Kingussie & Kyles Athletic Pay Their Respects | |
07 April 2014 Kingussie and Kyles Athletic paid their respects to the men from both communities who were involved in World War 1 at their Orion Group Premiership match at the Dell on Saturday 5 April 2014. The match took place exactly 100 years and one day after the two clubs met in the 1914 Camanachd Cup Final in Glasgow, which turned out to be the last match some players from both teams ever played. The 1914 Camanachd Cup Final took place on 4 April 1914 at Possil Park, Glasgow, with Kingussie beating Kyles Athletic 6-1. The match, which was refereed by Mr MacPherson, was played in the morning so that the spectators had time to get to Hampden Park for the annual football international between Scotland and England. Click on the link to read more The Scotsman A large crowd gathered at the Dell for last weekend’s match and both teams and committee members were piped out onto the field by a pipe Band. Kingussie Club President Russell Jones then read out the following words to a hushed crowd, “One hundred years and one day ago, Kingussie Camanachd Club and Kyles Athletic Shinty Club faced each other in the Camanachd Cup Final at Possil Park in Glasgow. The match on 4 April 1914 was scheduled to be the last game of the 1914 season. Unbeknown to anyone there that day, it was to be the last official shinty match for five years and for some of the players; it was to be the last match they ever played. Four months later, on 4 August 1914, Britain declared War on Germany and all organised shinty was suspended as the country’s thoughts turned to the conflict in Europe and beyond. Men from all walks of life volunteered to serve their country in what was to become known as ‘The Great War’. Millions perished in conditions that are well documented but still impossible for us to imagine. Every community, large and small, was affected and Kingussie and Tighnabruaich were no different. The War memorial in Tighnabruaich has 49 names recorded and the Kingussie memorial has 60 names of men who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War 1. That 109 men were lost in these circumstances from two small communities is beyond our comprehension and it is credit to the strength and resolve of the people left that both communities thrive and flourish a century on. Kingussie and Kyles shinty clubs also thrive and flourish a century on and it is fantastic that the teams line up against each other to play at the top level of our sport again today. Both clubs have competed in and won many Camanachd Cups but it is doubtful if any of the finals have been as poignant as the 1914 match. Before we continue with today’s game I ask that we take a moment to think about all those involved in the game 100 years ago yesterday, the service and sacrifice of players from both clubs and communities and in particular: William MacGillivray Lewis Macpherson Alick Tolmie John G. Macpherson Malcolm Macintosh John Macpherson Celestine Nicolson William Jamieson William Brown Shinty players who laid down their lives when the greater game was for King and Country.
The weekend match between Kingussie and Kyles Athletic finished as a 2-2 draw – honours even you might say, although the true honour is reserved for those who fought and those who gave their today for our tomorrow. |