WEST LOTHIAN'S SCOTTISH CUP HISTORY

The title of the book ???, its easy to forgive the reader for thinking this book is more or less about Livingston FC, perhaps with the odd Junior team thrown into the mix in recent years for good measure. We are talking about the "Scottish Cup" after all !!!, the "big cup". Well let me try to explain quickly, without ruining the enjoyment of flicking through the 200 odd pages the book has to offer. From the early years of the competition  many of the major towns/villages in the County of West Lothian had "senior" football teams, with a good few churning out some excellent results and some great cup runs. The larger towns in the district such as Bathgate, Broxburn, Armadale, Bo'ness had at one time Scottish League sides and at the same time all playing in the "Scottish", but there's more to it than just these four as Winchburgh, Uphall, South Queensferry, Linlithgow, West Calder and Addiewell can be added to the  list of Scottish Cup entrants, not forgetting the tiny hamlet of Kingscavil a couple of miles to the east of Linlithgow , blink and you will miss it is the term often used, but not being able to get you head round the fact that they played host to Heart of Midlothian in a cup tie , then you can be excused. On the other hand the village of Mossend to the north of West Calder,(little more than a couple of houses nowadays) certainly punched way above their weight, if your a Hibs fan look away now !!!, no I will leave the suspense for  you to read and find out. While on the talk of forgotten villages, East Benhar to the north of Fauldhouse once entered the competition via the Scottish Qualiying Cup, nowadays you would be hard pushed to find any remains of this small mining community. Many of the above towns mentioned played host to more than just the one senior club. If you live in the county of West Lothian you will find it easier to relate to the towns mentioned, but you will certainly struggle to get your head round what once happened here in this area, for those not so fimilar with the area, the County is inbetween Glasgow & Edinburgh and is home to Livingston FC, the area's only senior side. With a chage of rules in recent years we have had a few junior sides from the area taking part, indeed Linlithgow Rose recently joined the SFA enabling them to enter the compitition automatically each year.

If you would like more info on the book please drop me an email westlothianfootball@gmail.com and I will do my best to help out. If you have had a relative that possibly played for one of these early clubs I may be able to find you more info as I have gathered together documentation over the years while researching