PICTURES: Aberdeen's Gothenburg Great Neil Simpson presents the awards at Elgin Boys' Club's awards night celebrating another fine football season for the Morriston club
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Aberdeen Football Club legend Neil Simpson was special guest at Elgin Boys' Club's awards night in Elgin Town Hall on Tuesday.
The Gothenburg Great shared stories of his European trophy triumphs and being managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, before handing out the prizes to Moray's finest young footballing talent.
Club secretary Margaret Ramage summed up another successful season for the club, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year.
And there was the presentation of a new award in all three age groups for goalkeeper of the season in memory of club stalwart Mike Christie.
The appearance of current Aberdeen youth academy pathways manager Simpson drew a real buzz to the occasion.
One of the Dons' famous European Cup Winners Cup winning team who defeated the mighty Real Madrid 40 years ago, Simpson's own sons played in Elgin Boys' Club when he was based in Moray with a Scottish FA development role.
He handed over all the awards, including the player of the year prizes in the junior, intermediate and senior age categories.
Junior star player was Finlay Douglas (Royals), ahead of Finn Wishart (St Giles) in second and Albi Eades (Spartans) in third.
Leo Grant (St Giles) was intermediates' player of the year with Harris McKenzie (Spartans) second and Zara Ramage (Cameronians) - one of seven female players to compete in the season - coming in third.
Seniors' top performer was Oliver Hodgson (St Giles), closely followed by Jack Dawson (Waverley) and Daniel Hanover (Corinthians).
The first three recipients of the inaugural Mike Christie goalkeeper of the year awards were junior Alex Forteath (Cameronians), intermediate Harry Watson (Spartans) and senior Connor McLeod (Saracens).
An additional presentation was made by long-serving club stalwart Graeme 'Tiger' Porter to fellow honorary president Neil Fotheringham to mark his semi-retirement from the club.
A total of just under 400 players aged between 9 and 16 contested the season, secretary Ramage explained.
"Boys and girls come from all backgrounds and football ability to play the wonderful game and make new friends and that’s very much the ethos of Elgin Boys Club," she said.
"I often hear Tiger and Allan (club president Frisken) talk about how the boys league has blessed them with lifelong friends for over 40 plus years."
Mentions were given to the seven girls who mixed it with the male majority throughout the campaign and impressed with their talents.
Five juniors - Leah Bell, Beth Whyte, Esme Watson, Hailey Davies, Ava Stewart - and two imtermediate girls - Alex Whelan and Zara Ramage - made a telling impression on all the matches they played.
In total, 198 matches of football were played involving 52 coaches or managers guiding the 397 players who signed up for the season.
"We've had so much fun this year, lots of ups and some challenges - we won’t lie - that we as a committee overcame," Margaret added.
"An exciting and emotional start as all players and coaches joined together in a big circle with a round of applause led by our president Allan Frisken as a tribute to the late Mike Christie. On the final evening, a new bench was unveiled outside the pavilion dedicated to Mike."
Corinthians were crowned as senior league winners, with St Giles picking up a League Cup and Summer Cup double.
Spartans won the intermediate league and Saracens were cup winners in that age group, while Royals emerged as the champs in the junior league, contested over 18 matches.
The final two cup finals were staged after the summer holidays at Forres Mechanics' Mosset Park ground - Borough Briggs was unavailable - while a junior football festival was contested at Elgin's Gleaner Arena.
Now plans are already being discussed by the club committee on how to make next year's 60th anniversary season a memorable one.
Formed by the late John Cameron, an Elgin solicitor, Elgin Boys' Club began on April 18, 1964 when 100 boys crammed into the St Giles Hall in Elgin for the debut season.
The very first match in May of that year was kicked off by then-Elgin City star striker Willie Grant.
By the seventies they were embarking on European tours, the first in 1972 over six-matches in Germany and Holland.
That year, a Borough Briggs crowd of 1300 saw an Elgin Boys Club under-15 select take on a squad from reigning European boys' champions Celtic, some of who went on to play for the Glasgow giants' first team.
In 1976, Elgin Boys' Club took on the likes of European big names like Borussia Moenchengladbach and PSV Eindhoven on another Euro adventure.
Two trips to America in the 1980s included visits to the NASA space centre and Southfork, home to the US TV programme Dallas.
Goalkeepers Nicky Walker and Alan Main came through the clubs ranks to play at the top level in Scotland and represent their country.
Many others have gone on to play league football north and south of the border.
Countless Elgin City stars began their footballing journey with the club including a crop of the current Black and Whites' team.
