Red Star success gives reasons to celebrate local football

[cdcfc]

Lochgilphead Red Star Under 16s win cup and plenty more reasons to celebrate football in Campbeltown

Whilst Campbeltown Pupils were celebrating their success at winning the SAFL Premier Division Two title there were similar celebrations in Lochgilphead on Saturday night after their Under 16s side (Red Star) lifted the DFDL Cup.

And there were plenty more reasons for Campbeltown to celebrate this victory too with the Mid Argyll side holding a number of connections to the Wee Toon. Lochgilphead Red Star captain, Ryan Deans, stays in Campbeltown and had the honour of lifting the DFDL Cup alongside team mate Cameron Wylie who also stays in Campbeltown after beating Kilpatrick YFC 2-1 in a thrilling final played at the Bet Butler Stadium in Dumbarton. Both boys travel from Campbeltown on a weekly basis to train in Lochgilphead and play home and away for Red Star in the Dunbartonshire Football Development League which boasts teams from Oban and Helensburgh in Argyll and sides from both East and West Dunbartonshire. Due to the lack of competitive football for the youth age in Campbeltown the boys choose to play for Red Star to ensure they enjoy regular weekly football with this Ryan’s third season and Cameron’s second. Both players attended the local Soccer Centre as children as well as Campbeltown and District Juvenile Football Association (CDJFA) sessions which they still attend.

And the Campbeltown connection doesn’t stop there – Ewan McCulloch’s parents Arthur and Margaret both hail from Campbeltown with Arthur the side’s goal keeping coach. Arthur himself grew up playing kids football in Campbeltown before playing amateur between the sticks for Campbeltown Boys AFC.

Hughie Lindsay, another of the Red Star coaches, formerly played at centre half and in the goal for Campbeltown Pupils AFC and was extremely proud of the team’s achievements on Saturday having been involved in football in Mid Argyll for a number of years.

Fergus Galbraith who also plays in the side stays in Tarbert and is the son of Carradale man Archie Galbraith.

Following the victory the Under 16s side enjoyed a champions reception at the Stag Hotel in Lochgilphead were family and friends joined the team, coaches and committee to celebrate their side’s Cup success.

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[Jimbo]

A nice article and some reward for the commendable effort some lads from the town make, regularly travelling to Lochgilphead and Helensburgh and further afield, for training and games. In regard to winning the cup, the personal contribution of Cameron and Ryan was vital,Cameron scoring a decisive goal in a hard fought semi, Ryan set one up and in the final drew the foul which got the team's level in the final.

Well done lads, not forgetting Alan at Ardencaple, too!

[smiles]

Well done to a huge commitment.

Still cant get my head round why there isn't 11 aside football in Campbeltown for children. Lochgilphead seems to be miles ahead of us, having 11 aside teams. Why not here?

[Walt Jabsco]

Hi Smiles,

The reason that there is no 11 a side football in Campbeltown for youths is quite simple. No league want to travel to Campbeltown for games. The cost for Lochgilphead to travel to away games is over £2000 per year and the central teams do not like travelling to Argyll to play. There is no doubt that there is the talent in the town to make competitive teams but our isolation makes it impossible.

You also need a squad of 16 -18 willing to travel every second week to the central belt and also adults willing to give up Saturdays or Sundays to help make this happen.

With the great work that Davie P and the CDJFA are doing there may be hope in the forthcoming years through building relationships and partnerships with Lochgilphead, Islay etc as well as the contacts they are making hosting festivals and travelling to festivals that one day there will be teams from Campbeltown in leagues.

We also need to have a dedicated amount of boys to commit to playing every week. As you can imagine teenagers have so many other things to take up their time. As the article states, as well as the two boys from the Toon, there are three from Tarbert and one from Inveraray in the team without whom Red Star would struggle for a team. In Campbeltown at the moment we would struggle to get 16 boys at under 16 to play weekly. Hopefully that will change in the next 5 -10 years.

[Mack]

Its great to see Lochgilphead Red Star doing so well. Just reward for Hughie Lindsay, Arthur McCulloch and a host of committed individuals. We are only one year old as a community club in Campbeltown and massive strides have been taken by David Paterson and his willing team of coaches and workers. The future is bright and it 's a case of watch this space. Campbeltown is already producing talent at an extraordinary rate, and, once ties and affiliations are formed, will take part in a national under-age set-up sooner than we think. Stay positive - its not too far in the future!

[Davie P]

I completely missed the subequent posts on this thread until I stumbled across it this evening! Thanks to Mack and Walt Jabsco for making reference to me but it's the kind of think I shirk at knowing how much time all the CDJFA coaches, parents and committee have gave over the last 18 months to get where we are now. So on that point it is thanks to them

Delighted to report our Under 13s are now playing in the Dumbarton Football Development League and doing well. After being knocked back we made a bit of a compromise and the kids have enjoyed 7 league games so far. This is a huge commitment from the players and parents and none less than coaches Iain Reid, Stanley Irwin and Ian McGeachy who are doing a power of work with the kids at this age group.

There's a wee feature on the kids on the Scottish FA website at the link below.

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa ... wsID=12484

In becoming members of the league they became the first youth side to ever play in a national SYFA registered league which is great!

Still trying to get games for the Under 15s and 17/18s so if any teams are intrested give us a shout. Plenty of kids coming behind this so things are progressing. However, as I said before this is thanks to everyone including the community. The views of Mack and Walt J are ones I personally value so that also helps more than you realise. All the best David