Newtonmore Camanachd Club

Potted History

Shinty has been played in the Newtonmore area for centuries, but more recently, there are records of shinty being played at the club's present field Eilean Bheannchair - known as the Eilan - since 1877, and the club was formerly re-constituted under the auspices of the newly formed Camanachd Association in 1895.

Since then, the club have won the Camanachd Cup - the Scottish national shinty trophy no less than twenty eight times - a record unmatched by any other team in the game. Two of the greatest names in shinty history, Hugh Chisholm, goalkeeper of renown and the legendary David 'Tarzan' Ritchie together hold the individual record of twelve Camanachd Cup winners medals each. The club has also won the MacTavish cup a record thirty times, together with a string of other honours. Further information on 'The Shinty Greats' can be found in our pages about Old Newtonmore.

The Club field and pavilion (built in 1993) are both owned by the Club - for many years the club were unique in owning their own field.

(Thumbnail to Large Picture of the Opening of the Clubhouse in 1993, showing all the Club Members - 80K)

Many clubs throughout Scotland have long and friendly rivalries with Newtonmore - notably, Kyles Athletic have been involved in many well-contested tussles in the past and have something of a special relationship with Newtonmore, each having invited the other to take part in their Centenary celebrations. The keenest rivalry, however, although sometimes perhaps less than friendly, is with near neighbours Kingussie. In recent times, Kingussie have been somewhat in the ascendancy, whilst Newtonmore have been forced to rebuild and have been unfortunate to lose several promising players to work or study commitments further afield. The Club, however, remain confident that this situation will not last forever!