CITY ARE LOOKING TO MAKE STEP-UP PURELY ON MERIT
GIVEN that the mess they are currently neckdeep i n would probably make Laurel and Hardy blush, Brora Rangers’ enthusiasm for the first instalment of today’s Lowland v Highland League play-off at Meadowbank Stadium should make for interesting viewing.
For those who have missed the recent furore, it goes like this. Despite initially supporting a motion for the Highland League champions to potentially join League Two via the much-anticipated pyramid scheme, the side from Sutherland have belatedly decided it’s all simply not worth the hassle.
They’ve come this far, though. And, if they see off Edinburgh City over two legs starting in the capital this afternoon, and then defeat Team 42 — aka Montrose — they’ll need a team of Philadelphia lawyers to undo what they have done.
Naturally, the cynics might suggest an alternative course of action. Around Edinburgh City’s Baxter’s Place HQ, the joke doing the rounds is that Brora Under-12s might just get an unexpected run out this weekend. In reality, no one is anticipating anything other than the toughest of tests.
‘I think it will go the other way,’ said City manager Gary Jardine. ‘ They are hungry for success.
‘They’ve only lost one league game. It won’t matter what the directors of the club are saying. The players will be well fired up. Perhaps more so considering the recent coverage.’
If the heads of Brora’s board are muddled about the best direction to move i n, the complete opposite applies to the side they will face over successive weekends.
With more than 400 players over 20 teams, Edinburgh City certainly have an infrastructure the envy of many a senior club. Were they to get over the line in the coming four games, no one i n the capital will be having second thoughts about what lies ahead.
‘I can sympathise with where Brora are coming from,’ said City chairman Jim Lumsden. ‘We’re in a completely different position geographically in the central belt.
‘Even in the league we are in now, there’s a couple of trips to the south-west and a couple of games in Glasgow.
‘Travelling those distances is something we are used to.’
Their j ourney to date is remarkable in itself. Founded in 1928, City initially joined the Scottish League as an amateur club in 1931 and, within seven years, had famously knocked Hibs out of the Scottish Cup.
The club opted to play in the Lothian Amateur League during the Second World War and, once peace was restored, were only admitted to the old C Division. After three years of struggle, the club left the Scottish Football League in 1949 and switched to junior status.
Then, in 1955, matters on the park came to a shuddering halt when the local council refused to renew a lease on its then home ground City Park. From then until 1986, the Edinburgh City Football Club Ltd (Social Club), was effectively no more than a members’ bar in the shadow of the Playhouse Theatre.
‘It was important that the social club kept going when the football team stopped,’ Lumsden recalled. ‘Thankfully, we got re- started and we’ve been going ever since.’
Life in the East of Scotland League, City’s home until they joined the Lowland League set-up two years ago, was not without its highlights.
They defeated East Stirlingshire in the 1997-98 Scottish Cup, whetting the appetite for a more regular spot in the limelight.
They applied the blusher and lip gloss when the demise of Airdrieonians in 2002 and Gretna in 2008 led to vacancies in the bottom tier but ( ironically) Gretna and Annan found t hemselves on t he dance floor on those occasions.
This time, the chance to make the step-up by footballing means, rather than by election, feels more appropriate.
‘This is a much better way to do it,’ Lumsden said. ‘You get there by merit on the park and not by being elected by other clubs. This is the way forward.
‘A pyramid system means everyone knows what the prize is and what the consequences are.’
For all the reluctance of Brora’s directors to reach for the prize, there’s no questioning the scale of the task awaiting City over two legs.
Back in November, the northern outfit won a Scottish Cup third-round tie between the sides more comfortably than the 3-2 scoreline suggests and, accordingly, Jardine feels the visitors today start as clear favourites.
‘This is really a bonus,’ he insisted. ‘We’ve already improved on past seasons. We’ll just see where it takes us.
‘You want to play at the best level you can and, if we don’t make it this time, I hope we are in this position again.
‘ One thing t hat I hope changes in the future is that the 42nd team should be automatically relegated.
‘Should a club which finishes bottom of their league deserve the chance to stay in it? I don’t think so.
‘ If either a Highland or Lowland League team holds their own, I think it will eventually follow the English model — automatic relegation.’
If they get there, it’s hard not to imagine city neighbours Spartans — another admirable Lowland League club with lofty aspirations — casting an envious eye towards the east side of the city. Lumsden, though, is adamant that the bon homie that runs throughout the league is very much genuine.
‘It’s more of a sense of pride in what we have achieved. It’s never really been about getting one over on anybody else,’ he insisted. ‘It’s always been about our own club. To see things come to fruition is fantastic.’
“Brora will be fired up, especially with the recent coverage”