Jags to take their place in Scottish Cup
The dream would be to play one day at the home of one of the big boys like Celtic or Rangers, it has been confessed, after the Jags finally won the right to play in the Scottish Cup from next season.
The green light from the Scottish Football Association has come after nearly two and a half years of hard work behind the scenes and an investment of around £200,000 by Strathspey Thistle to bring their ground at Seafield Park up to standard.
Jags secretary Malky Taylor said that everyone connected with the Highland League outfit was "buzzing".
The SFA informed them earlier this week that their application for membership of the SFA and the club licence required to take part in the cup competition had been accepted.
Mr Taylor joked: "I’m a Rangers man through and through, but the dream has to be one day to get through the early knock-out stages and draw one of the big SPL clubs...even Celtic would do!
"We are under no illusions that there is still a huge amount of work to be done at this club, but we have already come a long way in a short amount of time."
He added: "The players are absolutely buzzing. In our last game we started with six under-21 players, and the future is looking bright."
SFA membership will also bring new financial rewards for the Grantown-based club, who joined the Highland League in 2009/10, and have had to concentrate investment off the field to make this next big step.