Whitehill Welfare 1 Jeanfield Swifts 4
If there is ever a decision – and there really should be – to commission a statue of the traditional Scottish football man, then I have the model.
He birls into Ferguson Park with his club anorak, his bunnet and that air of urgency once the preserve of doctors – when this was a practice – of going on a home visit. The attitude is one of addressing a matter that is not likely to be fatal but is certainly significant. There is thus purpose in the stride of Andrew Renwick, 82 next month, as he reaches the Eddie Thomson Lounge.
Renwick has been making this journey for 47 years. He has the aspect of a retired tanner ba’ winger in his sprightliness, size and sharpness of movement and mind. ‘I was really inside left at amateur level but I think they no longer exist,’ he says.
He is a fitba’ man of the sideline. He is one of the characters who keep Scottish football – certainly at the broadest end of the pyramid – alive and kicking. But he needs help.
Whitehill Welfare stalwart Andrew Renwick, 82, has been with the club for 47 years
Welfare take on Jeanfield Swifts in the East of Scotland League Cup
‘My role is much reduced at the club now,’ he says. ‘I am the adviser on rules and procedure.’ He also makes the tea and conducts an informal history tour with your correspondent. Renwick skips from the committee room to the lounge to point out Oceanic and Olympic medals and point out how the club was built from bits of Lasswade Rugby Club, Spartans FC, the Munich Olympics and the Edinburgh Tattoo.
It is a heady brew and needs to be supped carefully and at leisure to savour its full taste. There is, however, a matter that must be attended to first.
Last month Whitehill Welfare issued an appeal for help. The committee stated its intention to step aside at the end of this season. Who would step in?
The release was received as if it was a klaxon call and Whitehill were headed for perdition. The truth is more sober. The club has a strong financial base and the committee seems ready to plough on, with the help of a new cadre of willing hands.
‘There have been a dozen people who have expressed interest in helping out so the statement has done its job,’ says Renwick. He has certainly done his. He arrived on the scene in 1979 when Whitehill moved from the juvenile leagues to the East of Scotland League.
It is the most successful club in East of Scotland League history, winning sixteen titles and lifting the Scottish Qualifying Cup on 11 occasions, leading to ties with Stirling Albion, Peterhead, Stenhousemuir, Queen of the South and Celtic in the competition proper.
Whitehill Welfare players emerge from the dressing room at Ferguson Park
‘We had the anniversary dinner just a couple weeks ago,’ says Renwick of that match with the Parkhead side 30 years ago. Welfare lost 3-0 at Easter Road as the tie was moved from Ferguson Park.
‘The most memorable match for me was the game against Fraserburgh,’ says Renwick. ‘We drew here and then went up to Fraserburgh knowing that the winners would play Celtic. That was nerve-wracking. But we did it.’
He places down his chair. ‘Every Saturday when we are at home,’ says Renwick, peering from his perch high behind a goal, and stating that this is his spot, no matter what.
‘The Celtic money and a very good sponsor got us that,’ he says, pointing over to the dressing-rooms. His hand waves towards a building nearby. ‘The Eddie Thomson Lounge was once the reception area at a caravan park. We heard it was being knocked down so we went up and salvaged it and rebuilt it here.’
Whitehill Welfare supporters take in the action at Ferguson Park
A pre-match trip to the lounge was almost absurdly wonderful. What odds would one get for an Olympic medal and a Oceania Football Association medal adorning the walls of a former caravan reception in the village of Rosewell, Midlothian?
They were donated by the family of Eddie Thomson who was born in the village, starred for Whitehill and went on to play for Hearts and Aberdeen. His managerial career at the Australian national team included two World Cup campaigns and two Olympic appearances in 1992 and 1996. The medal was earned at the Atlanta Olympics in the losing semi-finalist match. The Oceania medal was awarded when Thomson led the young Socceroos to triumph in the tournament in 1994.
There is barely time to glance at other medals before one is introduced to the seats in a stand nearby.
Jeanfield Swifts score their third goal in the 4-1 win over Whitehill Welfare
‘There is a story there,’ says Renwick. ‘It was once just a shelter and a ref asked one day if we ever thought of putting seats in. I said we would if we could get cheap seats. He said the Edinburgh Tattoo was refurbishing and we could get them. It turns out that the Tattoo got them from the Olympics in Munich in 1972.’
He is joined, high on the hill, by Thomas Ward, 70, who has been helping out at Ferguson Park for 50 years.
‘I bided up beside one of the committee men,’ he says. ‘As a lad, I was always getting rows for playing football in the street and my ball hitting cars. The committee man brought me down here. So that was that. When I grew up a bit, I helped out.
‘I have run the line, cut the grass, painted the posts and now attend to putting the nets up and flags out.’
He reminisces with Renwick over the days when the concrete bollards were put down to construct a fence decades ago. The floodlights are a more recent innovation. ‘We got the towers from Lasswade Rugby Club and the lights from Spartans,’ says Renwick.
It is approaching full time in a league cup match that Welfare, 11th in the first division, lose 4-1 to Swifts, second in the premier division.
The Whitehill gentlemen seem resilient. ‘Are you coming back next season?’ asks Ward. ‘Aye, I’ll be back,’ replies Renwick.
Reinforcements may be on the way. John Quinn, chairman of the club, believes the ‘’call to arms’’ may have been successful.
The seats at Ferguson Park came from the 1972 Munich Olympics via the Edinburgh tattoo
‘I have been here eight years and people outside don’t quite know the difficulties involved in running a club in the modern era,’ he says. His wife, Nicola, is secretary of the club and Quinn, a railway supervisor, admits the roles at Whitehill almost constitute second full-time jobs for them.
He is anxious not to be seen as moaning or seeking sympathy. ‘It has been our choice to do this but we feel fresh blood could help enhance the club,’ he says.
Whitehill, a founder member of the Lowland League, now sit in the second tier of the East of Scotland. ‘I don’t shy away from that,’ he says. ‘The Junior clubs in this area came into the Lowland and the East of Scotland leagues and with their financial power we were outgunned. But this will allow us to find our level. New people with new skillsets could help us with that.’
The statement also provoked a period of reflection for Quinn. ‘People were calling us to say how well we had done with the club. This is an operation with a sound financial basis. We are not rich but we are not in financial difficulty,’ he says. ‘We just need a wee hand.’
In a room at half-time, Darren Bald, a committee member, points to a team photograph. ‘That’s your granda,’ he tells his nine-year-old daughter Ella.
She is delighted. She is a fitba’ girl and has been introduced to the past. She may hopefully be part of the future in this nook of Rosewell.
