Six in line for first caps as Shetland inter-county football squad named
THE SHETLAND squad for next weekend’s senior inter-county football match has been named, with a third of the squad uncapped.
Six of the 18 players called up by new coaching team Jim Tait and John Thomson could get their first taste of the fixture against Orkney on Saturday 25 July in Kirkwall.
Scalloway’s Dean Guthrie, Thistle’s 18-year-old Brooklyn Chattell and Ness forward Reece Black are among those in line to potentially win their first caps.
Ness keeper Henry Oldbury and midfielder Dylan Leishman, and Scalloway forward Hayden Jamieson, complete the list of uncapped call-ups.
Thistle’s Calvin Leask, with 11 caps, is the most experienced player – and he will captain the side in the absence of James Farmer.
There is a return to the side for the prolific Greg Tulloch of Whitedale, who is looking to add to his five caps in the fixture.
Ness have four players called up this year, but there is a decent spread across all of Shetland’s senior teams – Whitedale and Scalloway have three each, while Thistle, Spurs, Celtic and Whalsay each have two players in the squad.
The full squad is: Rory Henderson (Scalloway), Henry Oldbury (Ness United); Dylan Leishman (Ness United), Brooklyn Chattell (Thistle), Dean Guthrie (Scalloway), Lorne McNiven (Whitedale), Stuart Copland (Ness United), Matthew Murray (Spurs); Calvin Leask (Thistle, captain), Jack Clubb (Celtic), Jack McShane (Whitedale), Neil Laurenson (Whalsay), Jack Simpson (Celtic), Lewis Harkness (Spurs); Euan Irvine (Whalsay), Greg Tulloch (Whitedale), Hayden Jamieson (Scalloway), Reece Black (Ness United).
Shetland manager Tait said that while injuries and unavailability have robbed him of nine players from the 2025 Island Games squad, the “nucleus of the team” remains in place.
Losing players like John Allan, who is in Australia, James Aitken, James Farmer and keeper Erik Peterson have opened opportunities for younger players to step in.
Tait said there had been a “good response” to a call for players to come to train with the county squad.
“We’ve had a lot of guys that have been training regularly, and we had eight regular guys that haven’t made the cut-off for a variety of reasons,” Tait told Shetland News on Wednesday night.
“Training has been good. The guys have shown a good attitude, the young and old guys alike, so we really can’t complain.
“They’re quite a harmonious group.”
He said that Thistle’s Leask, who will lead the team out in Kirkwall on 25 July, has been a “bit of an unsung hero” for Shetland over the years.
“He’s the most experienced guy in the squad and he’s stayed with Thistle his whole career, when he probably could have moved elsewhere,” Tait said.
“He’s well respected by all of his team-mates.”
While Tait admitted he does not know an awful lot about Orkney’s players, he is expecting a tricky test as the reds look to prevent five Milne Cup defeats in a row.
“We’re expecting it to be a tough game. Orkney will have a robust team, as they always do, but we have good players ourselves.”
Tait is returning to the touchline for the first time in a competitive match for 30 years, and he and Thomson – who led Thistle to great success in the 1990s – are excited by the prospect.
Tactically he said they are likely to line up in a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-4-2, adding they were unlikely to go for a three or five man defence.
And he said the pair had been mulling over the final selection picks ahead of the Kirkwall clash a week on Saturday.
“We know roughly what we want to play, but we don’t know about a couple of positions,” he said.
“We’ll keep our cards close to our chest.”
The management duo will take charge of the Milne Cup match only, at present, with the Shetland Football Association to review their position after the game.
Tait joked they “may well be out of a job” at full-time next Saturday.
But if they are kept on, both he and Thomson are relishing the prospect of possibly leading Shetland out at the 2027 Island Games in Faroe.
He said the majority of the squad were also eager and willing to begin saving and fundraising for a trip to Faroe next summer, if Shetland has a men’s football team in the competition.
And there are also hopes for a mainland team to travel north to face Shetland in Lerwick later this year.
The Milne Cup match will kick off at Pickaquoy pitch in Kirkwall on Saturday 25 July at 3.30pm.
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