July 15th 2024
A BOOK chronicling the history of Nairn County Football Club is now on sale. The History of Nairn County FC: 100 Years in the Highland League by Graeme Macleod, Donald Wilson and Bill Logan was launched at a champagne reception in the Playhouse Bar, Nairn on Saturday. The book is now available to buy at Strachans Newsagents, Nairn Bookshop and Town Barbers, all on Nairn High Street and through the official Nairn County website https://www.nairncountyfc.co.uk/. The book has taken almost two years to produce and costs £20, with all proceeds going towards the Nairn County Supporters Ground Improvements Fund. Graeme Macleod said: “I am extremely grateful to Strachans, the Bookshop and the Town Barbers for their assistance with this project. They have both agreed to sell the book in prominent High Street locations and donate their cut from any sales to the Ground Improvements Fund, which is a superb gesture. I would also like to record my thanks to the Playhouse and all their staff for hosting the launch on Saturday.” He added: “The three authors first got our heads together in the early autumn of 2012 and split the monumental task of researching the club’s history into three sections – Bill looked into the club’s origins up to admission into the Highland League, Donald researched from acceptance into the league onwards and I started at the present day and worked backwards. “After many, many hours spent in Nairn Library and Nairn Museum looking through old copies of the Nairnshire Telegraph, we then set about the task of tracking down former players and managers to conduct almost 50 extensive interviews for inclusion in the book. This proved extremely productive as we uncovered some fantastic anecdotes and tales from down through the years and debunked a few myths along the way. “There was then the task of laying everything out in as professional a format as possible and we enlisted Tez Watson of iolaire, Harbour Street to keep the business in the town and because we have all been impressed with his work designing the club’s official match day programme. “Tez was remarkably generous with his time and we sat down with him to come up with what we thought was the best look for the final product. He has left no stone unturned in the production of the book and has done a fantastic job of laying out the text and extensive portfolio of around 100 photographs in as reader-friendly a manner as possible and come up with an eye-catching cover.” The book has been entirely self-funded and Donald Wilson explained: “We started advertising for pre-orders at the turn of the year and once again the response from the Nairn County support has been astounding. “We sold over 200 copies of the book prior to Saturday’s launch and I am extremely grateful to the fans for their backing. They have been superb and raised over £45,000 since the start of 2013 when the Supporters Ground Improvements Fund was launched entirely through the fans’ own initiative.” Saturday’s glitzy launch was attended by a number of former and current players and committee members, including present day chairman, Peter Mackintosh and championship-winning manager, Innes Macdonald. Bill Logan – whose research for the book has taken him on trips to Glasgow and Aberdeen – added: “It was great to see so many faces at the launch and it goes to show you the affection there is for Nairn County from players, committee members and supporters old and new. “It has been a rewarding experience to be involved in the production of the book and I thoroughly hope the supporters enjoy reading it as much as we have enjoyed researching and writing it.” The History of Nairn County FC: 100 Years in the Highland League by Graeme Macleod, Donald Wilson and Bill Logan is available to buy now at Strachans, Nairn Bookshop, the Town Barbers and from http://www.nairncountyfc.co.uk/. Graeme Macleod
