Penicuik Athletic F.C.

Penicuik Athletic F.C.
Full name Penicuik Athletic Football Club
Nickname(s) Cuikie;
Rookie Cookie
Founded 1888
Ground Penicuik Park
Carlops Road
Penicuik
Capacity 1500
Chairman John Fraser
Player/Manager Craig Meikle
League SJFA East Region Super League
2013–14 SJFA East Region Premier League, 1st (promoted)

Penicuik Athletic Football Club are a Scottish junior football club. They were formed in 1888 and are based in Penicuik. Penicuik Park is ten miles south west of Edinburgh on the A702. The club is currently playing in the Super League of the Scottish Junior Football Association's East Region at their home ground, Penicuik Park.

History

The Beginning

Penicuik turned Junior in 1951 with the supporter's club buying Eastfield Park from the National Coal Board and built a new pavilion. The new ground was opened with a match against a strong Hibernian side which the Athletic lost 5 – 0.

The chairman at the time, Mr David Masson and Jimmy Ketchen, were two prominent figures in the club. Their manager was Dick Walker and coach Harry Verth.

Penicuik won their first silverware in 1949–50 season (before turning Junior) winning the Border Cup.

In 1966 the Athletic reached the semi-final of the Scottish Junior Cup only to lose by the narrowest of margins to local rivals Bonnyrigg Rose.

Scottish Junior Cup Final Run 1969-70

Penicuik Athletic's biggest achievement is undoubtedly reaching the Scottish Junior Cup Final in 1970 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Penicuik's opponents on Saturday May 16, 1970 was Blantyre Victoria who they drew with 1–1, only to be defeated in the replay the following Tuesday night 1–0. The crowd at the final was in excess of 30,000, with the replay attendance published at 14,225.

Penicuik beat seven Junior clubs based in the West of Scotland to arrive at the final. Here is how it was done in 1970:

The team on Cup Final day:

McDermott, Thorburn, McCabe, Hume, McGarry, Hogg, Robertson, Wallace, Stenhouse, Buchan, Murphy, Sub - Reeves.

Abeyance

The 1970s saw probably the most successful period in the clubs history when a social club was built at the ground. Many local trophies were won and the team was considered as one of the leading teams in the East of Scotland. However the biggest prize of all, the Scottish Junior Cup still eluded the Athletic despite the club’s best efforts.

The club’s fortunes fell into decline both on and off the park in the 1980s and the Social Club was forced to close in 1986 with mounting debts. The park had been used as security for various loans and the creditors put the park up for sale to clear the debts. The team continued to play despite the off-field problems and were showing signs of revival when a near fatal blow was delivered as the ground was sold on to be developed into a supermarket which stands on Eastfield Park today.

Throughout the 1990s several initiatives were embarked on to secure a new pitch but for a variety of reasons were unsuccessful. The last and ultimately successful project to establish a pitch which met the criteria laid down by the Scottish Junior Football Association grew out of an initiative by three local Midlothian Councillors, Russell Imrie, David Fletcher and Adam Montgomery to improve recreational facilities in Penicuik.

Return to playing and the Willie McGinley years

However they reformed in 2002 playing at their new home Penicuik Park in the centre of the town.

Penicuik decided to set up a competition to design a club badge/logo which would be on the football strip and letterheads etc. In order to involve the local community, four local primary schools were invited to submit designs to the club. The schools involved were: Sacred Heart, Cornbank, Mauricewood and Cuikin Primary schools. There were over 100 entries to the competition and the winning design was submitted by SScott was presented with a plaque of the logo and a complete Penicuik Athletic youth strip. A plaque is displayed in the new changing rooms. The presentation was made to the winner, Scott Anderson, age 11, from Mauricewood Primary, by Club President, John Fraser and Councillor Adam Montgomery.

Penicuik Athletic were accepted back into the re-organised East Region (with the introduction of the Super League) and took their place in the second division in season 2002-3. The long awaited first game was played at Armadale in the 1st Round of the League Cup on Thursday 6 August 2002, resulting in a 5 – 1 defeat. Over 500 spectators turned up at the new pitch in Penicuik Park on Saturday 8 August to witness a no scoring draw in a league match against Harthill Royal. Re-entry into the Scottish Junior Cup saw a win against Blackburn before defeat in the next round against an experienced Renfrew Juniors. Penicuik just missed out by a point on promotion to the first division after a 1 – 0 defeat in their final league match against West Calder which was controversially switched to be played on a Thursday night.

The following season saw promotion again narrowly missed with another third placed finish. However, the club won its first trophy, the Supplementary Cup when a late Brian Hancock goal secured victory over Whitburn in the final played at Blackburn Utd's Murrayfield Park. The manager that night was Willie McGinley and of the team below only Billy Bald remains at the club. Paul Lindsay and Brian Hancock scored in the 2-1 win.

The cup winning team was:

Bald, McDermott, Ure, Porteous, Blair, Montgomery, Dick, Hancock, Lindsay (Banks 73), Auld (Gibb 73), Forbes (Hope 73), Subs not used - Rennie, McLeod

Further success was to follow for McGinley's side as they won the Lothians League Division 2 title in 2004/05 with 41 points from 18 games played. As a result, Penicuik Athletic were awarded Midlothian Council’s Senior Team Award in their annual Greatest Achievement in Sport awards. The following season they finished second in Division 1 and gained a place in the new East Premier League. Penicuik were also beaten finalists in the pre-season League Cup going down by the odd goal to Musselburgh Athletic.

The Athletic found the going tough in the new Premier League and narrowly escaped one of the three relegation slots back to the District League. They narrowly avoided relegation with a last match win over Scottish Junior Cup finalists Kelty Hearts at Penicuik Park, in front of a 500+ crowd. Penicuik lost in the final of the Brown Cup to Bonnyrigg Rose after defeating Scottish Junior Cup finalists Linlithgow Rose in an earlier round.

Penicuik improved their position in the Premier League by finishing in sixth place in the twelve team league during Season 2007/08. Irvine Meadow came to Penicuik in the first round of the Scottish Junior Cup and won by four goals to three while the club did not progress beyond the third round stage in any of the local cup competitions. At the end of the season, Willie McGinlay who had been team manager since the team started playing again in 2002, stood down for business and personal reasons.

Stuart 'Snowy' McKean takes charge

Manager McGinley stood down after 6 years in charge in May 2008 and was replaced by his assistant Stuart 'Snowy' McKean, who had a distinguished junior playing career with Armadale Thistle and Bonnyrigg Rose. Season 2008/09 saw a further improvement in the league position with Penicuik finishing in fourth place. Penicuik’s best performance in the local cup competitions was reaching the semi final of the St. Michael’s Cup only to lose out at home to Linlithgow Rose in a penalty shoot out. However the following season, Penicuik started poorly. Failure to qualify from the sectional league cup was followed by a first round knock out in the Scottish Junior cup. A run of only one win in seven league matches before an enforced break for bad weather saw Penicuik drop into second bottom spot in the Premier League. McKean resigned in December 2009 and was replaced by the duo of the then club captain Craig Meikle, and former player Brian Ryrie.

The Meikle/Ryrie years

Former player Brian Ryrie and current player Craig Meikle were chosen from a strong list of applicants to replace McKean. Despite losing their first match in charge, sufficient points were gained from the remaining league fixtures to claim seventh spot in the league, finishing clear of the three relegation spots. There were second round exits in both the East of Scotland and Fife & Lothians Cup. The St. Michael's and Brown Cups went uncontested because of the length of the break for the bad weather.

Their first full season in charge saw several changes made to the playing squad and the league position showed an improvement with fifth place being achieved. A missed penalty in the last minute, when the scores were level, proved costly in the first round Scottish Junior cup tie at Kilwinning as the home replay was lost. Penicuik did not progress from their league cup section but enjoyed good runs to the semi finals of both the East of Scotland and Fife and Lothians Cup, losing to Newtongrange Star and Bo'ness United respectively.

Promotion to the Super League was the target for season 2011/12 and it went right down to the wire. Penicuik went in to their last league game of the season at Broxburn Athletic needing a win to gain the second promotion spot but lost out to the home side who were promoted in their place. Penicuik finished fourth in a very tight finish. Broxburn were also Penicuik's downfall in the League Cup where Penicuik topped the section but were pipped by Broxburn who successfully appealed against Livingston fielding an ineligible player in their tie, and as a result progressed to the knock out stages. Early exits were suffered in both the East of Scotland and Fife and Lothians Cup. After first and second round Scottish Junior Cup wins against Glenrothes and Glasgow Perthshire, eventual runners-up and Junior giants, Auchinleck Talbot proved too strong in the third round, handing out a six goal defeat at Auchinleck.

Season 2012/13 was a stop-start one, with Penicuik only having played nine competitive games, following the pre-season League Cup, due to weather and the postponement of their Junior Cup tie against Kelty Hearts, by January. Promotion went to the last day of the season again with Penicuik in a three-way battle with Bathgate Thistle and Armadale Thistle. Despite Penicuik winning 2-0 against Broughty, Armadale were promoted after their victory at the same time. Penicuik's Scottish Junior Cup run consisted of four games, a 4-4 draw at Dunbar United and a 3-1 win at Penicuik in the 1st Round, a 3-0 victory away to Girvan before finally crashing out in the third round to Kelty Hearts 2-1 in a match held at Oakley's Blairwood Park due to drainage problems at Kelty's ground. Penicuik didn't fare well in the other cup competitions, losing 5-3 to Newburgh in the Fife and Lothians and losing 5-2 to Ballingry Rovers in the East of Scotland 2nd Round following a 3-1 win against Forfar West End in the first round.

Co-manager Bryan Ryrie resigned from his position at the end of the season.

Penicuik's season 2013/14 was a successful one, with promotion clinched with a 1-0 away win against Livingston United in May, and the Premier League Championship following later that month with a 2-1 home win against runners-up Fauldhouse United thanks to goals from captain Dougie Cunnison and long-serving midfielder Ryan Gay.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Scotland GK Youssef Bejaoui
Scotland GK Chris Hill
Scotland DF Blair Dickson
Scotland DF Stephen Bunyan
Scotland DF Dougie Cunnison (Captain)
Scotland DF Michael McDermott
Scotland DF Craig Meikle
Scotland DF Greg Ross
Scotland DF David White
Scotland DF Darrell Young
No. Position Player
Scotland MF David Burrell
Scotland MF Ryan Gay
Scotland MF Jordan Lister
Scotland MF Neil Janczyk
Scotland MF Scott McCulloch
Scotland MF Steven Weir
Scotland FW Grant Killin
Scotland FW Ryan McCallum
Scotland FW Sean Patterson
Scotland FW Danny Rennie

Honours

1970
2013-14
2004-05
2003-04
1977, 1981
1978-79, 1980-81
1908-09, 1910-11
1893-94, 1895-96
1912-13

Player Honours

Name Season
Scotland Keith Barr2008-09
Scotland Billy Bald2009-10
Scotland Brad McKay2010-11
Scotland Keith Barr2011-12
Scotland Keith Barr2012-13
Scotland Youssef Bejaoui2013-14
Name Season
Scotland Kris Steel2008-09
Scotland Johnny Harvey2009-10
Scotland Johnny Harvey2010-11
Scotland Ally Reid2011-12
Scotland Billy Bald2012-13
Scotland Jordan Lister2013-14
Name Season
Scotland Mark Ramage2008-09
Scotland Craig Meikle2009-10
Scotland Billy Bald2010-11
Scotland Keith Barr2011-12
Name Season
Scotland Keith Barr2008-09
Scotland Billy Bald2009-10
Scotland Craig Meikle2010-11
Scotland Keith Barr2011-12
Scotland Guy Kerr2012-13
Scotland Greg Ross2013-14
Name Season
Scotland Chris Roxburgh2012-13
Name Match Season
Scotland James McPartlinArniston Rangers 4-2 Penicuik Athletic (23/4/2014)2013-14

Player Records

Top Goalscorers

Competitive matches only since 2002.
Position Name Goals
1Scotland Johnny Harvey100
2Scotland Martin Cameron68
3Scotland Ryan Gay55
4Scotland Keith Barr39
5=Scotland Grant Killin34
5=Scotland Robert Ure34
6Scotland Paul Lindsay31
7Scotland Ryan McCallum29
8Scotland Sean Patterson28
9Scotland Ross Montgomery26
10Scotland James McPartlin24
10Scotland Craig Millar24

Appearances

Current squad only
Name Appearances Goals
Scotland Ryan Gay25855
Scotland Craig Meikle1817
Scotland Grant Killin15834
Scotland Michael McDermott1514
Scotland Dougie Cunnison12814
Scotland Greg Ross667
Scotland Youssef Bejaoui630
Scotland Jordan Lister621
Scotland Darrell Young577
Scotland Sean Patterson5328
Scotland Ryan McCallum5229
Scotland Scott McCulloch4312
Scotland Neil Janczyk282
Scotland David White202
Scotland Stephen Bunyan192
Scotland Blair Dickson180
Scotland Steven Weir173
Scotland David Burrell160
Scotland Danny Rennie152
Scotland Chris Hill100

Season 2014-15

The 2014–15 season sees Penicuik Athletic compete for the first time in the SJFA East Region Super League as well as competing in the Scottish Junior Cup, East of Scotland Cup and the Fife and Lothians Cup.

Friendlies and pre-season

Date Opponent H / A Result Scorers
19 July 2014 Whitehill Welfare A 5-2 Janczyk 9', Ross 17'
22 July 2014 Vale of Leithen A 2-2 Ross 76', McPartlin '85
26 July 2014 Edinburgh United A 2-4 McCulloch 21', McPartlin 78', Killin 87', Montgomery 89'
29 July 2014 Lothian Thistle HV A 3-1 McCulloch 47'
2 August 2014 Auchinleck Talbot A 2-0

Competitions

East Superleague

Scottish Junior Cup

East of Scotland Cup

Fife and Lothians Cup

Team record

As of 4 April 2015
Competition First match Last match Current position Record
M W D L GF GA GD Win % Ref.
East Super League 6 August 2014 4 April 2015 4th 21 10 6 5 33 27 +6 47.62
Scottish Junior Cup 27 September 2014 14 March 2015 Quarter Final 6 5 0 1 18 6 +12 83.33
East of Scotland Cup 6 September 2014 6 September 2014 First round 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0.00
Fife and Lothians Cup 4 October 2014 TBC Fourth Round 2 2 0 0 7 1 +6 100.00
Total 30 17 6 7 58 35 +23 56.67 —

Recent League Positions

Season League Position Matches Played Points
2002-03Lothian League Division 23rd2037
2003-04Lothian League Division 23rd1832
2004-05Lothian League Division 21st1841
2005-06Lothian League Division 12nd1835
2006-07East Premier League9th2227
2007-08East Premier League6th2233
2008-09East Premier League4th2235
2009-10East Premier League7th2228
2010-11East Premier League5th2232
2011-12East Premier League4th2237
2012-13East Premier League5th2237
2013-14East Premier League1st3064

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Managerial History

Since reformation in 2002

  • Scotland Willie McGinley (2002– May 2008)
  • Scotland Stuart 'Snowy' McKean (May 2008 - December 2009)
  • Scotland Craig Meikle & Bryan Ryrie (December 2009 – June 2013)
  • Scotland Craig Meikle (December 2009 – Present)

Notable former players

External links