The North Caledonian League season gets started on Saturday with the division boosted by Fort William and Clachnacuddin reserves.
Fort were relegated from the Highland League, while Clach’s under-20s make the step into the NCL, following in the footsteps of Nairn County’s youngsters, who are preparing for their third successive term.
As well as the division offering eligible champions the chance to compete for the place in the Highland League, the league winners also secure a place in the Scottish Cup preliminary round.
Saturday’s opening league games are as follows:
- Alness United v Invergordon
- Fort William v Golspie Sutherland
- Loch Ness v Orkney
- St Duthus v Halkirk United
- Nairn County A v Thurso
- Inverness Athletic v Clachnacuddin A.
Invergordon hoping to hold title
Invergordon are looking to hold on to their title, with boss Gary Campbell retaining the majority of his squad.
He said: “We’ve been pretty consistent, either in first or second place in the last few years, so we’re looking to be up at the top end again.”
Loch Ness ‘exceeded their own’ expectations last year
Last year’s runners-up Loch Ness exceeded their own expectations in their first full NCL campaign.
Manager Shane Carling said: “We over-achieved last year. My target was top four, so to finish second was an achievement alone for a brand-new team.
“We’re going to go for the title, while also getting to a cup final would also be good.”
Halkirk United promising
Halkirk United finished just five points behind Invergordon and were runners-up in the North Caledonian and Football Times Cups last term.
Manager Ewan McElroy will be on duty as boss of High Ormlie in the Highland Amateur Cup final against Pentland United at Harmsworth Park, Wick, on Saturday.
Most of Halkirk’s squad are also involved in the final, meaning they will be up against it for their trip to Tain this weekend.
Golspie Sutherland lost experienced players
Golspie Sutherland‘s title was taken away by Invergordon and Mark McKernie is now in charge as the club look to kick on from the fourth-placed finish in 2022/23.
The manager, who replaced 2021 title-winning manager Sam Mackay, said: “We lost top-scorer Liam Bremner and Sean Munro (to Wick Academy), and Sam Mackay is giving the game a break. Those three experienced boys are gone, but it frees up areas for young boys.
“I played a couple of games for Helmsdale over the summer and I came across a couple of boys, who can come in and do well for us.”
‘You should always set out with the aim of winning the league’
St Duthus lifted the North Caledonian Cup and finished fifth in the league last term and boss Alan Geegan is set for his first full season at the Tain club’s helm.
He said: “We’ve had a good pre-season and started earlier in order to get games against stronger sides.
“We had some good results, such as drawing against Clach and Caley Thistle’s under-18s, beat New Elgin and just lost 1-0 against Forres Mechanics.
“Ultimately you should always set out with the aim of winning the league. We’re looking to win more silverware and continue to improve this squad.”
Orkney ‘looking for a better start’
Orkney were level on points with Saints last season and their manager Charlie Alway insists they’re determined to be in the championship chase this time, boosted by signing brothers John and James Pickles from Brora and Wick.
He said: “The ambition every year is to compete at the top end. We got ourselves relevant last season before dropping away at the end.
“Last year, we lost four of our first five games. We’re looking for a better start.”
Thurso boss confident
Football Times Cup holders Thurso are looking to show improvement in the league after finishing seventh.
Vikings boss Michael Bremner has most of his squad unavailable this weekend as they are also involved in the Highland Amateur Cup final.
However, beyond that, Bremner is confident they can kick on. He said: “We had a poor start, but finished off strongly, so we want to keep that momentum going. When we had everyone available last season, we were good, so we’ve got more depth.”
Nairn County ‘worked really hard towards the end of the season’
Nairn County‘s A side suffered a dip in form before a strong recovery took them from bottom place to eighth place as well as two cup semi-finals.
Their manager Stuart Finnie, whose goal is to drive young lads into Ronnie Sharp’s first-team, is after more consistency.
He said: “We worked really hard towards the end of the season and found something from somewhere. We need to be better and I’d expect most teams to be even stronger this year.”
Inverness Athletic boss pushing on
North Kessock will be the home base for Inverness Athletic and co-boss Stuart Ross is keen for his side to push on from their ninth-place finish last year.
He said: “We’ve been working really hard behind the scenes over the summer, in particular with us trying to link-up from the under-18s to clear the pathway through to the first-team.
“Graham Linton and Chris Hunter are doing good work with the 18s and our summer league sides had a fantastic season, with eight or nine of those (under-20s) players stepping up for the new season.”
Alness United ‘good to go’
Alness United boss Robert MacCormack is confident his side can improve and be more competitive this term after finishing off at the foot of the table only on goal difference.
He said: “We’ve been training and playing games for a good number of weeks. Some guys have moved on, but we’ve taken a few in – hopefully we will be good to go.
“Last season was not good enough. It was disappointing and we’re now looking to build back to where we want to be and that is being competitive in every match we play in.”
Gearing up for the new season 👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/ljDlByjftS
— Bonar Bridge FC (@bonar_fc) August 6, 2022
Bonar Bridge has a ‘promising squad’
Bonar Bridge were bottom of the pack and Fraser Heath has replaced boss Rob Mitchell, who has joined Alness as assistant manager.
Former Bonar player Heath, whose side starts a week on Saturday against Nairn, said: “We’ve got a promising squad and we’re looking forward to it.
“We have to be more competitive and win more than three games to try and move away from the bottom.”
Fort William ‘ready to start’
Former Crawley Town boss Chris Baffour replaced Shadab Iftikhar as the Fort William manager in June and he’s looking forward to having matches at Claggan Park this term, which wasn’t an option in the Highland League last year due to its condition.
He said: “We’re still finalising our squad and we’ll be starting with just five players from the group which finished last season.
“I’m told last season, travelling to all games to its toll on the team.
“The pitch is in good shape. We’ll try and get the grass a bit lower, so the ball can move faster, but we’re ready to start on Saturday.”
Clachnacuddin squad ‘come on leaps and bounds’
Clachnacuddin boss Paul Maclennan is taking his team into the NCL just days after they clinched the Inverness Amateur League Division 2 with a game to spare.
He said: “They have gone 15 games unbeaten in the league and reached the Association Cup final where we lost 1-0 against Maryburgh in a really tight game.
“The boys have come on leaps and bounds, with the benefit of the training as well. We’ve got exactly what we wanted from the amateur league and we’re now ready for Saturday.”
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