The away game v Lossiemouth FC at Grant Park, Lossiemouth on Monday 3 January 2022 has been postponed because of a Co-Vid outbreak in the Lossie playing squad. On contacting the Highland League with the information permission was given to postpone.
Lossiemouth
We were hoping for a visit to the seaside and our first fixture of the New Year and hopefully get our first game of football in a month ….but it is not to be and the fixture against the team currently immediately above us in the Breedon Highland League will have to wait until later in the season.
We now look forward to our next home which will be on Saturday 8 January 2022 against Turriff United – another six pointer!!! Hopefully the Jags will be not too rusty due to their lack of competitive matches over the past six weeks or so as it will be a tough game.
What a great start to the new year too would be a win on the Club Lottery – please click on the logo to play online. >>>>>>>>> The Lottery is very important for the Club – so thanks for your support in 2021.
Sorry folks but the game tomorrow vs Inverness Clachnacuddin has been postponed as the pitch is still frozen and as ever safety is paramount in the decision making – so unfortunately no game. We now have to look forward, in the New Year, to our next Breedon Highland League game which is away to Lossiemouth FC on Monday 3 January KO 3pm.
MATCH V INVERNESS CLACHNACUDDIN – SEAFIELD PARK MONDAY 27 DECEMBER 2021 KO 3pm
We hope you have all had a very enjoyable Christmas and we hope Santa was good to you and you’ve not overeaten or consumed too many aperitifs…….. If you are coming to the match could you please observe our CoVid protocols and stay safe.
We have permission from Grantown Golf Club to use their car parking facilities instead of using the grass area to the right sight of the stadium entrance gates. There will be signage for directions to the car park which is situated more or less next to the stadium. Blue Badge holders will still be able to park as normal.
Home Match v Inverness Clachnacuddin FC on Monday 27 December 3pm kick off
Strathspey Thistle FC players, staff and management committee would like to wish our loyal supporters, and everyone else a very Merry Christmas.
After we welcome Santa Claus into our homes, we then welcome Inverness Clachnacuddin FC to Seafield Park for a Breedon Highland League match on Monday 27 December 3pm kick off.
Reports in this week local newspaper, the “Strathy”, confirm the signing for a month, as a trialist, of former Fort William keeper Ryan Hunter and he will go straight in to the team to face Clach – – see last weeks post for more details.
Manager Charlie Brown says that we are starting a group of games in that we must not lose points – we have had a tough few weeks playing the top seven teams so we must make the following games count for a better league placement…..
As is usual at this time of the year/season we are at the mercy of the weather, as was proved again last week when the game against Forres Mechanics was postponed after an 11am pitch inspection we are also combatting CoVid again.
So, if all goes well, weather and CoVid wise, we wish Charlie and the boys all the best for Monday.
As opposed to our usual Sunday draws the dates of the next three draws over the Festive Period are: Tues. 28th December 2021 Tues. 4th January 2022 Sun. 9th January 2022 Tickets may be purchased up to the days of the draws (i.e. up to 1900hrs at the Claymore Bar and online up to 1800hrs).
Unfortunately the aforementioned fire in the engine room was not enough to thaw out Seafield Park today!! As you will have seen from our Twitter and Facebook feeds our match with Forres Mechanics has been postponed due to a frozen pitch which means our next game will be now after Christmas – another home game, this time against Inverness Clachnacuddin – kick off 3pm.
All of us at Strathspey Thistle wish you a very safe and enjoyable Christmas.
Home Match v Forres Mechanics – Seafield Park, Grantown Saturday 18 December 2021 – KO 3pm
Jags attack in the pre-season friendly in the summer sun.
Let’s hope there’s plenty of fire in the engine room this Saturday when we look forward to Forres Mechanics’ second visit to Seafield Park this season. Following on from a friendly and a one-nil win on a sunny afternoon in July, we hope that we can repeat or better that result and collect three points which would make a nice Christmas present to our loyal supporters.
We were unfortunate last week to go down by a goal to nil at Wick. Just after the start of the second half we lost Rob Donaldson, our keeper, to a red card decision – the referee deemed his tackle on a Wick player to be of the “ denying a player of a goal scoring opportunity” kind even though according to the Jags representatives at the match there was cover behind him – which means an automatic one game suspension for Rob. Andrew Skinner took over in goals as Mike McCallum was not on the subs bench as he has a broken finger and will be out for some time.
Superstar “keeper” Andrew Skinner
Andrew played “a blinder”, as they say, making a few very decent saves and may be back on goal keeping duties on Saturday. Both the SFA and the Highland League allow us to sign a goalkeeper to temporarily cover and manager Charlie Brown and the rest of the signing team are scouring the North for someone suitable….. . We wish whoever is in goal and the rest of the team all the best. REMEMBER STAY SAFE IF YOU ARE ATTENDING THE GAME.
Also one for your diary….this is the first of two home games in a row in the Breedon Highland League…we host Inverness Clachnacuddin on Monday 27 December – kick off 3pm.
Speaking of early Christmas presents there will be a special offer for half-season tickets only available at the front gate from Graeme’s box-office at the Forres and Clach games – as from this Saturday’s game we have still 9 home matches to play and the cost for a full ticket will be £50.00 : Concessions (over 60 and between 12-15 Years) will be £25.00 – as ever supervised under 12’s get in free. According to my calculations that is £5/£2.50 per game which is some bargain.
Graeme Stuart will be on hand if you want to purchase the Half-Season Ticket special deal
Also available will be some more late Christmas presents…club merchandise…..hats, scarves, badges etc
The jackpot stands at £1300 for this weeks draw – if you want to play online click on the lottery logo>>>>>> Thank you and good luck
Yes, weather permitting its the long drive north to Harmsworth Park (KW1 5NH) and our first encounter this year in the Breedon Highland League with Wick Academy FC. It is always a very warm welcome we supporters and committee get from our friends in the north although that will probably not be replicated on the park and a tough game will ensue.
Michael MacCallum
Rob Donaldson
Missing on the pitch will be goalie Mike MacCallum who has a broken finger, so that means Robbie Donaldson regains the position he had at the start of the season. Also missing could be Stephen Rennie and James Fraser who will both have late fitness tests. Manager Charlie Brown was quoted in this weeks “Strathie” as saying “ It will be a heavy pitch and we are expecting a very tough game”.
As Christmas is now just a few days away there might still be time to visit THE CLUB’S MERCHANDISE SHOP (see top of page) to see if you can order some Jags merch for your loved ones’ Xmas stockings……
As ever Sunday is Lottery Day and we again thank you all for your support either on paper or online >>>>>>>>please click on our Lottery logo>>>>>>…..just a thought….perhaps a nice wee Christmas present might be a few weeks lottery participation. Jackpot now stands at £1200.00 – GOOD LUCK!
A match against Elgin City at the Gleaner Arena in Elgin has been arranged for Saturday 4 December.
Former Deveronvale, Buckie Thistle, Lossiemouth , Forres and Elgin City player Steven Rattray has joined Charlie Brown’s coaching staff. Read about it here from the P&J article ….Steven Rattray
Please contact our secretary Clive Wolstenholme : wolstc@aol.com for all the information regarding sponsorships etc.
And as ever, please try our online Lottery – click on the Lottery Logo >>>>>>
November 6 We welcomed Buckie Thistle to Seafield Park, one of the teams expected to be challenging for the league title at the end of the season and so it proved today. They ran out comfortable winners 6-0, four up at half-time, with Andy MacAskill scoring a hat-trick. Jags manager Charlie Brown said, “Buckie dominated possession for long spells but to be honest they didn’t have to do much for their goals as most came from mistakes by our back four.”
Manager, Charlie Brown
Before the game our Chairman Donly McLeod presented Jimmy and Eunice Munro from Elgin with a cheque for £5300 for a £1 stake won on the club’s weekly lottery. Checkout the club website to play the lottery online. The draw is made every Sunday evening.
November 11 Speaking to the local newspaper, Strathspey & Badenoch Herald, Jags boss Charlie Brown is hoping that winning at Grant Street Park, Inverness in a cup competition for the second time this season will act as an incentive to the players. In what was the team’s best performance of the season the Jags were very worthy winners 4-0. This time we visit Clachnacuddin in the Highland League Cup sponsored by GPH Builders Merchants.
November 13 Off to Inverness for our third visit of the season on a damp November afternoon. In a tight contest with no quarter given it was Clach who came out on top when their captain Martin Callum netted on 75 minutes. Neither side created much during the first half but the Lilywhites had the better of the second 45 minutes. To add to The Jags woes, on 88 minutes Stephen Rennie was sent off for a second bookable offence. The club will now concentrate on improving their league position starting at Inverurie this coming Saturday.
November 20 A trip on the A 96 into Aberdeenshire and Harlaw Park, Inverurie, for our game with the Loco Works.
Another very early goal conceded put us on the back foot and a second on 18 minutes asked a lot but credit to the players who took the game to Inverurie and deserved to pull back a goal on 37 minutes through Kris Duncan but another poor piece of defending right on half-time saw us go in 3-1 down. The Jags took the game to Locos for the first 25minutes of the second half and had we scored it would have been ‘game on’ but it was not to be. Two more goals were conceded on 76 and 81 minutes for Inverurie to run out winners 5-1.
November 24 The club announced the signing, on loan, of 18-year-old striker Shane Harkness from Rothes FC until the end of the season. Shane goes straight into the squad for Saturday’s home game with Huntly. Jake Thomson who was with us on a season long loan from Elgin City has returned to Elgin as he has just had an operation on his ankle and will be out for 3 to 4 months.
November 26 Heavy snow started falling in Grantown which resulted in the game on the 27th with Huntly being called off. It was decided that as both clubs were free on Saturday December 4 the game would be played then at Seafield Park, weather permitting.
November 30 The Highland Football League decided that the game on Saturday December 4 with Huntly was to be postponed until later in the season. This was due to continuing poor weather forecast for the area for the rest of the week but allows Huntly to play their previously postponed game against Brora.
Assistant manager Jamie McGowan also appeared on the Highland Football Weekly Podcast during the month.
