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North Caledonian League Expansion


Robert James

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Getting Canal Park regularly is a real coup for Loch Ness. I suppose that will have been aided by the prospect of Highland RFC having a far lighter schedule than normal and Highlife Highland looking to bring in any income they can.

I'm sure Clach and Fort William will also have half an eye on using Canal Park for home games if a bad winter puts their pitches out of action for any length of time.

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1 hour ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Golspie have never applied for HL entry AFAIA even though they could have done so in recent years and would have been difficult to deny entry to if they had.

They've only just started sorting floodlights out.

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3 hours ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said:

Getting Canal Park regularly is a real coup for Loch Ness. I suppose that will have been aided by the prospect of Highland RFC having a far lighter schedule than normal and Highlife Highland looking to bring in any income they can.

I'm sure Clach and Fort William will also have half an eye on using Canal Park for home games if a bad winter puts their pitches out of action for any length of time.

is it definately the rugby pitch theyre using?

are they permitted to charge admission for the NCL?

it can be a wild place when the weathers howling up the great glen,particularly at night in winter

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On 15/09/2020 at 18:47, Cyclizine said:

Might get a few more along if they're not competing with Clach or ICT on a Saturday. They must have made a decent amount off their shirt sales push and sponsors, I can't imaging hiring Canal Park with floodlights is sustainable purely on rattling a bucket at the likely dozen spectators.

There are clubs in the SOSFL like Lochar Thistle that hire pitches with floodlights, and they play in front of crowds of under 50. Is it that expensive in general, or is Canal Park more expensive because it's a good venue? 

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5 hours ago, GordonS said:

There are clubs in the SOSFL like Lochar Thistle that hire pitches with floodlights, and they play in front of crowds of under 50. Is it that expensive in general, or is Canal Park more expensive because it's a good venue? 

To be fair, having made some enquiries (asked my egg-chasing mate), it's actually just shy of £90 to hire the full Canal Park pitch for a couple of hours. I don't know if that includes the lights, but probably. Ref fees obviously on top of that.

It is a good venue, although it does feel a bit sports centrey to me. You get a good view from the pavilion, not so much from the sides and there's no cover pitchside. In NCL terms, it's perfectly fine.

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1 minute ago, Cyclizine said:

To be fair, having made some enquiries (asked my egg-chasing mate), it's actually just shy of £90 to hire the full Canal Park pitch for a couple of hours. I don't know if that includes the lights, but probably. Ref fees obviously on top of that.

It is a good venue, although it does feel a bit sports centrey to me. You get a good view from the pavilion, not so much from the sides and there's no cover pitchside. In NCL terms, it's perfectly fine.

i think that for a brand new purpose built venue ,in terms of spectating,its pretty poor-the small amount of cover provided is totally inadequate for more than a couple of dozen people(and im being generous here) which will probably be fine for the NCL but it wasnt built for the NCL.its aesthetically pleasing but practically its not good

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2 hours ago, highlandcowden said:

i think that for a brand new purpose built venue ,in terms of spectating,its pretty poor-the small amount of cover provided is totally inadequate for more than a couple of dozen people(and im being generous here) which will probably be fine for the NCL but it wasnt built for the NCL.its aesthetically pleasing but practically its not good

That's a bit disappointing. From pictures I presumed there was a decent covered viewing space from the upper floor of the pavilion. 

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1 hour ago, GordonS said:

That's a bit disappointing. From pictures I presumed there was a decent covered viewing space from the upper floor of the pavilion. 

no,its little more than a viewing platform with a small bit of roof.very little space for many to stand and i suspect it would give cover only if the rain was coming straight down-which,given where its sited,right in the middle of the far end of the great glen,is unlikely,its an area where the wind howls up the glen driving the rain before it;anyone who was at the clach-forres game will know what i mean.a covered terraced area at the south end would have been sensible but,as i say,it seems to have been built with aesthetics rather than spectator comfort in mind,a real missed opportunity

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5 hours ago, Cyclizine said:

To be fair, having made some enquiries (asked my egg-chasing mate), it's actually just shy of £90 to hire the full Canal Park pitch for a couple of hours. I don't know if that includes the lights, but probably. Ref fees obviously on top of that.

It is a good venue, although it does feel a bit sports centrey to me. You get a good view from the pavilion, not so much from the sides and there's no cover pitchside. In NCL terms, it's perfectly fine.

£90 is a fair price for a full game with dressing rooms when you consider the cost of putting on a game on your own grass pitch. Spectators should cover that.

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5 hours ago, info said:

£90 is a fair price for a full game with dressing rooms when you consider the cost of putting on a game on your own grass pitch. Spectators should cover that.

I make no guarantees about the accuracy of the price or what it includes! Although right enough, the Highlife prices say £40.10 per hour with changing rooms and lights included, so maybe not too far off. I guess you'd need more than two hours.

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I watched a bit of Highland v Heriots last October.

The inside of the clubhouse is really well appointed. Good bar. Lovely hot plated food on sale: stovies, macaroni etc.

I'd say the upstairs terrace easily holds 100 or so, but certainly looks like not many were very well covered.

Should be ample for a Loch Ness FC game. I'm looking forward to taking one in.

IMG_20191019_151905.jpeg

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46 minutes ago, Le Tout P'ti FC said:

I watched a bit of Highland v Heriots last October.

The inside of the clubhouse is really well appointed. Good bar. Lovely hot plated food on sale: stovies, macaroni etc.

I'd say the upstairs terrace easily holds 100 or so, but certainly looks like not many were very well covered.

Should be ample for a Loch Ness FC game. I'm looking forward to taking one in.

I thought everyone gets kicked out of the clubhouse and terrace at kick off for football, to mope about in the rain or fuckoff home.

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2 hours ago, welshbairn said:

I thought everyone gets kicked out of the clubhouse and terrace at kick off for football, to mope about in the rain or fuckoff home.

aye,no bevvy served for football though there were still people hanging around there during the clach games iirc.rararugger fans can be trusted with drink,we cant

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On 16/09/2020 at 09:58, welshbairn said:

They've only just started sorting floodlights out.

The erection of floodlights was (in part) delayed by covid19, and the lockdown. There were also some funding issues to be resolved. The lights are now going ahead. 

The Highland League has required its clubs to have floodlights.

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