Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic: Sean Connery’s former club go from near extinction to brink of SPFL

Max Christie, son of former Stenhousemuir and Meadowbank Thistle manager Terry, took charge of the team and led them to the semi-final of the Scottish Junior Cup.

The manager now is Robbie Horn, who is in his second spell at the club having left briefly back in 2015 to take over Berwick Rangers.

Horn was a youth player at Hearts and says it was the discipline instilled in him by coaches Walter Kidd and Paul Hegarty during his time at Tynecastle that makes him a relative success now in management.

“At times, you thought Walter was being incredibly hard on you,” he recalls. “We had more experienced players like Gary Mackay and John Robertson to help. It was a great grounding.”

However, there are many hurdles to overcome before a place in the SPFL can be achieved. If Bonnyrigg win the Lowland League, they then have a two-legged tie against the winners of the Highland League. Win that and it’s another two-legged tie against the team who finish bottom of League 2.

Horn says the pathway to the SPFL is extremely unfair on the ambitious clubs from the Lowland and Highland Leagues.

“They [The 42 SPFL clubs] have had it their way for too long and that is an issue,” he suggests. “There should be more fluidity between the pyramid system. We shouldn’t have to be going through another four games to get promoted.