Nickname(s) The Jags Manager Daniel Cormack Grounds Links Park, Tain | Chairman Dale Finlayson Founded 1996 | |
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Full name Tain Thistle Football Club League Ross-shire Welfare Football Association | ||
Tain Thistle Football Club are a football club playing in the Ross-shire Welfare Football League in Scotland. They play at Links Park in the town of Tain in the Scottish Highlands.
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The club was formed in 1997, and joined the Ross-shire Welfare League that same year. The club was accepted into the North Caledonian League in June 2008 and competed in league matches during the 2008-09 season, becoming the first Tain team to do so since the demise of Tain St Duthus three years earlier. In 2009-10, Thistle competed in both league and cup competitions, confirming their full membership of the league. They withdrew from the North Caledonian League in 2010 but retained membership of the Ross-shire Welfare League.
Tain Thistle also appeared in the multi-million selling game series, Football Manager 2009 and featured in several national newspapers for achieving the feat.
League
The club have played in the Ross-shire Welfare League since 1997, and while the club typically finished bottom of the league during its formative years, the club secured its first ever Ross-shire Welfare league title under Arron Christie in 2009, beating Invergordon Social Club on the final day to win by five clear points, ahead of rivals Ross-shire Club. They won the league title for a second time in 2013 under manager Gary Ross, and again in 2015 under Robert Ross.
Cups
The club won its first trophy in 2007 under the management of Arron Christie, defeating Ross-shire Club to lift the Pattisons' Challenge Cup.
In May 2011, Thistle lifted the Ross-shire Welfare League Cup for the first time, defeating Balintore 3–2 in the final. This result is described as Thistle's greatest performance to date having won after their goalkeeper was given his marching orders on 15-minutes. With no goalkeeper on the bench, it was right-back, Brian Cameron who volunteered to go between the sticks, despite not having played in goals since Primary School.
Since that time, Thistle have won every major cup which is competed for under the auspices of the Ross-shire Welfare Football Association. In 2012, the Jags also won the resurrected Mid-Ross Challenge Shield, finishing first in an autumn mini league competition.
League
Cups
Other
Media coverage
The club generated a much higher level of media interest than usual during November 2008 as a result of their inclusion in Football Manager. The Club chairman was interviewed live on the subject by Peter Allen from BBC Radio 5 Live and also appeared on BBC Radio Scotland's morning news programme, Good Morning Scotland. Tain Thistle were also featured on BBC Scotland's flagship television news programme, Reporting Scotland.