Skye Camanachd
Encyclopedia
Skye Camanachd is a shinty
team from the Isle of Skye, Highland
, Scotland
. It plays in North Division One and has a reserve team in North Division Two. The club is based at Pairc nan Laoch
, Portree
.
. The club was a founding member of the Camanachd Association
and entered the Camanachd Cup
despite mainland clubs trying to force them to play on the mainland. The club had to wait almost 100 years to get its hands on the Camanachd Cup. The club endured a turbulent 1960s and after a few years without entering competition was reformed in 1969. http://www.skyecamanachd.com/default.aspx.locid-087new0e3.Lang-EN.htm
Instrumental in the re-establishment of the club was Donald R. MacDonald aka "DR", who was a Scottish Gaelic teacher at Portree High School
. The coaching of shinty which he started in the High School would sow the seeds of Skye's greatest success, the Camanachd Cup win of 1990.http://www.skyecamanachd.com/club-history.html DR would eventually manage the first team in the early 2000s and his sons, Somhairle, Aonghas and Gilleasbuig, would all go on to play for the club. Aonghas would also manage the club between 2009 and 2010. DR passed away in March 2010 on the first day of that year's shinty season and Skye's matches were cancelled that day. http://www.whfp.com/Frontpage/1976-Tributes-are-paid-to-Gaelic-and-shinty-stalwart-DR-MacDonald.html
Throughout the late 70s and early 80s, Skye Camanachd were victorious in several Sutherland Cup finals and this was to build up to the hour of their greatest triumph, the Camanachd Cup in 1990.
for the first time in their history in 1990 against Newtonmore in Fort William. Inspirational in this victory was player, Willie Cowie
and his brother, manager Ross Cowie
. Their exploits were recorded for posterity by the BBC program "Home" which filmed behind the scenes on the day as well as the triumphant homecoming to Portree
where they were met by a crowd of 5000 people, almost half the island's population. The celebrations are famous for the expensive trophy being lost and then found in the street at 6 in the morning the next day, the local legend being that everybody else thought that someone else was looking after it.http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Skye-success--an-impassioned.4329588.jp In addition to winning the Cup, the Albert Smith Medal
, an award presented to the Man of the Match in the final of the Camanachd Cup
every year since 1972, was presented to Willie Macrae from Skye Camanachd in 1990. Skye remains the only team from an island to have won the Cup.http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Shinty-Highflying-Skye-breeze-through.6251775.jp The club toured Nova Scotia
in 1991 in the afterglow of the success alongside Kingussie.
firms Carlsberg and Hummel
. The club also benefited in early 2008 from an anonymous loan of £50,000 sterling
from a local individual, with repayments based on future success.http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2410166.0.Skye_make_early_payment.php Much of this went to pay off some of the loan which had been invested in the development of the Pairc nan Laoch stadium after the move from the council owned King George V Park.
In July 2008, the first team won the Balliemore Cup
for the first time, defeating Kilmallie
3-1 at Braeview Park, Beauly
. Gilleasbuig Macdonald was the captain.http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Skye-success--an-impassioned.4329588.jp The club re-appointed Angus Murchison to succeed Alasdair Morrison as manager in 2009. Aonghas MacDonald became manager halfway through the season and steered Skye to a 3rd place position, impressing enough to be given the full time position in 2010. Ross Cowie, now Chairman of the club demanded an improvement from the club's reserve side in 2010, after a poor couple of seasons which had seen the reserve team, which historically has brought Skye a great deal of success, finish in the bottom half the North Division Two and suffer humiliating defeats to lower league opposition.http://www.whfp.com/Frontpage/1969-Skye-Camanachd-continue-to-meet-targets-in-their-10-year-plan.html
In June 2009, Skye won the Plate competition of the Marine Harvest Clash of the Camans at An Aird, defeating Lochside Rovers and Fort William 2nds
.http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1272296?UserKey= The club also undertook the first ever tour by a Scottish shinty club of the United States, visiting California
in September 2009.
The club had an underwhelming 2010 season. Aonghas MacDonald stepped down at the end of the season.http://skye-camanachd.sitekit.net/default.aspx.locid-087new2al.Lang-EN.htm However, MacDonald was re-appointed to the role for the 2011 season.
The club provides the bulk of the Alba, the Scottish Gaelic representative team.
, with a mention of the distinctive White strips that the club wears.
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 from the Isle of Skye, Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
, 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 plays in North Division One and has a reserve team in North Division Two. The club is based at Pairc nan Laoch
Pairc nan Laoch
Pairc nan Laoch is a shinty stadium in Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is home to Skye Camanachd.-History:Skye Camanachd originally played at Home Farm in the village of Portree and then moved to the King George V Park in the centre of the village where they attracted large crowds. They also...
, Portree
Portree
Portree is the largest town on Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the location for the only secondary school on the Island, Portree High school. Public transport services are limited to buses....
.
Early history
Skye had a strong tradition of playing shinty on the Old Celtic New Year and there was a Portree Club and a Bernisdale Club in existence in the 1880s. However, Skye Camanachd in its present form, came into being in 1892, winning the first ever MacTavish CupMacTavish Cup
The MacTavish Cup is a knock-out cup competition in the sport of shinty. It is competed for by senior teams from the North of Scotland district...
. The club was a founding member of the Camanachd Association
Camanachd Association
The Camanachd Association is the World governing body of the Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland, and is in charge of the rules of the game...
and entered 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...
despite mainland clubs trying to force them to play on the mainland. The club had to wait almost 100 years to get its hands on the Camanachd Cup. The club endured a turbulent 1960s and after a few years without entering competition was reformed in 1969. http://www.skyecamanachd.com/default.aspx.locid-087new0e3.Lang-EN.htm
Re-establishment
On 2 September 1969 the club was reconstituted with Colonel Jock MacDonald as president and Duncan MacIntyre, a shinty enthusiast and local police inspector at the time, as chairman, and immediately set about fund-raising for the forthcoming season. http://www.skyecamanachd.com/club-history.htmlInstrumental in the re-establishment of the club was Donald R. MacDonald aka "DR", who was a Scottish Gaelic teacher at Portree High School
Portree High school
Portree High School is a state co-educational comprehensive school in Portree, on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The school currently enrolls 640 pupils and employs 60 teachers...
. The coaching of shinty which he started in the High School would sow the seeds of Skye's greatest success, the Camanachd Cup win of 1990.http://www.skyecamanachd.com/club-history.html DR would eventually manage the first team in the early 2000s and his sons, Somhairle, Aonghas and Gilleasbuig, would all go on to play for the club. Aonghas would also manage the club between 2009 and 2010. DR passed away in March 2010 on the first day of that year's shinty season and Skye's matches were cancelled that day. http://www.whfp.com/Frontpage/1976-Tributes-are-paid-to-Gaelic-and-shinty-stalwart-DR-MacDonald.html
Throughout the late 70s and early 80s, Skye Camanachd were victorious in several Sutherland Cup finals and this was to build up to the hour of their greatest triumph, the Camanachd Cup in 1990.
Camanachd Cup 1990
Skye famously won the Camanachd CupCamanachd Cup
The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup AKA the Camanachd Cup or Scottish Cup is the premier prize in the sport of shinty...
for the first time in their history in 1990 against Newtonmore in Fort William. Inspirational in this victory was player, Willie Cowie
Willie Cowie
William Cowie, more commonly known as Willie Cowie, is an ex-shinty player from Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland. Throughout his career he played for Skye Camanachd and was a prolific forward. He is now a coach for the club.-Playing Career:...
and his brother, manager Ross Cowie
Ross Cowie
Ross Cowie is former shinty player and manager from Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland. He is affectionately known as The Colonel....
. Their exploits were recorded for posterity by the BBC program "Home" which filmed behind the scenes on the day as well as the triumphant homecoming to Portree
Portree
Portree is the largest town on Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the location for the only secondary school on the Island, Portree High school. Public transport services are limited to buses....
where they were met by a crowd of 5000 people, almost half the island's population. The celebrations are famous for the expensive trophy being lost and then found in the street at 6 in the morning the next day, the local legend being that everybody else thought that someone else was looking after it.http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Skye-success--an-impassioned.4329588.jp In addition to winning the Cup, the Albert Smith Medal
Albert Smith Medal
The Albert Smith Memorial Medal is the award given to the Man of the Match in the final of the Camanachd Cup, the blue riband trophy of the sport of shinty. It has been presented every year since 1972 by the Smith family of Fort William in honour of Albert Smith Sr. The widow of his only son,...
, an award presented to the Man of the Match in the 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...
every year since 1972, was presented to Willie Macrae from Skye Camanachd in 1990. Skye remains the only team from an island to have won the Cup.http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Shinty-Highflying-Skye-breeze-through.6251775.jp The club toured Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
in 1991 in the afterglow of the success alongside Kingussie.
Recent times
Skye have never again achieved the high of winning the Camanachd Cup, but they did achieve Premier division status in the early 2000s under the management of Angus Murchison before being relegated. The club has shown a flair for another sort of promotion however, securing lucrative sponsorship deals with DanishDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
firms Carlsberg and Hummel
Hummel International
hummel International is a Denmark-based sportswear company. The firm was started in 1923 by the Messmer family in the town of Hamburg, Germany. It currently manufactures apparel for football, handball, basketball, rugby league, Australian football, shinty and volleyball...
. The club also benefited in early 2008 from an anonymous loan of £50,000 sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
from a local individual, with repayments based on future success.http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2410166.0.Skye_make_early_payment.php Much of this went to pay off some of the loan which had been invested in the development of the Pairc nan Laoch stadium after the move from the council owned King George V Park.
In July 2008, the first team won the Balliemore Cup
Balliemore Cup
The Balliemore Cup is a knock-out cup in the sport of shinty. It is the Intermediate Championship run under the auspices of the Camanachd Association and only first teams competing in North Division One and South Division One are eligible for entry.-History:...
for the first time, defeating Kilmallie
Kilmallie
Kilmallie is the name of a civil parish in and around the settlement of Caol, Fort William, Scotland. It gives its name to the local shinty club, Kilmallie Shinty Club....
3-1 at Braeview Park, Beauly
Beauly
Beauly is a town of the Scottish county of Inverness-shire, on the River Beauly, 10 miles west of Inverness by the Far North railway line. Its population was 855 in 1901...
. Gilleasbuig Macdonald was the captain.http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Skye-success--an-impassioned.4329588.jp The club re-appointed Angus Murchison to succeed Alasdair Morrison as manager in 2009. Aonghas MacDonald became manager halfway through the season and steered Skye to a 3rd place position, impressing enough to be given the full time position in 2010. Ross Cowie, now Chairman of the club demanded an improvement from the club's reserve side in 2010, after a poor couple of seasons which had seen the reserve team, which historically has brought Skye a great deal of success, finish in the bottom half the North Division Two and suffer humiliating defeats to lower league opposition.http://www.whfp.com/Frontpage/1969-Skye-Camanachd-continue-to-meet-targets-in-their-10-year-plan.html
In June 2009, Skye won the Plate competition of the Marine Harvest Clash of the Camans at An Aird, defeating Lochside Rovers and Fort William 2nds
Fort William Shinty Club
Fort William Shinty Club is a shinty club from Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. The first team were Camanachd Cup holders four times in succession, between 2007 and 2010 but were knocked out in the second round in 2011...
.http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1272296?UserKey= The club also undertook the first ever tour by a Scottish shinty club of the United States, visiting California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in September 2009.
The club had an underwhelming 2010 season. Aonghas MacDonald stepped down at the end of the season.http://skye-camanachd.sitekit.net/default.aspx.locid-087new2al.Lang-EN.htm However, MacDonald was re-appointed to the role for the 2011 season.
The club provides the bulk of the Alba, the Scottish Gaelic representative team.
Pride of the Summer
Skye Camanachd are referenced in the song "Pride of the Summer" by RunrigRunrig
Runrig are a Scottish Celtic rock group formed in Skye, in 1973 under the name 'The Run Rig Dance Band'. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The current line-up also includes longtime members Malcolm Jones, Iain Bayne, and more...
, with a mention of the distinctive White strips that the club wears.
- I still see the blood on the knees
- The camans swing without warning
- The lads in white
- At the speed of light
- It's good to be young and daring