Glenurquhart Shinty Club
Encyclopedia
Glenurquhart Shinty Club is a shinty
team which plays in Drumnadrochit
on the banks of Loch Ness
, Scotland
. It draws its players from the part of the Great Glen
which encompasses Drumnadrochit, Lewiston and Glenurquhart. The club has been existence since 1885.
The club presently has two teams, the first team, which plays in the Premier Division and the second team, which won North Division Two in 2009 and 2010.
on the 12th of February 1887, at the Bught Park
, Inverness
and in a landmark game concerning the establishment of the first official rules of Shinty. Glen Urquhart lost a game, played with 22 players on each side 2-0. This fixture was to be repeated on 12 January 2007 in Inverness as the opening centrepiece of the Highland 2007
celebrations in Scotland.
The club has had very poor historic success with purple patches in the 1960s and early 1990s. The club participated in the Fairytale Final of the Camanachd Cup
in 1988, succumbing 4-2 to Kingussie Camanachd
. The Glen were relegated from the National Premier in 1999. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990516/ai_n13938904
In 2007, the club reached the Balliemore Cup Final but lost 1-0 to Kinlochshiel
.
In 2008 the Glen have reached the Mactavish Cup Final for the first time in 26 years and won North Division One, winning promotion to the Premier Division. The second team also added to the success of the club in 2008 when it won North Division Three and was promoted to North Division Two in 2009. The club were named Marine Harvest Club of the Year for 2008 on the 20th June 2009, the same day that the club won the inaugural Marine Harvest Clash of the Camanshttp://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1272296?UserKey=. The Glenurquhart second team won the North Division Two title on the 10th of October 2009, which would have seen the team promoted to North Division One in 2010 but the club committee turned this down.
Hugely successful management duo Billy MacLean and Dave Menzies stood down at the end of the 2009 season to be replaced by Jim Barr.http://www.skyecamanachd.com/default.aspx.locid-087new1cu.Lang-EN.htm Glenurquhart's excellent fourth place finish for 2009 was downgraded to 5th place after Kyles Athletic won their appeal against a 2-point penalty for failing to fulfil a fixture.http://www.highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/6985/Cups_up_for_grabs_in_season_warm-ups.html
The club's reserves won the North Division Two in 2009 and 2010 having won the North Division Three in 2008. The club refused promotion to North Division One. The club's reserves also featured in the 2010 Sutherland Cup
Final and won the Strathdearn Cup
.
2011 saw the second team struggle to maintain the standards of recent years but the first team continued to consolidate its Premier Division status. Jim Barr stepped down from his management role at the end of the season to be replaced by ex-Fort William manager Drew MacNeil
.
was the first black person to play for Scotland at full international level, coming on as a substitute in the combined rules international with Ireland in 2008. http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/913027?UserKey= He was joined by John Barr
in 2009. John Barr is an iconic figure in the present Glen squad. Another player who has gained international recognition and holds a record number of under-21 caps is present goalkeeper, Stuart MacKintosh
.
January 2009 saw the club afflicted by tragedy with the death
of shinty historian Professor Peter English
, who was intrisically linked with the club as a player and an official.http://www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.2487567.0.prof_peter_english.php
Shinty journalist Fraser MacKenzie
played for the club and writes the Glen based "Keeping Out Of The D" blog. The club also signed former Scotland and Lochcarron manager, Fraser MacKenzie
in 2011.
There is also an under 14 team and under 17 team at the moment.
Shinty
Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...
team which plays in Drumnadrochit
Drumnadrochit
Drumnadrochit is a village inthe Highland local government council area of Scotland, lying on the west shore of Loch Ness, at the foot of Glen Urquhart.-History:...
on the banks of Loch Ness
Loch Ness
Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It draws its players from the part of the Great Glen
Great Glen
The Great Glen , also known as Glen Albyn or Glen More is a series of glens in Scotland running 100 kilometres from Inverness on the Moray Firth, to Fort William at the head of Loch Linnhe.The Great Glen follows a large geological fault known as the Great Glen Fault...
which encompasses Drumnadrochit, Lewiston and Glenurquhart. The club has been existence since 1885.
The club presently has two teams, the first team, which plays in the Premier Division and the second team, which won North Division Two in 2009 and 2010.
History
Glenurquhart played a match against StrathglassStrathglass Shinty Club
Strathglass Shinty Club or "Comunn Camanachd Straghlais" in Scottish Gaelic is a shinty club from Cannich, Inverness-shire. The Club was founded in 1879, is considered to be the oldest constituted club in shinty and played a major role in the development of the rules of the sport...
on the 12th of February 1887, at the Bught Park
Bught Park
Bught Park is the largest park in the city of Inverness, Scotland, and is situated on the western bank of the River Ness. It is home to the Inverness Highland Games and a small scale outdoor music festival. It is located next to the city's sports centre, swimming pool and BMX track...
, Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
and in a landmark game concerning the establishment of the first official rules of Shinty. Glen Urquhart lost a game, played with 22 players on each side 2-0. This fixture was to be repeated on 12 January 2007 in Inverness as the opening centrepiece of the Highland 2007
Highland 2007
Highland 2007 was a year-long celebration of Highland culture which took place from January until December 2007. It involved local communities throughout the Scottish Highlands and Islands as well as people across Scotland, the UK and beyond....
celebrations in Scotland.
The club has had very poor historic success with purple patches in the 1960s and early 1990s. The club participated in the Fairytale Final of the Camanachd Cup
Camanachd Cup
The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup AKA the Camanachd Cup or Scottish Cup is the premier prize in the sport of shinty...
in 1988, succumbing 4-2 to Kingussie Camanachd
Kingussie Camanachd
Kingussie Camanachd is a shinty team from Kingussie, Scotland and according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, is World sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive leagues and going 4 years unbeaten at one stage in the early 1990s. The second team plays in North...
. The Glen were relegated from the National Premier in 1999. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990516/ai_n13938904
In 2007, the club reached the Balliemore Cup Final but lost 1-0 to Kinlochshiel
Kinlochshiel
Kinlochshiel Shinty Club is a shinty club based in Balmacara, near Kyle of Lochalsh, Lochalsh, Scotland. The club has two sides, a senior team which were champions of North Division One in 2011 and a reserve team in North Division Two...
.
In 2008 the Glen have reached the Mactavish Cup Final for the first time in 26 years and won North Division One, winning promotion to the Premier Division. The second team also added to the success of the club in 2008 when it won North Division Three and was promoted to North Division Two in 2009. The club were named Marine Harvest Club of the Year for 2008 on the 20th June 2009, the same day that the club won the inaugural Marine Harvest Clash of the Camanshttp://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1272296?UserKey=. The Glenurquhart second team won the North Division Two title on the 10th of October 2009, which would have seen the team promoted to North Division One in 2010 but the club committee turned this down.
Hugely successful management duo Billy MacLean and Dave Menzies stood down at the end of the 2009 season to be replaced by Jim Barr.http://www.skyecamanachd.com/default.aspx.locid-087new1cu.Lang-EN.htm Glenurquhart's excellent fourth place finish for 2009 was downgraded to 5th place after Kyles Athletic won their appeal against a 2-point penalty for failing to fulfil a fixture.http://www.highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/6985/Cups_up_for_grabs_in_season_warm-ups.html
The club's reserves won the North Division Two in 2009 and 2010 having won the North Division Three in 2008. The club refused promotion to North Division One. The club's reserves also featured in the 2010 Sutherland Cup
Sutherland Cup
The Sutherland Cup is the ice hockey Ontario Junior "B" Provincial Championship trophy. The Sutherland Cup is now the championship trophy of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. Until 2007, the Cup served as an interleague provincial championship...
Final and won the Strathdearn Cup
Strathdearn Cup
The Strathdearn Cup is a knock-out competition in the sport of shinty. The present holders are Newtonmore.It is played for by reserve-level teams from the North of Scotland, that is all teams playing in North Division Two and Three as well as non-league teams....
.
2011 saw the second team struggle to maintain the standards of recent years but the first team continued to consolidate its Premier Division status. Jim Barr stepped down from his management role at the end of the season to be replaced by ex-Fort William manager Drew MacNeil
Drew MacNeil
Drew MacNeil is a former shinty player and current manager of the Scotland national shinty team. He was appointed Glenurquhart manager in October 2011.-Biography:...
.
Players of Note
Midfielder Eddie TemboEddie Tembo
Edward "Eddie" Tembo is a Zambian-born Scottish international shinty player from the village of Drumnadrochit.He plays for Glenurquhart Shinty Club and was a member of the North Division One Championship side in 2008...
was the first black person to play for Scotland at full international level, coming on as a substitute in the combined rules international with Ireland in 2008. http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/913027?UserKey= He was joined by John Barr
John Barr (shinty)
John Barr is a Scottish international shinty player from Abriachan, Scotland. He presently plays for Glenurquhart Shinty Club.-History:...
in 2009. John Barr is an iconic figure in the present Glen squad. Another player who has gained international recognition and holds a record number of under-21 caps is present goalkeeper, Stuart MacKintosh
Stuart MacKintosh
Stuart MacKintosh AKA Smack, is a shinty player and musician from Drumnadrochit, Loch Ness, Scotland. He plays in goal for Glenurquhart Shinty Club and he is the current Scotland goalkeeper.-Shinty career:...
.
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
of shinty historian Professor Peter English
Peter English
Professor Peter English was a scientist, shinty player and social historian from Glen Urquhart, by the shores of Loch Ness, Highland, Scotland.-Career:...
, who was intrisically linked with the club as a player and an official.http://www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.2487567.0.prof_peter_english.php
Shinty journalist Fraser MacKenzie
Fraser MacKenzie (journalist)
Fraser MacKenzie is a journalist, teacher and ex-shinty player from Drumnadrochit, Scotland. He contributes shinty coverage to BBC Radio Scotland's Sports Report and to the Sunday Herald as well as commentating for Radio Scotland. He also writes the "Keeping out of the D" Blog...
played for the club and writes the Glen based "Keeping Out Of The D" blog. The club also signed former Scotland and Lochcarron manager, Fraser MacKenzie
Fraser MacKenzie
Fraser McKenzie is a Scottish professional rugby union player, who plays for Sale Sharks. He plays either at lock or blindside flanker and is a former Scotland under 20 captain. He started his career at Dunfermline Rugby Club and later joined Edinburgh.-References:* on scrum.com...
in 2011.
There is also an under 14 team and under 17 team at the moment.