Lochaber Camanachd is a

shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) 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 in Scotland, an ...

club based in

Spean Bridge Spean Bridge ( gd, Drochaid an Aonachain) is a village in the parish of Kilmonivaig, in Lochaber in the Highland region of Scotland. The village takes its name from the Highbridge over the River Spean on General Wade's military road between ...

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The club's senior team play in the Marine Harvest Premiership while a reserve team plays in the North Division Two. Lochaber also field a woman's team.

History

The club was formed in 1946 from Brae Lochaber (formed 1887) and Spean Bridge (formed 1894). The constituent clubs then split between 1949 and 1958 before amalgamating again in 1958. These two clubs were very prominent in the first days of organised shint

Brae won the MacTavish Cup thrice in the 1920

The club became a strong force in shinty again in the early 2000s, knocking out Kingussie (Shinty), Kingussie from the

Camanachd Cup The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup known as the Camanachd Cup (or less commonly the Scottish Cup) is the premier competition in the sport of shinty. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shin ...

quarter finals in 2004 and gaining promotion to the Premier Division the same year. However, its stay was short-lived and they were relegated in 2005 to North Division One. However, the club made another quick return to the Premier in 2007 after winning Division One. The second team also won North Division Three in 2006. The club flirted with relegation in 2008 but the club survived under manager Michael Delaney. Ally Ferguson was appointed to the position of coach in December 2008. Ferguson presided over the relegation of the club in December 2009 after the club was overhauled by both Inveraray and But

Lochaber's record of success in the Premier Division meant that they were considered the most likely winners of the North Division One in 2010. Ferguson resigned along with his assistant Jason Latto in May 2010, leaving Lochaber with a management crisis after a steady start to the seaso

He was replaced by Michael Delaney, his immediate predecessor, in an attempt to stop Lochaber's season turning to crisi

Delaney's efforts ensured that Lochaber was always in the running for promotion but was pipped by Kilmallie for the league title on the last day of the seaso

Lochaber started strongly in 2011 but were beaten by Kinlochshiel to the league title, however 2012 has seen them start very well in the league and reach their first senior cup final since the 1946 merger, by reaching the MacTavish Cup Fina

They made up for a loss to Newtonmore in that final by defeating Beauly in the Balliemore Cu

They also won the North Division One and provided Shaun Nicolson and Neil MacDonald to the Scotland team. Spean Bridge regularly played host to the Marine Harvest Festival of Shinty with the showpiece game between North District and South District. This tournament has gone into abeyance since 2008.

External links

Lochaber @ shinty.comFerguson Appointed
{{Shinty teams Shinty teams Lochaber Sport in Highland (council area) 1946 establishments in Scotland Sports clubs established in 1946