Newtonmore Camanachd Club 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 from

Newtonmore Newtonmore ( gd, Baile Ùr an t-Sléibh ) is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. The village is only a few miles from a location that is claimed to be the exact geographical centre of Scotland There is some debate as to the lo ...

Badenoch Badenoch (from gd, Bàideanach, meaning "drowned land") is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by th ...

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 ...

. It is historically the most successful side in the history of Shinty, having won 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 ...

a record 34 times. They won the Marine Harvest Premier Division seven years in a row beginning in 2010. The reserve team currently play in North Division One.

History

Shinty has been played in the Newtonmore area for centuries, but more recently, there are records of shinty being played at the Eilan since 1877, and the club was formally re-constituted in 1890 and was a founding member of the Camanachd Associationin 1895. One of their greatest early players was Dr. John Cattanach, the sole shinty player in the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

. Since then, the club has won the

34 times – a record unmatched by any other team in the game. The club's most recent victory was in 2019. A defining moment in their history was winning a pulsating match 4–3 after extra time against Kingussie in 2011. This was their first win since 1985, signalled the end of Kingussie's dominance of the sport and helped lay the ghosts of their record loss to Kingussie in 1991. Two of the greatest names in shinty history, goalkeeper Hugh Chisholm and

David "Tarzan" Ritchie David "Tarzan" Ritchie (born 1945) is a former shinty player from Newtonmore, Scotland. He is notable for having won 12 Camanachd Cup medals, a record he held alongside fellow Newtonmore player Hugh Chisholm for many years. Playing career "Tarzan ...

jointly hold the Newtonmore club record of twelve

winners medals each. The club has also won the

MacTavish Cup The MacTavish Cup is a knock-out cup competition in the sport of shinty. It is competed for by senior teams from the North of Scotland district. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shinty. The cu ...

a record forty times, together with a string of other honours. The club won the MacTavish Cup in 2009 5–4 against Kingussie at the Bught Park, Inverness on 13 June 2009. The game was broadcast live on

BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal s ...

. Players such as Paul MacArthur,

Danny MacRae ''Daniel Pirrie MacRae'' better known as Danny MacRae (born 19 August 198is a retired Scottish shinty player from Newtonmore, Scotland. He plays for Newtonmore Camanachd Club. He is affectionately known in the press as "Super Dan Playing career H ...

and Michael Ritchie are the sons and nephews of famous Newtonmore players and the club has a long dynastic tradition. Many clubs throughout Scotland have long and friendly rivalries with Newtonmore – notably,

Kyles Athletic Kyles Athletic Shinty Club is a shinty team from Tighnabruaich, Argyll, Scotland. It is one of the sport's most illustrious names, presently playing in the Marine Harvest Premiership with their second team is playing in South Division one. In 20 ...

who they met frequently in

Finals in the 1970s. However the keenest rivalry, and certainly least friendly is with near neighbours,

Kingussie Kingussie ( ; gd, Ceann a' Ghiùthsaich ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road, although the old route of the A9 serves as the ...

. For over twenty years from the mid 1980s Kingussie dominated the sport and Newtonmore won nothing. However from 2010 Newtonmore have won the Premier Division title and numerous cups at both first and reserve team level. The Club field and pavilion at Eilean Bheannchair AKA The Eilan (built in 1993) are both owned by the Club. In 2016 Newtonmore bought the adjacent field to the Eilan and work is underway to create a new training pitch to be called the Dr Johnny Cattanach Memorial Field.

2010s Revival

Tayforth Vs Newtonmore 9297 (16526867024)

Although the club had finished second in the Premier Division in 2008, 2009 saw Newtonmore finish in the same position but edged out of the title position by Kingussie in their final match. The next few seasons promised a lot for 'More with a young squad doing well over the last few years. 2010 saw them go into the last game of the season against Fort William with the chance of winning the league by only needing to avoid defeat. In the end, 'More won the league outright with a goal from

with 10 minutes to go. This was Newtonmore's first league title in 25 years. In 2011, Newtonmore overcame Inveraray 5–2 after extra-time to book their first Camanachd Cup final appearance since their humiliation in 1997 by Kingussie, going on to win the final at the Bught Park in Inverness 4–3 against Kingussie. The first team also retained the Premier Division in 2011 with a last minute goal from

in the final match of the season in a winner takes all match against

. This sealed a season with both teams at the club winning their respective leagues and also a cup, the second team winning the

Strathdearn Cup The Strathdearn Cup is a knock-out competition in the sport of shinty. The present holders are Lovat Shinty Club. It is played for by reserve-level teams from the North of Scotland, that is all teams playing in North Division Two and Three as wel ...

. it was Newtonmore's first double since 1985. 2012 saw Newtonmore relinquish the Camanachd Cup after defeat to Kyles in the semi-final. Their second team again romped away with the North Division Two, but were stripped of the Sutherland Cup, which they had won 5–4 against Kingussie. This was due to playing an ineligible player in both the semi and final. The first team also won their third Premier Division in a row in 2012. The Premiership title was clinched in 2013 with relative ease, but hopes of a Grand Slam were dashed by a MacTavish semi-final defeat to Glenurquhart and a disastrous MacAulay Cup final defeat to Kyles Athletic. Newtonmore did clinch the double with revenge over Kyles in the Camanachd Cup final, their second title in three years. This victory was notable as Newtonmore were only the second team, and the first since Furnace in 1929 to go through the competition without conceding a goal.

References

External links

Newtonmore Shinty Club Website
{{Authority control Shinty teams Sport in Highland (council area) Sports clubs established in 1895 1895 establishments in Scotland