Whitehill Welfare F.C.

The earliest records of Whitehill Welfare indicate that the team first appeared in the 1905–06 season under the name Rosewell Rosedale, replacing the defunct Rosedale Rovers, and playing in the Midlothian Juvenile League. The highlight of this team's existence, it appears, was to reach the Scottish Juvenile Cup Final, and an incident in August 1939 where the police investigated an attack on the Rosewell goalkeeper, accused of letting the side down during a 10–2 defeat.

Although Rosedale continued operating until 1957, it was in 1953 that Whitehill Welfare were formed, the founding fathers being a group of employees from the now defunct Whitehill Colliery. In the early years, Whitehill were the chopping block for the more fancied clubs. Although reaching the Scottish Juvenile Cup semi-final in 1959, they did not really come to the fore until 1964, when they won every trophy in the Mid and East Lothian Section Juvenile League.

Whitehill Welfare (claret and blue shirts) playing against East Stirlingshire in the second round of the 2014–15 Scottish Cup.

By 1979, there were only six Juvenile clubs left in Whitehill's league, and so the Welfare decided it was time to go senior. This resulted in the team joining the East of Scotland Football League in August 1979, a league which they were to top at the end of their first four seasons. Membership of the Scottish Football Association also has the advantage of allowing the club to compete in the Scottish Cup. In this competition, Whitehill Welfare have knocked out Albion Rovers (1986–87), earned replays against three Scottish Football League sides and played Celtic in the 1995-96 tournament. The game saw Whitehill Welfare hold Celtic to 0–0 until the 39th minute before ending in a 3–0 defeat.[3]

The 2012–13 season saw the return of Mike Lawson, who guided the team to the SFA South Region Challenge Cup and completed the double by winning an unprecedented 16th East of Scotland League title before leaving for Spartans, taking 13 players along with him. Their most successful manager, Dave Smith, returned to build a new team and led this team to another league title and Scottish Qualifying Cup double. The club joined the Lowland Football League in 2013 but were relegated back to the East of Scotland league in 2019[2] (their place taken by Bonnyrigg Rose, a team based just two miles from Rosewell which had only moved to the senior setup from the Junior ranks a year earlier).

Former club captain Andrew Kidd was appointed as manager on 15 November 2020.[4]

As of 20 November 2020[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  SCO Ross Coats — GK  SCO Ross Gilpin (captain) — DF  SCO Ross Connell — DF  SCO Kevin Keane — DF  SCO Liam Mccormack — DF  SCO Matt Mccormack — DF  SCO Darren Mcglashan — DF  SCO Jack Murray — DF  SCO Taylor Rogan — DF  SCO Chris Cairney — DF  SCO Liam Mckenna — MF  SCO Jordan Caddow (on loan from Spartans) — MF  SCO Michael Hornig — MF  SCO Scott Millar

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  SCO Michael Barfoot — MF  SCO Fyn Connor — MF  SCO Murray Hand — MF  SCO Louis Maguire — MF  SCO Niall Tonner — MF  SCO Bryan Wilson — MF  SCO Dean Cunningham — FW  SCO Olle Hetherington — FW  SCO Tyler O'neil — FW  SCO Mac Ramos — FW  SCO James Scobie — FW  SCO Kevin Stewart — FW  SCO Robert Mckenzie — FW  SCO Wayne Mcintosh

• Manager: Andrew Kidd
• Coaches: Chris Gemmell, Steven McCulloch, David Mcginley, Paul Parkin
• Physio: Frank Fleming

Senior football

• East of Scotland Football League

1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2012–13

• Scottish Qualifying Cup (South)

1980–81, 1986–87, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05

• SFA South Region Challenge Cup

2012–13, 2015–16

• East of Scotland Qualifying Cup

1980–81, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2008–09, 2013–14

• East of Scotland 'City' Cup

1993–94, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2013–14

• King Cup

1982–83, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98

• East of Scotland League Cup

1987–88, 1998–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–2008, 2011–12

Juvenile football

• Scottish Juvenile Cup

1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1977–78

• East of Scotland Juvenile Cup

1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1977–78

• Walker Cup

1964–65, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75

• Porter Cup

1964–65, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1977–78

• Di Rollo Cup

1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75

• Howard Cup

1964–65, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1974–75

• Hunter Cup

1974–75, 1975–76

• W. Bauld Cup

1974–75, 1977–78

• Midlothian Juvenile League Championship

1965, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1977

• Midlothian Juvenile League Cup

1967–68, 1969–70 (joint winners)

• Club website