October 13th 2024
Everyone at Nairn County FC has been saddened to hear of the passing of our former Director of Football, Peter A. Mackintosh, of ex-Main Sponsor, Narden.
Peter shared the Director of Football responsibilities with his brother, Michael and alongside their father and Chairman, also Peter, guided the club from the lower reaches of the Highland League to silverware success and regular challenges for honours over a period of almost two decades.
Peter’s involvement with Nairn County commenced in 1997 along with brother Michael when their business, Narden, took over as the club’s Main Sponsor.
Two years later, their father took on the Chairman’s role and a new era at Station Park was well underway.
Ronnie Sharp was installed as Manager and led the club to fifth place in the 2002/03 season, our highest placing for over a quarter-of-a-century.
Despite reaching four semi finals, an elusive first cup final appearance eluded the team until 2005, following Les Fridge’s appointment as Manager a year before. A 3-1 win over Forres Mechanics at Grant Street Park put a trophy in the cabinet at Station Park for the first time since 1977 and rewarded Peter for all his hard work. But that was only the beginning.
The North of Scotland Cup was claimed again in 2008 when Inverness CT were beaten 2-0 in the final again at Grant Street and the silverware continued with the winning of the Highland League (Morganti) Cup in 2011 with a 4-0 win over Fraserburgh at Banff. This was a particularly poignant trophy for the club to take home given the origins of the cup are firmly rooted in Nairn. It was only the second time the club had won the competition and the first in almost half-a-century.
A 2-1 extra time victory over Wick Academy at Grant Street Park in 2012 won the North of Scotland Cup for the third occasion in Peter’s time at the club. There was also another five cup final appearances on top of this run of silverware success.
In the league standings, the club went from finishing bottom in season 1997/98 to a high of joint second just 14 years later as well as regular top half finishes along the way during Peter’s time at Station Park.
There were Scottish Cup adventures to enjoy too, most notably a 3-2 home win over Clyde at Station Park in 2012 after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Broadwood. That preceded another 3-3 draw in the next round, this time away at Forfar Athletic where we came back from 3-0 down to earn another replay, this time eventually succumbing 3-2 at Station Park.
There were also ties with league clubs Elgin City, Peterhead and Arbroath over years.
Away from events on the park, Peter made an equally important contribution to the development of the club and its facilities behind the scenes.
Through Narden, Peter was responsible for a direct financial contribution to the club which totalled in excess of £1 million. In addition, through Narden’s business links, Peter helped to introduce the club to a variety of other commercial sponsorships, major advertising deals for Station Park, identifying new materials and service providers and exercising his ability to attract business interests to take tables at the Sporting Dinners and participate in the Club’s Golf Days.
There was also the time devoted to developing the playing surface and surrounds at Station Park into one of the best stadia in the area. The countless hours of work carried out every close season, preparing the facilities and pitch for each match day and completing post-match pitch repairs for over 500 matches.
There is no doubt that Peter A. Mackintosh played a monumental role in the successes of the club both on and off the park between 1997 and 2016. We all extend our condolences to his wife, Val, his father, Peter, his brother, Michael and the rest of the Mackintosh family at this time.
