Spartans in good place ahead of SPFL debut after years of planning for big time

When the planning and the waiting had been going on for so long, Spartans were entitled to draw out the revelry after finally smashing through the SPFL roadblocks with their play-off win over Albion Rovers. It didn’t take reality long to come knocking, though.

Spartans celebrate promotion to the SPFL after the Scottish League two play-off final win over Albion Rovers. (Photo by Sammy Turner / SNS Group)

“It was the Monday after Coatbridge and I already had three different emails from different people at the SPFL,” says secretary Finlay Murray. “One saying we need this, another saying we need that, and another asking for the other!”

“No, there was no time to sit back and take it all in,” agrees chairman Craig Graham.

The pair of club directors are chatting on their way back to Edinburgh from Hampden, after a meeting with the league, where they were read into a new set of procedures and guidelines, as the former Lowland League club look ahead to their first season in League 2. “This is when it becomes real,” adds Graham, the architect and driving force behind so much of what has been achieved at the north Edinburgh club.

Spartans' chairman Craig Graham hugs one of the players after the League Two play-off win over Albion Rovers. (Photo by Sammy Turner / SNS Group)

He has overseen the transformation from an East of Scotland league club for former university and college players to an all-embracing Lowland League side, and now, 2023/24 SPFL League 2 newcomers. Last week the draw for the early stages of the Viaplay Cup saw them placed alongside Dundee United, Partick Thistle, Falkirk, and Peterhead in Group B.

“We cleared a massive hurdle by getting into the SPFL but now it is important that we do things right and keep improving,” states Graham, who is not the type to let the grass grow beneath him. “It is an exciting cup draw for us but with all the potential and greater publicity comes greater expectations, and a greater degree of scrutiny.”

The foundations for success were laid a long time ago. Back in 2008, when their ambitions outgrew their former home ground of City Park, just a decent heft of a small stone away, the club moved to Ainslie Park. From a muddy building site, it has long-since evolved into a ground already more than worthy of the SPFL. While other promoted teams have had to ground-share or make hasty improvements to ensure their premises match their status, Spartans were ahead of the game.

“The good thing is we are quite well prepared and the ground is in really good shape. It’s the other things we are working on,” adds Graham. Things like assembling a squad capable of handling itself in what is becoming a more and more competitive division.

Spartans' Cameron Russell in action during the League Two play-off win over Albion Rovers. (Photo by Sammy Turner / SNS Group)

“We have been working so hard for this for so long and planning ahead,” explains manager Dougie Samuel. “So, I don’t think it will be a sea change. Yes, we are moving up a level but we have had a long-term strategy and the players we have now are either at their peak or they are players who we believe still have their best years in front of them, so there is growth and improvement there. But it’s about organic growth.”

There are new arrivals but, both on the pitch and off it, there are stalwarts who have been in it for the long haul. “One of the most poignant moments against Albion Rovers was when the whistle went and the first player to run to me was our longest-serving player, Hovie [Alan Brown],” says Samuel, who guided the team to South Challenge Cup victory a week after their promotion party. “I remember meeting up with him in Costa nine years ago, and he signed for us because he bought into our vision. So that was a special moment.”

League experience has been added, with Danny Denholm signing from Stirling Albion and James Craigen joining from Edinburgh FC, while others, such as last term’s Player of the Year Cammy Russell, have penned an extension.

“There is a sense of the unknown but we had that going into the play-offs,” said Russell, who signed two years ago from Kelty Hearts and has gone on to become a favourite of the young fans who will, he hopes, now grow up knowing Spartans only as a league club.

On holiday enjoying an escape before pre-season starts on June 22 and the Viaplay Cup games kick off on July 15 at home to Dundee United, he reveals that the draw for that competition had the team WhatsApp buzzing. But there is a real sense of anticipation regarding the league battle.

Of the previous Highland or Lowland League teams who have broken into the SPFL, Cove Rangers and Kelty both made a quick impression and secured back-to-back promotions. Edinburgh and Bonnyrigg Rose had to settle for consolidation in the maiden terms and the pyramid system that Spartans fought so hard for has forced clubs to up standards and ironically made it tougher for new arrivals.

“It is super difficult because every club and every manager in that league will tell you they are going to win it or get into the promotion play-offs. I don’t see why we can’t be aiming for the same thing,” added Russell. “Nothing is going to be easy but I think we’re all looking forward to it. As a footballer, you have to enjoy the challenge.”

There was interest in the forward from elsewhere but, after chatting with Graham and Samuel, he still believes in Spartans’ ambition and the men he has around him.

“Dougie and I have chatted about that and the dream is to keep improving. But the thing about football is that there are so many unknowns. In business you can usually predict the outcomes. You know if you work hard, or you invest properly you tend to have success. There is that element of control.

“In football you can do all that but one slip, one bad bounce, one poor refereeing decision and it all changes, so you have to be more flexible and more patient.”

Patience has been one of Spartans’ virtues. Winning the league when the glass ceiling was still in place, they have since stumbled at the play-off stage, before finally moving up another rung of the ladder. But it all comes down to controlling the controllables, which is such a popular phrase in sport for good reason.

Setting out three-year strategies and resisting the urge to overextend themselves or go into overdraft gambling on a quick return, the growth has been sustainable. Which is one of the trickiest aspects of the upcoming campaign as they try to pitch things perfectly on the commercial and financial front.

One of four capital clubs in the SPFL, the hope is that Hearts, Hibs and Edinburgh supporters will also consider them an attractive option when their first-choice teams are on their travels. As it is, season tickets prices, naturally, have gone up and they don’t yet know how that will affect sales, while weekly gate receipts, given the interest whipped up in recent months and the new level of competition, require educated guesswork. Commercially, they know they should be more attractive but they are still seeking guidance as they test the waters. Even things like ball sponsors, club merchandise, a pay-for-view streaming service for overseas Spartans and wider multi-media options are on the to-do list of things needing addressed before the league action kicks off on August 5. The fixtures won’t be published until June 30 so, until then, even match day preparations are hypothetical.

While the players have been recharging their batteries, everyone else has been kept busy since they wrapped up the season. Graham’s first thought when the Albion Rovers game ended was for the countless volunteers, players and staff who had played their part over the years. The second emotion was relief. “My favourite memory was walking on the pitch with the other board members and watching as the guys were presented with the trophy,” he said. “That was a privileged moment.

“Dougie is off for two weeks this month and then I’m off for two weeks and I think that’s when we will have the chance to reflect. Then we just go again.”