Whitehill Welfare F.C.
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| Full name | Whitehill Welfare Football Club | ||
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| Founded | 1953 | ||
| Ground | Ferguson Park, Rosewell | ||
| Capacity | 2,614 (136 seated) | ||
| Chairman | Derek Waterson | ||
| Manager | Mike Lawson | ||
| League |
Lowland Football League season = 2011–12 position = East of Scotland Football League Premier Division - 1st (of 12) | ||
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Whitehill Welfare F.C. are a football club currently playing in the Lowland Football League. Founded in 1953, they play their home matches at Ferguson Park in the village of Rosewell, Midlothian.
The earliest records of Whitehill Welfare indicate that the team first appeared in the 1905-06 season under the name Rosewell Rosedale, replacing the defunct Rosedale Rovers, and playing in the Midlothian Juvenile League. The highlight of this team's life, it appears, was to reach the Scottish Juvenile Cup Final, and an incident in August 1939 where the police investigated an attack on the Rosewell goalkeeper, accused of letting the side down during a 10-2 defeat.
1953-1979
Although Rosedale continued operating until 1957, it was in 1953 that Whitehill Welfare were formed, the founding fathers being a group of employees from the now defunct Whitehill Colliery. In the early years, Whitehill were the chopping block for the more fancied clubs. Although reaching the Scottish Juvenile Cup semi-final in 1959, they did not really come to the fore until 1964, when they won every trophy in the Mid and East Lothian Section Juvenile League.
1979-present
By 1979, there were only six Juvenile clubs left in Whitehill's league, and so the Welfare decided it was time for it to go senior. This resulted in the team joining the East of Scotland Football League in August 1979, a league which they were to top at the end of their first four seasons. Membership of the Scottish Football Association also has the advantage of allowing the club the opportunity compete in the Scottish Cup. In this competition, Whitehill Welfare have knocked out Albion Rovers (1986-87), earned replays against three SFL sides, and seen perhaps the team's finest hour, meeting Celtic on 28 January 1996 in the 1995-96 Scottish Cup. The game saw Whitehill Welfare hold Celtic to 0-0 until the 39th minute and saw a respectable 3-0 defeat.
The 2012-13 season saw the return of the successful manager of the 1990s, Mike Lawson, who guided the team to their first ever SFA South Region Challenge Cup, and completed the double by winning an unprecedented 16th East of Scotland League title. The club joined the Lowland Football League in 2013.
Staff and board members
- Manager:
Mike Lawson - Assistant Manager: Mike Irving
- Goalkeeping Coach: Scott Cantley
- Physio: Dougie Hewat
- President : Derek Waterson
- Secretary : Andrew Renwick
- Treasurer : John Blair
- Committee : Peter McGauley, Alan Ramsay, Tommy Ward, Frank Fleming, Scott Wilkinson, Jamie McQueen & Craig Thomson
External links
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