers 5 1 Kinghorn, Tighe, Mann, Veitch, Slater
QF A Musselburgh Athletic 2 2 Slater, MacKay
H Musselburgh Athletic 1 0 Kinghorn
SF N Tranent Juniors 9 0 Paton 2, Adams 2, Kinghorn 2, Mann, Tighe, MacKay
F N Bo'ness United 3 2 Adams, Ferguson, MacKay McGhee, Mann, Ferguson, Tighe, Skinner, MacKay, Paton, Halliday, Kinghorn, Adams, Morris. 3000
CORONATION CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Dalkeith Thistle 2 0 Paton, MacKay
2 A Edinburgh City 4 3 Morris 2, Kinghorn, Halliday
QF H Dunbar United 2 1 Kinghorn, Adams
SF N Broxburn Athletic 1 4 Kinghorn
MURRAY CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
SF A Dalkeith Thistle 6 1 Paton 2, MacKay, Kinghorn, Slater, Morris
F N Arniston Rangers 2 0 Morris, Kinghorn
TOP SCORER
Robbie Kinghorn 78