SCOTTISH CUP FIRST ROUND MATCH V CAMELON JUNIORS AT SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN SATURDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2022 – KO 3pm
We welcome to Seafield Park the team, management, and supporters of Camelon Juniors FC – The Mighty Mariners! They retained the Juniors part of their name as it was a large part of their heritage when in 2018 they joined the East of Scotland League as part of the reorganisation of leagues
Formed in 1920 on the junction where the Union Canal meets the Forth and Clyde Canal – hence the nickname – Camelon Juniors have mainly been a Junior Club but in 2018 joined the East of Scotland League. They have a very good history and one of their players Jerry Dawson moved to Rangers in the fifties, and more recently Kevin McAllister and Jack Ross are names known throughout football. Although success has been limited with one appearance in the Scottish Cup Final in 1952, the mid nineties saw their most successful spell winning the OVD Scottish Cup in 1995 when they beat Whitburn in the final 2-0. The following year they again reached the final only to be beaten in extra time by Tayport. During this period they also won the then East of Scotland League, The Skol League Cup and the East of Scotland Cup in the Junior Football realm. They are now playing the the East of Scotland League Division One. For Camelon Juniors supporters information – click here.
It is a cup tie so if it remains a draw after 120 minutes there will be penalties. There will be a souvenir programme available to purchase on the day. As is ever in the Scottish Cup it will be a match both sets of supporters should enjoy and really not know what to expect….hopefully The Jags fans will enjoy it more so. We remind fans that season tickets are not valid for this match.
CLUB LOTTERY The jackpot was won a couple of weeks ago by local supporter Mr D Stewart – our congratulations go to him. This week the jackpot is now £1100 so if you wish to play online and help The Jags you can do so by clicking here.
In accordance with sport everywhere tomorrow’s Breedon Highland League match between Nairn County and Strathspey Thistle scheduled for Station Park, Nairn has been postponed.
On behalf of Strathspey Thistle Football Club – the management committee, players and fans I would like to send our condolences to the Royal Family on the death of HM Queen Elizabeth.
On a personal note in my thirty years as photographer in Aviemore, we photographed most members of the Royal Family but the greatest excitement was when the Queen and Prince Philip visited and I was tasked with two inside photos – you had to be in position well before the Royal Party arrived – the signing of their display portraits in the foyer of the Osprey Suite and then rapidly racing to the Ice Rink for the photo above, while my boss Pavel was photographing all the action outside and following them around Aviemore.
HOME GAME v BRECHIN CITY FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE – SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER – KO 3PM
This week we welcome for the second time Brechin City FC to Grantown. After the hooplah of the Harleys, we hope that getting to Seafield Park will be a lot easier this week especially for the fans who travel by car as there should be enough parking around the town! As current leaders Brechin will be keen to continue their 100% league record but The Jags, again, looked more promising against Wick Academy last week so as we always say….you never know in football…
For Brechin City fans some information – click here
Last week we were very, very unlucky to not come away with at least a draw from an entertaining encounter at Seafield Park against Wick Academy FC in a Breedon Highland League match. Speaking to one of the Wick committee after the game he agreed that we were deserving of the draw.
The sun shone for the Wick Academy game last Saturday
It was a beautiful warm and sunny day – in fact there were water breaks..and that doesn’t happen a lot in the Highland League!! Both teams had chances in the first half with the Wick keeper Graeme Williamson making two phenomenal saves early on. It remained 0-0 at half time, but in the 50th minute Liam Taylor headed home a delightful Darren Brew cross to give the Jags a 1 -0 deserved lead. After the hour mark Wick gained more control of the game and equalised in the 79th minute but The Jags again had at least two golden chances to take the lead but both shots failed to find the target. Heart break occurred in the 90+1st minute when Wick took the lead and by doing so won all three points…a very disappointing outcome for Jags fans.
We also welcomed to Seafield Park the Essex branch of the Strathspey Thistle Supporters Club, John McManus and Jack Hannah – we hope they enjoyed their weekend.
John and Jack with STFC Committee man Graeme Stuart
And congratulations go to our left back local Grantown lad Liam Grant for his MOTM Award.
DIARY DATE
Saturday 17 September – Scottish Cup 1st Round. We welcome to Seafield Park the management, team and supporters of Camelon Juniors FC from East of Scotland League Division One.
£5000 Jackpot
As i normally do I mention winning the Club Lottery jackpot by playing online here – this week you may win £5000…….
JAGS PLAYER’S PROFILE
21. Joe Cuthbert
JagsWeb would like to thank Joe Cuthbert for being first, in what I hope to be a regular “get to know the players” type of thing : I hope all the Jags fans enjoy them!
Joe Cuthbert
PLACE OF BIRTH Inverness Scotland
SCHOOL(S) AND WHERE YOU GREW UP Grew up in the Hilton area of Inverness, attended Hilton Primary School before progressing onto the Inverness Royal Academy
FIRST FOOTBALL MEMORIES Playing for local team Milton Athletic at age around five and watching games on TV with my Dad.
THE TEAM(S) I SUPPORT Rangers and Man Utd – also like to see Caley doing well
MY FOOTBALL HISTORY – TEAM(S) HONOURS ETC Caley Youth then moving to Clach Youth and Nairn Youth – Progressing to Nairn County first team before signing for Strathspey.
BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN FOOTBALL CAREER My Dad taught me and coached me a lot.
FAVOURITE PLAYER EVER Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Barry Ferguson, Ronaldo
BEST FOOTBALLING MOMENT EVER There’s a few……Scotland qualifying for the Euros probably tops it.
BEST FOOTBALLING MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER. Had a fair few good memories through youth football – winning a few things. Yet to have a real standout moment although Highland League debut was a good moment.
FAVOURITE FILM Wolf of Wall Street, Home Alone
FAVOURITE MUSIC/BAND: Liam McDade on the bus home from away games
A SURPRISING FACT ABOUT YOU They’re aren’t many things that people don’t know about me – I wear football boots a half size too small!
HOME MATCH v WICK ACADEMY FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE : SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN SATURDAY 27 AUGUST – KO 3pm
We look forward to hosting the Wick Academy team, committee and supporters to Seafield Park on Saturday. In the corresponding fixture last year spectators were treated to an exciting 3-3 draw. Hopefully it’ll be just as exciting but with the three points staying at home. Wick currently sit in ninth position in the league with nine points.
Owen Loveland (l) and Liam Taylor our goal scorers
It was a disappointing evening in Lossiemouth on Wednesday as we, as usual it seems, lost an early goal in thirteen minutes but Owen Loveland levelled for the Jags after twenty-nine minutes and that’s how it stayed until half time. There was another early goal for Lossie in the forty-ninth minute, followed by another eleven minutes later. Liam Taylor gave the Jags a chance of a come-back scoring in the seventy-eighth minute but Lossie completed the scoring in the ninetieth minute making the final score 4-2 to the Coasters.
Next week we have no midweek game but we have a home league game next Saturday with Brechin City FC, their second visit to Grantown.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON THUNDER IN THE GLENS – STRATHSPEY THISTLE v WICK ACADEMY SPECTATOR INFORMATION
From 2016 Thunder in the Glens Big Ride Out in Grantown
This Saturday for the first time in three years an estimated 3000-4000 Harley-Davidson motor-cycles attending “Thunder in the Glens” visit Grantown between approx 1pm and 3.30pm from their base in Aviemore in their customary “ BIG RIDE OUT”. For more information click here So the roads in and out of Grantown will be busy, some closed, so please leave a lot more time and leave earlier if you are intending coming to the game – this will only impede arriving at the ground as after the game things should be back to normal. There will also be very limited parking available throughout Grantown so STFC would appreciate if you do live locally and can walk to the ground please do or if you live further away car share if possible – thanks!
WIN £4,900 There was no jackpot winner of our Club Lottery last Sunday so this week £4,900 could be won – to play online click here.
AWAY GAME v LOSSIEMOUTH FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE MATCH GRANT PARK, LOSSIEMOUTH, IV31 6JG – KO 8pm
So we’re off to the coast again for the Breedon Highland League match against Lossiemouth FC and a visit to our friends at Grant Park.
Lossie have had a great week with a couple of wins in their past two games – a cup game last Wednesday and last Saturday’s home win against Wick Academy – strangely we play both teams this week – we host Wick Academy FC in Grantown on Saturday. We are all very close in our current league position so hopefully both games will be closely contested and exciting to watch.
Player wise we have lost two of our summer signings to injury. Ben Cullen sustained a horrific head knock a couple of weeks ago and last Saturday it looked bad for defender James “Fellaini” Fraser with a recurrence of what seemed an Achilles injury so both may not feature for a while. However, Club captain James McShane should be back in the blue shirt in the next week or so, but having not played for a few weeks he will probably need some time to get up to speed.
GENERALLY SPEAKING The journey to Lossiemouth has been brutal. So far in the league we have played five league games – drew one and lost four – and four of the clubs we have played currently sit in the top six – as they were last season – we’ve scored three goals and conceded twenty-nine, and sit bottom of the league on goal difference. Not pleasant reading Jags fans but considering our pre-season we are now probably at the stage we should have been at four weeks ago but unfortunately the Highland League fixture-fixer gave us a really, really tough start…..so we are where we are.
I, and many other fitba’ fans understand the league consists of three leagues – six top clubs, a middle six and a bottom six.
So, we are all fighting our in own little leagues and, with all due respect to the other clubs, we all know what league we are in, although we are all striving to get better – that’s why this post is titled about believing – it is hard as a player, spectator or committee member being on the wrong side of some heavy defeats, but in my opinion I believe we have a real good bunch of players and that hopefully things will get better and that we can put a few hard fought points on the board so that we can go home on a Wednesday or Saturday night a wee bit happier!
HOME MATCH V FRASERBURGH FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE SEAFIELD PARK, GRANTOWN – 20 AUGUST 2022 – KO 3pm
We play three league matches over the next seven days and we start this Saturday by welcoming the current Breedon Highland League Champions to Seafield Park. They last visited in March and an entertaining afternoon was had by all and although we went down 4-2, it was probably one of our best performances of the season. Congratulations went out to The Broch on what was a tremendous season for them a couple of weeks later. We welcome the team and their fans back again for what we hope will be another entertaining match. Fraserburgh currently sit fourth in the league with three wins out of four so any points we can earn from the ninety minutes will be hard won but brilliant.
DATE FOR YOUR DIARY AWAY MATCH V LOSSIEMOUTH FC – WEDNESDAY 24 AUGUST 2022 – KO : 8pm We were on the road last Wednesday visiting Dudgeon Park in Brora for a North of Scotland Cup tie and although the result was 4-0 it was generally felt that with more games we getting to play, the more the boys are beginning take shape as a team and if hopefully we can omit the errors the next few games can bring us a few points. After Saturday we head to Lossiemouth next Wednesday night for a Breedon Highland League game at Grant Park with an 8pm kick off – in the corresponding fixture last April we drew 1-1 so there should be all to play for – and follow that with another home game against Wick Academy FC next Saturday.
For information about The Jags in the Community goings on click here
The customary finish is with a nod the the £4800.00 you could win playing the Club Lottery – tickets are available at the usual outlets throughout the Strath but you can also play online here……..….good luck and thanks for your support.
AWAY v BRORA RANGERS FC NORTH OF SCOTLAND CUP DUDGEON PARK, BRORA KW9 6QN WEDNESDAY 17 AUGUST 2022 – KO 8pm
With stones from the Clynelish Quarry near Brora being used to build such eminent landmarks as London Bridge we hope that Wednesday nights North of Scotland Cup tie at Dudgeon Park is a stepping stone to some better results for The Jags after a weighty defeat in Buckie in the league on Saturday. Reports suggest that it was pretty much one way traffic but according to one observer all the Jags players committed well to the cause, but the inclusion* of two or three more experienced and stronger players would really help settle our young team when adversity strikes…..or in this case ex Strathspey Thistle and Elgin City striker Josh Peters with his four goals!!!
* this would cost a fair bit of money……..
Donly McLeod STFC Chairman being presented by Buckie Thistle Vice-President Raymond Cardno (r) photo by Clive Wolstenholme
However, before the game Buckie Thistle’s Vice-President Raymond Cardno presented our chairman Donly McLeod with a gift to honour Strathspey Thistle’s thirtieth birthday next March…….it was a very nice gesture and much appreciated.
Anyway, on Wednesday we make the lengthy trek to Brora, who are currently sitting on top of the Breedon Highland League, anticipating that fortune favours the brave and hope that our first half performance will carry forward to the second half – as most of the goals we have conceded have been after the hour mark.
We wish Charlie and the boys all the best.
Echoing what has been said on our Twitter feed, everyone connected with the Club wish Ben Cullen all the best after his surgery and hope to see him at Seafield Park soon.
On Sunday an online player won the consolation £100 prize matching four of the five numbers correctly so the Club Lottery jackpot carries forward and is now £4,800.00 so to emulate and perhaps go one better play online here.
AWAY MATCH v BUCKIE THISTLE FC BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE VICTORIA PARK, BUCKIE – AB56 1BJ SATURDAY 13 AUGUST – K.O. 3pm
We’re off to the Moray Coast and to Victoria Park, where last year’s runners-up for the Breedon Highland League title Buckie Thistle FC await. To say it will be easy is a vast understatement and Charlie and the boys will do well to earn any pointage from this game, especially after Buckie’s mid-week cup win against HeartsB. But as we all know – football is football and anything is possible. We wish the boys all the best and to continue from where they left off last Saturday.’
MATCH v DEVERONVALE last week
Thanks to the The ‘Vale supporters who made the journey through from Banff and hope they enjoyed their day in Grantown.
Stephen Kelly (Extreme left) scores The Jags first goal
A 2-2 draw was a fair result in the opinion of many, in a well contested match which produced some controversial decisions – from both sides of the terrace – but, unfortunately, the match was marred with a horrific head injury sustained by Jags no 11 Ben Cullen. Ben, who had scored in our last game, came on in the second half and was only on for about a minute, when he collided with one of the Deveronvale defenders going for a ball, and sustained facial injuries including a broken cheekbone. Our thanks must go to the Deveronvale sports therapist Rachel Mair who assisted us on the pitch as well as her own player, and all of us at STFC wish Ben a very speedy recovery.
Liam Taylor with a cheeky back-heeler scores our second
The game itself was enjoyed by a good crowd and The Jags took the lead toward the end of the first half with a Stephen Kelly goal. This was maintained until just after half-time when Dane Ballard equalised. Soon we were back in the lead, when a very cheeky and skilful Liam Taylor back-heel evaded the ‘Vale keeper – and we kept the lead until we made a couple of defensive mistakes enabling one of the Deveronvale forwards to tap in from a low cross at the far post in the last minute of the regulation ninety minutes.
James Fraser thwarts ‘Vale forward Horace Ormsby
But, on the bright side we had secured our first point of the season – a season in which every point will be exceptionally valuable and, especially as we play both last years ‘ runners-up and then the League champions over the next couple of weeks. A week Saturday we host Fraserburgh FC.
PLAYER PORTRAITS
We have just uploaded the official players potraits for our squad for season 2022/2023 so to have a look click here.
CLUB LOTTERY
As ever the Club is indebted to all supporters who come and watch games, help behind the scenes and play the weekly Club Lottery – this week’s jackpot stands at £4700 – you can play here.
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.
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
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