NEARLY 400 PEOPLE ENJOYED A MEAL IN A MARQUEE TO MARK THEIR TEAM'S HIGHLAND LEAGUE SUCCESS

Nearly 400 Buckie fans took to the pitch at Victoria Park on Saturday for a dinner to celebrate their team's Highland League success.

They enjoyed a three course sit-down meal in a marquee in the middle of the ground to mark the end of a season which saw the football team win the championship for the first time in 52 years.

Club president Mark Duncan, 44, said: "It was a tremendous success.  It was a long time since we had won the league, so we felt we had to mark the occasion properly.

"We really pushed the boat out and did it in style."

He said feedback from the fans was really positive with some people remarking it was the best day of their lives so far.

"We had people saying to us, 60 and 70 years olds saying they had never seen anything like this before in Buckie," he added. "It was the biggest celebration in the club's history."

In total 380 people attended the event, which cost nearly £30,000 to put together.

Mr Duncan said the end result was impressive and he wanted to thank the organisers who had only three weeks to set it up.

He said: "There was a massive effort from everybody involved and David Edwards, from the Press and Journal did an excellent job as compere."

As well as dinner, the fans enjoyed the player presentation awards and auction.

The celebrations continued into the evening with dancing to Cachd-ach-Cruaidh, which featured local musicians Charlie Glass, from Fochabers, and Roddie Munro, father of Jags' players Donnie and Hamish Munro.

More details on the event and on the Players Awards will appear on the site tomorrow (Tuesday 25th).

Report by Lindsay Watling (press and journal)