Tain Thistle Football Club are a football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 club playing in the Ross-shire Welfare Football League in 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...

. They play at Grant Park in the town of Tain

Tain

Tain is a royal burgh and post town in the committee area of Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland.-Etymology:...

 in the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

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The club was formed in 1996, and joined the Ross-shire Welfare League in 1997. The club was accepted into the North Caledonian League in June 2008 and competed in league matches during the 2008–09 season, becoming the first Tain team to do so since the demise of Tain St Duthus

Tain St. Duthus F.C.

Tain St. Duthus Football Club was a Scottish football club based at the Links Playing Fields in the town of Tain in the Scottish Highlands. It was formed in 1947....

 three years earlier. The following season, Thistle competed in both league and cup competitions, confirming their full membership of the league. The club is managed by the team of Robbie Ross and Ian Christie.

Tain Thistle also appear in the multi-million selling game series, Football Manager 2009

Football Manager 2009

Football Manager 2009 is a football manager simulation video game. It was released on PC, Mac and PlayStation Portable on 14 November 2008 in Europe and on 18 November 2008 in North America...

 and have been featured in several national newspapers for achieving the feat.

League

The club have played in the Ross-shire Welfare league since 1997, and while the club typically finished bottom of the league throughout its early years, they finished their 2008 Ross-shire Welfare campaign, after 12 games, in second place. The club entered the North Caledonian league for the first time in July 2008, before withdrawing in June 2010 after failing to find a new manager.

The club secured its first ever Ross-shire Welfare league title in 2009, beating Invergordon Social Club on the final day to win by five clear points, ahead of rivals Ross-shire Club.

Cups

The club has won three cup trophies, the first in 2007 under the management of Arron Christie, defeating Ross-shire Club to lift the Pattison Cup and the Cordiner Cup under the same management when they beat Inver 3-1 (aet) in June 2009.

Thistle completed a successful season in 2009 by winning the Ross-shire Welfare Charity Shield in August, defeating Ross-shire Club by 4 goals to 1.

In May 2011, Thistle lifted the Ross-shire Welfare League Cup, defeating Balintore by 3 goals to 2 in the final. This result is described as Thistle's greatest performance to date having won after their goalkeeper was given his marching orders on 15 minutes. With no goalkeeper on the bench, it was right back, Brian Cameron who volunteered to go between the sticks, despite not having played in goals since Primary School.

Media coverage

The club generated a much higher level of media interest than usual during November 2008 as a result of their inclusion in Football Manager. Club chairman Niall Harkiss was interviewed live on the subject by Peter Allen

Peter Allen (UK broadcaster)

Peter Edwin Allen is a UK radio broadcaster, and the current co-presenter of BBC Radio 5 Live's Drive programme.-Early life:...

 from BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...

 and also appeared on BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...

's morning news programme, Good Morning Scotland

Good Morning Scotland

Good Morning Scotland is a Scottish breakfast radio news programme. It is broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland weekdays from 06:00 to 08:45. Established in 1973, it is the longest-running radio show broadcast from Scotland and remains one of the most popular....

. Tain Thistle were also featured on BBC Scotland's flagship television news programme, Reporting Scotland

Reporting Scotland

Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis...

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