The club played its first match at the juvenile level on 18 October 1913 on the Links against Montrose Harp, which ended in a 3–3 draw thanks to a hat-trick by Roselea's captain, Dickson.

Club officials announced that they planned switch to junior football on 13 September 1930 during a fundraising ceremony at the Drill Hall in Arbroath presided over by Sir Robert Hutchison.

[3] Gordon Smith, future Scotland, Hibs, Hearts, and Dundee star, played twice for the Lea in May 1939 when he was just aged 15, scoring a hat-trick in his trial match against Blairgowrie United.

In the fifth round the Lea beat fellow Angus side, Forfar West End, in a replay at Strathmore Park to secure a place in the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

The club hope to compete in the now predominantly Tayside-based Midlands Football League (also in the Scottish sixth tier) from the 2023–24 season onwards.