Edinburgh East Lothian

Infobox shinty club
clubname = Edinburgh East Lothian


fullname = Edinburgh East Lothian Shinty Club
gaelicname = Comann Camanachd Dhun Eideann is Lodainn an Ear
nickname = The Honest Eels
founded = 2000
ground = Levenhall Links, Musselburgh
manager =
league = South Division Two
season = 2007
position = withdrew
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leftarm1=87ceeb
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Edinburgh East Lothian Shinty Club" was a shinty club which played in the South Division 2 Shinty League. They were formerly known as Musselburgh Camanachd until 2000. In 2007 they withdrew from the league due to team-raising difficulties

History

The sport arrived in East Lothian during the mid 1990's, principally at the instigation of Dougie Hunter (a shinty playing graduate of St Andrews University) and Ian Watt- a fellow resident of Musselburgh. The team played originally as Musselburgh Camanachd Club, in royal blue and white stripes, at Levenhall Links.

The club (in all its forms) has played in the South Divisions of the Marine Harvest League and associated cup competitions. After a particularly difficult season in the upper division, Musselburgh found itself in a perilous state - it was at this juncture that the club was reconstituted.

Reforming in 2000 as Edinburgh East Lothian Shinty Club, (to broaden its catchment area) the club underwent dramatic redevelopment. EELSC were narrowly pipped to the league title during the two years after reformation - the latter amidst controversy over match cancellations/walk-overs. Read more about this period in an extract from the Shinty Yearbook, 2002.

Successes were also achieved at the St Andrews sixes (1999) and the Inverness sixes Rosedean Shield (2002 & 2004). The club sporadically contested the Hunter Eccles Trophy against St Andrews University.

With the change to summer shinty in 2004, Edinburgh East Lothian found themselves in a large South Division One, where they routinely suffered heavy defeats. However, the scrapping of the National League One in 2006 meant that EEL were to be in a more competitive environment. This has not helped the club in the long term as the club struggled to fulfil fixtures towards the end of the 2006 season and this trend continued into the 2007 season, where they have folded due to a lack of players. The club expressed its desire to reform for 2008 and said it would be playing in 6 a-sides.

The club did not re-enter competition in 2008 and some members of the playing squad transferred to Aberdour Shinty Club and Tayforth Camanachd. Levenhall Links still plays host to ladies team, Forth Camanachd.

External links

* [http://www.edinburghshinty.com Edinburgh East Lothian official Site]