1949 - A Fresh Start
Last month we looked at the story behind the demise of Mains Park as the club's home and the impact it had on the
dawning of a new era as the Rose set up in their new home after 10 long years in abeyance - with "nae dugs" a new
watchword. This month we focus a bit more on the months running up to the re-launch of Linlithgow Rose FC.
By late1948, Gowanstank Field, as it was still known at that point, was starting to take shape. Work was in hand to
enclose the pitch but more was required to secure a permit from the SJFA. The perennial issue of finance was again
to the fore with officials estimating that at least £1,700 would be needed to build and kit a team ahead of the start of
the season. As Christmas approached the Rose had around £300 available. By June however things looked much
better with almost £2,000 raised in 6 months.
The 1949 AGM established the protocol of only allowing members to vote on matters of significance along with the
appointment of office bearers - albeit with a year's deferral to allow for constitutional change. Membership was set at
£1 per year payable monthly or quarterly. The club received an inspection visit from the SFA who noted that the pitch
looked "marvellous" - how many times has that been said in the intervening 64 years? A delegate from Maryhill
remarked that they had nothing like it and that it did the Linlithgow men great credit.
At the AGM a motion was put forward to change the name from Gowanstank Field. "It stinks!" noted Mr Cobban. A
number of alternatives were suggested - Gowanbrae, Buchanan Park, Captains Park, Southfield, Rosefield, Preston
Park, Prestonfield and, incredibly, Newtown Park. From a shortlist of Captains Park, Buchanan Park and Prestonfield,
the latter was voted through.
And so the new season dawned. Rose were allocated an away tie against Forth Rangers from Grangemouth on
Saturday 30th July 1949. It seems bizarre in this day and age that a club emerging from 10 years abeyance should be
asked to play away from their new home and that the opening ceremony for the new pitch should take place at a
Wednesday evening league game. Administrators were maybe more matter of fact about these things back then. That
said, the town came out in good numbers for the visit of Broxburn as a crowd of between 2,000 and 3,000 watched
Tommy Walker open the new stadium before ceremonially kicking the match off.
With the new players still bedding in it was perhaps unsurprising that Linlithgow lost both of their opening fixtures.
That set a pattern for the season with the Rose struggling to get points on the board. By the end of March 1950 they
were anchored at the bottom of both the league and their league cup section. Big prizes were still a way off but the
main thing for everyone concerned with Linlithgow Rose was that the long walk back had begun. We're still walking
today and we owe a huge debt of gratitude t