Website | http://sbwfa.co.uk |
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The Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare Football Association is the governing body overseeing amateur Scottish Welfare football in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of Scotland. It is affiliated to Scottish Welfare Football Association and Scottish Football Association and has been running intermittently since its inaugural season in 1929–30. [1] The winners on that occasion were the now-defunct Nethy Bridge F.C.
There is an annual league competition which runs from May to July with each member club playing the others four times over the course of the season. For the 2019 season, all league games take place on Tuesday evenings. The SBWFA League is sponsored by local Carrbridge firm David Ritchie & Sons Ltd. As of the 2017 season it has been known as the David Ritchie & Sons Ltd League for sponsorship purposes.
Each club is also responsible for hosting its own cup competition. As of the 2019 season cup matches will take place on Friday evenings, except for the SBWFA North V South Trophy which has yet to be confirmed. 2019 has five cup competitions. These are:
Because there were no league competitions in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, the cup matches were also suspended. The format for the 2022 season has not been announced yet.
Member club numbers tend to fluctuate from season to season, with the most recent notable extinctions being Grantown F.C. and Tomatin United. The 2022 season is being competed for by the following clubs:
One of two sides based at the village of Aviemore, Thistle shared their home park with local rivals RBL Aviemore before RBL Aviemore were mothballed at the end of the 2015 season. Thistle underwent a rebirth at the end of 2007 when the club almost became extinct, but the name and colours were saved at the 11th hour and a Jags side was successfully fielded for the 2008 season.
The latest incarnation of Boat of Garten FC, making a return to the SBWFA after a long absence.
The side return to the SBWFA after an absence of four years, last competing in the 2015 season when they finished third in the league table that season.
The complete list of League winning clubs since the Association's inception is given below:
Badenoch is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by the Cairngorms and Braemar, on the south by Atholl and the Grampians, and on the west by Lochaber. The capital of Badenoch is Kingussie.
Grantown-on-Spey is a town in the Highland Council Area, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorm mountains, about 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Inverness.
Kingussie is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road, although the old route of the A9 serves as the town's main street which has been bypassed since 1979. Kingussie is 42 miles south of Inverness, 12 mi (19 km) south of Aviemore, and 3 mi (5 km) north of Newtonmore.
The River Spey is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At 98 mi (158 km) it is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the third longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishing and whisky production.
The Strathspey Railway (SR) in Badenoch and Strathspey, Highland, Scotland, operates a ten-mile (16 km) heritage railway from Aviemore to Broomhill, Highland via Boat of Garten, part of the former Inverness and Perth Junction Railway which linked Aviemore with Forres. It is one of only a handful of former primary/secondary main lines to be preserved in Britain today.
Boat of Garten is a small village and post town in Badenoch and Strathspey, Highland, Scotland. In 1951, the population was less than 400; in 1971, it was almost 500; in 1981, it was almost 700, and the same in 2001.
Aviemore railway station serves the town and tourist resort of Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. The station, which is owned by Network Rail (NR) and managed by ScotRail, is on the Highland Main Line, 83 miles 31 chains from Perth, between Kingussie and Carrbridge, and is also the southern terminus of the Strathspey preserved railway.
Carrbridge is a village in Badenoch and Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands. It lies off the A9 on the A938, west of Skye of Curr and southeast of Tomatin, near Bogroy. It has the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands and the nearby ancient pine forest contains the Landmark Forest Adventure Park.
Cromdale is a village in Strathspey, in the Highland council area of Scotland, and one of the ancient parishes which formed the combined ecclesiastical parish of Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie in Morayshire.
Abernethy and Kincardine is a civil parish, and former registration district and ecclesiastical parish, in the Highland council area of Scotland. The name is not in use for any modern administrative entity, but remains as the usual description for historical purposes, in the case of the registration district being only a name change.
The PH postcode area, also known as the Perth postcode area, is a group of 43 postcode districts for post towns: Aberfeldy, Acharacle, Arisaig, Auchterarder, Aviemore, Ballachulish, Blairgowrie, Boat of Garten, Carrbridge, Corrour, Crieff, Dalwhinnie, Dunkeld, Fort Augustus, Fort William, Glenfinnan, Grantown-on-Spey, Invergarry, Isle of Canna, Isle of Eigg, Isle of Rum, Kingussie, Kinlochleven, Lochailort, Mallaig, Nethy Bridge, Newtonmore, Perth, Pitlochry, Roy Bridge and Spean Bridge in Scotland.
The Inverness and Perth Junction Railway (I&PJR) was a railway company that built a line providing a more direct route between Inverness and the south for passengers and goods. Up to the time of its opening, the only route was a circuitous way through Aberdeen. The I&PJR was built from a junction with the friendly Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway at Forres to the Perth and Dunkeld Railway at Dunkeld.
The Strathspey Railway was a railway company in Scotland that ran from Dufftown to Boat of Garten. It was proposed locally but supported by the larger Great North of Scotland Railway (GNoSR), which wanted to use it as an outlet towards Perth. The GNoSR had to provide much of the funding, and the value of traffic proved to be illusory. The line opened in 1863 to Abernethy, but for the time being was unable to make the desired connection to the southward main line. Although later some through goods traffic developed, the route never achieved its intended purpose.
Broomhill railway station or Broomhill for Nethy Bridge railway station is a reconstructed railway station on the former Highland Railway main line which was originally built to serve the small villages of Nethy Bridge and Dulnain Bridge in Strathspey. It is at present the eastern terminus of the Strathspey Steam Railway.
Strathspey Camanachd is a shinty club based in Grantown-on-Spey, Strathspey, Scotland, currently competing in the Marine Harvest North Division Two.
Coll Donaldson is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Falkirk. He has previously played for Livingston, Queens Park Rangers, Dundee United, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ross County and Dunfermline Athletic.
Kincraig Camanachd Club is a shinty team from Kincraig, Badenoch, Scotland. The club's only team withdrew from North Division 3 in 2007 due to a lack of players, but re-entered the league in 2008, however Kincraig withdrew yet again in 2009. The club is currently abeyance at senior level as of 2010. As of 2014, the club has started redeveloping its senior side with an aim to re-enter the leagues in the future. The club is also notable for providing at least three Olympians for Great Britain.
Badenoch and Strathspey is one of the 21 wards used to elect members of the Highland Council. It encompasses the towns and villages of Aviemore, Carrbridge, Cromdale, Grantown-on-Spey, Kingussie and Newtonmore. It elects four Councillors.