Welfare League debut marks return from the wilderness for Buckie Rovers
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IT was time for Buckie Rovers to return recently when the club came back from the dead.
September 2022 saw the Merson Park side, which played in the Junior ranks at the time, become defunct. However, the club has re-emerged from the darkness in the Moray and District Welfare League, playing their first tie at home to Hopeman on Friday, April 26 which ended in a 0-0 draw.
Leading the side are former Buckie Utd manager and Rovers player Neil Mair - who won the cup double and league title with his former charges - and, as assistant manager, ex-Rovers captain Darren Thain, while Mike Coull has assumed the role of club president.
Rovers’ strip sponsor - David Robertson, who owns Pozzi’s in the town - also has close ties to the club, having been a former president and assistant manager. His father also captained the side for a few years during the 1950s and 60s.
Mr Coull described how he and a group of friends decided it was time to revive the Rovers.
He said: “There was a group of about nine of us from Buckie who were playing football in Lhanbryde and we decided to see if we could restart Buckie Rovers.
“There was a gap in football in Buckie [below Highland League level] with there being no Rovers or Buckie Utd. Kids didn’t have a pathway to senior football and were playing their football in Banff or Keith.
“It was in October last year that we got the ball rolling. We’ve had to do everything from scratch and it’s been quite a long process to bring the club back. I got in touch with Neil and Darren, who have got a lot of experience between them, and we’re very grateful to David for his generous sponsorship.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the community and sponsors, it’s been phenomenal.
“For the Hopeman game we had 80 or so at the ground which was really great to see.
“The club is back playing at Merson Park although we’re still working to secure the use of the pavilion again. At the moment we’re using Buckpool Golf Club for our changing facilities.”
The Hopeman game proved to be an emotional moment for Mr Coull and those connected to the club.
He continued: “It was very exciting to see the team come back.
“The club’s been on the go since 1892, it has a long history.
“Covid caused us a lot of problems but we’re back now and looking to the future. We’ve a good squad and we want to get some good results under our belts. Most of our players are local lads and we all want to do the town proud.
“It would be great if we could return to the Junior ranks someday but we’ve got to learn to crawl first, then walk before we can think about running.”
The management duo are close friends off the park, having first met during their playing days at what was a very successful Portgordon side under Dennis Clark. Mr Thain was later to join his pal when the latter was in the Buckie Utd hotseat.
Mr Mair said he was very happy with the squad and the way the club’s recruitment drive in general had progressed.
He said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the squad, it’s probably slightly further on than I thought it was going to be.
“I got a lot of players in I thought would probably be quite difficult based on the fact that we’re a new club building a whole new squad from scratch. We got some players I thought that maybe wouldn’t want to come yet, they’d want to wait and see how the club was going to progress but I’ve been absolutely delighted that they’ve shown that commitment to come to the Rovers straight off the bat.
“It’s mainly local guys in the squad, we’ve three guys who come down from Keith - two of them have roots in Buckie - and we’ve got a guy from Whitehills and an ex-Deveronvale player.”
Looking ahead, the Rovers boss said that he was under no illusions as to the amount of work that lies ahead as the club rise from the ashes.
He continued: “I want to build a team that’ll be competitive and get Buckie back on the map with local football.
“Buckie Thistle are doing brilliant but there’s nothing under them.
“I want to get a buzz about the place and a team on the pitch that’ll make Buckie proud. I want teams to come to Buckie and expect a difficult game, to not to want to play us. That’s the best compliment you can get.
“We’ve won four our of four pre-season and the guys have worked so hard in training, their attitudes have been brilliant.
“It’s been a massive challenge having to build a whole new squad from scratch and trying to balance it between the different positions. When I went to Buckie Utd I already had a decent foundation and I added four or five extra players I knew on top of the good team they already had.
“I’m really happy with where we are. The public and the sponsors have been absolutely amazing, the response has been unbelievable.
“Against Hopeman in out first game we just couldn’t buy a goal despite scoring something like 20 goals in our pre-season friendlies. However, we were solid and the signs were there, we’ve got something to build on. Hopeman have been the champions or runners-up, I think, for the past six or seven years and we came away from the game quite disappointed we hadn’t won.”
Also keenly anticipating the season ahead was Mr Robertson.
He added: “I’m delighted to see the club back as Buckie needs a good Welfare/Junior set-up to give youngsters and others the chance to play football.
“With a young lad myself there needs to be opportunities for people to play at a local club/level. So many good Buckie lads are playing at Keith and Banff and other clubs simply because there are no opportunities.
“I’m also really encouraged to see how the club is being run, with the sponsorship/player updates and being realistic in terms of what they are asking businesses for.
“I’m looking forward to getting to a few games.”
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League fixtures and other details can be found at https://mdwfa.leaguerepublic.com/
