WATCH: St Duthus FC committee man named as ‘Best Volunteer in Adult Football’ in SFA North grassroots awards
Easter Ross football volunteer Ian Christie says it “brought a tear to his eye” as the news sunk in that he had been named as the north’s “Best Volunteer in Adult Football” as part of this year’s Scottish FA’s Grassroots initiative.
The Tain based football club stalwart has spent the past 16 years giving up his time as a committee member, first aider, kit man and matchday volunteer for both Tain Thistle and St Duthus football clubs.
Mr Christie, originally from Freuchie in Fife, but now residing in Tain, was a guest of the Scottish FA in the Maclean suite of the Global Energy Stadium prior to Ross County and Hibernian’s SPFL Premiership showdown last Wednesday, where he was presented with the award.
The 59-year-old said he couldn’t quite believe the award was real when he first received the news via email.
He said: “It brought a tear to me eye as things progressed. At first I thought it was a wind-up, and I asked chairman Niall Harkiss if he knew anything about it, and I still don’t believe him when he says he didn’t!”
Christie first joined then-Scottish Welfare FA club Tain Thistle in 2008 when his sons, Arron and Daniel, appealed to him to rescue the team from folding due to a lack of volunteers.
Since then, he has become a long-standing member of football clubs in Tain, also joining the reformed senior outfit St Duthus Football Club in 2016.
Performing tasks around the club such as looking after training kit, first aid and physio duties, cleaning up after games, lining and preparing the pitch - while also holding a place on the club’s committee - ‘Uncle Ian’ has become more than just a familiar face around the ground.
His dedication as a member of the club’s matchday team was recognised in 2021 when he was presented with a club-inscribed bottle of malt whisky for participating in 100 games.
More of a cricketer than a footballer in his younger days, Christie believes the togetherness of team sport in general is what has kept hold of him over the years.
He said: “It’s all about the camaraderie, the team building. I just like being part of a team.
“It seems to be something that I’ve always enjoyed. Football has always been a part of what I’ve done.”
His rapport with players as part of the matchday set up has continued to grow over the years. In recent seasons, Christie has been become affectionately known as ‘Uncle Ian’ to many members of the squad.
“I was at a cup final at Golspie that we’d won and I was sat in the pub with Jamie Skinner and his girlfriend,” he said. “He introduced me as his uncle, and that’s how it stuck. I became ‘Uncle Ian’. A few of the guys now call me ‘Uncle Ian’.
“It means quite a bit to me, being within the club, it’s good fun.”
“It’s my Saturday. It’s my Wednesday. It’s what I do. I enjoy what I do. But I’m nothing special. I’m just part of the club, part of the team. Part of the squad.
“I’m just there in the background. It’s good fun.”
On the importance of volunteering, Christie says that you don’t have to be a player or a football expert to dip your toe into the waters of the community football scene.
“You don’t have to be a player. You don’t have to have kids that are playing football,” he said. “It’s a community thing. It gives the kids round about something to do. It gives the adults that play football something to do at weekends.
“If people don’t get involved, these clubs will just fold, and there won’t be anything for them.”
