AMATEUR football suffered a terrible blow on Saturday when the Lothian & Edinburgh AFA’s most treasured and valuable trophy, The Miller Cup, was stolen – while the final between Uphall Station and Sandy’s was being played in front of one of the biggest turnouts in years at the showpiece finale to the season at the Civil Service Sports Ground in Muirhouse.

Winners of the prestigious piece of silverware last season, Uphall Station, had retained the cup in a stunning 6-1 defeat of Sandys in a game that ended with two players being red-carded for their part in a violent incident on the pitch following a penalty award against Sandys! This fracas was swiftly dealt with by match official, Dean Kay, who had brilliantly controlled this meeting between the two top clubs from the premier division of the L&EAFA with great man-management and common sense. Mr Kay quickly defused the situation, red-carding Brian Divitt (Uphall Station) and Steve Finne (Sandys) for their part in the punch-up that followed the award of a penalty to Uphall for a terrible tackle by Sandy’s keeper, Brian Ford, on man-of-the-match, Brian McPhillie. Lee Cruickshank buried the ball in the net when the spot-kick was finally taken to make the final score 6-1, but the shameful incident that preceded that penalty kick being taken was replaced by one of stunned silence when L&EAFA president, Charles Gallacher, intimated to both teams and the fans at the presentation ceremony that the lovely trophy had been stolen, despite the presence of a large number of officials from the association at the game.

This turn of events shocked everyone but the consensus of opinion among the players and fans was that the valuable and irreplacable silverware had been taken  by someone determined to ensure the team from West Lothian did not get presented with the trophy. Steve Clark, the coach of Uphall Station was left shaking his head in disbelief when news of the theft was revealed, adding: “I spent ages polishing the cup before handing it back at the AGM that was held in the clubrooms at the ground, preceding the start of the Miller Cup final. The theft of the cup just goes to show what type of person was present at the game!”  The winning West Lothian outfit went on to line-up for the most unusual picture ever taken at a Miller Cup final, with the trophy missing from a line up of awards that included one for winning the Premier Division title and the Challenge Cup. In the circumstances, it was a pretty subdued and responsible celebration by the winning squad in what was still a possible volatile situation.

in a cracking first half to the final, Uphall went 1-0 up, possibly against the run of play at that stage, with midfielder Divitt hammering a low shot past Ford in Sandy’s goal after a great pass from Paul McHugh, one of the Uphall stars who used the vast spaces on a quite magnificent pitch to the full in what was a sparkling attacking display. Sandy’s got back on level terms when James Reilly pounced on a long ball out of defence that was not dealt with properly by Uphall to show great control in a great run up the left before cutting in to drill a superb shot past opposition keeper, David Miller, to make it 1-1 in the 35^th minute. Despite being pegged back by that equaliser, Uphall Station looked to be the better composed side in the game and they went on to produce one of their best ever displays in a second half that saw them score five more goals to leave Sandy’s fragile defence in tatters.

Coach of the winning side, Steve Clark’s comment that “we are going to get a result today” was proved to be totally correct as his side, with McPhillie in quite brilliant form up front, went on the goal trail. Cruickshank scored a quite superb second goal for Uphall and, when Ford came away off his line in a desperate bid to block another Uphall raid, the ball broke nicely for McPhillie to send in back in to the empty net to take the margin to 3-1. The fourth goal for Uphall came when George McGregor sent in a thundering inswinging free.-kick from the left that Ford could only palm up in the air and McHugh outjumped the struggling Sandy’s rearguard to head the ball in the back of the net to make it 4-1.

The simmering tension on the pitch became more obvious when McPhillie set up Cruikshank to score his side’s fifth goal of the game and that was followed by the pitch flare-up following the penalty award against Sandy’s. Punches were flying after an alleged head-butting incident that caused the trouble, but Mr Kay sorted that out, quickly and efficiently, then allowed things to cool down before Cruickshank buried the spot-kick past Ford, who was a very lucky man indeed to stay on the pitch for the tackle that caused the penalty to be awarded against him. The joy of the Uphall contingent celebrating a wonderful 6-1 win was replaced by one of disbelief when they lined for the presentation of the trophy and individual awards to hear the shocking news of the cup’s disappearance.

The person who stole the Miller Cup and, for whatever reason, delivered a knock-out blow to amateur football and also spoiled what should have been the highlight of the season in the Lothian & Edinburgh AFA season. This theft of the Miller ‘Cup was akin to ‘putting the boot in’ to the hard-working and committed officials of an association that does so much to promote organised competitive football to more than 70 clubs throughout the Lothian regions. At the AGM, six new clubs had their application for membership accepted in what must be seen as a major boost for this association, that fosters the true spirit of amateur football for clubs playing at all levels. A stunned female spectator at the game said: “The cup has been stolen, that is unbelievable!” But true, nevertheless!

Uphall Station – David Miller, Mark Barrass, Robert McLean, George McGregor, Simon Murphy, Brian Divitt, Paul McHugh, Barry O’Donnell, Brian McPhillie, Kevin Turner, Lee Cruickshank, Peter McIntyre, Scott Clark, James McDonaugh. 

Sandy’s – Brian Ford, John Daly, Alex Hood, Steve Handren, Jackie O’Donnell, Steve Finnie, Mark Lynch, Michael Osborne, James Reilly, John Robertson, Derek Tait, Darren Hainey, James Clarkson, David Clark, Duncan McNeil.

Referee – Dean Kay.