Slippery slope: Scottish soccer club calls for donations after points deduction for uneven field

BONNYRIGG, Scotland — (AP) — A lowly Scottish soccer club, which once had “James Bond” actor Sean Connery on its books, has been given a six-point deduction for having a sloping field.

Now Bonnyrigg Rose is calling on its fans to help raise more than 100,000 pounds ($127,000) to level out the playing surface and ensure the team doesn’t receive any further punishments.

Bonnyrigg was promoted to Scottish League Two – the fourth and last tier in the country’s professional league structure – in 2022 but has faced pressure from soccer authorities to fix the uneven field at its New Dundas Park home to meet the minimum requirements of the league.

On Tuesday, Bonnyrigg received its points deduction for breaching the league’s rules regarding the gradient of the field, and was told the club has to provide details by the end of January of funding arrangements and the program of works to level it from next summer.

That prompted a call for donations from the club, which is situated on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

“The Rosey Posey, the heartbeat to our community, needs your help,” Bonnyrigg said. “We are fundraising to help towards levelling the pitch as well as to improve draining etc to ensure compliance with league membership.”

Following its annual general meeting in October, Bonnyrigg said it expected the cost of the work to be more than 100,000 pounds and that there have been delays in securing any government funding. The club had hoped to be able to level the field "in advance of the 2025/26 season."

Bonnyrigg lists Connery, who died in 2020 at the age of 90, as one of its notable former players and the Scottish FA has said he played in the junior team in 1951 and 1952 as a right winger.

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