AWAY MATCH v ROTHES FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE MACKESSACK PARK, ROTHES, AB38 7RU WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2023 – KO 8pm
We’re off down the A95 to a floodlit meeting with our fellow Speysiders in a Breedon Highland League match which was originally meant to have been played on December 27. Similar to last Saturday, the weather intervened and the game was postponed. Rothes currently sit in seventh place in the league and come off a good result against Forres last weekend.
Most of the Jags squad are all fine for selection and the Rothes game, normally, is a hard fought and entertaining one with the usual jovial banter from both sets of supporters.
This will be our new manager Robert MacCormack’s first game in full charge – it should have been last Saturday’s home match against Huntly. The home fans will now have to wait till Wednesday March 8 to see the Jags in action at home again, with the rescheduled Huntly match (8pm KO). This is followed on the Saturday(11th) by another home match, this time against Keith FC – usual KO 3pm – two dates for the diary, both games look very interesting……
There will be more about Robert in the Brora preview on Friday….
PHYSIOTHERAPIST REQUIRED
The Club are wondering if there are any qualified physios or persons undergoing physio training who would be able to join the club – we very much appreciate that perhaps the commitment of every Saturday between July and April is very daunting, but at a recent STFC committee meeting it was discussed that perhaps it could be carried out as a “job-share” – i.e. if a few interested parties offered themselves then perhaps a rota system could be put in place. So, if you, or someone you know would be interested in having a chat about joining us please contact our Secretary Clive on wolstc@aol.com – Thank you in advance.
ROB’S TALK
We seem to have a proliferation of Roberts now at the club…….this time it’s the turn of Club historian Rob Clark, and his talk last Friday, on the history of football in Grantown from the 1870’s till the 1940’s.
Rob Clark during his talk on the History of Grantown Football
One of the gems from his talk was that in the late 1880’s – early 1890’s the first football club formed in Grantown was……Strathspey Thistle! No records of them feature after that until the current Jags were formed on the 18 April1993… although there have been numerous other differently monikered Grantown teams over the years – it was all really fascinating stuff…and his book on the subject will be published August / September this year….
9.15 am – Seafield Park, Saturday 18 February 2023
As you can see Seafield Park has succumbed to Winter with Mother Nature, and the conditions have, unfortunately, forced us to postpone our Breedon Highland League match against Huntly which was meant to have kicked off today at 3pm. It is such a disappointment as it would have been new manager Robert MacCormack’s first game in charge and everyone at the Club was, as usual, really looking forward to the game.
Robert and the team’s thoughts now turn to Wednesday night and an away match against Rothes FC at Mackessock Park – KO 8pm.
By the way, there was an excellent and very positive interview with Robert in yesterday’s Press & Journal.
from The Press & Journal – Friday 17 February 2023
HOME MATCH v HUNTLY FC SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN, PH26 3HY BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2023 – KO 3pm
The new gaffer, Robert MacCormack
WELL IT’S BEEN QUITE A WEEK
Robert MacCormack takes his place in the home team dug out on Saturday for the first time as our new manager. Everyone at the Club is delighted and we all hope that Robert and his assistants can take the club to a higher competitive level. He is already planning for next year and how he hopes to lead the Club on a more successful path.
Hopefully we will still be in the Highland League – I think we have resigned ourselves to the fact that we’re not going to win the league this year – but everyone at the Club are aware of the future difficulties that could face us, but we are all very positive and upbeat for the future.
On behalf of the Club can we take this opprtunity to thank the interim management team of Brian Ritchie and Craig Ireland, who stepped in very quickly, and, have done a great job for the club – and I suspect will be available to liaise with Robert, especially in the immediate future.
Another piece of positive news is that interim assistant manager Craig Ireland has joined the committee. This follows two more new members Alan McKenzie and Rob Clark who joined last week.
SATURDAY’S MATCH
This week we host Huntly FC and their fine supporters at Seafield Park, and with a kick off at the more normal time of 3pm. Huntly, currently sit in tenth position on twenty-eight points – three of them from a recent home win against title contenders Buckie Thistle – but generally their away form has not been as good as their home form, so hopefully, if we can put in the effort and guile that we did a couple of weeks ago against Nairn, it should be a good game and we can perhaps add some pointage to our league tally.
If any of the Huntly supporters haven’t been to Grantown click here for more information about the amenities available.
Robbie Flett – First Team Coach
ROBBIE FLETT
….and there’s more good news as Robbie Flett has been appointed First Team Coach. Robbie has been associated with the Jags for many’s a year and its an appointment well deserved. Again it’s onwards and upwards for the Club….
FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY – HISTORY OF FOOTBALL IN GRANTOWN
As part of the Grantown Society’s series of talks, this month it’s the turn of the aforementioned committee member and Strathspey Thistle’s club historian, Rob Clark.
Rob will be telling us all about the history of the game and the people involved, research he has been carrying out in preparation of the book that will be published hopefully towards the end of the year. I know it will exceptionally interesting for us football fans. See you there.
THE CLUB’S FUNDRAISING LOTTO
So as we finish this week’s post, as ever, can we offer you the prospect of winning the jackpot of £3300 in our fundraising Club Lotto – please click here to play online – thank you very much for your support.
All we need to do now is to wish Robert, Robbie and the boys all the best for Saturday and beyond……
Robert MacCormack has been appointed full time manager of Strathspey Thistle Football Club.
Robert, who was appointed assistant manager last week, was offered the manager’s job after impressing over the past couple of weeks. The Club have recognised Robert’s potential as manager and have made the decision to give him the job.
Robert’s first game in charge will be Saturday’s home match against Huntly and he will continue liaising with Strathspey Thistle’s Head of Football Development, Brian Ritchie, a partnership which will benefit the club tremendously.
Robert will now also be able to start preparing for next season and take in or release players as he sees fit, and have a basis of a squad ready for a good pre-season and, hopefully, a more successful Highland League campaign for the 23/24 season.
Strathspey Thistle are delighted that Robert has accepted the role and look forward to a very positive working relationship for the future.
AWAY MATCH v INVERURIE LOCO WORKS FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE HARLAW PARK, INVERURIE AB51 6AN SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY KO – 2pm
Well, it’s off down the A95 and A96 and the sixty three miles to Inverurie for this weeks Breedon Highland League match kick off 3pm at Harlaw Park. Inverurie have a had a wee dip in form recently with some up and down performances and results after a relatively good start to the season – but they are still in sixth place in the league so they’ve obviously doing something right. In our home match in September the score was 2-2 so hopefully we’ll be coming back up the road with at least one point, especially after The Jags drawing against Nairn County last week.
REMEMBER THIS IS A 2pm KICK OFF
Speaking of last week’s game at Seafield Park in front of a healthy attendance, The Jags had one of their best performances for a long time. Everyone played their part in what turned into a fiesty competitive match. With James Kendall making a very impressive debut in goals, The Jags took the lead with Daniel Whitehorn scoring from the edge of the penalty box early in the second half and this led to a nervous half hour from the Jags fans. It could have been two but Ross Logan was denied a penalty when he was brought down by the Nairn keeper – well Jags fans thought so – and a much debated corner led to Nairn scrambling an equaliser in the 87th minute. Nairn had the bulk of the pressure in the second half so a draw was probably just about right…..but the home fans were very pleased with their team’s performance and the hope is that this is the beginning of more consistent and hard working performances.
ROBERT MACCORMACK
Taking his place in the home team’s dug out for the first time was our new Assistant Manager Robert MacCormack. robert, who had a very impressive time as manager of Alness United in the North Caledonian League, was delighted with the performance although as is always he says improvements will made…. More from Robert in the coming weeks.
NEW SIGNINGS
Also making this debut on Saturday was James Kendall, who put in a very good and steady performance but, due to committments made before signing, he’ll not be available for a couple of weeks. So, with Michael MacCallum still working away, we welcome back Olly Kelly between the posts, who’s loan deal from Elgin City was interrupted by having to return to his parent club for cover after one of the Elgin keepers were injured.
We have also recruited from interim manager Brian Ritchie’s Strathspey Thistle in Community team striker/forward Rory McKinnon so we welcome them all and wish them all the best.
Goalkeeper James KendallOlly Kelly – returned from back from Elgin CityRory McKinnon
NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS
We welcome Alan McKenzie and Rob Clark to the committee.
Alan McKenzie at last week’s pitch-fix
Alan arrived in Grantown last April with his wife, daughter and grand-daughter after many years in the the south of England running a successful property business. He quickly became a fixture at our home games and has been helping us out with pitch repairs after every home game – so Alan will be a great asset to the club.
Rob Clark
Rob needs no introduction as his role as Club Historian has been mentioned a few times and as a stalwart of the local branch of the Royal British Legion for many years. Rob is giving an eagerly anticipated talk on the history of Grantown football and it’s place in world football a week Friday (17 February) at the Grant Arms Hotel, here in Grantown…see you all there!
THIS WEEK’S STRATHY
We sent a letter to our local and very supportive newspaper this week outlining the strife that comes with a small local professional football team based in the north-east Scottish Highlands.
It reads……
Dear Sir May I take this opportunity through the “Strathy” to thank everyone who continues to help in the running of Strathspey Thistle – from loyal fans to our main sponsors. We’d also like to thank the Strathy for it’s continued support. As anyone who is interested in the Highland League will know we have not had the best of seasons so far, but big changes have taken place and there is a more positive outlook. There was a feeling last summer amongst the committee that we would like to try and encourage more local involvement, especially on the playing side, and the appointment of Brian Ritchie as Head of Football Development has been instrumental in moving this forward – with Brian’s ‘Strathspey Thistle in the Community’ football team supplying seven signed players who are in the squad this year – four were involved in last Saturday’s excellent draw against ninth place Nairn County. We have also had contact with Strathspey Rovers and hope that more liason between all three clubs will and can only be to everyone’s benefit. For the first time in the Jags dug-out on Saturday was new Assistant Manager Robert MacCormack, whose work with Alness United has been very impressive. A new manager will be confirmed in the next couple of weeks or so, and the club are very positive for the future that things will go well on the park.
However, it’s not only on the park that a football club survives….and Strathspey Thistle over the years has been served by a stalwart bunch of volunteers behind the scenes. The Club are very thankful to them, but as we look to the future we would be very pleased to welcome new help to run the Club – perhaps yourself – or you may know of someone keen on football who would enjoy helping us out on match days, or possibly have a couple of hours to assist with some weekly tasks, or maybe join the committee where their skills could be very much utilised in the running of the Club. We are indebted to our major sponsors Ross at McGowan Environmental Engineering, Steven and Alan at MKM Aviemore and Jon at The Grantown Diner and The Pagoda, because without them we would not be able to exist. We also want to express our gratitude to all the companies and individuals who have an advertising board on the periphery of the pitch at Seafield Park and we also very much appreciate our loyal and dedicated supporters who are at all the home games, and our faithful fund-raising Lottery players. But today’s times are hard as you know, and, if there was anyone willing to help financially or with a sponsorship e.g. an individual player can be sponsored or perhaps,advertise your business with a pitch side ad-board. Financially it would mean so much as players and management wages, energy bills, transport costs and pitch maintainance are all escalating and a small rural Club like Strathspey Thistle suffers substantially more than many of our rivals. Perhaps that all sounds a bit gloomy ……but, there is a a promising future ahead and it would be great if you could be a part of it – whether by buying a fund-raiser lottery ticket online every week or coming along and watching a game or by helping us on a match day – everything is much appreciated.
If you’d be willing to help out please come along on a home match day and talk to one of the committee or phone Club Secretary Clive Wolstenholme on 01479 811334 – thanks.
Our next home game at Seafield Park is on February 18 – a Breedon Highland League match against Huntly FC – maybe see you there.
Yours Strathspey Thistle
LOTTERY FUNDRAISER
As is usual at this time we focus on our fund-raising Club Lottery and your chance of winning the £3200 by playinghere – good luck and see you next week for the preview of our home match against Huntly FC on the 18 February – Huntly are currently in tenth position so it should be a cracker!
HOME MATCH v NAIRN COUNTY FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN PH26 3RH SATURDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2023 – KO 2pm
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A 2PM KICK OFF
This Saturday we welcome from across the Dava Moor, Nairn County FC and their supporters. Nairn are going very well at the moment and are climbing the league after a slowish start, and we are preparing for what will be another tough encounter and no doubt Jags fans will recognise two or three familiar faces in the County ranks. Nairn currently sit in ninth position in the league and hopefully we can do a wee bit better than our last encounter in October when we lost 4-2.
Usually Nairn take a good support with them and for them more information is available click here.
NEW FACES
The Club are delighted to announce that we secured the services of our new Assistant Manager Robert MacCormack, whose work at Alness United has been very impressive, and we warmly welcome him to The Jags. He will make his debut in the dugout alongside our interim management team on Saturday.
As well as our earlier January signings of Ross Logan, Cairn Giles and two loan signings, from our visitors Nairn County, Seamus McConaughy and Rory Williamson, we will be welcoming some more new faces with the recently signed goalkeeper James Kendall, ex Nairn County, and forward Rory Mackinnon and both could also be involved on Saturday. Two more signings brothers Robert and Cameron Breen are unfortunately unable for selection this week but will be available from next week.
STRATHSPEY THISTLE NEEDS YOUR HELP – URGENT HELP REQUIRED
With the recent departure of Vice-Chairman Ian S Anderson due to an ever increasing work schedule, and, having to devote the required time he felt his position in the club required, he thought it was necessary to step down from the committee as well as long serving committee member and kit man Ian B Anderson. The Club would like to thank them very much for all the extremely hard work they have put in over the years and wish them all the best.
However, that now means we have a very much reduced committee and would be delighted to hear from anyone who loves their football and would want to join us, or just to give us a hand on home match days – please come along on a match day you will be very welcome to see the set up, or you can contact at any other time Chairman Donly McLeod (01479 872668) or Secretary Clive Wolstenholme ( 01479 811334) for more information.
….and on the subject of help – as most of us are finding this economic climate a bit challenging the club are no different – energy bills, players wages, referees fees, travelling costs, pitch maintenance etc etc, so, if any local business or person can offer sponsorship or any help financially the Club would be very appreciative indeed.
Although this sounds a bit gloomy, we are as a Club feeling very positive on how our future looks – especially with a very positive and ambitious new management team in the making and all but ready to go, and our recent association with interim manager and our Head of Football Development Brian Ritchie’s local community team which have already supplied some of the current Jags team, there is a lot to look forward to.
Sunny Seafield Park…….STFC v the local Welfare League select last summer
CLUB LOTTERY
Now as ever at this time of the post we offer you the chance of winning this weeks jackpot of £3100 by playing our Club Lottery on line – click here to play. Bon Chance!
3rd After many days of snow, ice and minus temperatures today has been when the thaw began so keep our fingers crossed that the game at Mosset Park Forres will be played.
4th It was confirmed today that the contract of striker Ben Cullen had been cancelled. He is an aircraft engineer based at RAF Lossiemouth and he has been posted to England. We didn’t see the best of Ben after he suffered a bad facial injury in our home game with Deveronvale in August. We wish him well.
5th Confirmation today of the signing until the end of the season of 21-year-old midfielder Cairn Giles. He has had experience with Boat of Garten Ospreys, Cromdale and Spey Valley United.
6th Forres confirm Saturday’s game is on.
7th First game in charge for Brian Ritchie and what a baptism. Again conceding the early goal made life difficult but the team held their own until the break when they went in 2-1 down. Our goal was a shot come cross from Owen Loveland which the Forres keeper turned into his net. This was one of the own goals in the game. The second half saw ‘The Jags’ blown away by the men from Mosset Park. Not the kind of second half showing that Brian expected. Final score 8-1. Brush ourselves down again and prepare for the visit next Saturday of Lossiemouth FC.
14thHome match v Lossiemouth – An exciting game and much improved performance left all Jags fans gutted at the final whistle. Making his debut we welcomed Nathaniel Valente as goalkeeping cover and he was soon in action with a penalty save just five minutes in which gave everyone a massive boost. The first 45 minutes were pretty even with both sides missing chances but it was good to go in at half time with a clean sheet. The second half was also exciting and despite going a goal down on 55 minutes, Jags heads did not drop and instead they took the game to Lossie. Man of the Match Alan Kerr equalised on 75 minutes and the game became end to end. Two quick goals on 89 and 90 gave Lossiemouth a victory but a draw would have been fair. A much improved team performance was also very welcome.
20thA week of very cold days and nights together with some heavy snowfalls in the Grantown area made you wonder if we would make the 135 mile journey northwards to Wick on the A9 tomorrow. The answer was given to us this afternoon after a pitch inspection that there was no prospect of the park being playable. Attention now turns to our visit on the 28th to Glebe Park to face title favourites Brechin City.
26th18 year old Cameron Breen has joined the club until the end of the season. He is a midfielder. Born and raised in South Africa he has now moved to the UK.
28thOne of our longest trips of the season to current league leaders and SHFL title favourites was as daunting a task as it turned out. On the way we stopped at Kellockbank Garden Centre for breakfast. Lovely welcome and good food was a positive way to start the day. Arriving at Glebe Park for a 2pm kick off and our Team Manager had selected Cairn Giles for his debut and he and the other players were soon under the cosh. We conceded our normal very early goal but for the next 35 minutes we competed well but went in at half time down by 2-0. Another very early goal within a minute of the restart knocked the players confidence and Brechin then dominated the rest of the game and ran out winners by 6-0. Now for the long journey home.
30thThe club have made further additions to the playing staff with the registrations of Robert Breen Jnr. and Rory Mackinnon. Robert is a midfielder and has joined his brother Cameron on the staff. Rory is a forward who has played local welfare football with Aviemore Thistle and Nairn St. Ninian.
31stAnother addition to the squad is 31 year old Goalkeeper James Kendall. He has played for Nairn County and Nairn St. Ninian.
AWAY MATCH v BRECHIN CITY FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE GLEBE PARK, TRINITY ROAD, BRECHIN DD9 7BH SATURDAY 28 JANUARY 2023 KO – 2pm
If you are making your way to Brechin for the match please be aware of a 2pm kick off.
Well …..lets hope we’re not singing the soul classic from Johnny Johnston & his Bandwagon on our long way back from Glebe Park this Saturday evening…
As is now, Brechin are sitting second in the Breedon Highland League, only two points behind leaders Buckie Thistle and with two games in hand, which is more or less diametrically opposite to our position – eighteenth out of eighteen!
Early days yet though as we have still thirteen games to play.
Having missed last week’s match owing to snow and ice on the Wick Academy pitch, Thistle caretaker manager Brian Richie says in this week’s local paper “The Strathy” that the Jags can’t realistically expect to get too much out of Saturday’s match as Brechin are proving weekly they are an excellent team, especially at home, but as long as the Thistle boys give 100% and play for the jersey such as we did in our last game, the management team will be content with the progress we are hopefully beginning to make.
CLUB LOTTERY
The jackpot has reached £3000 and if you wish to take part and buy a ticket online please click here and you will be taken to the webpage.
That’s all this week sportsfans – back next week with the preview of our next home game on 4 February with the very much in-form Nairn County…
AWAY MATCH v WICK ACADEMY FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE HARMSWORTH PARK, WICK, KW1 5NH SATURDAY 21 JANUARY 2023 – KO 3pm
It wasn’t madness that some clever person invented the NC500. On Saturday, The Jags will be on the team bus travelling the A9 – the part of the NC500 between Inverness and Wick This is one of the longer journeys we make – approx 135 miles and upwards of 3 hours – on a good day – and then do it all again for the way home – but Wick are doing this every other week…so no more moaning!
,Having put in a strong performance last week against Breedon Highland League leaders Buckie Thistle, the Scorries will be ready to face a rejuvenated Jags. We also put in a decent performance last Saturday against Lossiemouth – losing 3-1 with Lossie scoring two in the last minutes – most spectators thought a draw would have been a far fairer result. Wick Academy sit in twelfth position in the league – fourteen points ahead of us – so lets hope at five o’clock on Saturday its only eleven.
BAD WEATHER As I write this there is about twenty cms of snow on Seafield Park and with all the bad weather going about if you are planning travelling to the game please check our social media pages – Facebook and Twitter for up to date information – and a safe journey!
LAST WEEK MOTM
MOTM against Lossiemouth
Congratulations are due to the Cairngorm Gin MAN OF THE MATCH Award from last week’s encounter with Lossiemouth – Alan Kerr. Alan, who joined last summer, has played all his matches as centre forward but the interim management team must have seen something in training last week as he took the field as centre HALF ! Watching him you would have thought he had played there all his life ……and I would imagine he will be at the back again this week….honourable mention was our stand-in keeper from Alness, Nat Valente who’s first job was to save a penalty in the first five minutes…and continued to have a really good game. As Mike McCallum is unavailable again this week, I would imagine Nat will be back between the sticks.
LOTTERY
As is usual in this part of the weekly JagsWeb production, we entice you to have a go in the weekly Club Lottery game – this week’s jackpot is £2900 and to play click here.
DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
Club Historian Rob Clark
Friday 17 February – 7.30pm Grant Arms Hotel…..Club historian Rob Clark will be giving a talk all about the history of football in Grantown.
HOME MATCH v LOSSIEMOUTH FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN, PH26 3HF SATURDAY 14 JANUARY 2023 – KO 3pm
Leaving the silver sands of Lossiemouth behind them, the town’s football team head towards Grantown’s Seafield Park on Saturday afternoon and a Breedon Highland League clash with the Jags – our second league meeting of the season – please note it is a 3pm kick off this weekend. Both teams had very disappointing results last week and will be striving to get back to a winning game mentality. Lossie currently sit in 15th place in the league with sixteen points.
When interviewed by our local paper The Strathy, with regards to last weeks game against Forres Mechanics, Jags interim manager Brian Ritchie was not at all happy complaining bitterly about the attitude of the team after the break. It was a very disappointing second half performance after being very much in the game at half time – an attitude hopefully to be improved greatly this week. Lossie won their home fixture in August against us – let’s hope we can match that and keep the three points at Seafield Park.
Goalmouth action from the last time Lossiemouth FC visited Grantown in August 2021 – a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then!!
We usually welcome a good turnout of Lossiemouth supporters and if any of them want to find out more about Grantiown click here
THE JAGS ARE LOOKING FOR A NEW MANAGER
As advertised in our Facebook and Twitter pages and as well as in some printed publications we are in the hunt for a new manager. Applications for the position of Team Manager are now invited. Any interested parties please contact : strathspeythistlefc@highlandleague.com and/or Ian Anderson – ST Vice Chairman 07876025538
CLUB SPONSORS
MKM – the UK’s largest independent builder’s merchants, and one of our major sponsors, are celebrating opening their 100th branch nationwide by “The 100 Good Deeds Campaign” throughout the UK. The Aviemore branch will be taking part and will be supporting the Aviemore British Legion’s local community involvement. – the full story is in this weeks Strathy –
CLUB LOTTERY
As ever we finish with offering you a chance at winning £2800 in the Club Lottery which will be drawn on Sunday night – play here.
