AWAY MATCH v BUCKIE THISTLE FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE VICTORIA PARK BUCKIE AB56 1BJ WEDNESDAY 13 AUGUST 2025 – KICK OFF 8PM
After enduring the high winds at home on Saturday afternoon we are back on the bus and heading to Buckie’s Victoria Park – home of the 23/24 Highland League champions and our match against Buckie Thistle. Keen readers will know that two local lads don the Buckie jersey, top scorer Josh Peters and ace defender Sam Morrison, who spent half of last year on loan with The Strathy Jags, part of his recuperation from injury. Buckie have maximum points from their four games played this season so it’s going to be a tough evening but one that we are more matched to, than perhaps, in previous years according to many observers.
As I have not heard to the contrary gaffer Ryan Esson has more or less a full squad to pick from, but I would imagine there will probably be some rotation as we have mid-week games in front of us until round about mid-September.
LAST SATURDAY’S MATCH v BANKS O’DEE
Unfortunately the only real winner on Saturday was the weather – although the clouds were punctured intermittently with sun, the swirling wind made it difficult for both teams and it was difficult to see if any had an advantage in either half. Although Banks o’Dee were possibly the better team overall it was not, in the eyes of the Jags’ supporters at least, a 3-0 game.
Danny Gillan in the Jags’ goal was the busier of the two keepers in the early stages of the first half pulling off a couple of excellent saves, but the Jags were denied what looked like a stonewall penalty when Shaun Morrison was felled by the Dee’s keeper Daniel Hoban so it remained all square at the interval.
The Jags on the attack ……..the pic also shows our brand new nets…!!
After the break Dee’s Joe McCabe had a goal disallowed which was shortly followed by a superb Jags’ move which was denied by Hoban from a close range Daniel Whitehorn shot. Banks o’Dee took the lead on seventy-nine minutes to break the deadlock, followed ten minutes later when Gilmour finished off a slick move to make it two-nil, and almost immediately after the ref awarded Banks o’Dee a soft penalty, especially in the eyes of the Jags’ fans resulting in aa away victory by three goals to nil.
We move on to Buckie.
HALF-TIME RAFFLE
Colin and his winning number
The winner of Saturday’s Half-Time Raffle was Jags’ fan Colin Falconer from Cromdale.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: August dates are as follows Sat 16 Home to Deveronvale FC KO 3pm Weds 20 Away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle (see below) Sat 23 Away to Clachnacuddin FC KO 3pm Sat 30 Home to Formartine United FC KO 3pm
A thousand thanks go to our local Fire Brigade who used part of their normal Monday practice evening in helping us out with some pitch watering after a load of fertiliser had been spread in our attempts to keep Seafield Park as playable as possible, especially after the recent spell of dry weather.
HOME MATCH v BANKS O’DEE FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN-ON-SPEY, PH26 3HE SATURDAY 9 AUGUST 2025 KO 3pm
This Saturday we welcome all the way from the Granite City, players, management and supporters of Banks o’Dee FC. The Dee who finished third in the league last season, have started with two draws and a loss so arrive at Seafield Park, I imagine, wanting to get their first three points of the season, but conversely the Jags want to continue their good start and add more points to the six we already have so it looks as though there’s a cracking game in prospect. If any of the Banks o’Dee travelling support wants a resumé of what is available in Grantown…click here
Head coach Ryan Esson looks as though, he will have more or less a full squad to pick from with Jamie Calder, Daniel Whitehorn, Jordan Laidlaw, James Fraser and Josh Race all returning after missing last week’s encounter at Brechin. Filip Franczak is on the mend after sustaining an ankle injury against Forres Thistle in a pre-season friendly and could also be available but missing is still Ali Morrison.
MATCH v BRECHIN CITY AT GLEBE PARK – SATURDAY 2 AUGUST
We lost, in which will be our last Highland League visit to Glebe Park, and the record books will say it was a 3-0 win for Brechin. However, the Jags’ gaffer Ryan Esson was very pleased with the performance. A sloppy goal, a dubious penalty and Cillian Sheridan goal just before half-time did not tell the whole story of the match as we very much matched Brechin, especially in the second half and an Aaron Doran free kick hitting the bar and a Shaun Morrison effort blocked by the Brechin keeper could have greatly changed the outcome making the last quarter a far different game.
In previous seasons our visits to Glebe Park have not had results we would write home about, with this visit Ryan reckons that the boys have learned that they can compete with the best as Brechin are one of the bookies favourites to win the league – something which bodes well for the Jags’ season ahead.
DATE FOR YOUR DIARY – WEDNESDAY 20 AUGUST In the preliminary round of the North of Scotland Cup on Wednesday night, Inverness Caledonian Thistle defeated Lossiemouth by six goals to nil, and by so doing earn a First Round tie against the Strathy Jags. The game is scheduled for Wednesday 20 August at the Caledonian Stadium but the venue might change – keep a look out on our social media pages for up-to-date information about this.
SPONSORSHIP
Thanks must go to all at MKM, Aviemore for being one of our major sponsors again this season – as we always say we are indebted to all our sponsors without whom there would be no Strathspey Thistle Football Club. THANK YOU.
HOME MATCH HOSPITALITY
PLAYER SPONSORSHIP
For both hospitality and player sponsorship please contact our Commercial Director Laura at :
LOTTERY CH-CH-CHANGES After the current jackpot has been won therefore completing that game, there will be some changes. There will still be a weekly prize of £100 for a consolation winner if their entry matches four of the five numbers drawn, however instead of a weekly increase in the jackpot of £100, this will now be increased monthly. The game is to forecast 5 winning numbers, which are drawn at random, from 1-20. The 5 numbers chosen are to be marked by a cross (X).
The Jackpot prize starts at £1,000 and the game continues until it is won and starts afresh. As applicable, the Jackpot increases by £100 immediately after the first draw in each calendar month, up to a maximum of £5,000. The Jackpot is then capped at £5,000 until it is won in a weekly draw.
If more than one player has 5 winning numbers, the Jackpot will be divided equally among the winning players.
Should no entry forecast all 5 winning numbers, then any player matching 4 numbers will be entered into a draw for a single Consolation Prize of £100.
THE DRAW will take place every SUNDAY at 7pm unless otherwise advised.
The entrant named on the ticket must be at least 16 years of age.
Tuesday 1st: Ross County sent a strong side to Seafield Park for a pre-season friendly against the Jags and showed their quality with a 5-0 victory. Northern Ireland international striker, and reported £1m transfer target, Ronan Hale scored three goals in the second-half in what was a great workout for STFC prior to the new Highland League season.
Ross County’s Keiran Phillips (19) turns away after heading County in front
County take the lead at Seafield Park Writing in the Press & Journal, Paul Chalk commented that: ‘there were several occasions when they asked questions of their higher ranked team and the Jags will be happy with their effort overall, given the opposition’s class.’
Friday 4th: We were drawn away to either Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Lossiemouth in the North of Scotland Cup.
Saturday 5th: Jags player/coach Aaron Doran enjoyed his testimonial match at Caley Thistle, where he made nearly 400 appearances, with the home side taking on Ross County in front of 2,000 fans, including a few STFC committee members. That man Hale was impressive again with both goals in a 2-0 victory for the Dingwall side.
Tuesday 8th: A pre-season friendly at home to Dufftown FC and a 1-0 victory for the Jags although a late second goal was disallowed as a hole in the net fooled the referee into thinking the ball had gone wide of the upright!
Saturday 12th: The weather was kind for our annual Golf Day and our thanks go to everyone involved in making it a great occasion. Full details on our website here.
Fellow Highland League sides Brora Rangers and Brechin City were involved against top-flight clubs in the Premier Sports Cup, Brora doing well to restrict Kilmarnock to a two-goal victory while Falkirk scored seven away to Brechin.
Wednesday 16th: Manager Ryan Esson was pleased to get the signing of Danny Gillan from Brora Rangers over the line, describing the 20-year-old goalkeeper as ‘a top professional and a great character, he’ll bring experience and consistency to our squad.’
Deals were also announced to bring in 18-year-old defenders Ali Morrison and Bailey Black.
Saturday 19th: In our final warm-up ahead of the new season, Forres Thistle were the visitors to Seafield Park and a 5-0 victory for the Jags set us up nicely for the big kick-off. Goals came from Shaun Morrison x 3, Lewis Mackie and Kieran Duffty.
Thursday 24th: Ross County youngsters Jamie Williamson, a midfielder and forward Calum Brown joined on season-long loans to continue the squad strengthening.
Campbell Money, County’s Football Development Director commented: ‘Strathspey Thistle are a progressive Highland League Club, and we feel this agreement aligns with our football development strategy.’
Saturday 26th: Time for the big kick-off of the 2025/26 Highland League season as we entertained Keith at Seafield Park and what a day it was for home supporters as the Jags signalled their intent to improve dramatically on last season’s position. Two Shaun Morrison goals either side of half-time gave the hosts the advantage and any nerves that came about when the visitors halved the deficit with eight minutes remaining were more than eased by a fantastic goal from Josh Race that secured all three points. Elsewhere in the league there were opening day wins for Clachnacuddin, Brora Rangers, Brechin City, Deveronvale and Buckie Thistle.
Wednesday 30th: A midweek trip to Rothes for the Jags in a meeting of last season’s bottom two.
The newsletter was compiled prior to this game due to holidays so we’re going to leave you on a cliffhanger for this one.
Please check our Facebook page for the details on whether we could make it two wins out of two and also the latest on the Jags lottery and whether the big jackpot prize of £12,000 has been won!
Player Sponsorship
Matchday Hospitality
Register your interest in matchday hospitality and sponsorship now and get ahead of the game.
Upcoming home matches in August include the games against Banks O’Dee on Saturday 9th, Deveronvale on Saturday 16th and Formartine United on Saturday 30th.
Firstly let me apologise for the non-appearance of a post on Tuesday, especially after the momentous result of the Keith game, but I have had three days of trauma thanks to a kaput power lead to my router – hopefully all is well that ends well and there will be no more problems for a long time with internet connections!!
Glebe Park, Brechin
On Saturday we’re on the road again and this time we make the trip to Brechin for what will be our last visit to Glebe Park as Brechin City- The Hedgemen – have intimated that next year they will be playing in the Lowland League – that is if they don’t win the Highland League and re-enter Division 2 of the Scottish League through the pyramid play-offs. So, unless we draw Brechin in a cup game this will be the last time in Brechin. The Jags will be looking forward to this visit, especially after our opening games of the season, and, will hopefully be able to give a better account of ourselves in comparison to our previous visits. For ticketing information go here https://app.fanbaseclub.com/Fan/Tickets/SelectType?fixtureId=12795
Squad 2025/2026
What a start to the season – our first win on the opening day of a Highland League season and following it up with another – six points from two games and we hadn’t reached August! Let’s hope we can keep up the momentum – but, there is a tough few weeks ahead with some very difficult games and hopefully, if we can work hard and compete all Jags fans will be delighted.
MATCH v KEITH FC – SEAFIELD PARK, JULY 26 2025.
On a very pleasant afternoon for football, the Highland League for season 2025/2026 began. Jags’ fans were very eager to see how the new signings blended with retained players from last season would gel and there was a quiet confidence about the way the make up of the team seemed to be going – a good pre-season had gaffer Ryan Esson very confidant about how the season should go and this was the message on Facebook on Saturday morning.
Keith were the better team for the first twenty minutes or so and Jags’ League debutant keeper Danny Gillan made a couple of smart saves early doors. However, we started gaining control and after thirty four minutes we got the break of the ball and Shaun Morrison pounced making it one-nil to the Jags.
Shaun and Josh
We kept up the pressure into the second half and were rewarded with another well taken goal by Shaun which made it two-nil. After eighty-two minutes Keith scored and Jags’ fans in the substantial crowd began fretting slightly but five minutes later Josh Race cutting in from the right and from the edge of the penalty box curled a fantastic shot into the top right corner of the goal giving Keith keeper Reid no chance, and in doing quelled the home fans nerves!
What a start – for the first time in our Highland League history ( since July 2009 ) we had won our opening game and put three points on the board. Joy. Everyone came through the match unscathed and it was great to see Aaron Doran doing the full ninety minutes, and the new boys all did very well – we just hope all the positivity that there was on Saturday continues for the season….we now headed to Rothes for a midweek clash at Mackessack park before making the long trip to league favourites Brechin on Saturday.
MATCH v ROTHES, WEDNESDAY 30 JULY 2025
It was with a wee bit of a swagger we arrived at Mackessack Park for our league encounter with Rothes FC – a swagger soon to be nullified by Rothes taking the lead after five minutes after their new loan signing from Elgin City Daniel Fraser scored. It took the rest of the first half for us to draw level with a cracking long range effort by Liam Shewan in stoppage time before the break – see Liam’s equalising goal here Two minutes into the second half Shaun Morrison scored his third goal in two games and put us one ahead and five minutes later Liam scored his second goal of the evening to put make the score 3 – 1 to the Jags. However, Rothes weren’t finished and Daniel Fraser scored his second goal, followed by Tom Brady who levelled the score.
Shaun, Liam and James
Jags’ captain James McShane finally finished the scoring with a bullet header with five minutes to go. There was a very good attendance and the crowd were treated to a really exciting game of fitba’ – and we were really happy to leave Rothes with the three points to continue our record breaking run of achieving two wins out of two games at the start of a league season.
NEW FACES
Ryan Esson with new loan signings Jamie Williamson and Calum Brown ahead of the Keith match.
Jamie, Ryan and Callum
Both players came off the bench in the second half as we secured a 3-1 home win to kick off the season in style! Great to have you on board, lads!
JAMES LEE FRASER
We’re delighted to confirm that James Lee Fraser has taken on the role of Player/Coach at Strathspey Thistle.
JLF
James made club history last season by scoring our fastest ever goal — just 38 seconds in! This is a natural next step in his journey with the club. While his focus will now be predominantly on coaching, he’ll still be registered as a player — and may be called upon when needed during the season. Manager Ryan Esson said: “James is a big figure in the dressing room and someone the younger lads really look up to. He leads by example and this new role is a natural progression for him — and a big plus for the club.”
KEITH FC PRESENTATION
It was a great gesture last Saturday from Keith FC – as they were to be the first club being welcomed to our new Committee Room by presenting us with a bottle of Malt Whisky to commemorate the opening. The photo shows Keith chairman Andy Troup presenting the bottle to Jags’ chairman Donly McLeod. Thanks to Keith’s Eleanor Hutcheon for supplying the photograph.
LOTTERY NOW £12,2000……As ever we close with details of our fundraising Club Lottery and the jackpot is now a whopping great £12,200…….click here if you want to play…
LOTTERY CH-CH-CHANGES After the current jackpot has been won therefore completing that game, there will be some changes. There will still be a weekly prize of £100 for a consolation winner if their entry matches four of the five numbers drawn, however instead of a weekly increase in the jackpot of £100, this will now be increased monthly. The game is to forecast 5 winning numbers, which are drawn at random, from 1-20. The 5 numbers chosen are to be marked by a cross (X).
The Jackpot prize starts at £1,000 and the game continues until it is won and starts afresh. As applicable, the Jackpot increases by £100 immediately after the first draw in each calendar month, up to a maximum of £5,000. The Jackpot is then capped at £5,000 until it is won in a weekly draw.
If more than one player has 5 winning numbers, the Jackpot will be divided equally among the winning players.
Should no entry forecast all 5 winning numbers, then any player matching 4 numbers will be entered into a draw for a single Consolation Prize of £100.
THE DRAW will take place every SUNDAY at 7pm unless otherwise advised.
The entrant named on the ticket must be at least 16 years of age.
HOME MATCH v KEITH FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN-ON-SPEY, PH26 3HE SATURDAY 26 JULY 2025 KO 3pm
This first post’s heading of the new season references the late Ozzy Osbourne, a hero to many of us, who passed away this week and as such we board the crazy train that is the Highland League – destination April 2026. As ever the first day of a new season is filled with great anticipation and hope that this one will be better than the last, and I am sure that the squad of boys that Ryan and his coaching staff are putting together will have more impact on the League than we have had for many a season.
On Saturday we welcome players, management and supporters of Keith FC. Last season Keith finished in fifteenth position and in so doing will provide us with a tough opening match, but a match hopefully we can start our campaign with a point or three. – if any of the travelling support want a resumé of Grantown’s amenitiesclick here
Shaun, Bailey, Danny and Ali
Recently we welcomed defenders Bailey Black and Ali Morrison, goalkeeper Danny Gillan, as well as striker Shaun Morrison to the Jags and hope their time here will be very successful, and we look forward to seeing them in action in the coming weeks and months.
STOP PRESS
Ross County Duo Join Strathspey Thistle on Loan
We were delighted to confirm the loan signings of Jamie Williamson and Calum Brown. Midfielder Jamie and striker Calum are exciting young talents from the Ross County youth system, and now join the Strathy Jags to gain valuable first-team experience in the Highland League. Manager Ryan Esson said “Jamie and Calum are both promising young players who are eager to develop and challenge themselves. We’re pleased to have them on board and look forward to working with them.” Welcome to The Jags, Jamie and Calum!
MATCH v FORRES THISTLE LAST SATURDAY (19 JULY) Even though it poured rain there was much to enjoy for Jags’ fans in our last pre-season friendly. Hopefully a precurser to the season because as the weather improved so did the scoreline, and we finished up with a five-nil win over Forres Thistle. Goals from Keiran Duffty, Lewis Mackie and a hat-trick for new striker Shaun Morrison gave us hope that we will have a far stronger presence in front of goal this season. New ‘keeper Danny Gillan has also made a strong start in both games he has played in, and pulled off a fantastic save from a close range effort from one of the Forres forwards. The only negative from the day was that last year’s Player of the Year Filip Franczak had to limp off after a crunching tackle.
HALF-TIME RAFFLE
Winning Wendy
The half-time raffle at the Forres game was won by Wendy Shaw from Nairn.
THE NEW COMMITTEE ROOM Committees throughout the North will be pleased to see that we have now got a designated space for visiting committee members and Jags’ fans season ticket add-on holders.
Thanks go to Charlie Sinclair for sourcing the cabin, Wernick’s from Nairn for supplying and delivering, the guys from Horton Homes for their joinery work and Cask Construction for gifting the kitchen units, JP for broadband and Audrey Sinclair for cleaning and preparing the unit ready for the off……
LOTTERY NOW £12,000……
As ever we close with details of our fundraising Club Lottery and the jackpot is now a phantasmogorigal £12,100…….that’s a monthly spending spree of over a £1,000 for the next year if you want…..or put it it away for a rainy day – anyway it’s a great prize to win – click here if you want to play…
LOTTERY CH-CH-CHANGES After the current jackpot has been won therefore completing that game, there will be some changes. There will still be a weekly prize of £100 for a consolation winner if their entry matches four of the five numbers drawn, however instead of a weekly increase in the jackpot of £100, this will now be increased monthly. The game is to forecast 5 winning numbers, which are drawn at random, from 1-20. The 5 numbers chosen are to be marked by a cross (X).
The Jackpot prize starts at £1,000 and the game continues until it is won and starts afresh. As applicable, the Jackpot increases by £100 immediately after the first draw in each calendar month, up to a maximum of £5,000. The Jackpot is then capped at £5,000 until it is won in a weekly draw.
If more than one player has 5 winning numbers, the Jackpot will be divided equally among the winning players.
Should no entry forecast all 5 winning numbers, then any player matching 4 numbers will be entered into a draw for a single Consolation Prize of £100.
THE DRAW will take place every SUNDAY at 7pm unless otherwise advised.
The entrant named on the ticket must be at least 16 years of age.
All winners will be notified.
SO THAT WILL BE US UNDERWAY ON SATURDAY AND WE WISH ALL THE TEAMS IN THE HIGHLAND LEAGUE ALL THE BEST …….ALTHOUGH MAYBE NOT WHEN THEY ARE PLAYING THE JAGS!! OUR NEXT GAME WILL BE AN AWAY MATCH AGAINST ROTHES FC ON WEDNESDAY 30 JULY – MACKESSACK PARK IN ROTHES KO-8pm.
STFC are delighted to announce the signing of goalkeeper Danny Gillan, who joins The Jags on a two-year deal from treble-winning Brora Rangers ahead of the 2025/26 season.
The 20-year-old is a familiar face to manager Ryan Esson, with the pair having spent several years together at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Now reunited at Strathspey, Danny brings quality, leadership, and presence between the posts. Manager Ryan Esson said “I know Danny really well from our time at Inverness. He’s a top professional and a great character, and he’ll bring experience and consistency to our squad. I’m very pleased to bring him in.”
ANOTHER VERY SUCCESSFUL, BUT EXCEPTIONALLY HOT GOLF DAY
As ever it was a great success.
At 8.20am the first of thirty-nine teams teed off on Saturday at Grantown Golf Club in a team scramble event with the final team heading out at 2.40. Our thanks must firstly go to the greenkeeping staff for their immaculate presentation of the golf course.
The weather for this year’s event was hot…very, very hot… in fact so hot that your correspondent and his team after teeing off at 2.30 in the afternoon could only suffer eight holes and my admiration goes out to all the other teams that completed their eighteen holes…did I say it was hot…32°C, only six days have seen a similar temperature in Scotland since 1961, when I was six years old!!! Working in all that heat our thanks must also go to Nacho and his team who looked after the catering and bar duties tremendously in what must have been extreme conditions both in the club house and at the “Half-Way House”.
Sam, Mitchell, Donly and Scott.
With a score of 48.1 the winners of the Team Event were Dean Harvie, Sam Smit, Michell Drummond and Scott Laing and the Ladies event was won by Maggie Lawson, Debbie Grant, Debbie Kinnaird and Nicola Torrance.
Debbie G, Donly, Debbie K and Nicola.
Unfortunately Dean and Maggie were unable to stay until the prize-giving hence they are not in the photos, although Dean is pictured below with son Freddie, as winner of the Half Time Raffle prize at the Dufftown game. We must also thank the following individuals and businesses whose support and sponsorship made the day possible. Firstly our thanks go to Mackellar Engineering and 4M Earthing Solutions in sponsoring the event and the following individuals and companies for their generosity with hole sponsorships – MKM BUILDING SUPPLIES, AVIEMORE (2X HOLES) MORGANTI BAR, NAIRN ROSS & SIMPSON CARPETS & VINYL, KEITH PLANT & FIXINGS, INVERNESS SCOTT CLARK, GRANTOWN EMAC JOINERY, FORRES PLANT & FIXINGS, INVERNESS McINNES ELECTRICAL, AVIEMORE CARNVALE KIT BUILDERS, EDINBURGH SPEYSIDE HOTEL, GRANTOWN JOHN PATERSON ELECTRICAL, GRANTOWN AW LAING, GRANTOWN CASK CONSTRUCTION, GRANTOWN MAC JOINERY HIGHLAND LTD, INVERNESS KINETIC RENEWABLES/HORTON HOMES McCULLOCH PLUMBING & HEATING, GRANTOWN WJ SELLARS BUILDERS, GRANTOWN GRANTOWN GARAGE FORSYTH’S, ROTHES
As ever, thanks go to Donly McLeod and STFC commercial director Laura Mackie for organising and running the competition, and we were very pleased that Grantown Golf Club Captain Fraser Mackellar helped throughout the day helping our own Charlie Sinclair registering teams and finding out their meal requests and checking score cards.
Donly, Charlie and Fraser hard at work.
Thanks also go to committee stalwarts Mags Clark who ran a fantastic and successful raffle on the day, and Rob Clark and Graeme Stuart were also selling Lottery tickets – thanks also go to the other committee members who helped in preparations and help on the day. Last, but not least, we would like to thank everyone who participated in any way and hope you thoroughly enjoyed yourselves and are, hopefully, already looking forward to next years’ event.
MATCH v DUFFTOWN FC – TUESDAY 8 JULY As we continue our build up to the season (KO 26 July) we hosted Dufftown FC in a friendly on Tuesday night (8th), and it turned out to be an official 1-0 win …but unofficially it was 2-0. More later! Dufftown put up a very good defensive display which made it difficult for the Jags to break through, and although we had a lot of possession, chances were very few and far between and it took an excellent drive late in the first half for us to go into the break one up. Cheered on by our “gang of twelve and a drummer” (although it sounds as though there are a lot more drummers!!) there were many Jags’ changes just after the hour mark, but still the resilient Dufftown refused to be overrun and survived until Aaron Dorran, with probably the last kick of the game, cleverly shot back across goal from a good old fashioned inside right position, and the ball, beat the keeper and scraped in at the right hand post, but a larger hole in the net than is the customary net size one, and probably as a result of a visiting rabbit or two over the close season, caused the ball to end up against the advertising hoarding making the referee assume, not that he had any reason to not assume, that the ball had passed the outside of the post – and, as you can imagine the said hole was fixed more or less directly just after full time whistle!!
Dean Harvie and son Freddie.
AARON DORAN’S TESTIMONIAL
We thought this was a great photo taken at Caledonian Stadium, Inverness of Aaron and his children being honoured by the players of Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County at the start of proceedings.
A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE
Today, Wednesday 16 July, we took delivery of a toilet block which will be attached to The Mackellar Suite – thanks go to Josh Horton of Horton Homes who made the deal with Wernick’s of Nairn – and our thanks go to them too, especially their delivery man Joe, who had a bit of a job placing the unit on site. Now, hospitality guests and customers will not need to brave the elements having to make their way to our toilet black when nature calls.
LOTTERY NOW £12,000……
As ever we close with details of our fundraising Club Lottery and the jackpot is now a phantasmogorigal £12,000…….that’s a monthly £1,000 spending spree for the next year if you want…..or put it it away for a rainy day – anyway it’s a great prize to win – click here if you want to play…
LOTTERY CH-CH-CHANGES After the current jackpot has been won therefore completing that game, there will be some changes. There will still be a weekly prize of £100 for a consolation winner if their entry matches four of the five numbers drawn, however instead of a weekly increase in the jackpot of £100, this will now be increased monthly. The game is to forecast 5 winning numbers, which are drawn at random, from 1-20. The 5 numbers chosen are to be marked by a cross (X).
The Jackpot prize starts at £1,000 and the game continues until it is won and starts afresh. As applicable, the Jackpot increases by £100 immediately after the first draw in each calendar month, up to a maximum of £5,000. The Jackpot is then capped at £5,000 until it is won in a weekly draw.
If more than one player has 5 winning numbers, the Jackpot will be divided equally among the winning players.
Should no entry forecast all 5 winning numbers, then any player matching 4 numbers will be entered into a draw for a single Consolation Prize of £100.
THE DRAW will take place every SUNDAY at 7pm unless otherwise advised.
The entrant named on the ticket must be at least 16 years of age.
Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, tomorrow night’s (15 July) pre-season friendly versus Islavale FC at Seafield Park has had to be cancelled. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
This means our focus now moves to Saturday and our last pre-season fixture against Forres Thistle FC at Seafield Park, with a KO time of 2pm, and it would be great if you can come and support Ryan and the boys then. This will be our last pre-season friendly before we kick off the Breedon Highland League season at home to Keith on Saturday 26 July KO 3pm.
MATCH v ROSS COUNTY FC TUESDAY 1 JULY, SEAFIELD PARK. A huge thank you to Don Cowie, John Robertson and the entire Ross County squad and staff for making the trip through to Grantown on Tuesday night. It was a fantastic evening and a great test for our squad against top opposition and we appreciated the players and staff for making time for the young fans who attended. We admired the professionalism and quality Ross County brought to the occasion — and we wish them all the very best for the season ahead!
As you can see from the team lines County had their full squad and played with a different eleven in each half, with goals coming from a header from Keiran Phillips in the sixteenth minute, three second half goals from the very impressive Northern Ireland international Ronan Hale and a further goal from Calum Brown making it five. If you want to see the goals check out either our own or Ross County’s Facebook pages.
Ross County’s Keiran Phillips (19) turns away after heading County in front
The Jags played very well with some superb defending in the first half but tiredness began to show latterly but both managers were happy with their team’s evening’s work. Ross County head to Inverness on Saturday for our own Aaron Doran’s testimonial, who, I’m delighted to report started Tuesday night’s match and played forty five minutes. Thanks also to everyone who came along and created a brilliant atmosphere!
Some of the crowd who came along to the match.
HALF-TIME RAFFLE WINNER
Winner of the half-time raffle draw on Tuesday night was local Jags’ fan Paul Mathieson, a regular at Seafield Park – congratulations Paul.
PRESEASON FIXTURES
All the preseason fixtures will be at Seafield Park Next Tuesday (8th) we host Dufftown FC KO 7.30 / Tuesday 15 July v Islavale KO 7.45 and Saturday 19 July v. Forres Thistle KO 2pm
Another date for your diary is an away tie to either Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Lossiemouth in the North of Scotland Cup on Wednesday 20 August KO 8pm.
GOLF DAY JULY 12 Preparations are well under way for our annual fund raising Golf Day and we look forward to welcoming the teams to Grantown Golf Club a week on Saturday
ADMISSION PRICES SEASON 2025-2026
In accordance with all other Highland League clubs the cost of admission to games this season will be Adult – £12 Concessions (over 65) – £6 Under 16’s free.
THE BOARDROOM TAKES SHAPE AND NEW FACES AT THE SNACK BAR
Beginning to take shape is the new Boardroom which we will be using for visiting committee members and will be fully functioning in time for our first SHL home fixture against Keith FC on July 26.
Part of the New BoardroomBilly and Twinkle from Horton Homes
We thank Horton Homes, again, for putting together the kitchen area and we thank Cask for donating the kitchen units (https://caskconstruction.co.uk)
…..and as you can see from the photo we have new incumbents in our Snack Bar who will be supplying spectators with their pies and Bovril this season…..and, they got off to a great and very busy start at the Ross County game.
SEASON TICKETS
Great savings on season ticket prices are available up until our first game of the season against Keith FC on July 26……
As ever we close with details of our fundraising Club Lottery and the jackpot is now a whopping great £11,800…….click here if you want to play…
LOTTERY CH-CH-CHANGES After the current jackpot has been won therefore completing that game, there will be some changes. There will still be a weekly prize of £100 for a consolation winner if their entry matches four of the five numbers drawn, however instead of a weekly increase in the jackpot of £100, this will now be increased monthly. The game is to forecast 5 winning numbers, which are drawn at random, from 1-20. The 5 numbers chosen are to be marked by a cross (X).
The Jackpot prize starts at £1,000 and the game continues until it is won and starts afresh. As applicable, the Jackpot increases by £100 immediately after the first draw in each calendar month, up to a maximum of £5,000. The Jackpot is then capped at £5,000 until it is won in a weekly draw.
If more than one player has 5 winning numbers, the Jackpot will be divided equally among the winning players.
Should no entry forecast all 5 winning numbers, then any player matching 4 numbers will be entered into a draw for a single Consolation Prize of £100.
THE DRAW will take place every SUNDAY at 7pm unless otherwise advised.
The entrant named on the ticket must be at least 16 years of age.
Friday 13th: Inverness Caley Thistle confirmed the details of a testimonial match for current STFC player/coach Aaron Doran with Ross County visiting the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday 5th July. Kick-off is at 2pm and tickets are available here.
Saturday 21st: A busy one at Seafield Park with our family fun day, a friendly against an Inverness Caley Thistle XI and entertainment into the evening with live music from Cadence. Caley’s Under-19’s ran out 4-1 winners on the day with Aaron Doran netting his first goal for the Jags midway through the second half. Speaking to the Press & Journal after the game, manager Ryan Esson said: “At times, we didn’t pass the ball was well as we can, but you have to give the opposition credit for their pressing – they were energetic. For us, it was a good exercise.”
Match action and temporary goals as we were preserving new goalmouth turf – pic by Marty Wares
After the visit of Ross County on the first of the month, further friendlies are scheduled for next Tuesday (8th) Dufftown FC, then Tuesday 15th at home to Islavale FC (7.30pm) and Saturday 19th at home to Forres Thistle FC (2pm).
Last season’s Player of the Year awards were also handed out with Filip Franczak the big winner, bagging five trophies (Player’s, Coach’s, Directors’ and Committees’) and Young Player of the Year. Josh Race won the Supporters’ vote.
Season Tickets
Season tickets for the 2025/26 season are available at early-bird prices until 13th July. Adults £120, Concessions £60 (16-18 and 65+), on sale at hospitality@strathspeythistlefc.uk
A reminder of our scheduled fixtures for the upcoming campaign…
Matchday Hospitality
With the fixtures now out, want to enjoy matchday in style?
Register your interest in matchday hospitality and sponsorship now and get ahead of the game.
Strathspey Thistle Club Lottery – Jackpot Now £11,800!
We would love to see a jackpot winner scoop the big prize and with our jackpot currently sitting at an impressive £11,400, now is the perfect time to enter.
You can enter online through this link and be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize. Don’t miss out – help us spread the word.
Another very successful day at Seafield Park – thank you!
Firstly, multitudinous thanks must go to the terrific twosome – committee member Heather Horton and Commercial Director Laura Mackie for their massive efforts in putting on the STFC Fun Day 25 – not only the herculean amount on the day itself, but all the background work over many days before and after the event ……Ladies, we salute you and thank you both very much.
Preparations for the day.
Thanks must also go the other committee members and helpers – Josh, Donly, Allan, Tom, Charlie, Graeme, Marty, Mags, Rob, Alan, Fraser and JP with his Strathspey Rovers hat on. As ever, many thanks must go to committee man Jon Wood for his time producing all the excellent food from his BBQ, and at night the band Cadence – Brooksie, Liam, Jack and Fraser for their musical magnificence and not forgetting Martin Grant for lending us the Trucks n 2 Grantown marquee tents and the volunteers who helped erect and dismantle them.
John Paterson “The kids loved playing at Seafield Park again they all had a brilliant time many staying on to watch the game ( and getting autographs from players at the end )”
MATCH REPORT
Match action with temporary goals as we were preserving new goalmouth turf – pic by Marty Wares
On a very hot afternoon most spectators were impressed at the calibre of the U-19s team that Inverness Caledonian Thistle sent from Inverness – in fact many were speculating that quite a few will be involved with the first eleven quite a lot throughout next season. ICT got off to a fine start and after the first forty-five minutes they were three up with two goals from trialist Carlos Heredia and a penalty from Ben Gardiner. The Jags had a far better second half although conceding a free kick from Sam Thompson, Jags’ assistant manager and former ICT star Aaron Doran scored his first Jags goal with a superb shot. Manager Ryan Esson was generally quite pleased with the way the game went – the first pre-season outing and with Dylan Lawrence, Daniel Whitehorn, Caelan Mutch and Lewis Mackie amongst those not available for selection. Ryan, interviewed after the game by the P&J’s Paul Chalk said, “I like the core of this team and I felt last season we were a better team that our league position suggested. We have identified a few positions for strengthening, but we haven’t quite done so yet, but we have a few targets in mind. We want players to come in and provide real competition in every position. I don’t think we’ve quite got that. We were missing five boys on Saturday who would have given us extra legs and definitely would have been looking to start. We had to ask boys to keep going and, fair play, they did so and in the second half we were much better”
PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Player of the Year 24/25, Filip Franczak with his haul of trophies.
After the game there was the presentations for the 2024/2025 Player of the Year Awards. Winning the Players, Directors and Committee’s, Coach’s and the Young Player of the Year was Filip Franczak and our congratulations go to him and we hope he has as good a season in 25/26. The Supporters choice was Josh Race and our congratulations go to him too – and our hopes of another season like the last Josh!
Club Captain James McShane presents Filip with his Player’s Player of the Year Award.First Team Coach Ryan Esson with his choice of Player of the Year, Filip Franczak.Josh Race accepting his trophy from Allan Carson.James Fraser presents Filip with his Young Player of the Year Award.
Top goalscorer award went to Daniel Whitehorn who unfortunately was not able to attend – but hopefully Dan can emulate and surpass last season’s total over the next ten months.
Josh celebrating his Supporters POTY.
– and also extra thanks must go Laura for taking the Player of the Year pics too!!
PRE-SEASON FIXTURES AMENDED
AARON DORAN ICT TESTIMONIAL
The astute amongst you sports fans, will have noticed from our last posting that the game against Alness United has been postponed. This is because players and Jags fans wanted to have a chance to support Jags’ assistant manager Aaron Doran’s long overdue Testimonial at the Caledonian Stadium, Inverness on the 5 July with a match against Ross County, the match being sponsored by Mackellar Engineering. Speaking of Ross County, we will be hosting them for a pre-season friendly next Tuesday evening (July 1) kick off 7.45 as well as playing their U-19’s, two weeks later on Tuesday July 15, here at Seafield Park this time with a 7.30 KO.
GOLF DAY – TWO WEEKS ON SATURDAY
Please contact Donly – see details on poster, for any information about sponsorship, hole sponsorship, or entering a team.
LOTTERY
And finally, for this week, the Jags’ Fundraising Lottery jackpot continues to grow – this week reaching £11,700 – so if you want to have a chance of winning click here to play
LOTTERY CH-CH-CHANGES After the current jackpot has been won therefore completing that game, there will be some changes. There will still be a weekly prize of £100 for a consolation winner if their entry matches four of the five numbers drawn, however instead of a weekly increase in the jackpot of £100, this will now be increased monthly. The game is to forecast 5 winning numbers, which are drawn at random, from 1-20. The 5 numbers chosen are to be marked by a cross (X).
The Jackpot prize starts at £1,000 and the game continues until it is won and starts afresh. As applicable, the Jackpot increases by £100 immediately after the first draw in each calendar month, up to a maximum of £5,000. The Jackpot is then capped at £5,000 until it is won in a weekly draw.
If more than one player has 5 winning numbers, the Jackpot will be divided equally among the winning players.
Should no entry forecast all 5 winning numbers, then any player matching 4 numbers will be entered into a draw for a single Consolation Prize of £100.
THE DRAW will take place every SUNDAY at 7pm unless otherwise advised.
The entrant named on the ticket must be at least 16 years of age.
All winners will be notified
THAT’S IT FOR ANOTHER WEEK – THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE ’25 FUN DAY – STRATHSPEY THISTLE FOOTBALL CLUB VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT.
