| Tayforth | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Full name | Tayforth Camanachd | ||
| Founded | 1973 | ||
| Ground | Levenhall Links | ||
| Manager | Derry Barton | ||
| League | South Division 2 | ||
| 2016 | 1st (SD2) | ||
| |||
Tayforth Camanachd is a shinty team originally from Perth, Scotland, but now playing at Levenhall Links, Musselburgh. In 2016, the club finished at the top of South Division 2.
Tayforth Camanachd is a shinty team originally from Perth, Scotland, but now playing at Peffermill Playing Fields, Edinburgh. Whilst historically based in Perth, the team has always drawn players from all over the Tayside and Lothian area. The club currently plays in South Division 1. The club's nickname throughout its history has been "The Sweeney".
Formed in Perth in 1973 by Barry Nesbitt, Tim Neville, John-Joe Moran and Father Eugene O'Sullivan (aka the shinty priest) the club drew upon Highlanders living in the Central Belt as well as the Irish community in Perth.
Over the years the team has had a second team, run successfully by Roy Whitehead (Rector, Perth High School) who would invariably extol the virtues of shinty as a "manly sport" to his pupils. However, with his retirement the second team consisted mainly of veterans, newcomers and veteran newcomers.
A great figure in the history of the club was the late Willie Dowds, whose son Cahal would play and more often than not end up in A&E for Tayforth. Willie also helped form teams in Dundee and Glenrothes. A visionary, he once nearly caused a riot at the Camanachd Associations AGM by suggesting not only Sunday shinty but summer shinty. Some 30 years later the Camanachd Association would introduce summer shinty. Another character in those early years was Fr. Eugene O'Sullivan who famously appeared on the front page of the Daily Star in 1982, having been sent-off for punching his opponent. The Kyles player was lucky that John-Joe Moran was restrained by Sam "the vet" Mansley from doing further damage. However, the return fixture in Perth entered shinty folklore when once again Fr. O'Sullivan was on the receiving end of some extremely unsavoury treatment but didn't rise to the provocation this time. At half time following a discussion between Willie Dowds, John-Joe Moran & Sam Mansley they decided to invoke Willie John McBrides "99" call. Thus, the next time Fr O'Sullivan was hit the "99" call went out. Within seconds mayhem descended on the South Inch and not one Kyles player was left standing. There were no sending-offs and Tayforth ran-out 4-1 winners.
The team of the late 1970s and early 1980s was littered with characters, none more so than Hugh O'Kane who along with Fr. Eugene would lead the team over to Kilkenny, Ireland to participate in "The Faire Cities Cup". Stories of missed ferries, flights and lost players would make that era legendary. One player from that era, Bill Adams was lost after visiting the Guinness distillery @ St James Gate, Dublin in 1989. The legend that is Hugh O'Kane was responsible for landing a sea-king helicopter on the South Inch, Perth, 10 minutes from the end of a Frews Cup match. Hugh was stationed in Helmand province, Afghanistan, with UN. In early January 2016 Hugh died. [1]
Following the retirement of stalwarts Hugh Macmaster, Terry "Butcher" Wade, truly one of Tayforths dirtiest & meanest players and John-Joe Moran a period of decline began. Only for a new breed of players to emerge, such as Donald Kinnear, whose dominant displays in midfield would herald the start of a new era. The club reached the Camanachd Cup semi-final in 1988 and won the national Aviemore sixes in 1990.
The club ran the annual shinty competition at the Blairgowrie Highland Games. The club has links with Linlithgow Shinty Club at Junior level.
The club narrowly missed out on promotion to South Division One in 2011 after a winner-takes-all game with Strachur. Due to the poor state of the pitch at the North Inch during season 2011, many games were played at Edinburgh East Lothian's old park, Levenhall Links. Tayforth made a move to Levenhall on a more continuous basis for season 2012.[1]▼
The club's 40th Anniversary was marked in 2013 with dinner at The Caves, in Edinburgh’s Cowgate, with guest speaker Hugh Dan MacLennan and music from The Occasionals. Prior to the dinner Tayforth players past and present turned out for a match in celebration of the Club’s 40th Anniversary. It featured Badenoch stars Stuart Ferrier and Rory Fraser, as well as Father and Son combo Derry and Calum Barton. Staying true to the Irish roots of Tayforth, Brendan Duggan, the latest in a long line of Hurlers turned Shinty players, also took the field. [2]
Shinty 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, and was even played in northern England into the second half of the 20th century and other areas in the world where Scottish Highlanders migrated.
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Shinty was played in its original form throughout North and South America by Scottish settlers until the early 1900s when the practice died out. Shinty, and its close Irish relative hurling as well as the English bandy, are recognised as being the progenitors of ice hockey and are an important part of North America's modern sporting heritage.
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Forth Camanachd was a women's shinty club based in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. The club was established in 2006 and won both the Valerie Fraser Cup and the Caledonian Canal Challenge Cup in its time in existence.
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.
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The Bullough Cup is a knock-out competition in the sport of shinty.
The South Division One is the third tier of the Shinty league system. League champions are awarded the Dunn Cup and play-off against the North Division One champions for promotion to the National Division.
The Albert Smith Memorial Medal is the award given to the Man of the Match in the final of the Camanachd Cup, the blue riband trophy of the sport of shinty. It has been presented every year since 1972 by the Smith family of Fort William in honour of Albert Smith Sr. The widow of his only son, John Victor Smith, currently presents the medal. Albert Sr.'s grandson, Victor Smith is a former player for Fort William Shinty Club but never won the medal despite featuring as a key player in several Fort William wins. Victor Smith currently coaches Fort William Shinty Club along with his cousin Adi Robertson. Victor's son, John Victor Smith, plays full forward for the Fort.
Edinburgh East Lothian Shinty Club was a sports club, a shinty club which played in the South Division Shinty League, based in Musselburgh, East Lothian. They were formerly known as Musselburgh Camanachd until 2000. In 2007 they withdrew from the league due to team-raising difficulties. The club is currently dormant.
The English Shinty Association (ESA) is the main body for promoting and encouraging the sport of shinty in England and Wales.
The Fingal Memorial Shield is a trophy in the sport of shinty. It is currently the trophy presented to the winners of the St Andrew's Sixes, an international six-a-side tournament.
Dunoon Camanachd is a shinty club, from Dunoon, Scotland. The team competed from 2016 to 2017 in South Division Two but its senior side went into abeyance in 2018.
