South African football legend and Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy has delivered a pre-Christmas message to youngsters of North Caledonian League club Bonar Bridge.
McCarthy, a Champions League winner with Porto, knows the Migdale club’s manager Bobby Breen from their time working in Cape Town.
And when asked to help raise the profile of Bonar Bridge, there was a swift reaction.
Breen, whose most recent coaching work was in South Africa, was stunned yet grateful to get McCarthy’s “good luck” message.
Kids thrilled to get video message
Breen said: “From my time in Cape Town, I am good friends with John Comitis, who is the owner of Cape Town City. They are in the Premier League in South Africa.
“Benni became manager of Cape Town City and our team, Green Point, has a home ground right next to their stadium, so through John we often got invited up to the VIP box to watch Cape Town City playing.
“John and Benni also came to watch us play a cup final.
“Benni is a Cape Town boy, who was a deadly striker as a player. He is the only South African to win a Champions League medal (with Porto in 2004).
“I am very good friends with Benni’s agent, Rob Moore, and we plated together at Green Point where Rob was a goalkeeper before he got into football agent management work.
“He has Benni as well as Steven Pienaar from Everton and a few other really good players. Rob was working in Spain for a while and is now back working in London.
“After Bonar Bridge were featured on BBC Scotland’s A View from the Terrace, I sent the footage to Rob saying I’d really like to get some exposure for the Bonar Bridge kids.
“You would not expect a small village in the Highlands to land a South African ex-pro.”
We met Bobby Breen, the gaffer who has swapper Cape Town for Sutherland with the aim of turning around the fortunes of @bonar_fc.
Catch the film now on BBC iPlayer. 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/70zoN6bIyo
— A View from the Terrace (@TheTerraceTV) October 24, 2023
Next-day reply to late-night email
“This club is run as a charity and we’re always looking to try to get sponsorships and advertising boards, so if we can capitialise on any publicity we should try and do that.
“My email was sent to Rob at 9pm one night and by 4pm the next day I had this video sent from Benni. It was unbelievable how quickly he organised it.
“We then asked our junior coaches to show the kids here the video and they wanted to record a ‘thank you’ message to Benni. It was cool.
“Anything we can do to help raise the profile of the club is great and that goes for all clubs in the North Caledonian League. They would never survive without sponsorship.
“So, we just want Bonar Bridge, which is a really good club, to be run financially well. Myself and my son Robbie, who is the head coach, are really enjoying it here.”
Top training lessons – from Arbroath
Meanwhile, Robbie’s short stint training two years ago under Dick and Iain Campbell, who until recently were the long-serving management at Championship side Arbroath, is paying off in Sutherland.
According to Dundonian Breen, lessons learned at the Angus club who nearly won the title that year, are bearing fruit on a weekly basis at Bonar.
He said: “We have family in Dundee, so I’d been visiting every year. We know a few people at Arbroath and Robbie trained there for a week in 2021.
“The Campbell brothers had the club on an unbeaten run, which they said sat alongside Barcelona at the time. It was a miracle.
“I watched their training sessions, such as their excellent passing drills, which were so good. It was amazing for me to see how physical that league is, yet how technical the players were.
“Now, Robbie takes our training sessions and they are unbelievable. The feedback from the players to the committee members was phenomenal. His attention to detail is so strong and technically correct.
“Every player is improving. A lot of training sessions involve match situations. We’re also trying to get all the players to play in different positions because that’s what you need in the league when you have injuries or suspensions.
“We don’t have the luxury of having two players for every position. The more players we get to fill in, the better.
“This season is work in progress. We are just trying to get the boys to be competitive.
“They have been shell-shocked by being bottom of the league for the last four seasons, getting battered every week.”
Final weekend before mini-break
It was a change over the summer at Bonar Bridge as Breen, his son Robbie and first-team coach Tommy McClenaghan became the new management group.
They came in keen to drive the club from being annual toilers at the foot of the division and their start to the season was impressive.
League wins against Inverness Athletic and Alness United were boosted by reaching the semis of the Football Times Cup after knocking out St Duthus.
Their bid to reach the final was halted by Inverness, but confidence was on the rise.
Since then, they have been on a tough run, with a 1-1 draw against Inverness amid a string of defeats.
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to second-top Invergordon, Bonar Bridge are three points ahead of basement side Thurso, but have played two matches more.
This is the final round of fixtures before a short winter break until Saturday, January 6.
Breen set for tough Invergordon test
The manager hopes to have a full-strength pool to pick from this weekend and Breen said: “We expect another huge effort against Invergordon, who are a strong team who are always challenging for the title come the end of the season.
“We are under no illusions how difficult it will be, but all we want to be is competitive and gain experience this season with a view to improving again next year.
“I am sure we will pick up one or two results along the way against the lower teams.”
Top v bottom encounter in Fortrose
Elsewhere this Saturday, Loch Ness are home to bottom-placed Thurso, while Fort William can stay on the coat-tails of the top three if they defeat a Golspie Sutherland side with three successive victories over returning boss Andrew Banks.
Alness United are home to Clachnacuddin reserves, but high wind forecasts have put paid to third-placed Halkirk United’s clash with Inverness Athletic and Orkney’s home date with St Duthus.
❗️GAME OFF❗️
Orkney FC has played its last game of 2023. As this Saturday’s fixture against St. Duthus is postponed, due to high wind forecast.
We will return to the pitch after a festive break, and this fixture will be re-arranged in 2024. pic.twitter.com/npbLLrbOrK
— Orkney FC (@OrkneyFC) December 14, 2023