The Official Matchday Programme
The first programme was issued on 16th July, for the club's home game with the Dingwall based Ross-shire Club. Tain won the game 3-2, with a last minute winner from Craig McCourt. Not only did the win propell the team to the top of the Ross-shire Welfare league, but McCourt's goal went on to win Goal of the Season. Since then, Tain Thistle have gone on to issue a programme for every one of their home fixtures, including a number of scarcely attended friendly matches, against Inverness City, Brora Rangers Under 19s and Blacksmiths FC (Inverness). The programme initiative has commanded a great deal of attention in the non league footballing community, with members of the Football Travellers Club, Wirrall Programme Club and a number of other associations requesting copies. In an excert from a pictorial piece in the Ross-shire Journal, Andrew Smith (photographer) wrote: 
"Niall Harkiss, right, chairman of Tain Thistle football club and editor of the programme, welcomed two long-distance visitors to the team's home game at Grant Park against Halkirk on Saturday. John Miller from Edinburgh and Duncan Mackay from Paisley are keen "ground hoppers" -- football enthusiasts who travel the length and breadth of the country to visit as many football grounds as possible, collecting match programmes as they go. John and Duncan estimate that they have visited around 2,300 grounds between them, travelling as far north as Shetland and as far south as Penzance, as well as overseas trips to Iceland, Helsinki, Moscow and Spain. Their last visit to the area was 15 years ago when they took in matches by Tain (at the team's links pitch) and Balintore (at Seaboard Park), and even now they can recall the names of the opposing teams." The programmes are currently available for sale on matchdays for £2, and back issues can be ordered via the official website (http://www.tainthistle.co.uk/progsales.php). |
