Vale of Leithen, Peebles Rovers and Hawick Royal Albert to kick off next football season at home

Second division sides Vale of Leithen and Peebles Rovers host West Lothian’s Bathgate Thistle and Edinburgh College respectively on the new season’s opening day – Saturday, July 27 – with the region’s other representative in that table, Coldstream, away to Dalkeith Thistle.

Hawick Royal Albert are also at home, to West Lothian’s Pumpherston, but their third division rivals Linton Hotspur are hitting the road to Fife to take on Newburgh Juniors.

Bathgate are an unknown quantity for the Innerleithen outfit as they were in different divisions prior to the Borderers’ third relegation on the bounce, and the same goes for Hotspur and third division newcomers Newburgh, but Peebles and the Streamers are no strangers to their opening-day opponents, having shared a league table last time round.

Rovers lost 2-1 at home to the capital students last August and drew 1-1 with them away in April, and Coldstream were beaten 3-1 away to Dalkeith in November and 4-0 at home in May.

Two out of three wasn’t bad for Albert against Pumpherston last season as they beat them 3-1 away last July and 2-1 at home in March, losing 1-0 on the road in April.

League fixture card No 2 of next season – for Saturday, August 3 – hands the Streamers, Hotspur and Vale games against further West Lothian opposition, at home to Armadale Thistle and Livingston United and away to Harthill Royal respectively, with Albert on the road to Edinburgh United.

Peebles are on Alex Jack Cup first-round duty that day, hosting the third division’s Lochgelly Albert.

All those fixtures kick off at 2.30pm.

Next season’s first midweek fixture card is on Tuesday, August 6, and it hands home league games versus Midlothian opposition to Coldstream and Peebles, their visitors being Easthouses Lily Miners’ Welfare at 7.30pm and Dalkeith at 7.15pm respectively.

Just short of a dozen fixtures follow the evening after and they include trips to West Lothian to play West Calder United and Livingston United for Vale and Albert respectively, with Hotspur at home to Edinburgh Community, all at 7.15pm.

The first Borders derby of next season arrives on Tuesday, August 13, and it’s a trip to Albert for Hotspur, with kick-off at 7.30pm.

Another follows on Saturday, August 24, and it sees the Streamers hosting Peebles at 2.30pm.

The next one after that sees Vale hosting Coldstream at their Victoria Park ground on Tuesday, September 3, with kick-off at 7.30pm.

The last fixture card of the season currently scheduled is for Saturday, May 17, and it includes a further derby for the Royalists at home to Hotspur, Vale hosting Fife’s Burntisland Shipyard and trips to Harthill and Bathgate for Coldstream and Peebles respectively, all at 2.30pm.