Skye Camanachd

Infobox shinty club
clubname = Skye


fullname = Skye Camanachd
gaelicname = Comann Camanachd an Eilein
nickname = Na Sgitheanaich
founded = 1895
ground = Pairc nan Laoch
manager = Alasdair Morrison
league = North Division One
season = 2006
position = 6th
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Skye Camanachd is a shinty team from the Isle of Skye, Highland, Scotland. It plays in North Division One and has a reserve team in North Division Two.

Early History

There was a Portree Club and a Bernisdale Club in existence in the 1880s. However, Skye Camanachd in its present form, came into being in 1895, winning the first ever MacTavish Cup. Skye had a strong tradition of playing shinty on the Old Celtic New Year. The club was a founding member of the Camanachd Association and entered the Camanachd Cup despite mainland clubs trying to force them to play on the mainland. The club had to wait almost 100 years to get its hands on the Camanachd Cup.

Camanachd Cup 1990

Skye famously won the Camanachd Cup for the first time in their history in 1990 against Newtonmore in Fort William. Inspirational in this victory was player, Willie Cowie and his brother, manager Ross Cowie. Their exploits were recorded for posterity by the BBC program "Home" which filmed behind the scences on the day as well as the triumphant homecoming to Portree where they were met by a crowd of 5000 people, almost half the island's population. The celebrations are famous for the expensive trophy being lost and then found in the street at 6 in the morning the next day, the local legend being that everybody else thought that someone else was looking after it.

Recent times

Skye have never again achieved the high of winning the Camanachd Cup, but they did achieve Premier division status in the early 2000s before being relegated. The club has shown a flair for another sort of promotion however, securing lucrative sponsorship deals with Danish firms Carlsberg and Hummel. The club also benefited in early 2008 from an anonymous loan of £50,000 sterling from a local individual, with repayments based on future success. [http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2410166.0.Skye_make_early_payment.php]

In July 2008, the first team won the Balliemore Cup for the first time, defeating Kilmallie 3-1 at Braeview Park, Beauly. Gilleasbuig Macdonald was the captain.

Pride of the Summer

Skye Camanachd feature heavily in the song "Pride of the Summer" by Runrig.

:I still see the blood on the knees :The camans swing without warning :The "lads in white" :At the speed of light :It's good to be young and daring

External links

* [http://www.skyecamanachd.com Skye Camanachd Homepage]
* [http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/sport-news/sportfeed/2008/05/18/shinty-cup-legends-reach-for-the-skye-again-78057-20421693/ Skye Defeat Caberfeidh, May 2008]
* [http://www.whfp.com West Highland Free Press, Skye Shinty Reports]
* [http://www.runrig.co.uk Runrig Home Page]