Step up to North Caledonian League would be ‘great for football in north-west’ says man behind bid
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FOOTBALL in north-west Sutherland would reach a new level if the area was represented by a team in the North Caledonian League.
That is the view of Tony Reynoldson, who is behind the bid to enter a new team called Scourie FC into senior football for the 2020/21 campaign.
The manager of north-west Sutherland amateur outfit Kinlochbervie FC (pictured) – who play their games at Scourie – has entered an application to create a new team to play in the NCL.
Reynoldson (62) says there is an appetite to make the step up and play senior football in the region.
He thinks if their bid is successful, it would be great for football in the area.
“We believe it is the first time a team from north-west Sutherland will play in the league if our bid is successful,” he said.
“With Kinlochbervie FC we get around attendances of 200 people at Scourie with people from neighbouring villages coming to watch us.
“I think it will be great for football in north-west Sutherland if we got in.
Reynoldson moved to Scourie from Yorkshire 12 years ago and was approached to get involved with Kinlochbervie whose results in the amateur league have improved in recent years.
It has been decided to name the new team Scourie FC, but Reynoldson is keen the club represents the whole of north-west Sutherland.
“We chucked around a couple of names including calling the team North-West Sutherland and Scourie KLB,” he said.
“The team will be open to players from anywhere to play. There are talks about players coming from Gairloch and Ullapool, as well as Lochinver and Kinlochbervie, coming to play for us.”
Scourie are one of four teams applying to join the nine clubs already playing in the North Caledonian League.
Other teams include Inverness amateur side Loch Ness, along with Nairn County under-20s and Alness United, returning from a year out, are hoping to rejoin.
The coronavirus pandemic has put the application process on hold, but Reynoldson is confident senior football will come to the region next season.
“Some of the lads are eager to have a go as they are reaching the age of 21.
“At Kinlochbervie the lads wanted to have a go and they have been performing well in the last couple of years.
“They were looking forward to this summer but the season has been postponed.
“We could continue to play in the North-West Sutherland League, but we need to take that step to progress forward.”
