PICKING up points becomes of paramount importance to every club languishing near the bottom of a division entering the second half of the season.
Bonnyrigg Rose, who are currently in eighth place in the William Hill League 2 table with 15 games of the 2024/25 campaign remaining, certainly need to start racking up draws and victories if they are to move away from the relegation zone and avoid the drop.
Yet, accumulating pounds in the coming weeks and months is every bit as important as points to the part-time Midlothian outfit’s chances of survival.
The Rose players, fans, coaching staff and officials were rocked back in November when the SPFL hit them with a six-point deduction and downgraded their club licence from bronze to entry level due to the gradient of the pitch at their New Dundas Park home.
The governing body also, to the astonishment and outrage of many in the Scottish game, informed them they would face automatic demotion in the summer if they failed to level their offending playing surface.
Nobody at Bonnyrigg, though, has any intention of sloping off back to the Lowland League after just three seasons in the senior ranks.
They have formed a working group, set up a pitch fund and launched a JustGiving crowdfunding page in an attempt to raise the money which they believe is needed to address the problem. Donations have been flooding in from supporters, sponsors and wellwishers. Hopes are high they will reach their target.
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“It’s important to us that we remain in the SPFL,” said Marie Arthur, the lifelong supporter, long-serving board member and interim chairperson. “We are the only Midlothian club in the SPFL and we obviously want to stay there. We’re doing everything that we possibly can.
“We’ve set up a working group to deal specifically with this issue and they are trying to get everything organised so that the pitch can get fixed during the summer.
“We’ve spoken to our fans and our sponsors and they’ve been fantastic so far. We appreciate every sponsorship we ever get, but even more so when we’re going through harder times. There are events and ideas which are in the pipeline.
“We have set up the pitch fund and launched the crowdfunding campaign. We’re encouraged by the response and are confident that we’re going to be able to get the funds we need together, and we estimate it will cost between £120,000 and £180,000, and get the pitch sorted during the close season.”
“My grandparents and my mum used to support the club before they sadly passed away, so it’s certainly something that’s in my family’s blood.”
When The Rose, a beloved Scottish institution which was formed way back in 1881 and which lists Sir Sean Connery among its former players, lifted the Lowland League and won promotion to League 2 amid scenes of wild rejoicing back in 2022, there was an appreciation that the slope on their pitch would have to be addressed at some stage.
Nobody, though, anticipated that their stay in the senior leagues might be threatened by their quirky and renowned playing surface.
“I really don’t think we expected it,” said Arthur. “The pitch was something that people always commented when they visited New Dundas and something that we always dealt with. The playing surface itself was perfect and a lot of people would comment on it being like a bowling green if it didn’t have the slope.
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“We knew that we would need to fix the pitch at some point. That was something we always kind of intended doing. We’ve just had to get things moving a lot quicker with regards to getting the funds together. But we’re confident that we’ll be able to do that.”
Over £50,000 has been raised to date. However, more money is still needed and the clock is very much ticking.
The Rose have to provide the SPFL, who reprimanded them and warned them about their future conduct when they hit them with with the points deduction, with details of how they intend to finance and carry out the levelling works which are required by the end of this month.
“We are applying to other places we could use. But that is just in case the redevelopment overlaps. It is a contingency plan. Ultimately, we’re hoping to be able to stay at New Dundas, but we need to have something robust in place just in case we can’t.
“We’ve got the pitch works out to tender at the moment. We’ve actually just received the last quote. We’ll make a decision on which company we’re moving forward with from here. But we’re confident the work will be done to a high standard in order to meet the criteria
“We’ve been working quite closely with the SPFL, keeping them up to date with where we are with certain things and what is happening. We have to put in a report by January 31 as part of the sanction to show where we are with the pitch and how we are going to fund the work that is needed. We want them to know that we’re not taking this lightly.
“We have fought hard to get to where we are. We spent 120 years in the lower leagues before coming up. We are living the dream in the league we are in and we are determined to stay there.”
Anyone wishing to donate can do so by logging on to the Bonnyrigg Rose Pitch Fund website https://bonnyriggrosepitchfund.co.uk/ or by going to The Bonnyrigg Rose JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stephen-reid-4.
