Tranent Juniors FC - Foresters Park

Tranent Juniors FC

Foresters Park

Lindores Dr

Tranent 

EH33 1JB

07724 727813

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Ground Number: 1157
Saturday 18th March 2023
Tranent Juniors 1-1 Bo'ness United
Lowland League







TRANENT JUNIORS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1911 and has spent the vast majority of its history in the Junior Leagues. Honours include the Midlothian League in 1915, 1931 and 1937. They also won the old East Of Scotland League in 1929 as well as the East Region South Division in 2016. Two years, in 2018, there was a big shake-up with a pyramid of sorts put in place in Scotland. Tranent Juniors were placed in the East Of Scotland League Premier Division, which sits at level 6 of the Scottish system. In 2022, Tranent Juniors were champions and having gained the appropriate licence and progressed through playoffs, they were admitted to the Lowland League.

The club's greatest honour was winning the Scottish Junior Cup in 1935, defeating Petershill 6–1 at Ibrox Park in front of a crowd of 22,000. This remains the joint record margin of victory in a Junior Cup final. The club were also runners-up to Yoker Athletic in 1933 after a replay. Local cup wins include the East Of Scotland Cup on ten occasions as well as a host of other cups. The town of Tranent is located around nine miles from the centre of Edinburgh and has a population of around 12,000. Well-known residents include footballers Ian Black and  Ian McParland.

MY VISIT

The Scottish Hop was my first Groundhop UK event of the season and it was fair to say that I'd not had much luck with the scheduling this term. The first of the season was the United Counties Hop, but having almost completed that league, I'd done everything on offer. Next up was the South Wales Alliance Hop, but typically, the EFL scheduled a Wycombe home game for the weekend. I'd have been more than happy to do the Sunday, but despite requesting the time off six months in advance, I still had to work due to others having already booked it. It was especially galling on the very worst day of the week, stuck at work and seeing people check in to some grounds with beautiful scenery. Next up should have been the West Wales Hop, luckily this was on a Wycombe away game but it was cancelled at short notice due to coach and hotel availability. After the winter break, it was the North West Counties Hop. I only needed two of the seven grounds. I did Ellesmere on Friday night but was unable to do Eccleshall on Saturday evening as once again Wycombe were at home. A Wycombe home game was also scheduled for the Scottish Hop but I took the hit on my season ticket. The Hellenic Hop was next up and there were two I needed on Monday, including Hartpury University to complete a league. But once again, the EFL had done me dirty by putting a Wycombe home game. They shat upon me for a fourth time, with another home game on the Central Midlands Hop. All this has reduced the chances of me committing to Wycombe for next season, with the EFL's rubbish and uneven pattern of home games.

From our previous game at Haddington, it was a fairly short journey to Tranent. However, we wasted about five minutes as the coach stood still for a seemingly unspecified reason. The coach driver had done brilliantly getting down some extremely tight roads and I think in the absence of any info, that was it. We were there at 4.30 and swiftly ushered in by Laurence. There was no bar again and the tea bar queue was huge. However, service was swift and the steak and haggis pie was nice, if only lukewarm. We had the disappointment of Wycombe losing at home to Barnsley. A hugely tough game but I was glad I'd opted to miss it.

 

Tranent Juniors were having a great first season in the Lowland League, sitting 4th whilst Bo'ness were in 10th.The hosts had won six of their last eight, their only two defeats coming against the B teams of Celtic and Rangers. Bo'bess had won 3-2 at Gala Fairydean Rovers and 3-0 against Gretna in their last two games. They'd drawn 0-0 against Civil Service Strollers in recent times but had lost 3-0 against East Kilbride and Celtic B and 1-0 against The Spartans. Bo'ness hit the bar on 40 minutes from a great free kick but despite a competitive game, the keepers weren't tested too often. It was a great strike that opened the scoring on 50 minutes by Lennon Walker. They also had a goal disallowed for offside shortly after. They also hit the outside of the right post as they asserted their dominance. Tranent got back into the game and had a series of chances. The hosts bundled home a goal late on, a bit of a scuffle after but this was to be the first game of the hop that wasn't an away win or had avoided a sending-off. In fact, Tranent went for the jugular, hitting the bar and throwing their keeper up in the last minute.

THE GROUND

FORESTERS PARK is one of the more basic grounds in the Lowland League but is still pretty decent. The ground is three-sided and the only cover is along one side, a combination of seating and standing. The tea bar has a good range of pies but there is no bar. There is also a good range of merchandise