The Beginning
There are several references to Shinty or "camack" being played in the Inverness district as far back as 1821. Early games were reported to have been played in the Drakies area of the town. The Inverness Courier 15/1/1829 reported that an old New Year Camack (camag) was played at Cullaird, Ness Castle between neighbouring tenantry. Team captains were A.Fraser and C.Rose, Newton. The latter team being the winners, the game was keenly contested and played until dark. Two weeks before New Year in 1853 at Leys, a game took place between the ploughmen of the district and the carters & others. Shinty was also play in the Longman area of the town for a New Year match in 1857. In 1864 there were complaints about shinty being played in the town. It was described as a nuisance because of the danger of people being hit by the wooden shinty balls!
Several clubs were formed in the Edinburgh and Glasgow areas between 1860 and 1880. In 1880 the first club in the northern Highlands was formed, Strathglass. The first great contest between Strathglass and Glen Urquhart took place at the Bught park in February 1887. This match aroused great interest in the game in the Inverness area as a result of which John MacDonald, Duncanston, arranged a game between a team formed from the Locomotive Depot of the Highland Railway and one described as "Newly formed Club Wanderers" which consisted mainly of Glen Urquhart players employed in Inverness. The match took place at Culcabock Market Stance on Saturday 19th March 1887 and last an hour and a half with the Wanderers winning 3- 1. As a result of the interest this fixture created a meeting was held on the 25th March 1887 in the Burgh Court Hotel to form a club. It was called the Inverness Town and County Shinty Club and 52 members were enrolled. Play was arranged to take place on a field at Drummond given by the MacDonald brothers, farmers and butchers, who were of an old Glen Moriston family. A match took place on the 12th April 1887 in what was probably the clubs first competitive match. Played at Culcabock versus 'The Railway Workshop Club', it ended in a goal-less draw. These two teams played once again in January 1888 at millburn, the teams were 22 a side and again it ended scoreless. By 1893 interest in the game had evidently waned. It was recorded in the 'Northern Chronicle' that at a meeting of the 'Old Caledonian Shinty Club', the President Mr D.H.Chisholm, resolved to resuscitate the club under the name 'Inverness Shinty Club'.
The Strathdearn Association was suggested by Mr John MacAskill,a tireless worker on behalf of the game in Inverness. He was a Strathdearn man who has a farm at Inches near the town. Conditions of play for the Colonel MacKintosh Cup as it was then known were laid down at a meeting in January 1911. Mr MacAskill was the secretary of the association and made arrangements for the first final which was played in March 191Shinty at Victoria Park. Inverness were the first winners of this trophy beating Strathglass 5 - 1. In the same month Inverness were beaten 3- Shinty by Newtonmore in the semi-final of the Camanachd cup at kingussie. A good season was completed by a 6 - Shinty victory over Fort augustus in the final of the MacTavish Cup at Victoria Park.
1919 ~1939
Following the end of World War 1, a meeting was held on the 12th October 1919 in Queen Mary's house, Bridge Street in a move to restart shinty in the Inverness area. The chair was taken by Major William Roberts and it was decided that the club be resuscitated. It was arranged for training to take place in the grounds of inverness College. In december 1919 Inverness beat Caberfeidh 3 - Shinty in the Camanachd Cup playing on a field of lower Kessock Street behind Clachnacuddin football field. The team had been practicing on this field which had been given by Mr Munro, Eldad. The field had been used by the American Naval base during the war and was made available by the efforts of Major Roberts. In 1920 this field was used as the venue for the Caqmanachd Cup finalWhere Kingussie played Kyles Athletic infront of a crowd of 3000. Major Roberts along with with Mr J.W.MacKillop arranged the layout of the pitch and acted as goal judges. Major Roberts during this period was doing much, not only for the Inverness Club, but for shinty in general. One of his most significant services was the designing of a new kind of shinty ball, with a watertight rubber covering between the cork and worsted core and the leather outter covering. The patent was granted in 1920 for sixteen years and sole rights were secured for Mr John MacPherson, The Sporting Stores, Inverness.
In order to foster the game of shinty in the district of Inverness, in February 1921 the club organized a Schools Shinty League. The Headmasters of the Academy, the High, Central, Merkinch and Culcabock were contacted about its formation. It was confined to boys of 14 years old or younger. Bellfield Park was the chosen venue for the fixtures to take place. In Aptil 1922 a Trophy and 12 silver medals were presented to Culcabock who won the league with 10 points. Central were runners up with 7 points. There were additional teams in the following season and it was agreed that the runners up would receive bronze badges. Mr John MacPherson offered to give caps to the team that finished third. The league that year was won by Central.
1923 Central School team.
Back Row, L-R, Donald MacPhee, Bob Munro, W.J.Shaw (head master), Frank Cross, Kenny Shaw. Middle Row - Jim MacAskill, Allie Fraser, Bill MacKenzie, Allie Gordon (captain), not known, Charles MacRae, Alister Riggs. Front row - Carmy Clark, Alex Stewart.
The Club had always been considerably handicapped by the inability to secure a permanent pitch for home games, but by 1923 the outlook was brighter. The estate of Bught was bought by Inverness Town Council. An area of the bught down by the riversidewas tenanted by Mr William MacBean, Scotscraig. A native of Alvie, Mr MacBean showed his enthusiasm in many ways over the years and allowed part of the ground at the Bught to be used for Shinty.
The Season 1929 ~ 1930 was fairly successful with the team reaching the MacTavish cup final where they were defeated Shinty - 0 by Newtonmore. Committee meetings during the early 1930s were held in the Gellions Hotel and Training at the Northern Meeting Park. It was noted during this time that the biggest expense for the club was providing teas for visiting teams. Although inverness were in a better financial position than most clubs, lack of funds was always a difficulty, particularly in the years of depression in the 1930s. By 1932 the town were able to field a second team which would take to the field wearing scarlet jerseys. The Bught Park was rented from the council at a cost of £5 per season. Over a number of years alot of thought had been given to obtaining a new pitch. A meeting of the Town Council Parks Committee in January 1933 addressed the layout of the Bught and Mr J.W.MacKillop stated that for a long time the game in inverness had suffered from a lack of suitable pitches and that there had been complaints when finals had been played on an unsatisfactory surface. It was decided to increase the area of the enclosure inside the race track to make it suitable for shinty. In the 1932 ~ 1933 season Inverness were finalists in the MacGillivary League and District finalists in the Camanachd and MacTavish Cup Competitions.
1938 saw the clubs first appearance in the Camanachd Cup final. Having already overcome lovat, Foyers and Caberfeidh, Inverness had their first encounter with the mighty Kyles Athletic at Fort William in the Semi final. Watched by a crowd of around 2500, Inverness won the match 3 - Shinty in what was recorded as a splendid exhibition of shinty. The final of the competition was played in Oban against Oban Camanachd on the 6th April. The Inverness team left for the match the previous evening to stay at a hotel in Connel the night before the final. However due to bad weather and roadworks at Dalmally, the team didn't make it to the hotel until 1am on the 6th. The heavy pitch condition clearly favoured the Oban side as their style of play was better suited than the short passing game of the Inverness team. The town side eventually lost the match 4 - 2.
The success of the 1938 season was not continued into the following season. Caberfeidh won 2 - Shinty in the district final of the Camanachd Cup. In the MacTavish cup the town were defeated in the first round by Lovat.
1946 ~ 1949
A few months from the end of WW2 the first moves were made to resume competative shinty.
A meeting was held in the Cummings Hotel on the 31st January 1946. Although funds were low and camans in short supply, it was decided to have a practice session on the 2nd of February.The first match played by the town since 1939 was a friendly against Newtonmore on the 9th of February, this resulted in a 5-1 victory for the Badenoch side. The winter of 1946/47 was memorable for a prolonged spell of hard frost. During february and march 1947 this caused many games to be canceled in almost all districts. Many games were played late on in the season and thus the winning of the lochcarron Cup didn't take place until late June 1947. This was infact the first time this trophy had been open to teams outside of the Ross-Shire district. In the week they won the lochcarron Cup, the town had a particularly hectic week. They beat Caberfeidh on Tuesday, Lovat on thursday and Lochcarron at Lochcarron on the Saturday. The 5-3 victory giving the Town side their first Trophy since 1912.
Lochcarron cup 1947,
Back ~ M.Junor, W.MacGillivary, W.MacGillivary(sen), A.MacKenzie, Dr Ferguson, I. Sharp, T.MacPherson, E.Hill, R.Gordon, J.MacDougall, C.Barron. Front Row ~ W.macKenzie, P.MacDonald, I.MacDonald, H.Kennedy, H.McEwan, H.Munro.
In January 1948 Mr John MacPherson died. Mr MacPherson was a friend to the club who had been one of the principal pillars for over half a century. A tribute in the 'Northern Chronical' described him as 'Knight of Camanachd'. In 1949 Mr James Buchan, who had been secretary and Treasurer between 1935 and 1946 died. A further devastating loss was that of Mr John W. MacKillop in February 1951. Mr MacKillop was a Laggan man whose father had done much for shinty in that Area. A past president of the Camanachd Association, he had been involved with the Schools Camanachd Association since its inception in 1937. For 12 years he had acted as secretary of the MacTavish Association and was also a vice President. In addition to helping revive the game after the war, he succeeded in persuading the revenue authorities to recognize shinty as a national game exempt from entertainment tax.
The 50s and beyond....
In 1950 Inverness played Oban Celtic in the final of the MacAuley Cup but were beaten 2-1. 1951 saw Team Captain, Dennis Swanson score the winning goal against Oban Celtic to win the Torlundy Cup.
The 1951-52 season was the most successful in the history of Inverness Shinty Club. Despite losing 3-2 to Lovat in the first round of the MacTavish Cup, Victories over Caberfeidh, Inveroich and Newtonmore took the team to the final of the Camanachd cup where they would meet Oban Celtic.
On 12th April 1952 at Old Anniesland , Glasgow, 10,000 spectators watched as Inverness and Oban Celtic Clashed in the Camanachd final. Alastair Mackenzie put Inverness 1-0 ahead before two hails from Oban. William McGillivray equalized before Mackenzie scored his second, and the winning, hail. This is the only time to date that Inverness has won the Camanachd Cup and upon their return to Inverness on Sunday the players received a great welcome.
1952 Camanachd Cup Winners
Back Row (left to right) - T Wade, T Cumming, R Gordon, W Gordon, W Kennedy, A Mackenzie, W MacGillivary, T Mackenzie (trainer). Front Row (left to right) - W Macpherson (President), W Mackenzie, H MacEwen, W MacDonald (Captain), A Cumming, D Anderson, D Kennedy (Secretary)
Mr William MacKenzie (Front row, second from the left) has the distinction of being the only player to participate in both the 1938 and 1952 Camanachd Cup finals. The Manager and Coach of the cup winning side was Tom MacKenzie, who had previously formed the Inverness Harriers and would go onto much greater things in the coming years.
In November 1954 a Special General Meeting was called to discuss the future of the club. It was decided that both a senior and junior team could be fielded. However by 1956 a lack of players, caused mainly by several players returning to Glenurquhart upon their revival, meant that a junior team could not be raised. In 1955 Inverness won the MacAulay cup for the first time by beating Oban Celtic 2-1 at Oban.
In 1963 Inverness were defeated 2-1 by Newtonmore in the Final of the MacTavish Cup. The number of players had gone down again by the 1967 – 1968 season and in addition the North of Scotland Association split the league in two and Inverness had to participate in the one containing Kingussie, Newtonmore, Kilmallie and Glenurquhart.
From 1973 till 1976 Tom MacKenzie, former manager and Coach for Inverness, was made President of the Camanachd Association, a position which he felt very honored to hold. In 1977 the Inverness District Council donated a Jubilee Shield to be presented to the winning team of a six-a-side tournament. This has become the premier six-a-side event in shinty attracting clubs from all over the country.
In the 1978 – 1979 season Inverness won division 2 of the MacGillivray League. This was the clubs first major trophy for over twenty years. In 1980 Tom MacKenzie became Chieftain of the Camanachd Association and in 1984 both he and the then President John W. Campbell traveled to Thurlos, Ireland, to consult with the Irish Gaelic Athletic Association. This visit lead to the setting up of the annual Shinty / Hurling International and the rules by which the game would be played.
In the autumn of 1984 Inverness won the Mod Cup. Tom MacKenzie stepped down as Chieftain of the Camanachd Association in 1985 but was honored with the position of Freeman of Inverness for his services to the local Community.
In 1987 the Inverness Shinty Club celebrated its Centenary. On Saturday 15th August 1987 a veteran’s challenge match between Inverness and Glenurquhart was played followed by a match between Inverness and Oban Camanachd. A dinner was held in the Rannoch Lodge Hotel that evening to mark the club’s 100 years
In 1992 the Highland Council opened an all weather pitch near the Bught Park. For several years this became the training venue for the club when the weather deteriorated and the winter nights became ever darker.
In 1993, Inverness reached the final of the Balliemore Cup and played against Kilmallie at Drumnadrochit. The result was a 2-1 defeat for Inverness. The following year Strathglass narrowly beat Inverness in the 1994 Mod Cup.
On 1st June 1996 the Centennial Final of the Glenmorangie Camanachd Cup was held at the Bught Park. In 1896 Kingussie faced Glasgow Cowal in Inverness and won 2 – 0. This time Kingussie’s opponents were Oban Camanachd who were determined that Kingussie not repeat their performance 100 years earlier. The result was a win for Kingussie who did not find it an easy match by any means.
1997~98 Squad
Back L-R, Peter Gow (assistant manager), Ewen Fergusson, Alan MacRae, Ali Fraser, Alan MacDonald, Callum McLeod, Fraser MacDonald, Drew MacNeil, Sandy Tulloch.
Front L-R, Robbie Cameron, James MacDougall, David Glass, Graeme MacMillan (player manager), Gregor Cameron, Iain Matheson, Michael MacKinnon.
1997 saw a change at the helm of the town Side in the shape of Graeme MacMillan arriving from Fort William as manager. This move raised many eyebrows within the shinty community as Graeme had been a stalwart of the Fort team and had Managed them to their 1991 MacAuley Cup win and their first Camanachd Final in the same year, he was also coach to the Fort team that won the 1992 Camanachd final at Old Anniesland. At the time of his arrival Graeme was also coming off the back of two highly successful years, in 1995 and 1996 as the Scottish Goalkeeper in the Shinty/Hurling international series. As well as Graeme, Drew MacNeil also moved from the Fort to play for the town side, this raised just as many eyebrows. From the outset, emphasis was always placed on youth and the future success of the club. But within a few months, progress was also evident within the first team squad, most notibly with impressive wins over Division one high flyers Lochcarron and Kilmallie. It was said several times that Inverness could no longer be viewed as the whipping boys of the league.
In 1998 David Glass Jnr. became the first Inverness player to be picked for the U21 International Scotland squad for the match played in Inverness. In 2000 the Inverness Shinty Club traveled to Ennis, County Clare for a shinty / hurling trip. The team played against three separate hurling clubs and were beaten in all of the matches. However, all who attended the trip had a fantastic and unforgettable experience!
In 2002 Davie Glass was employed by Inverness Shinty Club as a Development Officer for an initial six month period. In 2003 all of the Primary School teams that were trained by the club performed beyond expectations in both indoor and outdoor competition.
2004 was a good season for Inverness with both first and second teams ending the season near the top of both division one and division three. In July of that year the junior team won the Ken Ross Memorial Trophy at the Inverness six-a-sides and later that day won the MacBain Memorial Trophy at Glengarry.
By 2006 the Development Officer post has been running for nearly four years, when, due mainly to funding shortages, it had to be discontinued. The Primary teams from that year however were of excellent quality with Raigmore Primary winning the Regional Finals. In 2006 the club’s Under 14 side also reached the final of the U14 North Development Trophy. The match was held at Glengarry and the opposition were the new Ardnamurchan team. The full time score was 2-2, however,Ardnamurchan won 4-2 on penalties. 2006 was also the year that Andrew “Drew” Howie was not only selected for but captained the U17 International Scotland squad. The international was strongly contested but in the end the Irish took the honours. Drew is one of the best examples of what the club achieved through the Development post being in place, he has continued to excel and is one of the finest players within the club and is respected by his team-mates both young and old alike.
