ARFC Exile

Another win tonight for South at Dalkeith. Still a few games in hand as well.

After being a regular for a few years, I have now completely drifted away. The whole name change shambles was the start of it, but the matchday experience of Meadowbank is probably the main reason i've stopped attending. What sets football apart from other events, is the atmosphere and participation from the supporters. Meadowbank is so poorly laid out, that these key ingredients are just never there. Even adding a stand on the other side IMO will make no difference. It's just completely souless. Living on the edge of Edinburgh, I have various lowland league/EOS clubs within easy reach and almost all of them offer a superior matchday experience than whats currently on offer at City.

A bit late to party here, but what you have said in bold is complete rubbish. The youth club Edinburgh City played under the name Glenpark for decades, before changing their name a partnership with the then EOS Edinburgh City(now SPFL league 1) in the late 1990's. If anyone is the 'real' City then the adult team predates the youths by a long way.

Good chance that FC Edinburgh will now revert back to Edinburgh City, as the man responsible for the whole cherade is handing the club to a new owner, with greater fan involvement. Don't know where this leaves Craigroyston.

A decent ref should use common sense in those circumstances. However, as evidenced by the terrible standard of referees prevalent at this level, they are trained to be absolute robots with no rapport or personality.

No, but it wasn't dangerous or intentional foul play either. He literally slipped and fell into the forward. Common sense would tell you, a penalty and a booking at most would have been enough.

Not mines yesterday, i left it in the house lol

Alas, I had the car so no pints for me unfortunately

I agree it's difficult, but he really didn't help himself. Throughout the game he was hesitant and unsure which led to both sets of players questioning every descision, making him even worse. He just wasn't strong enough to control the game. The red card really was harsh and under double jeopardy rules should never have been shown. Jacob slipped on his arse and tripped the guy. He hasn't committed a professional foul or tried to deliberately impede the Preston player, he has literally lost his footing on a wet pitch. Yes it's a 'foul' and a penalty but shouldn't have been a sending off. The 3rd Preston goal was absolutely miles offside. Even a ref on his own should have seen that one. The celebrations at the end were brilliant to see. Seems to be alot more togetherness round the squad/club than there has been for a few years.

First Whitehill Welfare game today since September and what a game it was! An absolutely rip roaring 3 all draw after going down to ten men after 2 minutes. Some cracking goals, dubious refereeing, a healthy crowd and a last gasp equaliser made for a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon! Might even have lost the run of myself when the last goal went in

Whitehill have now taken 4 points from 6 against two of the promotion chasers. A corner turned?

A chance for Edinburgh to get back to winning ways after last weeks mud bath. Always enjoy the raucous Clyde support, and my first time watching them at New Douglas so looking forward to it. Can you pay on the door?

So around a third of the season done, how are most folk feeling after the upheaval over the summer? I'm not going to lie, after the whole name change debacle and the horrendous matchday experience at Meadowbank, I haven't been back since the Cowdenbeath game in August. However, my son has been badgering me to go back and lately I have found myself missing watching the team. Are others slowly returning or are most still unwilling to attend again?

https://m.clydefc.co.uk/news/2022/09/09/7217/#.Yxs0qfbTVkx Looks like it could be exciting times ahead for you guys. Was hoping that Shawfield would have been the main option but obviously that has been ruled out with good reason. Whats your feelings on it?

Back on topic..... Couldn't manage up today but looking at the score I maybe done myself a favour. Bad day at the office?

That will be the petition you set up and shared on here. So yeah, you typed the statement. That's my last reply on the matter. Still be intrested in your reply about your own players past behaviour though but won't hold my breath.

Any chance of a link to this statement? Probably not since there is a good chance you just typed it up yourself.

Have to say I agree with alot of this particularly the part in bold. When i first started going to Junior football 30 years ago Nitten were by far the best and biggest supported team in Midlothian, perhaps even the whole of the East juniors. As someone who was a regular at Arniston, I would say that ourselves and Bonnyrigg were well behind in terms of support and success. Two things then happened that propelled Bonnyrigg to their recent success'. 1. The club was the 1st in Midlothian to really grasp the community club ethos along with the funding that came with it. 2. The expantion of it's population, as it became a popular commuting town for Edinburgh. Taken together these factors allowed Bonnyrigg to grow there support/participation among younger families, many of whom were/are new to the area. This is self fullfilling and feeds back as each new generation moves on. Nitten on the other hand have never really invested in it's community club in the same way. It does have youth teams but not at every age. Most of the young kids in Nitten probably play for either Bonnyrigg or Arniston who themselves have made great strides in the last couple of years to develop a better relationship with the senior side. Newtongrange also hasn't had the same scale of population growth as Bonnyrigg either. Unless they can attract a younger audience in greater numbers, they will continue to struggle to mount a serious challenge up the leagues.

This is where I am at unfortunately. Been up to Ferguson Park to watch Whitehill twice already and been made to feel really welcome. At £7 entry and free for under 16s it's a no brainer. I'm not saying I won't come back but given the choice, it's no longer top of my list.

It's done now, but in a few weeks it would have been forgotten about. Craig Thomson was far more high profile when he signed at Arniston and it calmed right down after a month.

Football wise, a big blow for chances of promotion.

Listen to Ally Moncs contribution on the Wasps nest Alloa podcast from last week. Sums it up pretty well.

I'm 100% cerian that Penicuick will have, at some point, signed and regularly played a player with a criminal conviction. Have you asked your clubs committe if they have vetted each player to meet your moral approval?

Whitehill 2 Lochore 1 Made the short trip up to Rosewell with my lad tonight, and was treated to a very enjoyable game. Given the home teams results so far I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they played with some really good individual performances. The captain Josh Walker in particular was commanding throughout. Despite a late own goal to reduce the deficit, the home team were in complete control really. Lochore had periods of possession, but never created any clear cut chances that I recall. Can't see Whitehill being relegated again based on the strong performance. I'll definitely be back up this season if that's the entertainment on offer. Can also confirm that no protest seemed to be in place outside the ground........