The 16-game Highland League campaign could be very open, and Buckie Thistle manager Graeme Stewart is urging his Jags to get off to a good start
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BUCKIE Thistle must make a strong start to the shortened 16-game Highland League season to have any chance of being contenders, says manager Graeme Stewart.
The league revealed a new one-off format last weekend for the forthcoming campaign, which is scheduled to begin on Saturday, October 17.
Clubs will play each other only once with eight home and eight away fixtures, as well as a group stage format for the Highland League Cup.
The Jags still have last season’s League Cup semi-final at league champions Brora Rangers to contest – probably in October – and have also been drawn to face Banks o’ Dee in the Aberdeenshire Cup.
Boss Stewart himself drew up a proposal for a geographical split of the league for the shortened season which was rejected in favour of a programme he feels might not be fair on all the contenders.
“There’s positives and negatives,” he said. “I don’t think it’s very fair when you could end up playing your hardest games away from home.
“However I do think this format is exciting as a shorter league.
“You could end up with the luck of the draw and a dark horse could really push on this year.
Read more: October 17 start is the plan for Highland League season
“You might end up getting a winner that you’re not expecting because they get a favourable home fixture list.
“I can see the pros and cons, I don’t think it’s the fairest format but it was one of the better options. It’s a decent format that’s better than some of the other ones out there.”
Buckie made a sensational start to last season before their challenge began to fritter away as winter approached.
He knows with just 16 league games to contest, getting out of the starting blocks fast is crucial to every club.
“The start is going to be everything this year. If you get off to a good start you’ve got a chance, if you lose the first couple of games you could be out of the league already,” he said.
“I think the team that starts the best and adapts to the situation the best is going to win it or have a very good chance.
“It’s going to be massively important to get results in early and if you could win four or five on the bounce you could make yourself hard to catch.
“We showed last season we can get off to a good start and we’ve got a young, fit team. Fitness is going to be important, whoever gets the best pre-season and working the boys hard will do well.
“The fittest teams tend to win leagues and match sharpness is important at an early stage for teams to make that good start and do something this season.”
Jags officially begin their full squad training in Buckie tonight and Stewart is raring to see his players again.
“They are all on Strava and have been putting their performance on there for me to see,” he said.
“It’s not like it was in my day when boys were coming back half a stone or a stone overweight; they are all coming back in pretty good shape.
“Guys like Sam Pugh who we signed at the start of lockdown, he’ll be champing at the bit because he’s not played in ages.
“So I’ll be excited to see him, but that goes for all the boys. I’ve not seen any of them since March.
“Now we have the date, we can start organising training and matches, maybe sign a player if we need to.”
