Stromness Athletic’s title-winning manager Dave MacRae is proud and determined to build upon the club securing their first Orkney A League championship in 41 years.
MacRae, who is originally from Inverness, only took charge of the Maroons for the first time this season, ably assisted by coach and former player Ryan Walter.
Amateurs Stromness had not lifted the main prize since 1982, but their talented team, driven on by MacRae, were confirmed champions last week with a rousing 4-2 victory over Dounby at the Market Green.
Allied with a run to the Highland Amateur Cup, which ended with a 1-0 semi-final defeat against Wick Groats, it has been quite the year for Stromness.
On Tuesday night, they defeated Kirkwall Hotspurs 3-1, meaning their only loss was against the same opponents as they saw off the threat from main rivals, defending champions Kirkwall Thorfinn.
MacRae only began gaining coaching qualifications two years ago amid the Covid pandemic.
The 38-year-old explained what it meant to all those connected with Stromness to deliver the knockout blow to their rivals from Kirkwall.
He said: “There is no beating about the bush – this is a huge achievement for the club, to go 41 years without a title is an awfully long time to wait.
“Within Orkney, it’s the first time it has been in the west mainland since 2001, when Dounby were the last team to win it. It has been very Kirkwall-centric for quite a while.
“We’ve had really big crowds this season and you can see how much it means to folk locally.
“It was a fantastic night out after winning the league. It was celebrated in style.
“We’re in the second-biggest town in Orkney and we probably get the biggest crowds generally anyway.
“But we also had a good run in the Highland Amateur Cup as well this year when we lost in the semi-final, which was a tough one to take.
“It means a great deal to everyone, including the players who have worked so hard – some of the players who have been here a long time, when they were younger, the club struggled and maybe sometimes won just two games a season.
“However, the club has built itself up over the years, so to get over the line and do it in impressive fashion was great.
“We’ve been scoring goals and playing good football – it was superb.”
Coaching kicked off during Covid
Describing the year for himself and assistant Walter as “a bit of a whirlwind”, MacRae detailed the path which led him to Stromness via the Highland and Scottish capitals.
He said: “I’m from Inverness and I have been living in Edinburgh for the last while.
“My girlfriend is from Stromness and we’ve been together for 18 years. It wasn’t until Covid-time, that we moved up here and last year I took the reserve team.
“Andrew Groundwater, who had been the manager, stepped down and the club asked me to take over this season.
“I had very little footballing experience before I came here. I played in school and realised I was not going to make it at any particular level.
“I was actually a better rugby player and I focused more on that.
“When I moved to Edinburgh, I fell out of the sport altogether, but I always wanted to coach.
“I always wanted to try it and it wasn’t until Covid hit that I started to do my coaching badges, and, when I moved here, I got in touch with the club and asked whether I could come along to training.
“I then very quickly got roped into the reserves role and here I am. I don’t know how it happened, but here we are.”
Strong squad was already in place
MacRae insists he felt before the first kick of the ball this season his squad could deliver success.
He added: “I did genuinely believe it was possible at the start of the season, because fundamentally we’ve got such good players and that’s such a big part of it.
“Ryan and I came in with a few ideas and changed a few things as anyone would, but it was all built upon having very good players, who could probably play at a higher level, if it were not for the geography of the island – that’s the case for all the clubs throughout Orkney.”
Stromness ready to defend crown
The squad will regroup and be back to do it all again, this time as defending champions, but MacRae relishes the challenge and reckons there is more to come from the Maroons, while acknowledging the scale of trying repeat their title feat.
He said: “There is a target on our backs now, but we’re comfortable with that.
“Fundamentally, we can be better than we have been. If we can get another strong pre-season training in and get our ideas across even further, then we can improve and give the Highland Amateur Cup another run.
“Our job is to prove this was not a one-off fluke. If you look back to the 1982 team which won the title, they had struggled, won the league, then went back to struggling.
“I’m not saying we’re going to win the title next year because there are strong teams in this league, but with the players we have, we’d be disappointed if we don’t challenge again.
“It is our job to push on and make sure this was not a one-off.”
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