It was a step back in time for one special visitor to Musselburgh Grammar School this week. In the last week of term, former Deputy Headmaster Walter Roy was back at the town’s secondary school to help celebrate 20 years of volunteering by one of his past pupils.

Grammar school coach Scott Robertson has just completed a remarkable twenty years of running school football sides this season. Back in 1988, as a school prefect, Mr. Robertson was invited to assist the school deputy head with the school’s senior football team. A talented side that included Mr. Robertson’s younger brother Mark.

Scott recalls ‘They were a very good team and Mr. Roy had a firm manner with the players. We reached the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup were beaten away from home, somewhere in Glasgow, I think’.

The following year Walter Roy retired and it feel to his young apprentice, Scott Robertson to run the side. ‘It was my very first time taking a group of players, being a team manager. All the boys knew me and there was only a year or two between their age and mine. I pretty nervous at first, no-one had told me how you be a team manager! It was a difficult season, but looking back I think it did me good, being dropped in at the deep end’.

As the years went by, the young coach grew in confidence and continued to run school teams, gaining coaching qualifications and sponsorship deals on the way.

Most notably local businesses ZOT Engineering and Calum Grant Hairdressing have been long term supporters and donated regularly to the school teams.

Reminiscing on his school football Mr. Robertson said ‘I have had a terrific time and met some great players and some real characters. Sadly schools football no longer has the best players as the professional clubs in this area refuse to allow them to play. I think it is a very sad situation that dozens, if not hundreds of boys miss the opportunity to really enjoy the game and play football with their peers, in the hope that they might defy the odds and make a fortune out of playing football. Some are missing the opportunity to have the time of their lives’.

Over the years Mr. Robertson has worked with some of the finest players in the country, either through his involvement in the East & Midlothian schools Select or coming up against them in local school leagues. He said ‘Darren Fletcher is the obvious one to mention, as he was in the East & Midlothian School side when we won the Scottish Cup in 1998. But that team also contained Kevin Thomson, Steven Whittaker, Kieran Renton, Adam Neilson, Darren Dunn and Chris McLeod, all who were very good players. It really was the Rolls Royce of football teams’.

Mr. Robertson added ‘There have been many, many good players at the school and I am delighted that one former player, Colin Nish is doing so well. More recently Kevin Smith who signed for Leeds United when he left the school was a standout player’.

‘I have great memories of schools football and made a lot of friends on the way. I met up with a lad, Grant Fraser some months back and we were of course talking about football. It was funny because he couldn’t really remember if we won any cups or league titles, but he was able to describe in detail a lot of the ‘incidents’ that happened during his time playing for the school, particularly the one involving a badly cooked hamburger being thrown accidentally through a window in Holland during a tournament trip, sorry to bring it up again Alan Morgan!’

Walter Roy was the man responsible for getting me into football and I have never really looked back since. I looked up to Walter and the manner in which he handled his players and ran his teams. He had a great sense of humour, but tolerated no nonsense from his players. He managed to balance the relationship just right.

Current headmaster Mr. Ronnie Summers was on hand, accompanied by Assistant headmaster Gordon Fruish to welcome back Mr. Roy and it wasn’t long before happy memories of his teaching days came flooding back.

Mr. Roy was invited to re-create a special moment. As the school’s current under 14 squad lined up in the main assembly hall, he took his place far left with his apprentice Scott Robertson far right. It was scene that was first photographed in the exact same spot 20 years earlier.

Afterwards Mr. Roy and Mr. Robertson posed at the reception with a unique football top marking the occasion, before Walter was taken on tour of the school by Gordon Fruish.

He said ‘The school has changed a fair bit. This is the first time I have set foot inside the building since retiring. There are still some familiar faces though. I have really enjoyed coming back.’

With a slight smile Mr. Roy commented to headmaster Ronnie Summers ‘I can’t be too bad at recruiting, you’ve got 20 years out of this lad!’

The visit brought Mr. Robertson’s journey in school’s football full circle and with his current squad winning the league championship, it has concluded a very memorable season.