Penicuik

The beginning

Penicuik turned Junior in 1951 with the supporters club buying Eastfield Park from the National Coal Board and building a new pavilion. The new ground was opened with a match against a strong Hibernian side which the Athletic lost 5–0.

The chairmen at the time, David Masson and Jimmy Ketchen, were two prominent figures in the club. Their manager was Dick Walker and coach Harry Verth.

Penicuik won their first silverware in 1949–50 season (before turning Junior), lifting the Border Cup.

In 1966, the Athletic reached the semi-final of the Scottish Junior Cup, only to lose by the narrowest of margins to local rivals Bonnyrigg Rose.

Scottish Junior Cup Final Run 1969–70

Penicuik Athletic's biggest achievement is reaching the Scottish Junior Cup Final in 1970 at Hampden Park. Penicuik's opponents on 16 May 1970 was Blantyre Victoria, who they drew with 1–1, only to be defeated in the replay the following Tuesday night 1–0. The crowd at the final was in excess of 30,000, with the replay attendance published at 14,225.

Abeyance

The 1970s saw probably the most successful period in the club's history when a social club was built at the ground. Many local trophies were won and the team was considered as one of the leading teams in the East of Scotland.

The club's fortunes fell into decline both on and off the park in the 1980s and the social club was forced to close in 1986 with mounting debts. The park had been used as security for various loans and the creditors put the park up for sale to clear the debts. The team continued to play despite the off-field problems and were showing signs of revival when a near fatal blow was delivered as the ground was sold on to be developed into a supermarket which stands on Eastfield Park today.

Throughout the 1990s several initiatives were embarked on to secure a new pitch but for a variety of reasons were unsuccessful. The last and ultimately successful project to establish a pitch which met the criteria laid down by the Scottish Junior Football Association grew out of an initiative by three local Midlothian Councillors―Russell Imrie, David Fletcher and Adam Montgomery―to improve recreational facilities in Penicuik.

Return to playing and the Willie McGinley years

Penicuik reformed in 2002, playing at their new home Penicuik Park in the centre of the town.

Penicuik decided to set up a competition to design a club crest which would be on the football strip and letterheads. In order to involve the local community, four local primary schools were invited to submit designs to the club. The schools involved were Sacred Heart, Cornbank, Mauricewood and Cuikin Primary schools. There were over 100 entries to the competition and the winning design was submitted by Scott Anderson.

Penicuik Athletic were accepted back into the re-organised East Region (with the introduction of the Super League) and took their place in the second division in season 2002–03. The long-awaited first game was played at Armadale in the first round of the League Cup on 6 August 2002, resulting in a 5–1 defeat. Over 500 spectators turned up at the new pitch in Penicuik Park on Saturday 8 August to witness a no scoring draw in a league match against Harthill Royal. Re-entry into the Scottish Junior Cup saw a win against Blackburn before defeat in the next round against an experienced Renfrew Juniors. Penicuik just missed out by a point on promotion to the first division after a 1–0 defeat in their final league match against West Calder which was controversially switched to be played on a Thursday night.

The following season saw promotion again narrowly missed with another third-placed finish. However, the club won its first trophy, the Supplementary Cup when a late Brian Hancock goal secured victory over Whitburn in the final played at Blackburn United's Murrayfield Park. The manager that night was Willie McGinley and of the team below only Billy Bald remains at the club. Paul Lindsay and Brian Hancock scored in the 2–1 win.

Further success was to follow for McGinley's side as they won the Lothians League Division Two title in 2004–05 with 41 points from 18 games played. As a result, Penicuik Athletic were awarded Midlothian Council's Senior Team Award in their annual Greatest Achievement in Sport awards. The following season they finished second in Division One and gained a place in the new East Premier League. Penicuik were also beaten finalists in the pre-season League Cup going down by the odd goal to Musselburgh Athletic.

The Athletic found the going tough in the new Premier League and narrowly escaped one of the three relegation slots back to the District League. They narrowly avoided relegation with a last match win over Scottish Junior Cup finalists Kelty Hearts at Penicuik Park, in front of a 500+ crowd. Penicuik lost in the final of the Brown Cup to Bonnyrigg Rose after defeating Scottish Junior Cup finalists Linlithgow Rose in an earlier round.

Penicuik improved their position in the Premier League by finishing in sixth place in the 12 team league during Season 2007–08. Irvine Meadow came to Penicuik in the first round of the Scottish Junior Cup and won by four goals to three while the club did not progress beyond the third round stage in any of the local cup competitions. At the end of the season, Willie McGinlay who had been team manager since the team started playing again in 2002, stood down for business and personal reasons.

Stuart 'Snowy' McKean takes charge

Manager McGinley stood down after six-years in charge in May 2008 and was replaced by his assistant Stuart 'Snowy' McKean, who had a distinguished junior playing career with Armadale Thistle and Bonnyrigg Rose. Season 2008–09 saw a further improvement in the league position with Penicuik finishing in fourth place. Penicuik's best performance in the local cup competitions was reaching the semi-final of the St. Michael's Cup only to lose out at home to Linlithgow Rose in a penalty shoot out. However the following season, Penicuik started poorly. Failure to qualify from the sectional league cup was followed by a first round knock out in the Scottish Junior cup. A run of only one win in seven league matches before an enforced break for bad weather saw Penicuik drop into second bottom spot in the Premier League. McKean resigned in December 2009 and was replaced by the duo of the then club captain Craig Meikle, and former player Brian Ryrie.