EARLY DAYS

HOME GAME v DEVERONVALE FC
SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN  – SATURDAY 6 AUGUST 2022 – KO 3pm

This week we welcome Deveronvale FC to Grantown for a Breedon Highland League match knowing that the corresponding fixture last season ended in a 1-1 draw so hopefully this match will be as keenly contested. Much like ourselves last season The Vale had a decent start but finished in 14th, two places above us.  After a good home win against Lossiemouth last week, they will be hoping they can continue.
We had a disappointing game against Formartine.  We had a pretty good first half but things fell apart in the second and conceding two penalties did not help. There were signs that there was more cohesion but I reckon over the past couple of seasons if the first half finished five minutes earlier and the second half started five minutes later we could have been a lot further up the league!!
As ever we hope to see many ‘Vale supporters at Seafield Park and hope they enjoy their visit to Grantown and it’s a good game …..but… let’s hope there’s not too much enjoyment and The Jags can collect their first three points of the 2022/2023 season.

Ben Cullen

It was good to see new signing Ben Cullen in his first Highland League outing for us scoring our goal against Formartine last Saturday – hopefully the first of many – Ben wasn’t available for our last home match against Forres but should be available for his home debut tomorrow.


On a European scale everyone at Strathspey Thistle would like to congratulate England on winning UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Tournament at Wembley beating Germany 2-1.  Let’s hope that Scotland can join them if they can both qualify for next years FIFA World Cup to be played in Australia and New Zealand. At the moment both teams are guaranteed at least the play-offs.

As ever a quick promo for the Club Lottery – the jackpot this week stands at £4,600 – to play online click here and thank you.

CLIVE’S NEWSLETTER – JULY 2022

July 2: The Strathy Jags played their first pre-season game against Nairn County under 20’s at Nairn High School and got the new season underway with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Fraser Russell and, on his debut for the club, Ben Cullen.

July 4: 18 year old striker Dylan Lawrence from Elgin City, who was with us on loan for part of last season and scheduled to be with us up to the end of this year, has been recalled by his club and has been added to their first team squad for that start of this season. He scored four goals in 12 first-team starts and also three substitute appearances. We wish him well and hope he makes their starting XI.

July 7: Our first home game of the season tonight and we welcomed everyone connected to the Strathspey and Badenoch Welfare Football Association to Seafield Park. In a competitive and entertaining game the Strathy Jags were winners 5-1. We thank everyone connected with the Welfare for the hard work they put in to get the game played and hope it becomes a feature of each pre-season in the future. 

July 9: For the first time in three years we were able to hold ‘The Jags’ Golf Day at Grantown-On-Spey Golf Club and with good weather it was a success and enjoyed by everyone who travelled from far and wide to take part. As life returns slowly to normal let us work towards making the tournament at GGC a regular date in the diary.

July 16: The Jags were due to play Nairn Saints at Showfield Park, Nairn but the game was cancelled at the last moment as ‘Saints’ had a shortage of players. The team’s last pre-season game is scheduled for Tuesday July 19 against St Duthus FC, of the North Caledonian League, at Grant Park, Tain. 

July 18: Back page article in the Press & Journal by Paul Third on ‘an exciting season for the best league in Scottish football’. The arrival of Banks o’ Dee to join Brechin City, Buckie Thistle, Brora Rangers and last season’s Champions Fraserburgh should ensure an exciting title race, not forgetting outsiders Rothes, Formartine United and Inverurie Locos.  The big question he poses is who will replace Fort William at the bottom. He thinks it is between the Strathy Jags and Deveronvale. We will have to see about that.

July 19: Tonight’s game at St. Duthus has been postponed which is again very disappointing but some good news on the players front. We have signed former Clachnacuddin, Loch Ness and Rothes striker, 29 year old Alan Kerr. Welcome to Grantown.

July 20: Two more signings three days before the new season starts. Welcome to 21-year-old forward Thomas McInnes and 24-year-old midfielder Darren Brew. Darren is with us on loan for a month and if all goes well we have an option to make the deal permanent. He spent last season with Fort William. He played 31 games and scored one goal. Boss Charlie is pleased with his three new signings but is hoping to add one, maybe two new signings in the upcoming days.

July 23:Always an exciting time for any football fan is the start of the new season but for Strathspey it was anything but. It was a really bad day at the office for all concerned with Forres worthy 4-0 winners even though they played for over half a game with ten men. Callum Murray scored a hat-trick and Ben Barron the other, three minutes before full time. New starters for Strathspey were Oliver Kelly, Stephen Kelly, James Fraser, Darren Brew, Thomas McInnes and Alan Kerr. 

Midweek action on July 27th when Golspie Sutherland are our visitors in the North of Scotland Cup.

July 27: An early morning phone call informed us that Golspie had withdrawn from the competition so we now travel on August 17 to meet Brora Rangers in the next round.

July 28: 21-year-old local lad, defender Liam Grant has joined the club from Boat of Garten Ospreys. To make it an even better day 26-year-old Connor McLeod, also a defender, has joined the club from Boat of Garten Ospreys too. He is also from Grantown and we all wish them well in their careers. More signings are coming!

July 29: Pleased to announce the return to the club on loan, until January 2023, of striker Liam Taylor. He was with us from July 2019 to May 2021

July 30: Before leaving for the long trip to Formartine we were pleased to confirm the arrival of 19-year-old defender Stephen Kelly. He has spent time with Clachacuddin and Ross County. The game at North Lodge Park proved to be a tale of two halves. 
Another early goal on four minutes for Formartine was disappointing but the team played their way back into the game with a goal from Ben Cullen on 33 minutes, his first competitive strike for the Jags. 

The game was evenly balanced but a goal just before half time proved to be the turning point. Formartine added four further goals to run out winners 6-1, two from the penalty spot. 

Home Games in August

Saturday 6 v Deveronvale

Saturday 20 v Fraserburgh

Saturday 27 v Wick Academy

Click on the logo and play our Club Lottery online

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE –  AWAY MATCH
v FORMARTINE UNITED FC – SATURDAY 30 JULY 2022  – Kick Off 3pm

 North Lodge Park, Pitmedden,  AB41 7PA

Well…. the long and winding road for the 2022-2023 season starts here and off we go on our first away visit of the season to Aberdeenshire to Pitmedden, and the formidable Formartine United FC – it’ll not be an easy game by any means but we hope that there will be little more cohesion than last Saturday, when we lost to Forres – personally, I think it showed that the lack games in pre-season was a major factor. As we illustrated last week, roughly 3/4 of the signed players this time last year have moved on.
We can look forward to seeing our friends in Pitmedden and hope that former Jags striker Scott Lisle has a quiet game.

Thanks to the The Ball-Gatherers …

The first game of our league campaign against Forres was very disappointing especially as we had attracted a large crowd – thanks everyone for coming along and we hope to see you again very soon.
We also had for the first time at a Highland League match, courtesy of Strathspey Rovers FC – ball gatherers – and they were kept busy retrieving footballs from the adjoining properties – thanks go to John Paterson and team for organising. 

Six of the new faces in Jags shirts last Saturday : l to r top – Assistant Manager Mark Holmes, goalie Olly Kelly and James “Fellaini” Fraser : bottom row Darren Brew, local lad Thomas McInnes and striker Allan Kerr.

Congratulations go to debutant Darren Brew who was named “Cairngorm Gin Man of the Match” after Saturdays’ game against Forres Mechanics. Voting was by another of our sponsors MKM, who had booked a hospitality package and we hope that they thoroughly enjoyed their day and hope to see them back again soon……despite the score.  


NEW SIGNING – OWEN LOVELAND

Owen Loveland

We are delighted to announce the loan signing of Owen from Elgin City. Owen is a player we have admired for along time and can’t wait to get him in and involved.
Strathspey Thistle would like to thank Elgin City FC for allowing this to happen.


The Club held it’s AGM last Monday night – there were no changes to personnel – so as we always say if you have a few spare hours a week and you love your football and wish to give the committee a helping hand sometime, please do – you’ll be very welcome.


It is customary to inform you that this week’s lottery jackpot is £4,500.00 – please play online here – and as ever thank you very much for your generosity.

STOP PRESS – GAME OFF!! GAME OFF!!

Unfortunately last evening we were informed by the Highland Football League that tonight’s North of Scotland Cup tie at Seafield Park, Grantown is cancelled and the game forfeited by our opponents Golspie Sutherland FC.
Obviously we are very disappointed as everyone at STFC was looking forward to the match and we apologise if you were hoping to attend too.

This means we now go to Brora Rangers FC on Wednesday August 17 for the next round tie – KO 8pm.

START ME UP!

BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE MATCH V FORRES MECHANICS FC
SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN – SATURDAY 23 JULY 2022 – K.O. 3PM

Well Jags fans – here it is – a brand new season full of hope and the prospect of a successful season all the way through until April 2023.

Jags fans at the ready for another season….

We welcome Forres Mechanics, known as the Can-Cans, to Seafield Park and we know very well that it will be a tough match although we did manage a victory in the corresponding fixture last season, arguably our best performance in 2022. There are one or two faces in the Forres squad which will be instantly recognisable by Jags fans and we hope that on their return they manage to leave the three points behind….
We also welcome the Forres fans who always turn up in large numbers – which we thank them for – and hope it’ll be a great game to kick-off the season….
For more spectator information – click here

Seafield Park all ready for the 2022-2023 season

The pitch is looking fantastically good but the recent very hot weather and lack of rain has resulted in some slightly burnt patches but that, hopefully, should not cause the players any problems.
Looking back at the photo gallery of players this time last year, shows a multitude of changes with nine players no longer at the club, but a few familiar faces are still here which is great, along with a few new ones. 
We welcome Ben Cullen, James Fraser, Ollie Kelly,  Alan Kerr, Boat of Garten’s very own Thomas McInnes and, signed yesterday on loan from Fort William, Darren Brew and wish them all the very best and success for The Jags this season.
Hopefully I am going to try and feature individually the playing squad and the management team over the season on the website.

It’s always exciting at this time of the year as no one knows what the future will bring, everyone has high hopes and are raring to go – so we wish Charlie and the team all the very best for the weeks and months ahead.  

Forever changes – the way of the football world these days.


DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 

Wednesday July 27 – 8pm (H) Golspie Sutherland FC 
Saturday July 30 – 3pm (A) Formartine FC
Saturday August 6 – 3pm (H) Deveronvale 
Saturday August 13 – 3pm (A) Buckie Thistle FC
Saturday August 20 – 3pm (H) Fraserburgh FC

After Forres, over the next month or so we have a North of Scotland Cup tie at Seafield Park on Wednesday night (27 July) KO 8pm against Golspie Sutherland FC from the North Caledonian League.
The away games are with Formartine and last years runners up Buckie Thistle and home games with Deveronvale and last years League Champions Fraserburgh – all games Club Captain James McShane will probably miss as he is not available due to new work commitments.


CLUB LOTTERY

Sunday sees the weekly draw of our Club Lottery and as ever if you want to play online – play here – and have a chance of winning – this week the jackpot has reached £4,400….


BRICK BY BRICK

From Vice-Chairman Ian S. Anderson :

Good morning Jags fans.
We are delighted to announce another new club sponsor ahead of our upcoming season. We have partnered up with local business MKM Building Supplies – Aviemore. Many thanks must go to Steven McRitchie and Alan Carson for allowing this to happen. Steven and Alan had this to say on the new partnership.

“MKM are proud and delighted to be in partnership with Strathspey Thistle FC for season 2022/2023 and hopefully many seasons ahead”
” It was great to hear that Strathspey Thistle FC are looking to developing their own local talent to build solid foundations for the future and that very much lined up with MKM’s policy of what we intend to do in the local area within our customer base also””
We wish Strathspey Thistle FC every success for the season ahead.”

Everyone at the club can’t thank the new and existing sponsors enough because without them it would not be possible to function. If any potential new sponsors would like to get involved please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Once again we thank Alan and Steven at MKM for their support. It is very much appreciated and hope this is a relationship that can grow and be in place for many years to come.

Keep a lookout for some more exciting news to come over the next few days !!.

LtoR: MKM’s, Steven McRitchie and ST Chairman Donly McLeod

INAUGURAL FIXTURE BETWEEN THE JAGS AND A STRATHSPEY & BADENOCH WELFARE SELECT – Seafield Park 7 JULY 2022

Both squads line up for a historical photo before kick-off at last night’s game

With the Jags deservedly winning the game 5 -1 everyone seemed to enjoy the evening and there was great support for both teams – although the loudest cheer came in the dying minutes when the Welfare select finally scored – as they had had a few chances throughout the game.

Ben Cullen goes close for The Jags
Half time entertainment was provided by a penalty shoot-out by Strathspey Rovers u-14s
The penalty takers – our thanks to Strathspey Rovers…

There were so many good things happening last night that the future looks very bright for football in our community.
We would like to thank everyone who made this possible and for everyone who came along – we’ll hopefully see you soon at a Highland League game to cheer on The Jags.


The focus now moves about 100 meters away from Seafield Park to Grantown-on-Spey Golf Club and our annual Golf Day fundraiser – in advance The Club would like to thank everyone involved in the running of the golf day – it is a major source of income to the club and is very important to it. We wish all participants in the 18-hole Texas Scramble all the best and have an enjoyable day.

Murdie’s View – the famous 9th hole at Grantown-on-Spey Golf Club

And….as is the traditional finish please if you want to try your luck at our Club Lottery please play here.…this weeks jackpot is £4,200.00. Good luck!

CHEERS (DRINK TO THAT)

We are delighted to announce our latest new club sponsor, The Cairngorm Gin Company. We are very excited about this new partnership and we thank local businessman Jack Smith for allowing this to happen. It means a lot to the club to have the support and backing of successful local businesses.

Jack has a long history with the club and had this to say on the new partnership.
“I’m delighted to announce Cairngorm Gin as a new sponsor of Strathspey Thistle Football Club, it’s great to be in a position to give something back to the club as a former player in the youth squad. Here’s to the season that lies ahead!”


Tonight we are delighted to host a Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare FA Select in a preseason friendly. Hopefully the first of what would be a great annual fixture.

This is set to be a great evening for all involved and also the community.
We look forward to hopefully seeing a good crowd to support the two local teams and make it any enjoyable night.

19.30 KO
Venue- Seafield Park
Entry – Donations Bucket

Seafield Park, 7 July 2022 – looking fantastic and ready for tonight’s game.

THE CAPTAIN

We are delighted to announce the permanent signing of James McShane on a new 2 year deal as well as James receiving his Testimonial year this coming season. This is a major achievement for the local loon. The club feels this is only but right as he has given everything to the club and more.

Manager Charlie Brown had this to say on the club securing James’s signature.
“Delighted that James has agreed to commit to us for another 2 years. James has been a vital part of our team for many years now, a captain and a leader on the park and in the dressing room, a managers dream to have players like him on the park and around the club. James has many admirers around the league and that just shows how his ability stands out during games. 
Off the park he is a perfect professional who works tirelessly on his fitness, and is a well known face in the community”

Stay tuned for some more news to come over the next few weeks regarding James’s Testimonial Year

GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS

Following on from our winning start, in our pre-season friendlies, with a 2-0 win against Nairn County under20s – a goal each from Joe Cuthbert and new signing Ben Cullen

Ben Cullen

– it is with great pleasure we introduce this Thursday’s game at Seafield Park KO 7.30pm – perhaps it could be an annual fixture.

From Ritchie Sons Facebook page

Strathspey Thistle In The Community…… wee exciting announcement (well, I think it is)
Pre-season friendly match, Strathspey Thistle v Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare Association Select, Thursday 7th July, Seafield Park, Grantown, 7:30pm kick off….. please try and come along and support both teams as we bring the local football clubs together to celebrate football in the community.

Young players from Strathspey Rovers and Aviemore Active Schools football teams will join in the fun by taking part in a half time penalty competition….

Hope to see you there on the night…

Should be good fun….Admission fee will be a donation at the gate.

CLIVE’S NEWSLETTER – JUNE 2022

June 3rd    Assistant Manager Steve Rattray has left the club to take the Manager’s position at Dufftown FC who play in the first division of the North region McBookies.com league. We wish him well in his new post. Vice Chairman Ian S Anderson and Team Manager Charlie Brown had a successful meeting tonight and we will have a Sports Therapist in place to start the season. This will cover first-aid and physio requirements on matchdays.

June 6th   Brian Ritchie has returned to the club as Head of Football Development and will work with Team Manager Charlie Brown and Vice Chairman Ian S Anderson.

June 8th   Mark Holmes has joined the club as assistant manager. Mark, aged 46, is from Inverness and played in the Highland League for Clachnacuddin, Nairn, Forres Mechanics and Buckie Thistle. He has also played in the Scottish league for Inverness Caley Thistle, Ross County and Falkirk and for two seasons in Brisbane, Australia. He currently runs the Mark Holmes International Football Academy coaching kids aged 3 to 19. Welcome Mark.

June 9th   Our goalkeeper Michael MacCallum has signed a contract extension with The Jags until June 30, 2023.

June 11th We welcome striker Ben Cullen who has joined us from Dufftown FC. Ben is 31 and last season in the North Region of the McBookie.com First Division he scored 35 goals from 29 appearances.

Ben with team manager Charlie

June 15thThe article 99 Arbitration Tribunal involving Fort William FC and The Highland Football League will take place on Monday June 20, 2022. After the hearing we should have a clearer idea when the 2022/2023 fixtures will be published.

June 20th The 99 Arbitration Tribunal announced that they would meet again on Wednesday June 22 at 18.00.

June 23rdFort William’s appeal against Highland League relegation thrown out. Fixtures for the new season have now been published and The Jags open the season at home to Forres Mechanics on Saturday July 23 and are on the road to Formartine on Saturday July 30.

June 26thA boost for the new season was the news that our Captain, James McShane, had signed a contract extension until June 30, 2024. James who is 27 signed his first professional contract with The Jags on February 8, 2013. This upcoming season will be his Testimonial year. May it be a good one.

June 28thThe draw for the first round of the North of Scotland Cup has been made and the Jags have been drawn at home to Golspie Sutherland from the North Caledonian League. The tie is to be played on Wednesday July 27 with the kick off at 20:00. The winners will travel to Brora Rangers on Wednesday August 17.

Jackpot this week is £4100.00