wp-plugin-hostgator domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home2/cameronh/leithathleticeos.co.uk/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Leith Athletic\nFootball Club (1887 to 1954) The original Leith Athletic\nwere founded in June 1887 following a public meeting in premises in the\nKirkgate with the main aim to give the then independent town of Leith its own\n\u2018Senior\u2019 team that the best players with the numerous local \u2018Junior\u2019 and\n\u2018Juvenile\u2019 sides could aspire to join in order to challenge the other \u2018Senior\u2019\nsides in the city – Hibs, Hearts and St Bernard\u2019s. Other than a couple of enforced breaks during\npart of both World Wars, the \u201cZebras\u201d, so called because of their black and\nwhite vertical striped shirts, represented Leith with pride, experiencing both\njoy and heartbreak in the 67 years they were in existence before finally\ncalling it a day in 1954, mainly for financial reasons but betrayed too, not\nfor the first time either, by the Scottish football authorities. Their first ever game was a\nScottish Cup tie away to Bo\u2019ness on 3 September 1887 which resulted in a 1-4\ndefeat. The club\u2019s first home was the\nnewly opened Hawkhill Recreation Grounds just off Lochend Road. In these days the club\u2019s fixture list, other\nthan the Scottish Cup, consisted only of friendlies and local cup ties but for\nseason 1891\/92 Athletic were invited to join the fledgling Scottish League,\nthen about to enter its\u2019 second season with an increase from 10 to 12 clubs and\nthey finished a very creditable fourth. Hawkhill remained the club\u2019s\nrented home for their first two seasons but they got a home of their own for\nthe start of the 1889\/90 season when they made the short move to the other side\nof Lochend Road to Bank Park which was accessed from a footpath that ran along\nthe side of the Eastern Cemetery from Easter Road. The club won the prestigious Rosebery Charity\nCup in 1890\/91, beating Hearts 3-2 in the final at Logie Green and that result\nmade people sit up and notice as it was the same Hearts team that had won the\nScottish Cup earlier in the season. Athletic were on the move\nagain in time for the start of the 1894\/95 season to Beechwood Park. In actual fact, the move was once again a\nvery short one as the new ground was almost on the same footprint of land but\nwith the pitch turned round by 90 degrees to now run north to south and moved\nby about fifty yards north with an entrance on Lochend Road. It was around this time that the club started\nto be referred to by the nickname of the \u2018Zebras\u2019 on account of their black and\nwhite striped shirts. Sadly though,\nthere was an unhappy ending to the Zebras first season at Beechwood Park as\nthey failed to get re-elected to Division 1 after finishing second bottom and\nthey were replaced by Division 2 winners Hibs. The club remained in the\nsecond tier of Scottish football up until the end of season 1914\/15 but\nground-wise they continued to lead a nomadic existence. The building of a new branch line of the\nNorth British Railway into Leith Central Station meant vacating Beechwood Park\nat the end of the 1898\/99 season but there was some consolation with the\nsecuring of the Rosebery Charity Cup for a second time and again it was Hearts\nwho fell, 1-0, in the final at Logie Green. \nIt was back to their original home of Hawkhill for the next two seasons\nand 1900\/01 brought the club\u2019s only East of Scotland Shield success, seeing off\nHearts 3-2 in the final played at Easter Road. Not for the first time,\nAthletic found themselves in serious financial difficulties as the start of the\n1901\/02 season approached and their failure to negotiate a new lease at Hawkhill\nwas swiftly followed by the club, which had become a Limited Company in June\n1893, going into liquidation. The Leith\npublic rallied round their club though and a hastily arranged public meeting\nled to a new committee being formed. The\nnew committee acted quickly and were able to persuade the Scottish League to\nallow the newly constituted club entry into the League and they even managed to\nnegotiate a delayed start to their Division 2 fixtures to enable them to try to\nsecure a home ground. Near neighbours\nHibs came to the rescue and allowed Athletic to play their early season\nfixtures at Easter Road before they were able to secure a lease on a piece of\nland in the Powderhall area from the Heriot Trust to play on from November.\nTheir new ground became known as Logie Green but was a completely different\nground to the original Logie Green, venue of the 1896 Scottish Cup final\nbetween Hibs and Hearts, which had disappeared after the area was developed and\nbuilt on. The Logie Green years\ninitially saw the reconstituted club grow and develop and season 1905\/06\nbrought the club double success \u2013 a first winning of the Scottish Qualifying\nCup, beating Beith 2-0 in the final at Clyde\u2019s Shawfield ground, was followed\nup by finishing as Scottish League Division 2 Champions. Once again though the fates were against the\nAthletic, promotion was not automatic in those days and sadly they couldn\u2019t\nmuster enough votes at the Scottish League AGM to bring a return to Division 1\nand that despite the Division being increased from 16 to 18 clubs. Season 1909\/10 saw Athletic\nagain finish at the top of Division 2 but this time on the same number of\npoints as Raith Rovers and the League declared both clubs to be \u2018Joint\nChampions\u2019. Yet again though there was\nno joy at the League AGM and it was Raith Rovers who secured the required votes\nto gain elevation to Division 1. There\nwas some consolation though with a second win in the Scottish Qualifying Cup,\nbeating Bathgate 4-0 in the final at Easter Road. Season 1914\/15 brought a three-way\ntie at the top of the League but in a round-robin play-off Cowdenbeath emerged\nas Champions over Athletic and Edinburgh rivals St Bernards. The following season saw Division 2 disbanded\nfor the duration of World War 1 – Athletic took part in the Eastern League in\n1915\/16 but it was not a financial success and the club took the decision to\nclose down for the duration of hostilities. There were some attempts to\nresurrect the club in time for the 1919\/20 season but it wasn\u2019t until the\nfollowing season that the Athletic took to the field again and that was for\nfriendlies and cup ties only as they failed to gain entry to any League\ncompetition. Home now was Chancelot Park\njust off Ferry Road and there was some success with the winning of the East of\nScotland Consolation Cup, beating Coldstream 1-0 in the final played at Union\nPark, Berwick. May 1921 brought yet another\ndisappointment from the Scottish League when Athletic\u2019s application to rejoin\nDivision 2 was rejected and rather strangely the club decided to take part in\nthe Western League in season 1921\/22 which meant games against opponents from\nthe West of Scotland including Ayrshire. \nEarly season home games were played at Hawthorn\u2019s Recreation Ground in\nthe Wardie area but the club switched back to Chancelot Park from\nNovember. The Scottish League AGM in May\nbrought yet another rejection for the club\u2019s latest application to join\nDivision 2 and this time they elected to take part in the Eastern League for season\n1922\/23 – ever the nomads, the club actually had several homes during the\nseason, playing games at Chancelot Park, Wardie Park, Easter Road and Bathgate\nPark, just off New Street in the Canongate. The club won the King Cup for the\none and only time, beating Berwick Rangers 2-1 in the final at Tynecastle. Athletic were invited to join\nthe newly-formed Division 3 in 1923\/24 but instead elected to join the Scottish\nAlliance which meant all their League opposition consisted of the Reserve XI\u2019s\nof Division 1 clubs with Wardie Park once again the club\u2019s home. It was all change yet again in 1924\/25 \u2013\nAthletic had a change of mind and joined Division 3 and on the ground front\nthere was a return to Logie Green. Logie Green had in the main\nbeen a happy home for the Athletic and season 1925\/26 brought another Scottish\nQualifying Cup victory, beating Solway Star 3-1 in the final played at St\nMirren Park, Paisley. Athletic finished\nrunners-up in Division 3 but yet again there was disappointment at the Scottish\nLeague AGM \u2013 a number of clubs had failed to play all their fixtures and the\nScottish League ruled that automatic promotion could not apply. Athletic were\ndenied promotion to Division 2 on the casting vote of the Chairman and just to\nadd insult to injury it was Forfar Athletic, who had finished in third place\nwho got the vote and even worse, Division 3 was then disbanded. So, season 1926\/27 saw\nAthletic return to the Scottish Alliance, starting off at Logie Green but then\nmoving to Powderhall from January. The end of the season brought joy at the Scottish\nLeague AGM for once though with Athletic winning the vote over Nithsdale\nWanderers to gain a place in Division 2 for 1927\/28. The club continued to call\nPowderhall it\u2019s home but the ground wasn\u2019t always available and some games were\nplayed at St Bernard\u2019s Royal Gymnasium ground in Stockbridge plus one Scottish\nCup tie at Easter Road. It was on the move again for\n1928\/29, this time to Marine Gardens at Seafield, now the site of the LRT Bus\ndepot. It was the biggest of Athletic\u2019s\nmany homes but with little cover for spectators it could be a very cold and wet\nground and another drawback was that there was no direct bus or tram service\nfrom Leith. On the field though things\nwere going well and 1929\/30 saw Athletic snatch the Division 2 title from East\nFife on goal average \u2013 both clubs were promoted to Division 1. Athletic found it hard going back in the top\ndivision, finishing 17th<\/sup> in 1930\/31 and then bottom of the heap in\n1931\/32 to slide back into Division 2. \nThere was some consolation at the season\u2019s end though with Athletic\nsecuring another victory in the Rosebery Charity Cup, beating Hearts 2-1 in the\nfinal at Tynecastle. The club continued their\nDivision 2 existence at Marine Gardens for the next few seasons but dwindling\ncrowds were, as ever, causing increasing financial difficulties and they were\ndesperate to secure a more central ground. In May 1936 the Council granted the club\na lease at Meadowbank \u2013 at that time, Meadowbank consisted of two grounds, one\nknown as New Meadowbank was basically an athletics ground albeit with a\nfootball pitch in the middle and situated roughly where today\u2019s Meadowbank\nstadium is; the other, known as Old Meadowbank, was situated just fifty yards\nor so towards Jock\u2019s Lodge and consisted of a well-worn football pitch with\nchanging rooms which was used by various Juvenile sides. Throughout the summer of 1936,\nclub officials, greatly assisted by members of the Leith Athletic Supporters\u2019\nClub, worked tirelessly on the ground, laying a new pitch on top of 400 tons of\ntop soil. Attendances improved and\nseason 1938\/39 brought another Rosebery Charity Cup victory, this time with a\n2-0 win over Hearts in the final at Easter Road. World War 2 was just over the horizon though\nand League football was abandoned just 4 games into the 1939\/40 season. The club tried to continue with friendlies\nbut didn\u2019t play any games from November onwards until the end of season\nRosebery Charity Cup in May. The club didn\u2019t operate at all\nduring 1940\/41 and an attempt to recommence in 1941\/42 by playing in the North\nEastern League proved a financial disaster and the decision was taken to give\nup playing until the cessation of hostilities. \nIn one way the decision was forced upon the club though, with the Army\ncommandeering Old Meadowbank for use as a supply and transport depot. It would\nbe season 1946\/47 before Athletic would take to the field again and the\nScottish League, as seemed to frequently be the case, had a nasty surprise in\nstore for the club \u2013 instead of restoring them to Division 2, as had been\npromised when League football was abandoned in 1939, Athletic were placed in\nDivision C, the third tier, where some of the competing sides were the Reserve\nXI\u2019s of Division A clubs. Just to compound the difficulties the club faced they\nhad to restart life at New Meadowbank as their Old Meadowbank ground had\neffectively been destroyed by all the heavy Army transport vehicles using it\nduring the War. The end of the 1946\/47 season\nbrought yet another twist with Athletic, along with Cowdenbeath, voted into\nDivision B for season 1947\/48. There was more good news when the club\nnegotiated a new 10 year lease of Old Meadowbank and secured compensation from\nthe Army for the damage done during the war. \nOnce again the Supporters\u2019 Club supplied much of the labour in the\nrebuilding of the ground during the summer months \u2013 a new pitch was laid, new\nterracing was built and St Bernard\u2019s old stand from the Royal Gymnasium ground\nwas dismantled and then rebuilt at Old Meadowbank. The journey to the heady heights of Division\nB didn\u2019t last long however and Athletic returned to Division C for the 1948\/49\nseason which brought a victory in the Scottish Qualifying Cup South, with a 3-2\nwin over Montrose at Recreation Park, Alloa. \nBy then, Old Meadowbank also boasted a speedway track and the ground\nalso became home to the Edinburgh Monarchs speedway team. The Scottish Qualifying Cup\nSouth was retained in 1949\/50, this time with a 5-2 win over Brechin City at\nAnnfield, Stirling. The Scottish League\nAGM in June 1950 brought the now almost taken as the norm bad news for the club\nwhen a proposal to increase Division B from 16 to 20 clubs, by promoting the four\n\u2018League\u2019 as opposed to Reserve XI sides playing in Division C, was narrowly\ndefeated in a vote. It was a cause Leith\nAthletic would continue to lobby and campaign on as they remained aggrieved\nthat the promises given back by the Scottish League back in September 1939 had\nbeen broken but they got little support \u2013 in truth, this latest setback was the\nbeginning of the end. Division C football with the\nmajority of League fixtures being against Reserve XI\u2019 s held little attraction\nfor supporters, unless the game was against Hibs or Hearts 2nd<\/sup> XI,\nand dwindling crowds and the resultant financial problems put the club\u2019s very\nfuture in doubt. Despite that though\nthey remained ambitious and in December 1952 Athletic installed floodlights at\nOld Meadowbank, the first club in Edinburgh to do so and a crowd of 12,000\nattended the first floodlit fixture, an East v West friendly on 13 January\n1953. By that time though the Scottish\nLeague Management Committee had already rejected the club\u2019s application to play\ntheir home fixtures under floodlight on a Friday night to avoid clashing with\nHibs and Hearts games and maybe attract along a few more spectators. Opposing clubs were willing but the Scottish\nLeague saw no future in football being played under floodlights. If the club had gambled and\nlost with their floodlight initiative their next confrontation with the\nScottish League was to prove disastrous. \nIn an effort to force the League\u2019s intransigence over the 1939 broken\npromise Athletic refused to take part in Division C for season 1953\/54. When the club refused to back down they were\nexpelled from the Scottish League and the threats of legal action fell on deaf\nears. They were able to initially retain\ntheir SFA membership though and in the hope that a good Cup run or even just a\nplum draw against a big club might give them the necessary finance to restart\nthe following season, Athletic entered the Scottish Cup, giving the SFA an\nundertaking they would compete no matter the draw. Not for the first time though \u2018Lady Luck\u2019\nwasn\u2019t smiling and the draw brought a long trip to Highland League side\nFraserburgh. The Directors, assisted by an honorary manager in the shape of the\nScottish Players\u2019 Union Secretary, arranged three trial matches in early\nJanuary and managed to cobble together a team from non-contract players and\nfree transfers and they put up a battling display before going down by\n4-5. The financial gamble had failed and\nthe cost of the trip, including an overnight stay in Aberdeen, actually\nresulted in a loss. The pain of defeat\ncan only have been compounded when the next round draw brought Fraserburgh a\nhome tie against Hearts which, had it been Athletic\u2019s tie at Old Meadowbank,\nmight just have generated enough income to keep the club alive. The club still retained their\nSFA membership and again entered the Scottish Cup for 1954\/55 but after drawing\nSelkirk in a preliminary round they scratched from the competition and that\naction led to the loss of their SFA membership. \nThe club went into voluntary liquidation on 17 May 1955 but there was\none final sting in the tail \u2013 at the Scottish League AGM just a few weeks later\nthe members voted for League reorganization and the non-reserve clubs from\nDivision C found themselves voted into Division B for the new season. It was what Leith Athletic had campaigned for\nsince football restarted after the War but it had come just too late to save\nthe club but no one could doubt that the proud old club from the Port had\nfought valiantly throughout its\u2019 life against one setback after another and in\ndoing so surely upheld the Port\u2019s motto of \u201cPersevere\u201d. There were a couple of failed\nattempts to revive the club over the years and then in 1996 the famous old name\nof Leith Athletic was back as the club was reformed at youth level and the\nblack and white striped jerseys were seen in the old Port again. The club grew\nfrom strength to strength at youth level and then in 2008 a tie-up with\nEdinburgh Athletic saw the name of Leith Athletic back in the senior ranks of\nthe East of Scotland League for the start of the 2008\/09 season. Interestingly,\nwhen Ger Freedman, now the club\u2019s Honorary Chairman, reconstituted the Leith\nAthletic FC name there was a visitor to the Links for a presentation that\nprovides a timeline from the current club through to the original club\u2019s early\nyears. David Dalziel, born and raised in\nLeith, had played for the club, at outside-right, from 1948 to 1954 and he\nplayed in the original club\u2019s last game, a Scottish Cup tie at Fraserburgh in\nJanuary 1954. After retiring from\nplaying he became a very successful businessman, owning a well-known local\ngarage, while staying involved in the game as a scout with Hibs in the 60\u2019s,\nwhere he is credited with spotting the likes of Peter Marinello and Alex\nCropley, then at Hearts in the 70\u2019s, where his spots included Eamonn Bannon and\nJohn Robertson. He became very involved\nwith Juvenile football and in 1980 he was made Honorary President of the\nAssociation of Scottish Youth Football. His father, Andrew, had also played for\nthe club, at outside-left, from 1923 to 1925 and he later became a Director of\nthe club. On that visit back in 1996 David marked his family\u2019s long and proud\nconnection with the name of Leith Athletic and linked the old to the new by\npresenting the new club with the beautiful antique club document stamp, used\nfor players\u2019 contracts and legal documents, which dates back to the early\n1900\u2019s with the original Leith Athletic and which remains proudly on display\ntoday in the club\u2019s trophy cabinet at Leith Links. <\/span><\/p> LEITH\nATHLETIC FC Honours<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/b><\/p> Original Club\n\u2013 1887 to 1954: <\/span><\/u><\/p> Scottish\nLeague, Division 2 (3): 1906\/06,\n1909\/10 (Joint), 1929\/30. <\/span><\/p> Scottish\nQualifying Cup (3): 1905\/06,\n1909\/10. 1925\/26. <\/span><\/p> Scottish\nQualifying Cup \u2013 South (2): 1948\/49,\n1949\/50. <\/span><\/p> East of Scotland\nShield (1): 1900\/01. <\/span><\/p> East of\nScotland Consolation Cup (1): 1920\/21. <\/span><\/p> East of\nScotland (\u2018City\u2019) Cup (6): 1913\/14,\n1921\/22, 1926\/27, 1928\/29, 1935\/36, 1936\/37. <\/span><\/p> King Cup (1): 1922\/23. <\/span><\/p> Rosebery\nCharity Cup (4): 1890\/91, 1898\/99,\n1931\/32, 1938\/39. <\/span><\/p> 2nd<\/sup>\nXI Scottish Cup (2): 1891\/92,\n1892\/93. <\/span><\/p> 2nd<\/sup>\nXI Edinburgh Cup (1): 1892\/93. <\/span><\/p> <\/span><\/p> Reformed Club\n\u2013 2008 to date.<\/span><\/u> <\/span><\/p> East of\nScotland League (1): 2015\/16. <\/span><\/p> East of\nScotland League Cup (1): 2014\/15; <\/span><\/p> Alex Jack Cup\n(5): 2009\/10, 2012\/13, 2013\/14, 2014\/15;\n2015\/16. <\/span><\/p> King Cup (2): 2015\/16, 2016\/17. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p> <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leith Athletic Football Club (1887 to 1954) Leith Athletic Football Club (1887 to 1954) The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2353,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2346","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2346"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2359,"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2346\/revisions\/2359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leithathleticeos.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}