Bo'ness Athletic 6 Leith Athletic 1
It started, like so many Scottish romances, with a moment of clarity outside the Chippy.
“In 1996 I went to Leith -Links with my two boys to play football,” says Ger Freedman. 'There were many boys outside the chip shop. It came to me that they were standing there because they had nothing to do. '
That's how Leith Athletic was born. Or rather reborn. Freedman went back to his house and immediately decided to start a boy's team. He chose the name of Leith Athletic.
“I worked in a foundry and many of the old boys were always talking about Leith Athletic, so I took that name,” Freedman adds.
The original Leith Athletic died in 1955 after he was formed in 1887.
The new incarnation was starting almost immediately.
“It started in a cricket club,” says Freedman. 'I worked in Glasgow then and I was called when I was on my way to training. A friend told me: “They come from all corners”. There were 150 boys on the first night. Two weeks later there were 500. “
Success was almost immediately and achieved spectacular in Hampden. In 2001, Leith defeated Athletic Rangers 2-1 in the Scottish Cup Under-11. “We won it three years in a row,” says Freedman. 'Each of our players remained within a mile of a building in Leith. That has established us. '
Darren McGregor, later from Hibernian and Rangers, was one of the first heroes. But also, Freedman's son, Steven, who played in that first final, managed the athletic amateur team and will coach the first XI next season.
The amateur side won the Logan Cup on Saturday and defeated Corstorphine Dynamo. The first team found Broxburn much too powerful yesterday in the final of the King Cup.
Freedman Sr has not disturbed a weekend of success then failure, who is chairman of the club.
“It was never about winning cups, it was about keeping children off the street,” he says about the birth of athletics. “It's the same now. Leith was then a disadvantaged area, although not so much now. Children come to us from every street in Leith. Eight or nine players have emerged nowadays because of the levels at the club. '
These graduation reinforces the family ethos in the club, but there is another reason for its existence. “This path is the only way for us because we don't have the money to pay players a lot of money,” says the chairman. Indeed, players only receive costs.
The club plays home games in Meadowbank. It is based on sponsors and functions to continue.
“It's hard to keep everything going,” says Freedman, 67. “I was going to retire out of football at the end of this year. But it's a work of love. It is not fair for the children in Leith if we stop now. '
There is also personal interest. Three of his grandsons play at a minor level for the club. A fourth, just two years old, wore a Leith strip on the sidelines when Steven Freedman led athletics to victory in the Logan Cup on Saturday. “This is a family,” says Freedman for the kick -off when supporters gathered in a bowling club. This explanation was full of full support.
There is a story on the King Cup. There are actually more than a few. But yesterday they sat on a couch in New Murrayfield in Blackburn, West Lothian. The neutral location for the King Cup final had a family bond on the illustrious history of the trophy.
Luke Ashworth-Ritch, a replacement for Leith, is the large, great-grandson of Daniel Brown, who was part of the athletic side that the King Cup won in 1924. Luke's father, Steven, was able to produce a photo of that appreciated line-up while nervously waiting for the 2025 final.
His hope was quickly deposited when Bo'ness hurried to a 3-0 lead and Leith never gave the chance to recover. The cup was therefore presented to those who wore blue and white instead of black and white. The trophy glistened in the sun and trembled in the rain, both alternately during the afternoon.
A look at the venerable trophy – it was first disputed in 1887 – revealed that it had been won by Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath. It is now a competition for East of Scotland League parties and both Leith and Bo'ess play in the first division, although this last season is on its way to the Premiership.
The King Cup has nothing to do with royalties. It was made by Percival King, who owned a sports store in Edinburgh. King, born in Surrey in 1835, came to Edinburgh, whispered, as a professional cricket player at Merchiston Castle School in 1862. A subsequent sports store company flourished and the King Cup was born. It must be one of the longest sponsorship in sports history.
It is great to delve into his early history. The first season gives a taste of its attraction. The competition comments from 1887-88 provides the following information: Vale from Midlothian Exporting in the first round because they were unable to establish a team, Uphall Bluebell simply does not appear for a draw in Oakbank, and Bellstane Birds stated that it was too cold to play against Grange.
Leith Thistle v Leith Harp in the second round was problematic. The first game ended 0-0, but Harp protested that the goals were too high and there was metal on the field. The repetition was stopped with harp that won 5-1. The ball was bursting. Another could not be found, but the result was. Mossend Swifts were the first winners.
The winners of Leith Cup were in Blackburn yesterday. Steven Freedman was there to support the first team after his amateurs won the day before. It was the last hurray for the amateur side that were formed in 2019, but whose early days were impeded by Covid restrictions before they got up through the competitions.
“That's it for the amateur side,” says Steven. “I move to the first team and there is no one willing to take the work.”
Freedman JR has been a constant with Leith Athletic since that walk along the Chippy in 1996 with his father and brother, Kevin, who also played with the club.
“I've never been to another club,” says Steven. “I drove away when I was 19 to look at Hibs, but came back and formed the amateur club.”
His partner in this company was Stuart Martin, who could join him in the new company. “He says he wants to play golf, but we'll see,” says Steven.
The last victory of Logan Cup not only offered a farewell celebration, but also a sense of redemption. “We had to win to take the most important title last week,” he says. “We were 3-0 during the break but pulled 3-3.”
The pain can still be heard in his voice, but he helps when he is asked to remember a famous day in Hampden.
“I don't remember too much,” he admits from the 2001 match against Rangers. “I was 12 and I really never appreciated how big it was. However, I have a video. And I set the first goal, although I misunderstand it. '
He looks at the King Cup final with the determined interest of someone who will soon manage the team. “We'll be back on June 19, so it's coming soon,” he says.
The work will be financially difficult and untaxed. 'Days like yesterday – lifting a cup – make it worthwhile. We had two buses in Broxburn for the final, “he says.
Days like a Sunday in Blackburn have a different purpose. Their existence underlines the Leith Athletic motto. It says: Persevere. The Freedmans – and the rest of the athletic family – will do exactly that.