Kingussie boss John Gibson reflects on joining a very small band in shinty
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When John Gibson takes time to reflect on his part in Kingussie Camanachd Club’s proud history, Grand Slams will feature high in his thoughts.
Having just stepped down from his role as Kingussie first team manager, following one of the club’s most successful seasons when they added a record seventh shinty Grand Slam to previous clean sweeps in 1984, 1988, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003,
Gibson became only the fourth Kingussie manager to do so, following in the footsteps of club greats Donnie Grant, Ian Ross, and Jimmy Gow.
And if that was not enough, as a player, he was part of the Kingussie whitewash squads in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003.
It was a playing career that also saw him win every honour in the game, including seven Camanachd Cups between 1995 and 2014, captaining the team to the 2006 success when they defeated Fort William 4-2 at Dunoon and scoring in the 6-0 Camanachd Cup Final win over Fort William at An Aird in 2003.
John Gibson took over as Kingussie manager ahead of the 2018 shinty season, replacing Dallas Young who had just led the side to a fifth placed finish during what was a transitional period for the club.
Gibson had previously coached Kingussie’s under-17 squad, leading them to London Shield success in 2017, so he was familiar with the club’s vibrant youth system.
The 2017 senior shinty season ended with Newtonmore the dominant force, winning the Camanachd and MacTavish Cups whilst Kinlochshiel secured a first Premiership title and Kyles Athletic claimed the Macaulay Cup.
So, what were the new Kingussie manager’s aims ahead of the 2018 shinty season?
Gibson said: “I wanted to get the team competing with all the top sides in the top half of league. But after finishing fifth the previous season, we actually finished sixth at the end of the 2018 season so that was a bit of a kick in the teeth.
"Ironically though, we did well against the teams at the top end of the table as planned but struggled against the sides round about us.”
Meantime the 2018 season ended with Newtonmore doing a treble: winning their third successive Camanachd Cup, the Premiership title and another MacTavish Cup.
Kinlochshiel won the Macaulay so after another trophy-less season, there was still work for Kingussie to do.
There were hopeful signs though, but teams rarely go from sixth to title winners over the course of a season.
Gibson said: “We didn’t go into the 2019 season thinking we would win the league so to do so was massive for us, it really gave us belief.”
Before sealing the title, Kingussie also took the Macaulay Cup, beating Oban Camanachd 3-2 in the final at Mossfield for what was their first national success since 2014.
Newtonmore claimed the Scottish and MacTavish Cups, both for a fourth successive time, meaning the two Badenoch giants shared the senior shinty honours.
Just a year later, Covid cursed the country to calamitous effect and, along with all other activities, shinty stopped.
In a sporting sense, that was hard on a Kingussie side, nearing the top of their game and hungry for trophies, and although Gibson takes nothing for granted, he said: “I think we would have been right up there in 2020. I felt we were capable of winning all the trophies, but you can never say a Grand Slam.”
Shinty returned and the 2021 season brought local leagues with the cup competitions taking priority. At one point, Kingussie looked set to win them all but despite doing well in their local league, they had to settle for the Macaulay Cup, losing to Kinlochshiel in the MacTavish Final whilst Kinlochshiel won the Camanachd Cup for the first time.
If there was any sense of missed opportunities over the previous 24 months, that notion was put to bed in 2022 when Kingussie did notched their seventh Grand Slam following a year that provided many ever-lasting memories.
“This has been a fantastic season for us. I’m really proud of all our players and everyone behind the scenes at the club. So many have contributed to making this a truly memorable year and I’ll be forever grateful to each and every one of them.
“The players’ hunger this year has been unbelievable and I want them to maintain that hunger as this squad can go on to win many more trophies over the years to come.”
