Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, 5 miles east of Edinburgh city centre.The name derives from Old English with mussel referring to shelfish. (population 21,000)
Musselburgh was first settled by the Romans following their invasion of Scotland in AD 80. They built a fort a little inland at Inveresk from the mouth of the River Esk and bridged the river, establishing the route of the main eastern approach to Edinburgh for most of the next 2,000 years.
Musselburgh is known as "The Honest Toun" - celebrated by the annual election of the Honest Lad and Lass. The town motto "Honestas" dates back to 1332, when the Regent of Scotland, Randolph, Earl of Moray, died in the burgh after a long illness, during which he was affectionately cared for by the townsfolk. The new regent, the Earl of Mar, offered to reward the people for their loyalty but they declined, saying they were only doing their duty, which impressed him and saying they were a set of honest men.
Musselburgh Athletic formed in 1934, but had previously played under different names including Musselburgh Bruntonians, Musselburgh Juniors and Musselburgh Fern since 1898. Musselburgh Bruntonians won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1923, beating Arniston Rangers 2-0 in the final. Athletic reached the final in 2011 and 2015(I was at that one!) both times narrowly losing 2–1 to Auchinleck Talbot.
East Region League Division 1 Championship: 1970–71
East Region League Division 2 Championship: 2000–01
East Region Premier League Champions: 2008–09, 2017–18
The club now play in the East of Scotland League Premier Division, having moved from the East Region Juniors in 2018. The Burgh won the South & East of Scotland Cup-Winners Shield in 2019 and took part in the Scottish Cup for the first time in 2020–21.
Olivebank Stadium
Market St,
Musselburgh
EH21 6QA
Capacity 900 (cover 150)
Current EoS Premier Division grounds visited 10/16
Total Scottish grounds visited 117
From the corner entrance to the ground, there's a covered enclosure with tables and chairs inside, refreshment bar and the changing rooms, all behind the goal. At the sides there's terrace steps with grass banking, with a covered stand sitting half way opposite the dugouts. At the top corner there's a blue wall with the club name in large white letters where the young Mussy Ultras gather to beat the drum and give their support.
Musselburgh Athletic 7(Evans 22 Ried 29 Smith 34,38,43pen,66 Weekes 51)
Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 0
East of Scotland League - Premier Division matchday 30
3rd v 11th
Att.170.est
Spondoolicks:
Admission £8
Scotch pie £2.25
Coffee £1
The Burgh went nap in the first half. Nathan Evans was on hand to net the rebound after the initial shot hit the post, then a lovely cross was met by an equally lovely header by Liam Reid.
It was the Jordan Smith show before the interval. He fired in a right foot shot into the corner of the net, before great work by Zach Khan set him up for his second. There was still time before the break for him to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
The hosts took their foot off the gas in the second half with Ben Weekes cutting inside and firing home number six in the 51st minute, followed by some great skill from Smith for his fourth and a seventh goal for Mussy.
Lloyd Fiddler should have made it 8-0 but was denied by a fantastic penalty save, but overall a fantastic way to finish the season.
#Heedhopper
119 miles door-to-door
LNER 1o41 train Newcastle - Edinburgh which arrived just before 1pm - delayed by 50 minutes. Returned on 1756 Lumo (Luckily, both trains not involved in the train strike)
26 bus from Princes Street to Musselburgh.
Following on from Broxburn last week it was East of Scotland League action for a second week running. After the long train delay I eventually met up with James Little for a swift pint in The Guildford before catching the bus to Musselburgh. We had time for a drink in The Ship, (where I caught the end of the Toon match) before a short walk to the ground.
The bus journey back to Edinburgh took longer than expected so there was only enough time for a couple of swift pints in the Jingling Geordie before the train back to Newcastle and back in the house by quarter to eight.
