Bonnyrigg Rose: Football club where James Bond star Sean Connery played launches fundraiser after points deduction over slope on pitch

A Scottish football club where James Bond star Sir Sean Connery was once a player has launched a fundraiser to fix a slope on its pitch.

Bonnyrigg Rose received a six-point deduction on Tuesday for failing to address the issue at New Dundas Park.

It followed a Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) disciplinary tribunal at which the governing body said the League Two club admitted the rule breach.

The “Rosey Posey” have now launched a fundraiser in the hopes of raising £120,000 to level the pitch and complete the drainage requirements.

Almost £5,000 has been raised so far.

The Midlothian club said it is expecting a quote and a plan of works from contractors “imminently” but is bracing for a figure in excess of six figures.

Sharing the JustGiving appeal on social media, the club said: “The Rosey Posey, the heartbeat to our community, needs your help.”

The club – which was promoted to League Two in 2022 after winning the Lowland League – explained its ambition was to replace the grass pitch with a synthetic surface to help support the demand for local grassroots football.

The club admitted changing the surface rather than levelling the pitch became its main focus, but due to factors outside of its control has been unable to progress as it would “have liked” with the resurfacing works.

Due to the pitch’s gradient, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in September downgraded the club’s licence to entry level from bronze level – a minimum requirement for the SPFL.

The six-point deduction led to the team dropping from fifth in the league to eighth.

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Bonnyrigg Rose were reprimanded by the SPFL and “warned as to their future conduct”.

The club has also been ordered to provide details by 31 January of funding arrangements and a programme of works to allow pitch levelling works next summer.

The club said its initial focus has since changed, adding: “We will now be working hard towards levelling the pitch in advance of the 2024/25 season.”

Bonnyrigg Rose lists Sir Sean, who died in 2020 at the age of 90, as one of its notable former players.

The Hollywood legend spent a couple of seasons with the club as a right winger in the early 1950s when he was in his 20s.