Maughan has spread the word far and wide at Redpath Albion

His wife has borne his two daughters and two sons, but Bryan Maughan is often told by his better half that for nearly 35 years he has fathered five children.

The fifth "child" he volunteered to foster 22 years after its birth, and he has nurtured and cherished it ever since.

Redpath Albion holds a special place in the hearts of many from the modest locale of Pilrig and Lorne, just off Leith Walk, the community that the club and Maughan, 53, have served for many years.

The club is uncommon among the Capital's football fraternity in that it fields teams at both youth and amateur level under the same name, but it's even more unique in having restricted its catchment area to the relatively small section of tenement housing around Pilrig Street and Iona Street.

His club has, at times, been accused of lacking ambition but, for Maughan, there's nothing better than walking down nearby Leith Walk and bumping into people whose lives have been bettered by Albion's existence.

"It's far more than just a football club," says Maughan, who joined Redpath in 1976 as a player and continues to serve today as chairman and manager of the amateur outfit. "It's more about community spirit, team spirit, and friendship, not winning, championships, and medals. We have a different ethos here.

"We're quite progressive in our thinking. A lot of my ideas died with Brian Clough and Jock Stein, but we're taking young coaches at 16, putting them through their badges and they're being mentored by older coaches here. Some rugby-type once said to me, 'If you get them at seven years old, you'll have them (at your club] at 70' - and it's like that here."

The club currently runs teams at under-16, under-19 and amateur level, while breeding the next generation of Redpath players through its coaching programmes for children of ten and under. It has the facilities at the local Pilrig Primary School booked every single night of the week to provide space for coaching sessions. The kids being put through their paces are truly able to identify with an ultra-local club they can call their own, and there's no shortage of aspiration when Redpath boasts such an illustrious alumni.

National champions at cross-country and chess and, on the field, players who have gone on to gain Scotland honours at boys' club level and sign for senior teams. One such example comes in the form of Roddy Maughan, son of Bryan and one of the reasons his dad formed the youth section of Albion back in 1988. Roddy, 30 next week, went on to play for Raith Rovers and East Stirlingshire and attributes his success to the level grounding he experienced as a youngster.

"The coaches didn't put pressure on us, and we felt that on the pitch. We progressed at our own speed and at our own level. We all lived on the same street, and there were good, decent footballers who were good, decent kids."

Those kids will all have fond memories of Pilmeny Youth Centre, a building separated from Leith Walk by a block of tenements, which is the base of Redpath Albion as well as, during the day, centre manager Bryan Maughan. His day job and Redpath duties are closely intertwined, with young users of the centre often involved in the football club. He utilised his roles not only to provide standard services, but to build bridges amid a potentially-difficult social scene.

His initiatives at the centre, the football club, local groups and schools help to bring together local people from neighbouring streets and communities and, in turn, can heal fractious relationships among 'rival' areas. "There are some huge barriers around here," says Maughan. "Some boys won't cross the road because they'll be in a different area. In the youth club, we bring them together.

"A lot of people knock football, but once you've got that captive audience, you can change things, and tell kids things."

The influence of Redpath Albion and of Maughan's work at Pilmeny Youth Centre is far-reaching, with toddler groups and after-school clubs giving all children from the area the opportunity to extend the time in which they engage in physical activity and socialise in a friendly environment.

The opportunity through the football club for older boys of varying sporting ability to play regular, organised games builds upon the Scottish Government's objective to provide each with physical exercise of four hours per week. "The schools are doing what they can," says Maughan, "but the beauty of the centre is that we can let people in and offer them space to exercise and enjoy themselves."