14 hours ago
Yet another season is about to get underway in the Breedon Highland League as the Wee County prepare to face Rothes in the opening game of the season.
Station Park will play host to the opening fixture of the upcoming campaign as Wayne Mackintosh starts his second season in the dugout against Rothes in the opening fixture. After guiding the club to a 9th place finish last season, Mackintosh will be looking to build upon a promising campaign.
The eve of a new season is always met with intrigue, so we thought we’d give you all the information you will need for the 2026/27 season:
We start our campaign at home to Rothes this Saturday (25th July, 3pm kick off) before travelling to Keith on Saturday 1st August (3pm kick off), shortly followed by a derby under the lights as we welcome Forres Mechanics to Station Park on Wednesday 5th August (8pm kick off).
We have 34 league games to play this season, facing each of the 17 other teams, home and away.
The furthest we’ll travel is to Wick Academy (Saturday 6th February) while the shortest trip will be to Forres Mechanics on Saturday 19th December.
We will also be welcoming newly promoted Invergordon to Station Park on Saturday 14th November.
You can view all our fixtures here.
We will be taking part in three cup competitions this season.
R Davidson Highland League Cup – We will be hosting Rothes in our opening round Highland League Cup tie when it takes place on Saturday 7th November. We last won the Highland League Cup in the 2010/11 season.
North of Scotland Cup – 2021/22 winners Rothes are first up in the North of Scotland Cup as we travel to Mackessack Park on Wednesday 2nd September. One of Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Strathspey Thistle will be awaiting in the winner in the next round.
Scottish Gas Scottish Cup – the big one. We start in the first round of the Scottish Cup in September, and the ambition is to reach the fourth round for the first time in 70 years, where a Premiership side could be waiting for us. We made it halfway there last time out with a famous victory against Berwick Rangers just south of the border before falling to a 2-1 defeat against Turriff United in the second round.
Nairn County v Forres Mechanics: Wednesday 8th August
Clachnacuddin v Nairn County: Saturday 22nd August
Forres Mechanics v Nairn County: Saturday 19th December
Nairn County v Clachnacuddin: Saturday 16th January
The club have awarded new contracts to Finn As-Chainey (Att), Johnathan Bain (Def), Benn Barron (Att), Ben Kelly (Att), Kenny MacInnes (Mid), Lewis Munro (Gk) and Adrian Voigt (Mid).
We’re pleased to welcome three new signings to Station Park: Finn Munro (Def) and Leo Walker (Def) who have both signed from Inverness Caledonian Thistle, as well as Jake Thomson (Att) who signed from Rothes.
WHO HAS LEFT US?
We said goodbye to Dylan Maclean, who moves to Strathspey Thistle after an 11-year stay at Station Park after he signed for us back in 2015, alongside Andrew Greig, who also joins the Grantown outfit, and Charlie McKenzie who prepares to head off to university. Brodie Watson left for Inverness Athletic.
We have also said goodbye to Callum Maclean after he retired from football this summer after giving 11 years of service to the club.
We wish all players well for the future.
We played seven pre-season games:
Nairn County 1 – 3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Nairn County 0 – 6 Elgin City
Nairn County 1 – 1 Nairn St Ninian
Lossiemouth United 1 – 6 Nairn County
Nairn County XI 2 – 2 Inverness Thistle (behind closed doors)
Nairn County 2 – 2 Ross County
Stirling University 2 – 0 Nairn County
On what he learnt last season, manager Mackintosh said: “It was a very educational year and a lot to take in. It has been a lot more demanding on my time than I expected but it has been thoroughly enjoyable.
“There is a power of work that gets done behind the scenes that I probably did not appreciate before taking the role and that is all covered by volunteers, who are the unsung heroes of the club.
“On the playing side, the key thing is that things change all the time with players getting injured or missing training etc and as a coach, you have to be very adaptable to keep things moving in the right direction.”
On the upcoming season, he continued: “This season, we are looking to improve on last season’s 9th place.
“I feel we did not have much of an identity last year, so we have worked on things to make us more creative and better defensively and we are hoping that we can be more successful and more enjoyable to watch.
“We would love to have a good cup run and try to win some silverware.”
There have been no major changes this summer however, there has been new frontage installed at Station Park thanks to Jason Dormer and The Sign Centre.
We launched our new away shirt at the beginning of June which pays homage to Nairn’s rich golfing history. The response to it has been excellent, and more shirts will be on sale shortly. Our brand new third shirt will be on sale in the club shop as well as water bottles, key rings, umbrellas and our usual array of merchandise.
We also have a range of fan wear available online here.
We’re delighted to have our main club and front of shirt sponsor, Murray Travel continue to partner with us, so check them out if you are booking a holiday.
Culloden Cars have renewed their sponsorship and will once again be the sponsors of the Main Stand which will continue to be known as the Culloden Cars Stand. They are will also be rewarding local organisations and groups with their hospitality passes throughout the season.
Edinburgh solicitors and estate agents Ralph Sayer have partnered with us for our Man of the Match award, golf day, and sporting dinner.
S. Owens Joinery continue as our training kit sponsor and ScotSafe as our warm-up partner.
Monteith Solictors will feature on our coaches’ match kit for the season ahead.
Ardnamurchan, Ashers Bakery and the Westerlea Hotel remain our hospitality partners.
For those in Nairn and close-by, coming along to Station Park and supporting the team is the obvious answer.
Entry prices have remained the same as last season with adults costing £12 and concessions costing £6.
Our season ticket are available, with an adult season ticket costing £160 (three free games) and concessions costing £80.
If you can’t make as many games as you would like, we have several different ways you can support us:
Become a Club 1914 member – for just £10 a month, you can become a Nairn County member and receive various benefits and rewards. Our Club 1914 membership has raised valuable funds for the club since it began in 2020. Join here.
Play our 50/50 Monthly Prize Draw – costing less than £1 a month, you can be in with the chance of winning one of our three-monthly prizes (£150, £100 or £50). It is easy to join online here and once you are in, you don’t have to do anything else.
Buy Club Merchandise – all profits from club merchandise sales are re-invested back into the club.
Sponsor a Player – we only have a handful of players left to sponsor. Home sponsorship is £100 + VAT and Away/Third sponsorship is £100 + VAT. Email info@nairncountyfc.co.uk for more information.
Own a business? – Sponsorship and advertising begin with taking out an advertising board all the way up to digital rights sponsorship and more.
We are already planning a Sporing Lunch, Ladies Day, End of Season Awards and our annual Golf Day after the successes of last year’s events; more information will be published in due course.
We would like to thank everyone for their continued support, and we hope to see you at Station Park for the upcoming season. Come on Nairn!
