Bathgate soon found themselves dogged by financial problems, however. In 1924, junior club Larkhall Thistle brought a case against Bathgate for poaching their players, as the junior clubs resented the fact senior clubs could take their players without adequate compensation. Finances were further damaged by the severe downturn in gates during the 1926 miners strike. All of the West Lothian league clubs were made unsustainable by the decline of the local coal and shale oil industries. Bathgate resigned from the league in March 1929.