Vale of Leithen
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Vale of Leithen
Association FOOTBALL CLUB
Vale of Leithen FC was first established in 1891, making them one of the oldest clubs in Scottish football.
Since being formed the club has gone on to put together a history of which they have every right to be
proud and were able to celebrate their 125th anniversary with a match against Celtic.
In particular they have enjoyed plenty
of success in the East of Scotland League
which they have won on four occasions
and also developed a close affinity with
the King Cup, having won it seven times.
The current group of players will be keen
to add to these successes over the coming
years.
The team has put together a solid
campaign so far this time around, having
put together a record of eleven wins, four
draws and fourteen defeats from their
twenty nine matches. This has left them
sitting in a safe mid-table position with
thirty seven points on the board.
This should provide them with a good
platform from which to build as they look
to the future and their 2017-18 campaign.
As long as they are able to retain their
current group of players and can perhaps
make one or two quality additions they
should be in with a good chance of
pushing on.
48 Issue 71
There is plenty of reason for optimism
around the club as we found out when
we caught up with their upcoming young
manager Chris Anderson. He told us, “The
general mood here is one of excitement
with a stable board in place who have
secured the club’s financial state.
“The season has gone well with
an improved league position and a
wonderful brand of football on show. The
plans for next year in the Lowland League
are to challenge at the top end of the table
for promotion to the football league. We
have a really exciting blend of youth in the
team with standout players Sean Stewart
and Blair Atkinson showing real promise
this year.
“It is important that the club engage
with the local community and we are all
eager to have fun days and kids football
training as a regular theme within the
football club. Our facility has seen some
upgrades over the last year to meet SFA
licence regulations but is still in need
of some improvements that require
investment.
“The challenges we face are raising
funds every year to meet the cost of the
Lowland League and holding on to our
promising young players. New sponsors
are always the challenge as it puts a lot
on local businesses to help us out. Our
ambitions will be to challenge in the
Lowland League and dare to dream of
SFL football in Innerleithen.”
There is clearly much to admire
about the fine set up that Vale of Leithen
currently has in place and they appear to
have everything in place to enable them
to progress over the coming years. It will
certainly be exciting to see how they are
able to develop and everyone at Football
Focus Magazine wishes them the best of
luck.