It’s that time of year once again, as The Buffs welcome Johnstone Burgh FC in the opening day of the 2025/26 season to kick off life back in the WOSFL Premier Division. Kevin Kelly couldn’t have asked for a much tougher fixture to begin the season with “The Burgh” arriving at Buffs Park as Scottish Junior Cup champions and also expected title challengers for the season ahead.
Founded in 1956, Johnstone Burgh saw great success in their early years as a club, with 2 Scottish Junior Cup wins and 2 West of Scotland Cup wins coming in their first 15 years of existence. Despite their success in the 1960s, The Burgh have struggled to maintain their winning ways, with only two major trophies coming their way since that period: the Central Premier Division Championship in 2001/02 and, of course, last season’s Scottish Junior Cup. The Burgh were taken over in 2023 by a consortium of investors, which has clearly helped the club in their rise back to the top of non-league football, with marquee signings such as Kyle Lafferty and Graham Dorrans certainly raising the profile of the club at this level.
Last season marked The Burgh’s first-ever campaign in the WOSFL Premier Division, which saw the club finish in 3rd place behind Auchinleck Talbot and champions Clydebank after taking 52 points from 30 games. Murdo MacKinnon’s side has only improved from last year, with 7 additions being made to his squad over the summer, including former Largs captain Stuart Faulds and top-quality midfielder Ian McShane, who joined from East Kilbride FC. Johnstone Burgh lacked a clear talisman in front of goal last year, with 6 being the most league goals scored by a player however, it was their defence which shone, with the club only conceding 33 league goals last year. The last time the clubs met was towards the end of the 2023/24 season when a Cammy MacNair last-minute goal earned The Buffs a brilliant 2-3 win after throwing away a 2 goal lead earlier in the match. The Burgh were generally strong away from home last season, earning 24 points and only being beaten 3 times on their travels when they lost 3 away games in a row around April.
It’s been a hectic summer for The Buffs after the news broke that The Buffs would be granted promotion back to the WOSFL Premier Division on May 30th. The club have since been very busy in the transfer window, welcoming 8 new signings to Buffs Park. First came the sought-after goalscorer Ryan Wilson, who returns to the club after scoring an abundance of goals for The Winton over the past few years. Next were defenders Ryan Wallace, Ewan McLevy, and Kyle Chrystal before winger Olly Smith was signed from Benburb. Murray MacKintosh then joined from Albion Rovers, as well as new goalkeeper Glenn Cameron. Finally, Buffs Hall of Famer Ben Lewis rejoined following a season playing with Beith Juniors. Manager Kevin Kelly has stated that he hopes to add a couple more to his squad as he looks to strengthen his side in hopes of pushing for another successful season as Buffs manager.
The Buffs have picked up a few decent results in pre-season, including high-scoring victories away to both Largs and Gretna 2008 before rounding off the summer with a win at home to Whitburn Juniors last weekend. The challenge Buffs will face this weekend will undoubtedly be harder than anything they have faced so far, but Kevin Kelly’s side will be desperate to get off to a good start and make a statement to the rest of the division with a positive result this weekend.
