Broxburn Athletic F.C.

For Broxburn Athletic before 1917, see Broxburn United F.C.

Broxburn Athletic

Full name	Broxburn Athletic Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Brox, The Burn, The Badgers
Founded	1947
Ground	Albyn Park Greendykes Road Broxburn
Capacity	2,050
President	Jimmy Porteous
Manager	Steve Pittman
League	Lowland League
2023–24	East of Scotland League Premier Division, 1st of 16 (promoted)
Website	https://www.broxburnathletic.co.uk
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Broxburn Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Broxburn in West Lothian. They play their home games at Albyn Park. The team currently competes in the Lowland League, the fifth tier of Scottish football, having moved from the junior leagues in 2018. ^[1]

History

Broxburn reached the Scottish Junior Cup semi-final on five occasions, the last time being in 1971 when they lost by a single goal to eventual cup winners Cambuslang Rangers. ^{[ citation needed ]}

The club won the East Region South Division in 2009–10 and then gained promotion to the East Superleague two years later. They spent six seasons in the Superleague, with a best finish of 5th in their final season.

After moving to the senior football pyramid for the 2018–19 season, Broxburn won the East of Scotland League Conference C. However they narrowly missed out on the title and promotion to the Lowland league in the round robin playoff against the winners of the other Conferences, Penicuik Athletic and Bonnyrigg Rose. Broxburn were champions in the 2023–24 season, finishing in front of title race rivals Musselburgh Athletic and once again earned a spot in the promotion playoffs where they faced South of Scotland Football League champions Dalbeattie Star F.C.. The first leg was played at Dalbeattie's Islecroft stadium, and the 2nd leg at Broxburn's Albyn park. Broxburn were victorious, securing a 12-2 aggregate victory and promotion to the Lowland Football League for the 2024-25 season.

The club became a full SFA member in 2019 which allowed them to enter the 2019–20 Scottish Cup. They reached the fourth round having won five matches (including victories over higher ranked East Stirlingshire, Cowdenbeath, and Inverurie Loco Works), before going out to Premiership side St. Mirren in Paisley. Broxburn were supported by 1,600 fans who made the trip along the M8, selling out the North Stand at St Mirren Park. ^[2] In the 2023–24 Scottish Cup Broxburn reached the third round after victories over Lochee United, Nairn County and Deveronvale before going out on penalties to Buckie Thistle at Albyn Park. The reported attendance of this match was 1175. ^[3]

Albyn Park

In 1946, Mr. G. W. Bartaby-Pearson, with the help of local businessmen, started the process of reforming Broxburn and secured Albyn Park from the Earl of Buchan. After help from supporters who made the ground improvements, the stadium opened in 1948 with a Heart of Midlothian v Rangers meeting which attracted a crowd of around 3,500.

Albyn Park was completely redeveloped in 2009–10 as part of the Broxburn United Sports Club project into a new community facility with a 3G artificial pitch (replaced 2020). ^[4]

It sits on the original Albion Park used by Broxburn F.C. in 1889. Athletic took over the lease in 1894 until both clubs amalgamated in 1912 and played at the sports park (now the Broxburn Sports Centre). Athletic then moved back in 1921 until going defunct in 1924. West Lothian Council now owns the land and Broxburn has a lease until 2036.

The facility is also used by Broxburn Athletic Colts and other clubs. New changing rooms, a social club and floodlights were also constructed. The ground includes a large enclosure on the same side as the changing rooms. The remainder of the ground consists of grass bankings and covered terracing.

Senior squad

As of 28 November 2024 ^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   SCO Jordan Pettigrew — GK   SCO Robert Watt — DF   SCO Greg Page — DF   SCO Marcus Millar(out on loan to Blackburn United) — DF   SCO Marky Munro — DF   SCO Jack Sayers — DF   SCO Joseph Smith(on loan from Queens Park) — DF   ENG Jonathan Page — DF   SCO Luke Morris — DF   SCO Ruari Ellis(on loan from Kilmarnock) — MF   SCO Andy Rodden — MF   SCO James Russell — MF   SCO Owen Wardell(on loan from Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   SWE Alassan Jones — MF   SCO Bryan Mwangi(on loan from Dundee United) — MF   SCO Connor Thomson — MF   SCO Fionn McLeod Kay — MF   SCO Kyle Bell — MF   SCO Lewis Turner — MF   SCO Nick Locke(captain) — FW   SCO Scott McCrory-Irving — FW   SCO Gary Brass — FW   SCO Goodwin Kangni-Soukpe(on loan from Stirling Albion) — FW   SCO Errol Douglas — FW   SCO Darren Downie

Club staff

Committee

Role	Name
President	Jimmy Porteous
Vice President	John Hughes
Secretary	Jim Provan
Treasurer	Alan Cunningham
Club Photographer	Andrew MacPherson
Chaplain	Andrew MacPherson

Coaching staff

Role	Name
Manager	Steve Pittman
Assistant Manager	Derek McWilliams
Coach	Billy McPhee
Coach	Steve McIlhone
Goalkeeper Coach	Ian McLaren
Physio	Mark Fountain
Physio	John Porteous

Source

Managerial history

Name	Nationality	Years
John McGuigan		1949-?
Willie Peden		1954-1956
Jim McKinnon		?-1971
Peter Fortunate		1973-?
Bill Bruce		?-1975
Bill Baxter		1975-?
Peter Duncan		?-1989
Derek O'Connor		?-1989 [6]
Bill Henderson		1989-1990 [7] [8]
Willie Verth		1991-1992
Jackie Smyth		1992-?
Willie Turley		1997-1998
Jamie Dolan		2004-2008
Steve Pittman		2009-2015
Max Christie		2014-2017
Brian McNaughton		2017-2020
Chris Townsley		2020-2023 [9]
Scott McNaughtonc		2023
Steve Pittman		2023- [10]

^c Caretaker manager

Season-by-season record

Senior

Season	Division	Tier	Pos.	Pld.	W	D	L	GD	Pts	Scottish Cup
Broxburn Athletic
2018–19	East of Scotland League Conference C	6	1st	24	22	0	2	+62	66	Did Not Participate
2019–20	East of Scotland Premier Division	6	3rd†	19	11	5	3	+11	38	Fourth round, losing to St Mirren
2020–21	East of Scotland Premier Division	6	null††	11	5	1	5	+1	16	First round, lost to Nairn County
2021–22	East of Scotland Premier Division	6	6th	34	15	4	15	+5	49	Preliminary round, lost to Dunbar United
2022–23	East of Scotland Premier Division	6	9th	30	11	10	9	+9	43	First round, lost to Dunipace
2023–24	East of Scotland Premier Division	6	1st	30	23	5	2	+46	74	Third round, lost to Buckie Thistle

† Season curtailed due to COVID-19 pandemic - Broxburn Athletic finished third, based on the 'points per game' measure.

†† Season declared null and void due to COVID-19 pandemic

Honours

• East of Scotland League Conference C: 2018–19
• East of Scotland League Premier Division: 2023–24

Junior

• East Region League: 1972–73, 1973–74 ^[11]
• East Region South Division: 2009–10
• East Region Lothian District Division Two: 2003–04, 2005–06
• East Region Division B: 1978–79
• East of Scotland Junior Cup: 1950–51, 1987–88
• East Region League Cup: 1952–53, 1954–55, 1972–73
• Coronation Cup: 1952–53
• Murray Cup: 1959–60
• Brown Cup: 1970–71
• National Whitbread Trophy: 1973–74
• Thistle Cup: 1970–71
• R.L. Rae Cup: 1972–73

Record attendances

Historic

• 31,085 - 1950-51 Scottish Junior Cup Semi Final vs Irvine Meadow, Hampden Park, Glasgow
• 11,400 - 1951-52 Scottish Junior Cup vs Kilsyth Rangers, Albyn Park, Broxburn

Recent

• 1,172 - 2023-24 Scottish Cup 3rd Round vs Buckie Thistle, Albyn Park, Broxburn
• 4,372 - 2019-20 Scottish Cup 4th Round vs St. Mirren, Simple Digital Arena, Paisley

References

1. McLauchlin, Brian (7 June 2018). "East of Scotland League vote signals exodus of 25 junior clubs". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
2. Hardie, David. "St Mirren 3-0 Broxburn Athletic: Tough luck as battling Broxburn see their Scottish Cup run come to an end" . Retrieved 1 June 2020.
3. "BROXBURN ATHLETIC V BUCKIE THISTLE – Broxburn Athletic Football Club".
4. Broxburn United Sports Club opens its new community facility Archived 26 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine August 2010
5. "Squad | Broxburn Athletic - Official Website". www.broxburnathletic.co.uk/. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
6. "COURIER Friday December 15 1989 Courier Sport: Touchline Topics Golf Snooker Pool Shinty Whitburn floored by ." 15 December 1989. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
7. "COURIER Friday December 15 1989 Courier Sport: Touchline Topics Golf Snooker Pool Shinty Whitburn floored by ." 15 December 1989. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
8. "48 COURIER Friday November 16 1990 ASAP TEMPS! TEMPS! Urgently required for various assignments throughout West ." 16 November 1990. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
9. "Blackburn United boss praises 'brilliant' display in derby win over Broxburn Athletic" . Retrieved 9 January 2023.
10. "NEW MANAGEMENT TEAM IN PLACE". Broxburn Athletic FC. 22 January 2023.
11. Honours, Broxburn Athletic FC

55°56′18″N3°28′06″W / 55.93826°N 3.46825°W / 55.93826; -3.46825

External links

• Official Club Website
• Facebook
• Twitter