Latest News

26/01/2010 – Rearranged league games
February will be a busy month for them as they start to play some of the games that were postponed over the last two months.

On February the 10th they make the short trip to play Strathspey Thistle then on the 17th they travel north to take on Wick Academy before taking on Rothes at Grant Street Park on the 24th.

21/01/2010 – League Cup Draw
The team have been handed an away tie in todays league cup draw where they will take on the winners of the Fort William v Fraserburgh tie.

The match is due to be played on Saturday March 20th with a 3pm kick off

14/01/2010 – Aberdeen Friendly
Aberdeen have agreed to send a team up to Inverness to help them raise funds to keep the club going till the end of the season.

The match is due to be played on Sunday March28th with a 2 pm kick off

Further details nearer the time

12/01/2010 – Hastie goes to Huntly

Goalkeeper Neil Hastie has joined Huntly on a free transfer.

Neil who recently moved to Aberdeen to work signed a three year deal for them.

It is a blow to lose a player of his quality but in the present circumstances the club could not stand in his way to get a club nearer to his home. They wish him well in the future except of course when he comes up against them.

22/11/2009 – Gibby Resign’s
Clach secretary Skinner resigns Print
Clachnacuddin secretary Gilbert Skinner has stepped down from his role at the club and also resigned his position as senior vice-president of the Highland League. It was with a heavy heart that the man who represented the club on the park in the 1980s made his decision.

In an honest and frank interview Skinner revealed his feeling that Clach’s current financial situation has made him feel that his position with the Highland League is untenable. He said:

“On Thursday night, I submitted my resignation as the senior vice-president of the Highland League. I didn’t think it was appropriate or credible to hold that post while the future of Clachnacuddin is unsure.

“There are a lot of challenging issues at the moment with regards to club licensing and the possible pyramid structure within the Highland League and I didn’t think it would be appropriate for me to hold that position when things are coming to fore.

“With that, I felt it was the right time to step away from Clach after deciding to stand down from the Highland League. That is the way I felt and I have decided to step away from football for a while.”

Skinner represented the club during his playing career and returned in 1999 as club secretary. However, he missed out on the league and cup double success of 2004 as he spent 18 months in a similar role at Inverness CT from 2002. Skinner then returned to Clach five years ago and has held the role of club secretary since.

“It has been an enjoyable time although the last couple of years have not been what you would have wanted because of the financial situation of the club. It is still enjoyable though because of the football and the Highland League.

“I was looking forward to my role within the Highland League but it is better to step away from it just now until the future of Clachnacuddin is sorted out.”

Skinner was only appointed to the role as vice-president of the league at their latest AGM and his decision means that one of the top roles in the SHFL now lies vacant. He added:

“I was proposed and seconded for the role and I was very grateful for the votes I received and the confidence they showed in me. I think I have got to show them confidence back by stepping away. The Highland League has got to move on and it is better without me at this present moment in time.

“I have a lot of happy memories from my time with Clach and in the Highland League. It is a good, competitive league that is family-orientated. I am football person and I have been involved in football for most of my life. We don’t know what the future holds so I am going to step back from it for a while and take it from there.”

Skinner refused to rule out the prospect of a return to football in the future but for the moment, he is just focussing on taking some time away from the game. He stated:

“I am going to take a good break from football and because I have been involved in football I know to never say never. I certainly hope to stay involved in the game in some way but at what level or where, I do not know.”

Skinner has obviously been deeply involved behind the scenes with Clach over the years as their financial problems came up to the service, culminating in the Merkinchers going into administration last month. In a worrying indictment, the Lilywhites stalwart refused to rule out the prospect of the club going out of existence. He explained:

“I believe there are a lot of challenging times that lie ahead for the club. As we all know, it is in administration and there will be difficult decisions to make. That is something that the administrator is there for. He is there to hopefully make it viable for someone to come in and keep the club going, which I sincerely hope does happen.

“If you are asking me if it is going to survive, I hope it does but I do not know. The one thing I did find out over recent weeks in the Highland League is that there is a great feeling for Clachnacuddin FC from the other clubs. I think it would be a shame for the Highland League if Clachnacuddin weren’t in it. There has been a lot of support from down the east coast with regards to that as well.

“There are people there trying to make a difference – there’s the Trust, a Supporters’ Club and other people and for me, they have all got to pull together for the benefit of securing a future for the club.

“At the end of the day, they have all got the club at heart and it is important that they now get together and decide what they can do to take the club forward which im sure they will. They are a lot of people with goodwill and good meaning down there and hopefully the club will keep going. The important thing for them though is to get through this season.

30/10/2009 – Club Statement about Administration
STATEMENT FROM CLACHNACUDDIN FOOTBALL CLUB

The Directors of Clachnacuddin Football Club with great regret announce this evening that the club will enter administration tomorrow morning (October 27th).

This step is a result of requirements placed upon the club by Highland Council in relation to the repayment of their debt to the Inverness Common Good Fund. As a result of the manner in which this issue has unfolded, they have also resolved to write to the First Minister requesting an investigation into Highland Council’s handling of the matter of this debt.

The extremely serious step of seeking administration follows a letter received last week from Mr David Haas of Highland Council demanding that their monthly repayment of £400 must increase by 850% to £3800 per month. The letter also requests yet another business plan to be submitted by the November 2nd. This deadline was then brought forward by his colleague William Gilfillan to October 23rd, making an already difficult task impossible.

It was this e-mail which was the final straw and led the club to seek insolvency advice.

This latest move by the Council is particularly disappointing because an outline plan is in place to sell the Clachnacuddin Social Club to William Gray Construction for a sum that would ensure every creditor, not only Highland Council, is paid and that the club could continue. This proposal was included in their business plan along with detailed profit & loss forecasts & cash flow projections for the next 2 years. All these documents were submitted to Mr Haas on Friday August 28th and the same documents where also submitted to the club’s two main creditors, Carlsberg and The Royal Bank of Scotland. They were also discussed with the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

All the creditors were completely behind the proposal with the sole exception of the Highland Council who have hence forced the club into administration. The irony here is that by taking this action the Council, as an unsecured creditor, will now almost certainly receive none of the money due to them and have also caused a number of small creditors to lose out.

Clach have never at any point abdicated responsibility for what is due to Highland Council. Recent monthly payments, none of which has been missed, have seen the overall debt to the council steadily drop. Clach have also been active in promoting an all weather pitch at Grant Street Park, an idea that has now been taken up by our local councillor, and a ground share with Inverness City FC who still have no regular home pitch for part of their season.

Apart from the danger now of Clachnacuddin FC going out of business and Highland League football therefore disappearing from Inverness, there is also a threat to their Youth teams. These teams make a massive contribution to the local community which includes one of the most economically deprived areas in Scotland. They currently make provision for over 200 young players who train and play with these teams. They therefore can only wonder how it can be for the “Common Good” of Inverness if the club fold completely at such social cost and with no more of the outstanding debt paid back to Highland Council as a direct result of the club being forced out of existence.

It is this particular aspect that leads Clach to write to the First Minister asking him to investigate the matter. Their Chairman David Dowling met with him recently and he has always been strong in supporting an organisation which promote exactly the values that their coaches instil into our youth players. Surely the City of Inverness needs the sort of facility they provide.

Despite being forced to take this step which places the club in serious danger of going out of business mid season they can, however, confirm that otheir Lily Lotto will not be affected by administration since it is a separate company, independent for these purposes of Clachnacuddin FC.

Clach very much regret having been forced to take a step which could have such drastic consequences for so many people but, given the circumstances described above, this is now the only one left to them.

09/10/2009 – Youth Cup Draw
Club’s reward for beating Keith on Sunday is an away tie against current Youth cup holders Hibernian.

27/09/2009 – Three New Signings
Clach have added three new faces to the first team squad although two at this moment in time are short term.

Firstly Kevin Fraser joins them on a three month loan deal from I.C.T.

Michael Sanderson joins them on a short term deal also. Michael was part of the squad that won the league in season 2003-04

Calum maclean is promoted from the youth squad into the first team squad.

20/08/2009 – New Club Sponsor
The team announce that AJG PARCELS will be the new club sponsors for season 2009-10

20/08/2009 – Morvern is star signing for Clach

Former Inverness Caledonian Thistle commercial manager Morven Reid has joined Clachnacuddin FC in a similar role.

Club chairman David Dowling revealed: “Morven starts immediately and we’re delighted to have the benefit of her expertise and experience.

She has taken time out to have two children but the time is right for her to return. Morven has a tremendous range of contacts and can drive forward our club on several fronts.

“With the team having made an encouraging start to the season, and scoring plenty of goals, the timing is ideal to bring in someone of Morven’s proven calibre to bring success off the field.

“She’s very much a ‘big name signing’ for us and we regard her capture as a real coup.”

Morven Reid, who was commercial manager at Ross County before joining Caley Thistle, was in post when the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium club won the First Divisiton title. She played a key role in marketing the club’s entry to the SPL five years ago.

“I’m delighted to be back on the commercial side of football”, she said.

“Clach have had their difficulties but it remains a club for which there is strong local goodwill. I see significant commercial opportunities for the club and for businesses which become involved and I’m looking forward to getting cracking on the challenge.”
20/04/2009 – SHFL Under 19 Cup Final
The date has been set for the Under 19 cup final between Clach and Keith. It will be played on Sunday May 3rd at Mosset Park Forres with a 2.00pm Kick off. In the event of a draw 30 minutes extra time then penalties will be used to decide a winner

08/03/2009 – Match Programmes

Clach v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Clach v Deveronvale

Clach v Lossiemouth

Clach v Forres Mechanics

Clach v Burntisland Shipyard

Clach v Cove Rangers

Clach v Crichton

Clach v Inverurie Loco Works

Clach v Keith

Clach v Stenhousemuir

Clach v Nairn County

Clach v Huntl

Clach v Brora Rangers

Clach v Keith

23/02/2009 – Morrison ban cut
Gordie Morrison has had his ban cut from 18 games to 6. The ban accured while playing in the Amatuer league in the summer. An appeal was heard last week and he was successful in getting it cut but he still misses some important games as we try to climb the table

29/01/2009 – Foster’s Highland League Cup Draw
The draw was made today, Thursday 28th, for the Foster’s Highland League Cup.

Clachnacuddin have been drawn at home against Keith in the first round with the winners getting a home game against Buckie Thistle.

The tie will be played on Saturday March 7th with a 2.00pm* kick off.

15/12/2008 – Enclosure Shut Down
The Enclosure situated at the Benula Road end of the park was today Friday 12th December ruled as unsafe by health and safety officals. The enclosure better known as the Wine Shed has been standing there for about 60 years. Due to the crowd problems at the Clach v Stenhousemuir Scottish Cup Tie the ground was checked over by police and it was found that the enclosure was unsafe and has had to be closed down for the unforseeable future. At this moment they do not know what work needs to be done to but checks are being done to find out the full extent of the damage.

27/10/2008 – Homecoming Scottish Cup 3rd Round
Clach were drawn against 3rd Division leaders Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Cup 3rd Round. The tie will take place at Grant Street Park on the 29th of November.

20/10/2008 – S.F.A Youth Cup
Clach have been handed an away draw in the 3rd round of the SFA youth cup they were drawn against Premier league side Hamilton Accademicals. The tie will be played on Sunday November 9th.

29/09/2008 – Homecoming Scottish Cup 2nd Round
Clach have been drawn against Crichton in the next round of the Homecoming Scottish Cup. The game will played at Grant Street Park on Saturday 25th October with a 3pm kick off

08/09/2008 – Scottish Cup Draw
Clach were given a home draw in the Scottish Cup 1st round, where the visitors will be Burntisland Shipyard. The tie is due to take place on Saturday 27th September 3pm kick off

25/08/2008 – New Managment Team In Place
Clach today announced that ex Clach favourite, Iain Polworth, takes over as manager. He will be ably assisted by another ex Clach man in Billy Skinner. They will be in charge for the visit of Lossiemouth on Saturday.