This Saturday 15th July marks the return of the legendary Hebridean Celtic Festival Challenge Cup between Camanachd Leòdhais and Uist Camanachd.
This fixture has been a vital platform for reviving and promoting the sport of the Gael in the Outer Hebrides. It’s even featured in an SQA exam paper! The current holders are Uist, who will be looking to retain the cup for the first time after a cracking 3-2 win last year. Think of it as the shinty equivalent of the World Island Games!
However, the very first HebCelt Cup in 2007 is an event cloaked in mystery! Played on the 14th July between Lewis and a HebCelt Allstars made up of Lewis fringe players and visiting festival goers who played shinty at the now long gone Acres pitch, the score was 3-0 to Lewis thanks to a Stuart ”Tyson” Campbell hat-trick.
The club has no photographic record of these humble origins of this epic fixture but we would really like to track down ANY photo someone might have either of the game or the presentation afterwards. Did you play? Did you watch? It doesn’t matter! We’d just like to fill in this little gap in Hebridean Shinty history.
Please drop the club a line on social media or lewiscamanachd@hotmail.co.uk if you have any photos from the 2007 HebCelt Shinty Cup!
For more info on the history of this iconic fixture to date check out the following link.
Thank you to HebCelt for their continued support of this great fixture to be played at Bayhead next Saturday 15th July at 2pm.