The History of Newtongrange Star
1954/55
STORY OF THE SEASON
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    The season ended in exciting and controversial circumstances. Star won the Mid / East Division title for the fourth time in five years but only after a titanic struggle with Arniston Rangers. The two great rivals finished level at the top of the Mid / East Division, and a play off was needed to settle the issue. Arniston won the toss to stage the game but home advantage proved no advantage. Star stormed to a 5-1 win with goals from Slater (2), Fitzpatrick (2, both penalties) and Paton.

    That set up a clash with Bo'ness United for the overall Championship. Newbyres Park was chosen as the venue but Bo'ness refused to play. They said that they had travelled to the East for a Championship Play Off the previous year and that the game should be staged in the West. The East Junior FA refused to give in and awarded the overall title to Star without a ball being kicked. West Runners Up Broxburn made a cheeky attempt to replace Bo'ness but were knocked back. Bo'ness were also fined £10 for their troubles.

    The Thornton Shield and the Murray Cup were also brought back to Newtongrange. In the Thornton Shield Star eased their way to the Final defeating Linlithgow, Edinburgh City, Bonnybridge and Arniston on the way. Armadale were the opponents for the Final, played at Linlithgow, with goals by Young (2) and Kinghorn (2) helping Star to a thrilling 3-2 win. Dalkeith were beaten 5-3 in the Murray Cup Final.

    Once again the Scottish Cup was a disappointment to Star. Dundonald Bluebell were beaten 5-4 in Round 1, but Armadale defeated Star 3-1 in the Second Round.

    Star reached the Final of the RL Rae Cup, losing 3-2 to Broxburn Athletic in a game played at City Park in Edinburgh. They were Semi Finalists in the Brown Cup but lost after a replay to Bathgate Thistle. In the St Michael Cup Star fell at the first hurdle to Dunbar United.

    The general consensus was that Star were not quite as stylish a team as a few years earlier. Charlie Elms, Dave Mackay and Alex Hope had all departed. The most promising player of the season was certainly the flying winger Alex Young. He was capped by Junior Scotland during 1954/5. His skills were recognised by Hearts and the former Broughton Star and Musselburgh Union lad was called up to Tynecastle at the end of the season. He went straight into the Hearts first team, and in 1960 was transferred to Everton for a massive sum of £42,000. At Everton he was known as 'The Golden Vision', Young won eight full caps for Scotland, 6 Under 23 caps. In a glittering career he won all three major Scottish medals with Hearts (League, Cup and League Cup) and with Everton he was a League Champion and FA Cup winner.

    Source: Newtongrange Star FC match programme [11-Oct-2008]
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE MID/EAST DIVISION
Pld W D L F A Pts
Newtongrange Star 30 23 2 5 104 48 48
Arniston Rangers 30 22 4 4 127 54 48
Dunbar United 30 19 6 5 85 46 44
Ormiston Primrose 30 17 2 11 70 62 36
Bonnyrigg Rose 30 15 4 11 77 44 34
Rosewell Rosedale 30 13 5 12 64 58 31
Loanhead Mayflower 30 13 4 13 56 53 30
Penicuik Athletic 30 14 2 14 53 54 30
Edinburgh City 30 12 5 13 70 71 29
Musselburgh Athletic 30 11 6 13 55 57 28
Haddington Athletic 30 10 6 14 88 81 26
Tranent Juniors 30 11 2 17 68 89 24
Dalkeith Thistle 30 8 5 17 64 74 21
Easthouses Lily 30 6 6 18 50 95 18
Preston Athletic 30 6 6 18 44 77 18
Thorntree United 30 6 3 21 55 126 15
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Info
Arniston Rangers H 3 5 Hogan 2, Paton
A 2 0 Slater, Hogan
Bonnyrigg Rose H 3 0 Kinghorn, Wilson, Paton
A 3 0 Slater, Kinghorn, Young
Dalkeith Thistle H 4 1 Dunn, Finlay, TIghe 2
A 5 4 Slater 2, Kinghorn 2, Tighe
Dunbar United H 1 1 Hogan
A 0 2
Easthouses Lily H 5 2 Young 2, Slater 2, Hogan
A 4 1 Paton 2, Tighe, OG
Edinburgh City H 1 2 Hogan
A 3 2 Hogan 3
Haddington Athletic H 4 2 ?
A 6 4 Tighe 2, Paton 2, Kinghorn 2
Loanhead Mayflower H 3 1 Paton, Watson, Kinghorn
A L L
Musselburgh Athletic H 6 3 Tighe 2, Dunn 2, Hogan, Young
A 1 1 Hogan
Ormiston Primrose H L L
A 6 1 Paton 2, Hogan 2, Slater, Young
Penicuik Athletic H 6 1 ?
A 2 1 Young, Paton
Preston Athletic H W W ?
A 6 1 Kinghorn 3, TIghe 2, Young
Rosewell Rosedale H 2 0 Watson, Tighe
A 1 0 ?
Thorntree United H 5 2 Slater 2, Hogan 2, Kinghorn
A 9 1 Young, TIghe, Paton 2, Slater 2, Kinghorn 2, ?
Tranent Juniors H 5 2 Young 3, Jamieson, Paton
A 5 1 Slater 3, Tighe 2
MID/EAST DIVISION PLAYOFF
Round Venue Opponents F A Scorers Team Info
Playoff A Arniston Rangers 5 1 Slater 2, Fitzpatrick 2, Paton
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
Mid/East Division winners v West Division winners
Round Venue Opponents F A Scorers Team Info
F N Bo'ness United* x x
* Bo'ness United refused to travel to Newbyres Park, Gorebridge to play the match since they had travelled through to Midlothian the previous year for the same match and felt another journey unfair. Newtongrange Star were thus awarded the championship.
SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Dundonald Bluebell 5 4 Slater 2, Paton, Young, Tighe
2 H Bonnyrigg Rose 4 0 Paton, Young 2, Slater
3 H Armadale Thistle 1 3 Patrick Hunter, Allan, Ferguson, Tighe, Durie, Brownlee, Paton, Young, Patrick, Slater, Kinghorn.
THORNTON SHIELD
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Linlithgow Rose 2 2 Kinghorn, Slater Hunter, Durie, Ferguson, Allan, Jamieson, Davidson, Young, Tighe, Kinghorn, Slater, Paton.
A Linlithgow Rose 4 3 Paton 2, Young 2 Hunter, Learmonth, Ferguson, Durie, Jamieson, Davidson, Young, Tighe, Kinghorn, Slater, Paton.
2 A Edinburgh City 3 1 Young, Slater, Hogan
3 H Bonnybridge Juniors 4 1 Patrick, OG, Slater, Hogan
SF H Arniston Rangers 3 1 Young 2, Kinghorn
F N Armadale Thistle 4 3 Young 2, Kinghorn 2 Leslie, Learmonth, Ferguson, Allan, Durie, Davidson, Dunn, Paton, Young, Slater, Kinghorn.
EAST OF SCOTLAND CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Crowd
1 H Broxburn Athletic 4 2 Tighe 2, Patrick 2 Hunter, Learmonth, Ferguson, Allan, Durie, Jamieson, Young, Slater, Patrick, Tighe, Paton.
2 H Bo'ness United 2 3 Hogan, Davidson Hunter, Learmonth, Ferguson, Allan, Jamieson, Davidson, Young, Slater, Hogan, Paton, Kinghorn. 3000
ST MICHAELS CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Dunbar United 2 3 Young, Patrick
BROWN CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Grange Rovers 5 3 Patrick, Slater, ?
2 H Linlithgow Rose 5 1 Tighe 2, Slater 2, Patrick Hunter, Learmonth, Ferguson, Allan, Jamieson, Davidson, Patrick, Tighe, Kinghorn, Slater, Paton.
3 A Loanhead Mayflower 5 1 Hogan 5
SF N Bathgate Thistle 2 2 Kinghorn, Hogan Dalgleish, Learmonth, Ferguson, Sweenie, Durie, Davidson, Tighe, Paton, Hogan, Slater, Kinghorn.
N Bathgate Thistle 2 3 Slater, Hogan
R L RAE CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Rosewell Rosedale 2 2 Hogan, Slater
H Rosewell Rosedale 3 0 Paton, Hogan, Kinghorn
2 A Camelon Juniors 6 4 ?
3 A Bonnyrigg Rose 5 3 ?
SF A Arniston Rangers W W ?
F N Broxburn Athletic 2 3 Dunn, Young Leslie, Learmonth, Ferguson, Allan, Durie, Davidson, Dunn, Paton, Young, Slater, Kinghorn.
MURRAY CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
SF ?
F H Dalkeith Thistle 5 3 ?