Long-distance football fans have 'fantastic weekend' after travelling from Chesterfield to Thurso
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Four football fans who travelled all the way from Derbyshire to Caithness to watch a North Caledonian League match in Thurso said it had been a "fantastic weekend".
Chris Roberts, Bruce Baskerville, Phil Smith and John Taylor undertook a 560-mile drive from Chesterfield so they could attend a game in the UK mainland's most northerly town.
They saw Thurso recover from losing an early goal to beat Invergordon 3-1 at the Dammies on Saturday in the Vikings' last home fixture of the season in Division One. The visiting supporters were impressed by the standard of football on show – and with the respect shown to the match officials.
“We understand this is the most northerly football ground on the UK mainland so it has been on my tick-list," Chris said.
"It's my 955th ground – for a long, long time I've wanted to do it.
"It took us 12 hours just to get to Inverness.
"I didn't really know much about Thurso. Bruce and I had been talking about doing a trip for quite a few months and we asked Phil and John if they'd like to come, and we've just had the most fantastic weekend."
The quartet brought a few bottles of Brampton Brewery ale – featuring the logo of Chesterfield FC on the label – for their choice as man of the match. The award went to veteran keeper Michael Gray, who had stepped in as an emergency replacement as Thurso's regular goalies were unavailable.
Chris said: “We were pleasantly surprised by the standard. There were some good individual performances.
"We gave the goalkeeper the man of the match – two saves in the first half were terrific and kept them in it. There were quite a few lads who put in a lot of effort.
“We've really enjoyed it and have been made to feel very welcome.”
He added: “In England at this standard, the abuse that the referees get... but there has been none of that. We like the fact that the coaches here just coach their boys.”
Chris, Bruce, Phil and John planned to stop off at Wick Academy and Brora Rangers on their way south before taking in Fort William's Claggan Park.
Related story:
