We are delighted to announce that Ben Davidson has followed in his former team mates steps , (Calum Bremner) and signed a pre-contract with us for season 2023/2024 .The 23 year old midfielder joined the Rose from Stirling University this time last year where he played along side some of his new team mates all ready at the Brox. We welcome Ben and wish him all the best for his time at the club .
This week’s Keydraw was won by Mike Dunn c/o Broxburn Athletic who collected £50 as Kiera who helped with the draw failed to pick the correct key to open the jackpot box . Next week’s draw on Tuesday the 20th of June will have a jackpot of £550 with 16 keys left to pick from to open the box and will be live on our Facebook page at 7.30pm . We thank Kiera for her time with the draw tonight . .
It is with great delight we can announce that Nick Locke will be a Broxburn Athletic player for season 2023/2024 . Nick was with us from 2013 until 2020 and was captain of the side that went to Paisley to play St Mirren in the Scottish cup . All parties are delighted with the signing and look forward to the season starting . More new players will be revealed over the next week or so . We have to thank Friends of Broxburn Athletic and a superb gesture by a sponsor/supporter who wishes to remain anonymous in helping getting the deals over the line with out which we would not be able to sign such good players .
The following are our preseason warm up matches for the beginning of season 2023/2024 . Season ticket holders will be free Adults £4 Concessions £2 under 17’s free for all friendlies The weekend before the season starts on Saturday the 29th of July we will have a two day four team tournament . The draw for the tournament is as follows . Admission for tournament games is Daily tickets £5 Adults and £3 Concessions Under 17’s free . Season Tickets will not be valid for tournament games
Saturday 22nd July A Pollock v Dundee United 1pm kick off ;B Broxburn ath v Livingston F.C. 3pm kick off
Sunday 23rd July Loser A v Loser B 1pm kick off : Winners A v Winners B 3pm kick off
At last nights AGM of the East of Scotland the draw was made for the first two rounds of the South Challenge Cup . We avoided the two ties in the first round and the second round saw us drawn away to Peebles Rovers with time and date to be confirmed
It has been brought to our attention the sad news that former player “Taffy ” MacDonald has sadly passed away . Taffy played for the club in the early seventies and our condolences go out to his friends and family at this sad time . RIP Taffy .
This week’s Keydraw was won by Stevie Whitelaw who collected £50 as Stephen Stuart who helped with the draw failed to pick the correct key to open the jackpot box . Next week’s draw on Tuesday the 13th of June live on our Facebook page at 7.30pm , will have a jackpot of £500 and 17 keys left to pick from to open the jackpot box . We thank Stephen for his help with the draw
Our recent 4-1 defeat at home to Haddington Athletic was disappointing , but it has been found that they had played an unillegible player and subsequently they have been docked the three points they won that day and the scoreline deleted from the official records , with a 1-0 win and three points awarded to Broxburn Athletic as per league rules . There was no suggestion that Haddington tried to gain an advantage but was a genuine mistake .
This week’s Keydraw was won by Alan Samuel c/o The Buchan Arms who collected £50 as Stephen Stuart who helped with the draw failed to pick the correct key to open the jackpot box . Next week’s jackpot will be £400 with 19 keys left to pick from to open the jackpot box . Next week’s draw will be on Tuesday the 30th of May live on our facebook page at 7.30pm. We thank Stephen for his help with the draw .
BROXBURN ATHLETIC FOOTBALL CLUB
As many of you will all ready know through press and social media, the Scottish Football Association is proposing at the A.G.M. to install a new league in the middle of the pyramid at level five, a so called conference league. We or others currently have not had any documentation regarding this proposal (10/5/23). Whilst we would not normally comment on speculation or rumours, we feel that along with many other clubs at all levels , give our opinion on the uncertainty that these alleged proposal’s are having on Scottish Football. There is generally no smoke without fire and if the suggested proposal goes through it relegates every club currently from tier five downwards relegating over 200 clubs in the current pyramid. Next season (2023/2024) clubs will allegedly play for positions in this new league with sketchy proposals to shoehorn 4 Lowland league, 2 Highland league and at the moment 4 SPFL ‘B’ teams into the pyramid. Clubs from all levels of our game have come out and condemned the move. Unfortunately, although we are members of the SFA we do not have voting powers as they were changed at a SFA A.G.M a few years back prior to us getting our membership That tier 5 clubs and above were only allowed to vote unless historically, i.e., Preston Athletic, Hawick, Coldstream amongst others who can vote. Question? Will the Lowland and Highland league if this goes through still have their vote in Tier 6? .
If the proposal goes through it will leave two stages for any of our clubs to follow in the footsteps of Kelty Hearts, Bonnyrigg Rose, Edinburgh City.
What do we do when trying to sell the club and league to sponsors and backers alike when telling them of our ambitions to get up to the SFL when we tell them it is now at least three seasons instead of two seasons to achieve that goal. The likes of Blackburn Utd, Oakley Utd and Vale of Leithen relegated from the Premier league find themselves in a 2-tier relegation. Linlithgow Rose promoted to the Lowland league find themselves at the same level as the past season if this proposal was to go through this season.
Not only has this a knock on effect for clubs positional wise but the league standards will diminish . No one has thought of the knock-on effect of where we will get the officials from to facilitate this new league. Currently there is a huge shortfall of match officials with a number of occasions this season our Premier league has had no full cover of officials in our premier league as the leagues below us need referee’s. This new league will take 15 officials every game day to officiate at the games. Would time not better be invested in a proper Pyramid where clubs don’t have to play three or more play offs to get their reward for winning the league they have just won. At the moment all the hard work of over a full season winning your league can be wiped out over two games i.e. Brechin City. A simple promotion relegation through out the Pyramid should not be too difficult to implement. We do realise a lot of self interest comes into play with teams looking over their shoulder of the professional organised clubs are climbing up the pyramid and their long-established safe haven is not so save these days with Berwick Rangers and East Stirlingshire prime examples of what the level below them is like in trying to compete and re-establish their status they held for many years
Many clubs have invested heavily in their clubs with ambition to progress up the pyramid the aim of all clubs. The hard work and time that club volunteer’s have dedicated to the club they support is unmeasurable. The club licencing for any club is a costly procedure with audits every season and updates to be adhered to when the criteria is changed.
Whilst it is the ‘B’ team issue that is getting the blame for change we do not think there would be any objections as in other countries where ‘B’ teams compete in lower leagues but for example can not get promoted to the two top tiers of that countries set up. This would mean starting at the bottom rung and working their way forward through promotion and relegation giving the younger players competitive experience instead of playing games for the sake of it.
We would like to think that the integrity of Scottish Football and come to the fore and urge clubs to vote accordingly and not be distracted by the sums of money allegedly being offered by the ‘B’ team clubs to set this up. We urge all football supporter’s to join the campaign no matter who you support to get a proper Pyramid with integrity at its soul.
When we have further information of the proposals we will ask our supporter’s for their input .
