Scottish League Two side Bonnyrigg Rose have been hit with a six-point penalty after their Dundas Park pitch broke an obscure SPEL rule.
Normally when we think about a club taking a hit to their points tally it's because of off-field transfer dealings. For Bonnyrigg Rose, however, it's facing a penalty for very literal on-field rule-breaking.
It turns out, that the Scottish League Two side has the incorrect pitch gradient, and has now had their licence downgraded to entry-level, from bronze level. Bronze level is the minimum requirement to play in the league.
Bonnyrigg Rose in hot water
Now, the club has until next summer to sort out the issue, and until January 31st 2025 to provide details of how they plan to fix it. As things stand the club is not doing so great in the league, just two points above Clyde and Forfar Athletic who occupy the relegation spots. Thankfully for Bonnyrigg Rose, they'd had an ok start to the season, points deduction aside. Prior to the deduction, they were in 5th place (of a 10-team league).
Now the club faces a bill of up to £120,000 to fix the issue, and has had to turn to crowd funding to sort the issue out. In a statement on their JustGiving page, Bonnyrigg had this to say:
“Changing the pitch surface became our focus, rather than levelling the pitch, as levelling was identified as being a wasted investment and unnecessary additional time and effort given the opportunity to obtain funding to change the surface as part of our club and community development ambitions.” They went on to clarify why they made the changes they did, “The rationale behind the change of surface was to enable and support local grassroots football, in partnership with The Bonnyrigg Rose Community Club, as well as delivering a positive impact to the local economy & wider community. As an example, and for clarity, the Bonnyrigg Rose Community Club has an extensive waiting list of children keen to play football but who are unable to do so due to lack of space and resources”
Now, that very same community is needed to keep the clubs alive, with expulsion from the league the obvious next step at the end of the season if work cannot be completed.
The Rosey Posey, the heartbeat to our community, needs your help. We are fundraising to help towards levelling the pitch as well as to improve draining etc to ensure compliance with league membership. Click the link or use the QR to donate if you can.
You can also donate in… pic.twitter.com/REfkkAccZK— Bonnyrigg Rose (@BonnyriggRose) November 12, 2024
In a statement from the SPEL on the situation, they stated:
“In September 2024, the Scottish FA downgraded Bonnyrigg Rose FC’s overall Club Licence award from Bronze level to Entry level, due to the gradient of the pitch at the club’s New Dundas Park. It is an SPFL Rule that all clubs must have a Bronze level Scottish FA Club Licence, and Bonnyrigg Rose FC were therefore charged with a breach of SPFL Rules. At a hearing today (Tuesday 12 November, 2024) an SPFL Disciplinary Tribunal imposed the following sanctions for the Club’s failure to maintain a Bronze level Licence:
“(i) The club was reprimanded and warned as to their future conduct;
“(ii) The club was deducted six points with immediate effect;
“(iii) The club was directed that no later than 31 January 2025 it provides details to the SPFL Board of the funding arrangements and programme of works to allow the club to undertake pitch levelling works in Summer 2025.”
Bonnyrigg Rose was promoted the League 2 in 2022, having won the Lowland League. The side finished 8th last season.