Category: Sport

Spartans: be the twelfth man!

spartansLocal club The Spartans play Berwick Rangers this Saturday (7 February) at Ainslie Park in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.  If we win we will make history as the first non-league team to play in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup for 55 years! 

This Cross-Border clash sees the Lowland League title holders take on their third SPFL opponents on the Road to Hampden. We have already beaten Clyde and Morton and in both games the bumper home support has made all the difference.

Can you be the twelfth man on 7 February?  We are making a big plea for everyone in the North Edinburgh community to come along and back their local team as we aim to make history! 

The TV cameras will be along, “Pulse of the Place” our local Samba band will provide the pre match entertainment and hundreds of local youngsters will be bringing a real family atmosphere.  It promises to be a magical afternoon.

Our Ainslie Park arena holds 3500 people, with 500 seats in our covered stand.  Kick-off is at 3pm so please come down early if you want a seat. 

Admission is £12 for adults, £8 for concessions and Under 12 s are free (pay at gate) – continuing our commitment to offer affordable football for all.  With a bumper crowd expected, we have entrances open on both Pilton Drive and Pilton Avenue.

You can keep up to date with the pre-match news, previews and interviews on our hat-trick of social media sources:

website: www.spartansfc.com,

twitter: @spartansfc and Facebook: Spartans FC

The Spartans Football Club

| Live together, Play together, Win together

Auld Reekie's Magnificent Seven target World Cup glory

Lianne 'Crazylegs' Parry in action
Lianne ‘Crazylegs’ Parry in action

Edinburgh’s very own roller derby team, the Auld Reekie Roller Girls, are sending some of their finest skaters to compete for Team Scotland in the sport’s World Cup in Texas next month. The Scotland squad will be captained by local lass Lianne ‘Crazylegs’ Parry.

Skaters from leagues all over Scotland tried out earlier in the year to compete on ‘Team Scotland’, but only the best 20 skaters have been chosen to travel to Dallas, Texas, in a few weeks’ time.

Team Scotland’s final line-up includes players from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, but Auld Reekie has contributed the lions’ share – an impressive seven capital players have made the squad.

Roller derby is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and has seen an explosion in popularity over recent years. It involves teams competing on an oval track in a series of “jams” – two-minute periods that see teams of five players racing to score points. During each jam, one player on each team is designated as the “jammer” who scores a point for every member of the opposing team she passes.

The tournament takes place in Dallas from 4 – 7 December, where teams from 29 countries will battle it out for the trophy. Scotland was one of only 13 teams to compete in the first ever roller derby World Cup held in 2011, so this year’s tournament shows just how much the sport’s popularity has increased.

Team Scotland is captained by the Auld Reekie Roller Girls’ own Lianne Parry, who has been skating for over five years. Lianne, who’s from Cramond, said: “I think we’re all just really proud to be representing Scotland. I really believe in this team, a lot of the skaters inspire me with their attitude; there is a lot of talent and oodles of passion – Scottish roller derby looks seriously good for the future.”

Go, Team Scotland!

Team Scotland are fundraising by selling specially designed merchandise, designed by the team’s own Admiral Attackbar. 

You can also help Team Scotland get to Dallas by donating via this link: http://gogetfunding.com/project/get-team-scotland-to-dallas