The Scottish football club back on the radar: 90-year wait, SPFL goal and closer ties desire

It’s not just football that’s changed. Society has changed. Industry has changed. Mines have closed. The shop windows displaying scarves, hats and good luck messages as Tranent attempt to repeat their 1935 success against Johnstone Burgh this afternoon are as likely to be vape stores and tanning salons as butchers and bakeries.

Few, if anyone, in the town will have memories of Archie Roberts, the popular captain, being carried shoulder high down the high street on the triumphant return from Glasgow. As people gathered at Foresters Park to welcome the heroes, the East Lothian Courier noted that "an aeroplane pilot entered into the spirit of the occasion by swooping low over the crowd".

Tranent are firmly back on the radar. As player, manager and now chairman, Brian Johnston, who turns 65 on his next birthday, has seen, if not quite everything, then certainly more than most. He’s also laid a significant amount bare, having taken the brave decision to open up about his gambling addiction earlier this year in a short film broadcast on the BBC show A View from the Terrace. Veteran Tranent player Dean Brett, who was sacked by Cowdenbeath in 2017 for betting against his own team, did likewise.

Johnston reasons that if it has convinced just one person who watched it to seek help, then it’s been worth the discomfort of bearing all in front of the cameras. Remarkably, Johnston, who works for a firm selling office supplies in Edinburgh, estimates he lost as much as £1 million during what he calls his “40-year career in gambling”, which ended 11 years ago.

Even in his spell as Tranent manager, there were times, he recalls, when he would remove himself from the dugout during the game 'to get a better view’ in the stand and sit and place bets on his phone. When he finally sought help and attended meetings, he found that half of those there with him he already knew from football. “There were some right high-profile guys, people that had played in the English Premiership,” he says.

Town embraces Tranent

Just off the plane after a short pre-cup final break in Tenerife, the engaging Johnston is in a happier place now as he contemplates a final showdown against Johnstone Burgh, for whom former Rangers and Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty leads the line. Tranent will be cheered on by about 1400 fans at Broadwood (around 2000 followed them to Ibrox in 1935, when the crowd was swollen by interested neutrals).

“The town has embraced the situation,” says Johnston. “The shops have been given scarves to put in the window, and they’ve all done it. It’s looking good. For mining towns like Tranent, football was everything. I mean, I signed for the club back in 1978 and I remember the crowds were between 1500-2000 every home game. It was a like a day out for the miners, the working people from all round about. It was not just Tranent, it was Macmerry, Ormiston… They were so well supported.”

Johnston’s debut for Tranent came in the Scottish against Johnstone Burgh, today’s opponents. He came off the bench and scored the winner. He played for five seasons and returned as manager in 2009 for three seasons before stepping back, only to watch things unravel to an alarming extent.

“About 11 years ago, it was near extinction to be honest,” he says. “The ground was dilapidated, they had no players, they had no money, they were in debt. Local business guys Matthew Wright and Davie Innes decided to get involved and they transformed the place, with the help of a few other guys, Colin Dryburgh to name one.”

Tranent won the South Division in 2016 before joining the East of Scotland league in 2018 and leaving their Juniors background behind (they were invited into this season’s Junior Cup). Another step up came in 2022 when they won a play-off against Darvel, who, Johnston says, “were flying at the time”, to reach the Lowland League – tier five of Scottish football. They have also dispensed with the Juniors part of their name and joined forces with the local youth teams’ set-up.

“Tranent Colts and Tranent Juniors were a completely separate entities,” explains Johnston. “When I came on board I thought, ‘This is mad – we should be part of the same infrastructure’. We dropped the Juniors name and they dropped the Colts name and we became Tranent Football Club.”

Tranent’s big aim

The maroon colour of Tranent Juniors was retained, which means all teams, from youths to over-35s, play in maroon – although not in today’s cup final, when Tranent have been assigned away team status and will play in blue (one of the old colours of Tranent Colts).

“Our aims and ambitions are to take the club to the Scottish Professional Football League,” says Johnston.

As well as an inspiration, nearby Bonnyrigg Rose are also a cautionary tale – they have shown it’s possible to come back down again too. This hasn’t put Johnston off, although in order to get the SFA bronze license status required for the SPFL small improvements, such as widening the pitch by just over a metre, are required. “We can have a pathway for all budding football players in and around Tranent who want to potentially play in the Scottish league to play for their local club,” he says. “I’d say that’s the long-term ambition.”

It's possible that we might see Hibs v Tranent on the fixture card in the future, which would be interesting seeing as the former’s training base is just over two miles away from Tranent’s trim HQ. The Easter Road club moved in 18 years ago. What’s it been like having the big boys in the locale?

“That is a bit of a sore subject to be honest,” admits Johnston. “There is no link there at all. Even reaching out for a friendly has become impossible. They’ve always got other stuff on. I think they could be a lot closer to us than what they currently are. But that’s up to Hibs and the way they want to run their model.

“I am a Hibs fan and it disappoints me that they do not offer a wee bit more support. Even a pre-season friendly v Hibs would generate a big crowd at Foresters. Any big crowd generates decent income. That’s the kind of thing we need to get the finance to secure the bronze license.

Desire for stronger ties

“I wish our ties with them are stronger than they currently are. Every season I reach out (for a friendly) - we had one organised last season and at the last minute they cancelled. I just think they could be a wee bit more accommodating to the local community club, I really do.”

Perhaps there’s some concern these upstarts from up the road are intending to get above their station (though of course, Tranent were there first). It will certainly be a case of noisy neighbours if the cup comes back to the town after such a long wait. Hibs will surely be among the well-wishers since they have a good idea how that feels.