East Stirlingshire 0 Edinburgh City 1: Shire relegated from League

Edinburgh City score from the spot. Pic by Alan Murray.

Next term, rather than playing Rangers, they’ll be heading to Glasgow to meet Broomhill Sports Club after falling into the Lowland League, becoming the first club to be relegated from senior football via the new pyramid play-off system.

Dougie Gair’s late penalty for Edinburgh City won Saturday’s match and swung the two-legged play-off in the capital side’s favour, 2-1 on aggregate.

Gair also scored from the spot in the first leg at Meadowbank Stadium, where Reece Donaldson was red-carded for the League Two side.

His sending off was rescinded, but Donaldson saw red again against City on Saturday – the second week in a row – as he conceded the penalty that ultimately cost Shire their place in the SPFL.

Though the colours of Shire are black and white, the history of the club is a colourful one. They’ve moved to Clydebank and back again and made a shift from the town centre Firs Park to groundsharing at Ochilview, not to mention launching the managerial career of one Alex Ferguson. Next ,one half of Falkirk’s two senior football clubs will open a new chapter when they kick-off next season in the Lowland League, meeting the likes of East Kilbride Thistle, BSC Glasgow, Selkirk and Cumbernauld Colts.