Clachnacuddin confirm plans to enter North Caledonian League next season
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Clachnacuddin have plans to enter the North Caledonian League next season, club chairman Alex Chisholm has confirmed.
Fellow Highland League outfit Nairn County already have a young squad competing in the division as Nairn County A, and Clach are now set to follow suit by entering an under-20s side.
The Lilywhites previously saw a reserve team enter the competition between 2011 and 2013, and Chisholm says plans are in place to end that nine-year hiatus.
Clach had already announced that they will be entering the Inverness summer amateur season, which will serve as a pre-cursor to the winter NCL season.
Chisholm says the move will give the younger players at Grant Street Park more opportunities to play at a competitive level, helping the Inverness outfit develop more players at a high standard.
“We are looking at the North Caley too – I don’t know where we’re at with the application, if it’s official, but we see that as the perfect place to play adult football and learn,” Chisholm explained.
“It’s a good standard to show the younger players what’s coming at them to play Highland League football, so we thought that was a good way to keep their development going.
“That’s our intention. It’s got to go to the AGM to be ratified, but that’s what we’re working towards. I can’t see any issues coming up. The guys ran a team a few years ago in the North Caley, and the benefits are there at that level.
“Our coaches are committed to it, so as a club from the first team manager down we discussed it and thought it was the right thing to do.
“It will help get these guys on, and we have promising youngsters. You can see that in the first team – the other day we only had one player over 30, one was 25 and the rest were 21 or under. We’re delighted with that, so we think it’s the right way to go.”
The current North Caledonian League campaign is not complete yet, though, with most teams rounding off their seasons this weekend. Loch Ness will go up against Halkirk United after both teams missed out on the league title, while Orkney will host St Duthus.
