Lovat Shinty Club is a shinty club from Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire, Scotland. The club was formed in 1888 and has a healthy rivalry with near neighbours Beauly. The club takes its name from the area within which it plays in and shared this name with the late Second World War hero, Lord Lovat.
Founded in 1888, the club has never folded but did merge with Beauly early in the 20th century and won the Camanachd Cup in 1912/13 as the combined team. After the first war, the team also reached the final in 1925.
In 1953 was Lovat's finest hour, achieving the Grand Slam, winning every single competition they entered at Senior and Junior level, they were the first club to ever achieve this feat. The same set of players had previously won the Celtic Society Cup which was a South District Competition in 1950 and 1951.
Balgate, home ground of Lovat
Despite being close to Inverness, Lovat still maintain two strong teams due to a strong youth policy and the support of the local primary school. The club is always well represented at youth international level.
The club hosts the traditional Lovat V Beauly New Year's Day match AKA the Lovat Cup every year. This game attracts the largest crowd for a shinty match outside of the Camanachd Cup final.
In November 2007, following Kinlochshiels' draw with Caberfeidh, Lovat became a Marine Harvest Premier Division Team. This was a massive achievement for the Kiltarlity side and was somewhat ahead of schedule given the very young age of the team.
However, Lovat's 2008 season in the Premier Division was a hard campaign and the club was eventually relegated having been marooned at the bottom of the league for almost the whole season. The club's first team won North Division One again in 2009, this marked a successful season for the club where its second team had also reached the Sutherland and Strathdearn Cup finals, losing to Fort William on both occasions.
Lovat had a successful season in 2010, surviving in the Premier Division and seeing the second team again reach the finals of the Strathdearn and Sutherland. Again, the club faced the same team as opponents, playing Glenurquhart in both games. Lovat lost the Strathdearn but claimed the Sutherland live on BBC Alba. This victory was notable as it was held at the Eilan in Newtonmore, just down the road from the Dell in Kingussie where Lovat had secured a rare point against Kingussie earlier in the day.
2011 saw Lovat play well but never fully extricate themselves from relegation trouble until their final match of the season when a 3–2 win over Kilmallie secured Premier Division shinty for another year. James Gallacher & John MacRitchie stepped down from their roles as co-managers to be replaced by successful second-team manager Allan MacRae.
Lovat achieved their highest league placing since their glory days winning the North Division One, with a third-place finish in the 2012 Premiership.
On 15 June 2013 Lovat won their first major trophy since 1953 when they won the MacTavish Cup. They also secured a highest ever Premiership finish as runners-up to Newtonmore, and finished the season with the best defensive record in shinty. As well as tasting reserve success in the Strathdearn Cup. They retained the MacTavish Cup in 2014, reinforcing their position as the most successful side in the competition outside the Badenoch giants, Kingussie & Newtonmore, having won the trophy eight times in all. They finished the season in second but pushed Newtonmore much harder than in 2013.
In 2015, Lovat had, by recent standards, a poor league season. However, under John Macritchie, they did lift the Camanachd cup, the biggest prize in the game. Kyles Athletic were the opponents this tie was played in Oban. It was a tight contest and finished 2-1 thanks to a Kevin Bartlett double and an Albert Smith medal winning performance from Stuart MacDonald.
After this the club went on a run of making 4 of the next 6 Camanachd Cup finals. However on each occasion we’re defeated, twice by Newtonmore during their 4 titles in a row, once by Kinlochshiel on their first ever victory and by Kingussie in a match played at the dell in Kingussie.
The junior side had post Covid success winning the 2021 Strathdearn cup on penalties against Newtonmore after being 4-0 down in extra time.
Ladies team
Lovat Ladies
Full name
Lovat Ladies
Gaelic name
Boireannaich Lobhait
Nickname
Lovat Lassies
Founded
2011
Ground
Balgate, Kiltarlity
Manager
James Gallagher
League
National Division Two
Home
Lovat established a ladies team in 2011, which plays in National Division Two. The area had a long tradition of girls playing shinty alongside boys until a certain age, with players leaving the sport. In the 2010s, local talent was corralled by Gillian Currie and Gemma MacKinnon, two Scotland internationalists who had settled in the area, into a first ever Lovat ladies team. Scotland internationalist youngster, Laura Gallacher, also returned to her home club after several years playing for Glengarry.. The club was featured in the "Swags" documentary on BBC Alba, Christmas 2013.
The Camanachd Association is the world governing body of the Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland, and is in charge of the rules of the game. Its main competitions are the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup and the Mowi Premiership and the Mowi Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup.
Skye Camanachd is a shinty team from the Isle of Skye, Highland, Scotland. It plays in the Premier Division and has a reserve team in North Division One, as well as a Ladies team in the WCA National Division One and a Ladies reserve team in the WCA Development League. The club is based at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree.
Kingussie Camanachd is a shinty team from Kingussie, Scotland and according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, is world sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive leagues and going 4 years unbeaten at one stage in the early 1990s. The club are current holders of the Camanachd Cup, the MacAulay Cup and the MacTavish Cup.
Newtonmore Camanachd Club is a shinty club from Newtonmore, Badenoch, Scotland. It is historically the most successful side in the history of Shinty, having won the Camanachd Cup a record 34 times. They won the Marine Harvest Premier Division seven years in a row beginning in 2010.
The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup known as the Camanachd 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 shinty.
Glenurquhart Shinty Club is a shinty team which plays in Drumnadrochit on the banks of Loch Ness, Scotland. It draws its players from the part of the Great Glen which encompasses Drumnadrochit, Lewiston and Glenurquhart. The club has been existence since 1885. They won their first senior trophy, the MacAulay Cup in 2012. After 2013 and 2014 saw them lose two successive MacTavish Cups, they are currently the holders as of 2015.
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.
Inverness Shinty Club is a shinty club from Inverness, Scotland. The first team competes in North Division One and the second team in North Division Three. Founded in 1887 as Inverness Town and County Shinty Club to distinguish from other clubs in Inverness such as Clachnacuddin, Inverness moved to the Bught Park in 1934. Inverness won the Camanachd Cup in 1952. The club struggles to compete for players with the wide proliferation of football clubs in Inverness, in particular Inverness Caledonian Thistle but still manages to put out two teams.
Fort William Shinty Club is a shinty club from Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. The club has two sides in the Shinty league system, a first team which was relegated from the Premiership in 2013 and a reserve side in North Division Two. The first team were Camanachd Cup holders four times in succession, between 2007 and 2010, but were knocked out in the second round in 2011. The club also has a vibrant youth system.
Kinlochshiel Shinty Club is a shinty club based in RearaigBalmacara, near Kyle of Lochalsh, Lochalsh, Scotland. The club has two sides, a senior team which competes in the Mowi Premiership and a reserve team in North Division One.
Lochaber Camanachd is a shinty club based in Spean Bridge, Lochaber, Scotland. 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.
The Macaulay Association Camanachd Cup is a trophy in the Scottish sport of shinty. It is competed for by the eight highest-placed league teams from the north and south areas of Scotland at the end of the previous season. The first winner of the cup, in 1947, was Newtonmore.
The Mod Cup, also known as the Aviemore Cup1995 - Royal National Mòd Programmes and fringe events > Royal National Mòd Programmes > [Mod / Mòd Naìseanta Rìoghail - An Comunn Gaidhealach - National Library of Scotland] is a trophy in the sport of shinty first competed for in 1969, traditionally played for by the two teams who are based closest to the host venue of the Royal National Mod. The current holders are Aberdour.(2022)
The Balliemore Cup is a knock-out cup in the sport of shinty. It is the Intermediate Championship run under the auspices of the Camanachd Association and only first teams competing in the National, North Division One and South Division One are eligible for entry.
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 current holders are Newtonmore. The competition is currently sponsored by cottages.com.
The Strathdearn Cup is a knock-out competition in the sport of shinty. The present holders are Newtonmore.
The Premier Division is the premier division in shinty. Based in Scotland and formed in 1996, the league is the top tier of the Shinty league system. Set-up in order to create a Scotland-wide league for the first time, it constitutes as one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam of shinty.
The North Division One is the third tier of the Shinty league system. League champions are awarded the MacGillivary Cup and play-off against the South Division One champions for promotion to the National Division.
The Grand Slam in shinty consists of a club winning all four major trophies for which it is eligible. These being at present, the Premier Division, the Camanachd Cup, the MacAulay Cup and either the MacTavish Cup or the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup, according to whether a club is from the North or South District.
The 2017 Marine Harvest Premiership was the 21st season of the Premier Division, the highest division in Shinty. The season began on 4 March 2017 consisting of 10 teams from across Scotland. The 3rd season with Marine Harvest as title sponsors saw reigning champions Newtonmore challenging for their 8th Premiership title in a row.
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