Raidernation Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 Having lived and worked in the FW/Ardnamurchan/Morvern area my experience was that kids were more interested in Shinty or watersports (now, now).Those that did play football played mostly for “welfare” sides as it didn’t interfere too much with the shinty.It’s the way it is out there. We had a lad who was offered a contract with FW (and some other sides) but he wanted to play shinty ( to the extent he chose his university based on the shinty team there).Just like I suspect (I don’t know for sure) the reasons there doesn’t seem to be much football in the Borders? Rugby maybe the “traditional” sport? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 (edited) On 05/08/2018 at 21:57, GordonS said: If FW drop into a league with less money and profile, it'll probably kill them. They are only able to keep going because being in the HL brings a certain amount of prestige that can attract sponsors, and I presume they get a slice of the HL's sponsorship too. They can't cut their travel costs by joining another league because there's nothing more meaningfully local, so they are trapped - they either accept their place as perennial also-rans, or they probably fold. I have my doubts. As it is, most of their home games are played midweek because of postponements as their pitch is a bog October to March. Dropping from 34 fixtures to 16/18 in the NCL would mean they could probably play them all on Saturdays, hopefully encouraging more local support. Most of their away games would be closer than Aberdeenshire, and trips to the likes of Thurso, Halkirk and Orkney would be once each a season. I don't know how much they get from the Hl sponsorship but I doubt it's a lot. If they get a better attendance with more Saturday fixtures, and actually start scoring a few points, they might encourage more local sponsorship. I'd imagine Orkney visiting would attract more local interest than Huntly or Keith. Edited August 7, 2018 by welshbairn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 On 05/08/2018 at 22:59, Raidernation said: Having lived and worked in the FW/Ardnamurchan/Morvern area my experience was that kids were more interested in Shinty or watersports (now, now). Those that did play football played mostly for “welfare” sides as it didn’t interfere too much with the shinty. It’s the way it is out there. We had a lad who was offered a contract with FW (and some other sides) but he wanted to play shinty ( to the extent he chose his university based on the shinty team there). Just like I suspect (I don’t know for sure) the reasons there doesn’t seem to be much football in the Borders? Rugby maybe the “traditional” sport? There are more football clubs and teams than rugby at adult and youth levels... you've go half-a-dozen in the senior pyramid and about 30 in the Border Amateur League. Spectator-wise it is a different story: rugby clubs generally get crowds in the hundreds, football clubs generally get crowds either side of 100. It also depends what part of the Borders you're talking about. Berwickshire is football... the only rugby teams are Earston and Duns, both pretty low down the pecking order. Roxburghshire in contrast only has Hawick in senior football, but likes of Kelso, Jedforest and Hawick in rugby. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moonster Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Can't help but think a full functioning pyramid system below the highland league would resolve this debate rather easily. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highland Capital Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 I saw a few weeks ago, Fort William lost 2-1 to South Lochaber Thistle (based in Ballachulish). It was only a couple of years ago Fort beat them about 10-0. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginaro Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 6 hours ago, The Moonster said: Can't help but think a full functioning pyramid system below the highland league would resolve this debate rather easily. Surely it would be easier to persuade the North and Tayside Juniors to form tier 6 and below if they didn't have to travel across to Fort William? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 16 minutes ago, Ginaro said: Surely it would be easier to persuade the North and Tayside Juniors to form tier 6 and below if they didn't have to travel across to Fort William? Dundee to Fort William is probably quicker by car than other parts of the Highland League. End of the day it'd only be one league game a season, it'd be Fort William that'd have to worry about the 18 away games. As for the North Juniors they don't have much of a reason not to look to integration with the Highland League when you consider the overlap with the Highland League. Unless remaining split by the Junior/Senior tag is their best way to continue to exist as you'll notice HL and Junior clubs both being in some relatively small towns. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 A mere 0-6 defeat to Huntly this evening. That would have been a respectable result in the 1990s. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vale Vale Vale Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 6 hours ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said: A mere 0-6 defeat to Huntly this evening. That would have been a respectable result in the 1990s. Will be interesting to see how they get on against Lossie and Strathspey. I think they can push for a 16th place finish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 A mere 0-6 defeat to Huntly this evening. That would have been a respectable result in the 1990s.Progress. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 (edited) Back to double digits with a late goal from a strong Turriff side, 0-10. Think they're playing NCL side Inverness City in a friendly Wednesday night, could be interesting how that goes if both first teams turn up. Edited August 11, 2018 by welshbairn 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 I think even the Fort William Twitter guy has had enough. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 On 11/08/2018 at 18:13, welshbairn said: Back to double digits with a late goal from a strong Turriff side, 0-10. Think they're playing NCL side Inverness City in a friendly Wednesday night, could be interesting how that goes if both first teams turn up. On 12/08/2018 at 15:34, Snafu said: v Inverness Athletic at the Bught Park, Inverness K.O. 19:30 HT was 3-0 to Inverness Athletic (all scored before half-hour). After a number of subs at HT from Athletic it was brought back to 3-3 before a late goal won it 4-3 for Inverness. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 9 hours ago, HibeeJibee said: HT was 3-0 to Inverness Athletic (all scored before half-hour). After a number of subs at HT from Athletic it was brought back to 3-3 before a late goal won it 4-3 for Inverness. Cheers for that, meant to go but forgot all about it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 It's claimed on FitbaNorth that their 16yr old substitute goalkeeper played upfront. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 It's claimed on FitbaNorth that their 16yr old substitute goalkeeper played upfront.Jesus. Out of interest what is the official record defeat in the Highland League? A quick Google would suggest it was 17-0 set in April '98 (Peterhead v Fort William) but not sure if that's accurate. I reckon Fort could be on the end of even worse this season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmontheloknow Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 3 hours ago, HibeeJibee said: It's claimed on FitbaNorth that their 16yr old substitute goalkeeper played upfront. Pretty sure he played right back in the 16-0 game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmontheloknow Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 3 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: Jesus. Out of interest what is the official record defeat in the Highland League? A quick Google would suggest it was 17-0 set in April '98 (Peterhead v Fort William) but not sure if that's accurate. I reckon Fort could be on the end of even worse this season. Was there not an 18-0 in the 90s? Could be imagining that but thinking Ross County or the like pre SFL. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 Was there not an 18-0 in the 90s? Could be imagining that but thinking Ross County or the like pre SFL.Nae idea. I spotted the 17-0 on what appeared to be an ICT forum so it may be a load of shite. I struggled to find much else regarding record scores etc, just a few bits and bobs on different forums. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 10 nil to Locos today. Looking like they could hit a 100 goal difference by October. Currently -46 after 5 games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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