Seldom, if ever, do the Black and Gold enter the wider consciousness. Like any other club, their identity is bound up with that of the local geography. At present they can compete with Montrose or Stirling Albion, or hope for another historic day against Celtic or Rangers in the cup, but in England they would probably be playing teams like South Shields. The unique history of the town plays a part in their participation in Scotland, but above all the arrangement just makes logistical sense.
Berwick-upon-Tweed is located at the tip of Northumberland, the most sparsely populated county in England. This isolation cuts to the core of Berwick Rangers. The surrounding area is scenic, but nearby towns are few and far between. As is usually the case with tribalism, such differences can be arbitrary, diminished over time or overstated in the first place. In one respect, however, Berwick remains feared as an attacking force on foreign fields. Berwick Rangers boast the best away record in the Scottish Third Division - but one of the worst at home, on the English soil of Shielfield.
It may be mere coincidence, but all except one of their players happen to be Scots living north of the border. Their manager, Paul Smith, is Scottish too. He lives in Edinburgh, where the squad meet to train twice a week. If that were to happen Ray Dixon's bedroom window, in Shielfield Terrace, would no longer look out over the goal into which Sammy Reid struck the giant-slaying winner against Glasgow Rangers 32 years ago.
Not that he would be guaranteed to notice. As chairman of the Berwick branch of the Manchester United Supporters Club, he spends his Saturdays far from the maddeningly low crowds average on his backdoor step.
It's in my blood. I've followed Man U since Other Berwickers have got away too. Trevor Steven was a ball-boy at Shielfield in the s. Steven, as it happens, was a member of the last England team who ventured north of the border - to the ground his home-town team visit the week after Alan Shearer and Co.
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