The History of Newtongrange Star
1951/52
MURRAY CUP, BROWN CUP, THORNTON SHIELD, ST MICHAELS CUP WINNERS and EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Back: J. Walton, W. Weston, A. Blackie, P. Watson, A. Bowman, C. Martin, R. Bryson, J. Scambler, R. Leithead, J. Slater (All committee)
Centre: J. Hadden (Groundsman), J. Kirkwood (Secretary), A. Linton, T. Tighe, A. Mann, J. Dalgleish, D. MacKay, E. Kelly,
L. Morrison (Treasurer), H. Warner (Committee)
Front: D. Pryde (Representative), J. Ramage (President), A. Sharp (Coach), C. Johnstone, R. Kinghorn, W. Ferguson,
J. Slater, A. Hope, J. Denholm (Trainer), H. McLaren (Vice-President)
STORY OF THE SEASON
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    It was always going to be hard for Star to match the achievements of the 1950/1 side, but 1951/2 proved to be even better. The Mid / East Division title was secured, the overall championship was won, and four of the five local Cups were taken back to Victoria Park. It was probably the club's finest ever season and it will need more than one article in the programme to do it justice.

    A taste of what was to come was provided in a Pre Season Friendly against Haddington which Star won by 10-2. The opening League game was at Arniston where a crowd of 2000 saw a rare Star defeat, with Arniston winning 2-1.

    Star won the Mid / East League by six points with local rivals Arniston second and Bonnyrigg in third. There were many memorable performances as Star rattled in 119 goals in 30 games. Once the title was secured Star ended their programme with a game at home to Bonnyrigg Rose - the scoreline finishing 10-0 to the Star, with Bobby Kinghorn scoring five of them.

    The overall championship was settled in a match with Broxburn Athletic who had won the West Division. Such was the fixture congestion that the game was not played until early July. City Park in Edinburgh was the venue with more than a thousand Star fans heading down to the Capital. They were well entertained as Nitten won 6-2 with goals by Alex Hope (2), Charlie Elms, Bobby Kinghorn, Slater and Dave Mackay.

    This was to be Alex Hope's last match in a Star jersey. Despite being 28 years of age the Inveresk lad was signed up by Morton during the Summer and after a couple of years with them moved on to Swindon Town.

    The other Cup competitions to herald success for Star were the Brown Cup, St Michaels Cup, Thornton Shield and the Murray Cup.

    The Brown Cup Final took place at Easter Road with over 8000 watching Star beat Bathgate Thistle 5-2. Rosewell Rosedale (6-0), Arniston Rangers (2-0) and Grange Rovers (3-2) were beaten en route to the Final. In that Final Bobby Kinghorn and Charlie Elms each scored twice, with the other goal scored by Mann. Star supporters tended to frequent the Dean Tavern in those days and several hundred were waiting there when the team returned to Nitten with the Cup. The trophy was then taken to the home of John Armstrong, one of the club's most ardent supporters who was bedridden. Afterwards the players and officials had dinner in the Barley Bree Restaurant at Easthouses before adjourning to the Dean Tavern for lengthy celebrations.

    The St Michael's Cup Final was also at the Hibernian ground. Bo'ness provided the opposition as Star won 2-0. The early stages were played in a group format that had Star travelling as far west as Alva in Clackmannanshire, and east to Haddington. Two teams progressed from each group with Star being Thorntree in the Semi Finals.

    The Thornton Shield Final against Preston Athletic was played down at Tranent and Star won 3-0 with Slater, Kinghorn and Elms on target.

    The Murray Cup Final was played on local territory at Victoria Park, with Easthouses Lily being the visitors - Star won 4-2. Bobby Kinghorn scored a double, with Charlie Elms and Alex Hope also on the scoresheet.

    The only real disappointments of the season came in the East of Scotland and Scottish Junior Cups. In the Scottish Cup Star failed to get beyond the local rounds, beating Armadale Thistle 2-1 before losing 2-0 at home to Loanhead Mayflower. Mayflower also inflicted Star's only home defeat in the League that season - the only team to win at Victoria Park and they did it twice. Goalkeeper J Dalgleish made his debut in the match against Armadale. Also in the crowd was a scout from Hearts who was there to cast an eye over Star's promising young wing half, Dave Mackay - much more of him later.

    In the East of Scotland Cup Star had wins over Thorntree and Easthouses before losing to, inevitably, Loanhead Mayflower, this time at Loanhead.

    A Charity Match was played on the April Holiday to raise funds for the Gala Day. The opposition was provided by Shildon from County Durham. Star demonstrated their prowess by winning 10-1 against their English visitors - Elms (2), Halliday (2), Mackay (2), Renton (2), Linton and Kinghorn sharing the goals.

    A typical Star side from that season was along the lines of Dalgleish in goals, A Mann and Bill Ferguson at full back; a half back line of Terry Tighe, Skinner and Dave Mackay; Halliday and Alex Hope were out wide, with Charlie Elms, Bobby Kinghorn and J Slater through the middle. Others in the squad were L Johnstone, E Kelly, Renton and A Linton.

    Towards the end of the season Hearts moved in to sign Star's talented young half back Dave Mackay on a delayed form - he stayed with Star throughout 1952/3 when he was capped by Junior Scotland. Star had picked him up from Slateford Athletic and put him into the side at the start of 1951/2 when he was just 16 years of age. The former schoolboy international was clearly ready for it and he was one of the cornerstones of the remarkable success enjoyed by the 1951/2 team. His later career is relatively well-known. Called up by Hearts in 1953, he was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in 1959 for £30,000. By then he had the 'full-set' of Scottish medals, having won League, Cup and League Cup with Hearts. He moved on to Derby County as a player in 1968, and then became Manager of Swindon Town, Nottingham Forest and Derby County. He managed them to the English Championship, to add to the Championship medal he had won as a player with Tottenham. He also won three FA Cup winners medals and a European Cup Winners Cup medal with Tottenham. Mackay won 22 full Scotland caps, 4 Under 23 caps, and was capped by both the Scottish and English Leagues. He is also one of a select few to be named Player of the Year by the Footbll Writers both north and south of the border. Later he managed clubs as diverse as Walsall, Arabic Sporting (Kuwait), Doncaster Rovers, Birmingham City and Zamalec (Egypt).

    Source: Newtongrange Star FC match programme [30-Aug-2008][13-Sep-2008]
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE MID/EAST DIVISION
Pld W D L F A Pts
Newtongrange Star 30 22 3 5 119 42 47
Arniston Rangers 30 17 7 6 75 47 41
Bonnyrigg Rose 30 16 7 7 62 61 39
Tranent Juniors 30 16 5 9 91 67 37
Ormiston Primrose 30 15 6 9 92 67 36
Thorntree United 30 15 5 10 81 63 35
Easthouses Lily 30 13 8 9 79 59 34
Penicuik Athletic 30 12 8 10 67 66 32
Haddington Athletic 30 12 5 13 75 86 29
Musselburgh Athletic 30 12 4 14 71 95 28
Edinburgh City 30 8 11 11 61 73 27
Loanhead Mayflower 30 9 4 17 48 74 22
Dunbar United 30 8 3 19 81 94 19
Rosewell Rosedale 30 8 3 19 65 110 19
Dalkeith Thistle 30 7 4 19 63 92 18
Preston Athletic 30 7 3 20 51 76 17
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Crowd
Arniston Rangers H 1 1 Adams 2500
A 1 2 Linton 2000
Bonnyrigg Rose H 10 0 Kinghorn 5, Slater 3, Hope, Elms
A 1 0 ?
Dalkeith Thistle H 5 1 Adams 2, Elms, Linton, Kinghorn
A
Dunbar United H 4 3 Slater 2, Kinghorn, Elms
A
Easthouses Lily H
A
Edinburgh City H 5 0 Elms 2, Kinghorn 2, Halliday
A
Haddington Athletic H 6 2 Slater 2, Linton, Kinghorn, Elms, ?
A
Loanhead Mayflower H 1 2 Kinghorn
A 6 1 MacKay 2, Kinghorn 2, Slater, Halliday
Musselburgh Athletic H 5 1 Kinghorn 2, Hope 2, Slater
A
Ormiston Primrose H 5 0 Hope, Mann, Kinghorn, Elms, Newman
A
Penicuik Athletic H 2 3 Kinghorn, Sneddon
A 3 2 Kinghorn 2, Elms
Preston Athletic H 6 0 Kinghorn 3, Johnstone, Hope, Halliday
A
Rosewell Rosedale H 8 2 Kinghorn 3, Hope 2, Halliday 2, Johnstone
A 4 2 Ferguson 2, Kinghorn 2
Thorntree United H 5 1 Kinghorn 2, Halliday 2, Slater
A
Tranent Juniors H 2 0 Johnstone, Tighe
A 3 1 Kinghorn, Elms, Slater
EDINBURGH & DISTRICT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
Mid/East Division winners v West Division winners
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
F N Broxburn Athletic 6 2 Hope 2, Elms, Kinghorn, Slater, MacKay
SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 A Armadale Thistle 2 1 Hope, Kinghorn Dalgleish, Mann, Ferguson, Purves, Skinner, MacKay, Halliday, Elms, Kinghorn, Slater, Hope.
2 H Loanhead Mayflower 0 2
THORNTON SHIELD
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 H Easthouses Lily 4 1 MacKay 2, Johnstone, Slater
2 A Camelon Juniors 2 1 Hope, Kinghorn
QF A Arniston Rangers 3 0 Kinghorn 2, MacKay
SF N Thorntree United 4 0 Hope 2, Tighe, Kinghorn
F N Preston Athletic 3 0 Slater, Kinghorn, Elms
EAST OF SCOTLAND CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
1 ? Easthouses Lily 7 1 OG, Kinghorn 3, Halliday 2, ?
2 ? Thorntree United 3 2 Slater, Kinghorn, Halliday
3 A Loanhead Mayflower 1 2 ?
ST MICHAELS CUP
Pld W D L F A Pts
Newtongrange Star 10 10 0 0 42 8 20
Armadale Thistle
Alva Albion Rangers
Bonnyrigg Rose
Haddington Athletic
Linlithgow Rose
Ormiston Primrose
Opponents Venue F A Scorers Team Info
Armadale Thistle H 5 2 Hope, Johnstone, Slater, Kinghorn, Tighe
A 2 1 Kinghorn, Tighe
Alva Albion Rangers H 2 1 ?
A 6 1 Slater 4, MacKay 2
Bonnyrigg Rose H 3 1 Elms, Mann, Hope
A
Haddington Athletic H 5 0 Slater 4, Johnstone
A 3 1 Tighe, Slater, Mann
Linlithgow Rose H 4 0 Tighe 2, Elms 2
A
Ormiston Primrose H 4 0 Slater 2, Hope, Tighe
A 8 1 Elms 3, MacKay 2, Anderson 2, Tighe
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Crowd
SF N Thorntree United 6 5 Kinghorn 3, Hope 2, ? 2000
F N Bo'ness United 2 0 ? Dalgleish, Mann, Ferguson, Tighe, Skinner, MacKay, Halliday, Elms, Kinghorn, Slater, Hope.
BROWN CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Crowd
1 H Rosewell Rosedale 6 0 Mann, Elms, Tighe, Johnstone, Slater 2
QF H Arniston Rangers 2 0 Hope, Tighe 2000
SF H Grange Rovers 3 2 Slater 2, Mann
F N Bathgate Thistle 5 2 Kinghorn 2, Elms 2, Mann
MURRAY CUP
Round Venue Opponents F A PenF PenA Scorers Team Info
SF A Arniston Rangers 2 0 Halliday, Kinghorn
F N Easthouses Lily 4 2 Kinghorn 2, Hope, Elms