The History of Newtongrange Star
1964/65
STORY OF THE SEASON
Read More
    After the poor performances of 1963/4, the following season was to be no better. Star again finished in lower mid-table in the Mid / East Division and made no impact on the Cup competitions.

    A sign of things to come was evident in the opening league fixture – a 7-1 defeat from Dalkeith Thistle at King’s Park. It was the worst result against Dalkeith in living memory. The inconsistency which had been a feature of 63/4 had not gone away. Just a few weeks after the Dalekith debacle Star travelled up to Newbyres Park and defeated Arniston Rangers 4-0, with Colbert (2), Slater and Kidd scoring.

    Star were clearly missing the scoring abilities of Jimmy Veitch and Tom Brown who had moved to Dumbarton. Various permutations were tried up front but goals were hard to come by.

    Jimmy Thomson was starting to emerge as a promising ‘half back’ but his inexperience showed at times. He would later join Alloa and have a long career as a senior manager. Also featuring in the Star side was ex Alloa and Berwick player Jimmy Peacock who would eventually become physio to the Scotland international team. Young goalkeeper David Archer showed promise but lacked consistency – he later played or Penicuik and Berwick.

    In the Scottish Cup Star did very well to earn a 2-2 draw away to Cambuslang Rangers, but they lost the replay at Victoria Park by 2-1. Star went out at the first hurdle in the East of Scotland and St Michael’s Cups. In the Brown Cup they scraped past Grangemouth United (3-2) but lost 4-2 to Linlithgow Rose in Round 2. Linlithgow were the team of the season, sweeping all before them. They won the West title, defeated Bonnyrigg in the Play off for the overall championship, and also lifted the Scottish Junior Cup in front of 35,000 at Hampden. The East of Scotland Cup, Brown Cup and Lanark & Lothians Cup also went back to Prestonfield.

    If all was well in Linlithgow, things were far from right in Midlothian. Two clubs finally admitted defeat in the face of dwindling crowds and rising costs. Loanhead Mayflower had sold off part of their ground to try and stay afloat but they closed down at the end of the season. Easthouses Lily had suffered from vandalism at their pavilion and they too closed.

    Source: Newtongrange Star FC match programme [11-Apr-2009]
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE MID/EAST DIVISION
Pld W D L F A Pts
Bonnyrigg Rose 22 16 1 4 33
Arniston Rangers 22 14 2 6 30
Tranent Juniors 21 14 1 6 29
Preston Athletic 20 9 5 5 23
Musselburgh Athletic 20 9 4 7 22
Dalkeith Thistle 20 9 1 10 19
Newtongrange Star 22 8 2 12 18
Penicuik Athletic 17 6 5 5 17
Dunbar United 19 7 2 10 16
Loanhead Mayflower 19 6 3 10 15
Easthouses Lily 19 3 2 14 8
Haddington Athletic 20 3 2 15 8
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Info
Arniston Rangers H 1 3 Carnegie
A 4 0 Colbert 2, Slater, Kidd
Bonnyrigg Rose H 1 4 Thomson
A 3 4 ?
Dalkeith Thistle H 4 2 Currie 2, Laing, Peacock
A 1 7 ?
Dunbar United H 1 5 Currie
A
Easthouses Lily H 1 2 ?
A 3 1 Currie 2, Colbert
Haddington Athletic H 4 2 Laing 2, Watson, Duncan
A 2 4 ?
Loanhead Mayflower H 1 1 Carnegie
A 0 2
Musselburgh Athletic H 3 3 Currie, Colbert, Laing
A 0 3
Penicuik Athletic H
A 3 2 ?
Preston Athletic H 2 3 ?
A
Tranent Juniors H 4 0 Slater, Kidd, McGillvray 2
A 2 6 Laing, Kidd
SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Cambuslang Rangers 3 3 ?
H Cambuslang Rangers 1 2 Currie
EAST OF SCOTLAND CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Whitburn Juniors 2 4 Currie, Carnegie Archer, Manning, Kidd, Thomson, Goodall, Elliott, Duncan, Laing, Currie, Carnegie, Mathieson.
ST MICHAELS CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Bonnyrigg Rose 1 3 Laing Archer, Manning, Kidd, Thomson, Goodall, Carnegie, Duncan, Laing, Currie, Peacock, Colbert.
BROWN CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Grangemouth United 4 3 ?
2 H Linlithgow Rose 2 4 Thomson, Currie Archer, Manning, Kidd, Morrison, Goodall, Carnegie, Duncan, Laing, Currie, Peacock, Mathieson.