Duddingston Park, Edinburgh Cup, 2/8/25
Something a bit different. Still with the Wee Man, but for a Saturday change, it was watching him in action in a kids fitba tournament in the capital. I was away with work last year so missed the team going unbeaten across five games. Could the young ones repeat the feat this year? I was bloody hoping so after an ungodly 04.30 alarm.
The bus down seemed to go by in no time, this aided by fitba chat with Wee Man’s coach and ex-keeper Ross. The regaling of tales from both our playing days was good craic, although with Ross being an ex- Scottish league and Highland League player my stories are nae quite as good or interesting. On arrival we seemed to be the second bus to turn up with the other in the Holyrood RC High School car park being a Millbank bus which meant another local to us side being in attendance (Millbank being a Peterhead/Ellon company). By the time we were registered there were Kings Coaches and a Watermill berthed meaning more North East kids on the march. This got me thinking about how ‘international’ the Edinburgh International Cup was going to be. My only ever experience of a kids tournament was back when I was 14. But it was a lot different than this as it was over a few days, it was abroad (Appeldoorn in the Netherlands), it had teams from every corner of the world, involved sneaky beers and a lot of them and a Swedish girls side from Stockholm next door in the accomodation. I knew our trip to Edinburgh would not be comparable.
Once in and settled, the views Duddingston Park threw up became apparent. Basically Arthurs Seat towers above the place and can be seen from everywhere giving a bonnie back drop for the tournament.
Also when taking in the surrounds, having a gander at the kids and coaches milling around quickly showed the varying levels of sides involved. By that I mean League teams such as East Fife, Arbroath, Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion, Dunfermline Athletic and Spartans among others could be seen. Then you had what I would call the ‘Junior’ representation, Ardeer Thistle, Dunipace, Renfrew, Edinburgh CFC and more. On top of that you had a decent number of World fitba heavyweights in attendance too Clachnacuddin, Turriff United, Deveronvale, Formartine United, Lossiemouth, Buckie Thistle and Nairn County representing. The latter taking us to the first game of the day…..
Blackburn Youth Whites 2014s 1 v 1 Nairn County
Under an already hotting up sun the boys were to play their first refereed game. An alien situation. Also a bit alien was the fact last seasons player of the year Owen was to play for the other Blackburn team on the day as they were short on boys again. This was to be noticeable.They got off to a slow start letting Nairn dictate things early with the Wee Man called into action a couple of times with two sound stops. Nairn in their rainbow shirts were definitely the better team in the first half of the 25(games were made up of one 25 minute period). In this spell they took the lead in controversial circumstances when a ball over the top got Blackburn’s defender Callan tracking back. Facing Wee Man about 15 yards out he was away to play the ball back but the Nairn striker booted the defenders feet together sending him down and leaving the forward clean through to finish well. An incredible piece of refereeing to miss that. Funnily if this was non-reffed like at 7s I bet that wouldnt have stood as the coaches would have agreed on the foul. If Blackburn were to get anything from this they would need to up their game and to be fair they did and grew into the game well where they started to put a bit of pressure on The Wee County. This finally paying off late on when Elias nabbed an equaliser. These days if Elias is in the team, Elias scores. It’s usually a question of how many he will get. A top wee player. A draw probably a fair result overall despite the shady goal against. Something of note from the match. The disrespect from passers by cutting over the pitch was quite the sight, to the point someone with a pram stopped to have a conversation on the pitch. Eejits.
Fom the first Whites game we went to watch the start of the first Blacks game. This against Edinburgh CFC. As we got to the pitch the ‘International’ part of the tournament rang true. Lossiemouth were playing a Japanese team called Choo City. This the only foreigners I was to see all day. A bit of the Blacks game was viewed but we were off for the next Whites match.
Blackburn Youth Whites 2014 0 v 3 Little Tekkers
Anyone who saw this would agree it was a demolition job and that the team with lets face it what is a terrible name were in fact a very good side, especially the little ginger headed wide man who was a constant nuisance. Blackburn were nowhere to be seen and as LT took the game to them they dropped deeper and deeper and deeper. The first goal seemed too easy to knock the ball around them leaving a tap in from three yards. The second goal was a brilliant hit from distance into the top corner. But i couldnt help feel it was caused by the fact Blackburn were so deep as the goalscorer had the space to hit from that range. The third was a similar story. A cracking strike from distance into the top corner. Well beaten here and nobody could possibly disagree. I had to laugh at the ref having a wee pop at me when a shout for handball made a LT player stop leaving the official shouting in my direction “the referee makes the decisions not the parents”. The ref in the Nairn game also commented on my offside calls too. Nothing bad just genuine shouts for infringements. Walking off the pitch at full time, Wee Man looked as if he was about to combust with rage at the defeat. I am all for this fury. He wants to win everything he does. He doesnt like losing. That’s the way it should be and I’ll never say otherwise or have a go at him for it.
A wee wander about to watch random games until the next Whites game was had. This made me realise there were many local to us teams going about. Hermes, Cove Youth,Kincorth Emirates, Middlefield Wasps were there and it seemed that at no matter what time of day, if you looked about you were bound to see the blue and white of Westdyke on a pitch somewhere. They were everywhere. As I was heading to pitch four for the upcoming Whites game I saw a Spartans side get a penalty against Turriff United. I stopped to watch. The kick was absolutely rattled off the bar with the taker finishing it off. The ref blew his whistle and gave the free kick to United as he should . But some of the kids seemed dumbfounded. This made the ref talk through his decision and why it was a foul. I have to say that some of the men in the middle were very good at this and I did see a lot of it. At the end of the day most of the kids here were just wee toots and really still learning the game.Good to see from the refs. I got a bit of Clachnacuddin v Edinburgh CFC on the pitch prior to the Whites game. Nae sure the score but the natives did score in the time I was watching.
Blackburn Youth Whites 2014s 2 v 0 Middlefield Wasps
The derby match of the five games. After the drubbing in the last outing v Little Tekkers I was wondering how the young ones would react. They were good. Not without a couple of scares early, including Wee Man having to stop one with his face. But once they got going they were clearly the superior side. The first goal came from you know who, Elias. A quality solo run down the left saw him cut in, he had options but in true Elias style he smashed the ball home himself. (I really admire his confidence). The second came from the spot after a clear hand ball. Noah stepped up, the Middlefield keeper got his hands to the ball but the strike was to powerful and went in. A good showing of bouncebackability with this win. With a clearer view of Arthurs Seat from pitch 4 it showed how many people go up and down it. They would surely be able to see all the EIC sites across the city from the top of the geological beast which must be a cool view in itself.
More wandering and more random fitba watching. This time I stopped to watch a Westdyke team. They seemed on easy street as I saw them score twice without reply. As usual I couldnt tell you the score as it was just a wee portion of the game. They had a couple of tidy players in their ranks too.Another £4 tiny wee coffee was devoured before the next game. This time against locals
Blackburn Youth Whites 2014s 2 v 1 Craigroyston
Next up was Edinburgh side Craigroyston. The game kicked off late as the ref hadnt turned up. Wee Man legged it to the nearby portaloo as nature called. Surely no issue as the ref was nowhere to be seen. Then all of a sudden the man in the middle was there in the middle away to start and as he was away to blow we had no keeper as he was currently 30 yards away running back from the chunty. Blackburn were the better side here with most of the play in the Craigroyston half. Wee Man wasn’t action free through as he had to act as a sweeper on a number of occasions to clear balls. But on the whole it was a solid Blackburn performance and when that man again Elias struck, I thought that would be enough to win it. That was until the last minute when Craigroyston scored a minging goal. A saveable shot took a wild deflection en route off a Blackburn defender sending the ball into the opposite corner to which Wee Man had already dived. You could see him looking across almost like in slow motion as the ball passed him. You could also see the rage building when he got to his feet. Would he combust this time? There was no need to in the end as the goal may have been in the last minute but in the last last minute, man of the moment Elias did what he does and scored again with the last kick of the ball. I was so glad they took the full points here as they deserved it and to be denied by such a fluke would have been extremely harsh. The game had it’s own amusement away from the fitba as Wee Man’s net was not pegged in. The leaving it to blow on to the pitch continuously hitting him on the head and the back which was clearly annoying him. I could have went to stand on it to stop it, but it was too amusing.
Between games this time was a pint in the onsite bar with Marc, dad of Jakes teammates Zach and Adam. A wee news about all things everything and a break from the sun.This was inclusive of sitting at table with a random Czech tourist who seemed to have not realised this part of the tournament was for young kids. A fine dude and a Slavia fan. Turns out we were lucky to get a beers as not too long after the bar ran dry. Then it was off to the last game of the day. Once again v locals
Blackburn Youth Whites 0 v 2 Edinburgh CFC
Before the game on pitch 9 we were given a laugh as there was a referee having a snooze on a bench. Was the sun too much? Was it the hundreds of kids? Or perhaps the parents offsides and handball shouts? Whatever it was it gave us a laugh. On the pitch it looked like the long day in the searing heat and the up with the milkman early start had caught up with the boys. They were just not at it here and deservedly beaten. The first goal was due to allowing ECFC to push forward and not trying to press the ball. A tired looking concession to be honest. On the topic of tired Wee Man was at fault for the second, a ball through looked like it had his name all over it but he just wasnt sharp enough like he had been earlier in the day, he was beaten to the ball by the striker who lobbed him brilliantly and that was that for the Edinburgh Cup in 2025. Two wins, two defeats and a draw.
I wasn’t finished with action in Edinburgh though as I had been recommended a bar not far from Duddingston Park. The Sheep Heid was about a five minute walk. I grabbed a few bits and pieces for the boot of the bus, swung in past to load it then went for a pint. Found on a bonnie and ancient looking street, The Causeway, the old fashioned feel continued in the pub. A bar right up my street. Fine staff, relics and other bits and bobs on the wall. A very well poured pint and just a nice place overall. I had to laugh as I spoke to a couple of guys from other teams who were doing exactly the same as me. There were other club garb wearing guys too. Basically fitba dads squeezing in a pint before their busses. A good recommendation of a juicer.
Back to the bus I headed and was bang on time for the squad returning. We were the second bus to turn up in the morning and the very last to leave due to the last Blacks game having a late kick off. With a sun kissed face feeling like old leather and a shattered kid in tow we left Edinburgh. A cracking day overall and something a bit different than the usual non-league Saturdays. Hopefully its on next year again as it was a highly enjoyable day out. Roll on the season starting so we can watch these young uns back at it competitively. Most likey up a league too after a fine campaign last season.
Entrance – £9.50
Attendance – Loads of Westdyke and others
Pie – N/A
Pint -£5, Tennent’s , site bar. £6 Tennent’s, Sheeps Heid
FITBAWBAG 