Helping hand for Broughton

The punishment was meted out by the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur Football Association, who adjudged an incident of on-field bad behaviour towards the end of the campaign to be worthy of double demotion from the league's top tier to the club's present surroundings of the Lothian West division.

The misdemeanour in question took place in the Miller Cup final, a game Broughton won to ensure their year-long effort was rewarded with silverware.

Despite their punishment of relegation and a fine of 500, a sum that hit the Leith-based club hard, Broughton have retained all but two of their squad and have found generous sponsors to help them stay alive.

Thanks to the generosity of Buckstone Roofing and the City Limits pub, the club has a choice of strips to wear on match days, while the former's donation of waterproofs has already proven very practical on damper afternoons.

"If it wasn't for guys like them, it would be difficult to run an amateur team," said 40-year-old Ally Handyside, the Broughton manager. "We had no money at the start of the season and, although we had a lot of equipment ourselves, it was quite dated. I had a word with businesses and it was mostly the same story – 'Business isn't good.'

"But, Sylvana at City Limits on Leith Walk offered to give us a set of strips and match balls. Scott Cockburn at Buckstone Roofing, who's a friend of mine, then asked how we were doing and I told him the team was doing well but we could do with some help. His business is flourishing and he's putting a good bit back into the community."

Cockburn counts Broughton as one of a number of Edinburgh sporting organisations he helps financially. His business also sponsors the two dugouts at Hibernian's Easter Road and was match sponsor for the recent game with Rangers.

His company's name also features on the shirts of a George Watson's rugby team as well as a Leith Athletic football side. "The company has gone from strength to strength and everyone we're associated with seems to be doing the same," said Brian Tully, of Buckstone Roofing. "We must have the Midas touch just now!"

Cockburn explained the reasoning behind the financial boost: "The club was struggling to move forward and we thought there was an opportunity to become involved. I know the quality of players they have and I know with Ally there what they're trying to achieve. I'm from Leith myself, and we're just trying to put something back into the game."

Help from local businesses seems all the more crucial when the cost of running a team is revealed. Broughton will spend around 100 on the hire of training and match-day pitches during weeks in which they have a home fixture, while even with a weekend game away from home with their hosts picking up the tab on rental of a pitch, a training field for two hours in midweek costs 60.

The link-up with City Limits also affords the team a vital "base" for pre and post-match team meetings.

"We've held things like race nights to raise money for the club," says Handyside. "But, without the help of these two businesses, as we were at the start of the season, we wouldn't have the pub to meet in, and possibly only one set of kit. To have to say after the games, 'Sorry, lads – we've nowhere to go' I think it would be difficult for a club to function without somewhere to meet before and after games."

Broughton are currently perched mid-table in the third tier of the LEAFA pyramid and claimed a notable scalp earlier this season by eliminating the famous Burntisland Shipyard from the Scottish Amateur Cup with a 2-1 win in Fife.

The dream now for the club and their sponsors will be to reclaim the limelight by shooting back to the top of the amateur game and progressing further in the prestigious national competition.