North Caledonian League 'as competitive as it has ever been' after close title race
North Caledonian president Iain Whitehead has insisted the league is as competitive as it has ever been after a close finish to the 2021/22 campaign.
The title race went down to the last couple of matches with Invergordon, Loch Ness and Halkirk United all in contention before the Easter Ross side were crowned as champions.
That, believes Whitehead, is a key difference compared with years gone by, with clubs across the board taking a more professional approach which in turn is leading to better competition.
“Teams are very competitive now, and I think we saw that last season,” Whitehead said. “There wasn’t that team at the bottom of the league with no wins, so it’s better now.
“I think what has happened is that people are more invested in it. Teams at the bottom are training every week, so they’re improving their squad of players.
“Things like that make a difference. Before, it was just the two or three teams at the top who did that, and the other teams were just turning up on a Saturday for matches.
“At our level, you get found out doing that.
“Everyone is invested in the teams we have right now, and they are training every week, so it has improved the standard – more so at the bottom end of the table, I’d say.
“Everybody is capable of taking points off one another now, which makes for a competitive league, and that can only be a good thing.”
Things may be about to get even more competitive next season as the league looks set to expand.
Although nothing has been ratified as yet, Clachnacuddin have signalled their intention to enter a reserve team, while it looks likely that Fort William will return to the North Caledonian ranks after relegation from the Highland League.
There is still some doubt as to Fort's status for next season, with the Claggan Park outfit releasing a statement recently indicating they still hoped to come to a resolution with the Highland League management committee.
Whitehead added: "There’s the possibility of Bunillidh Thistle being back, but I haven’t heard anything official yet."
Halkirk United reached both cup finals in 2021/22, losing on penalties to Thurso in the Football Times Cup and being edged out 1-0 by St Duthus in the North Caledonian Cup.
Thurso made a poor start but recovered well in the latter part of the season to finish seventh in the 11-team division.
The Vikings had won four games in a row before rounding off their campaign with a 3-3 draw against Inverness Athletic.
