Buckie started the 2023-24 Highland League season with a visit to Inverness to take on Clach, edging a tough opener thanks to a late Andrew MacAskill penalty. Darryl McHardy marked his league debut with a goal, while there were also debuts for Jack MacIver and Dale Wood.

Jags’ SPFL Trust Trophy adventure ended at the first hurdle with a comprehensive defeat against Dundee ‘B’ at Forfar’s Station Park, but the one hundred percent winning start in the league was maintained with impressive victories over Turriff United and Forres Mechanics at home; and Fraserburgh at Bellslea including a superb double from Andrew MacAskill.

Scott Adams grabbed a vital injury time equaliser at Formartine to rescue a point and Jags’ unbeaten league start, before the earlier 4-0 victory over Turriff was repeated in the First Round of the League Cup. Kyle Macleod left the club in between those matches, returning to previous club Brora Rangers.

In-form Huntly were beaten 3-0 at Victoria Park, before a hugely disappointing Highland League Cup exit on penalties to Keith after a goalless draw at Kynoch Park.
Another tough encounter followed at Spain Park, where Thistle’s unbeaten league start ended at the hands of Banks o’ Dee. The visitors’ misery was compounded by a red card for Andrew MacAskill.

Buckie returned to form in the First Round of the Scottish Cup, hitting four past Tayport on Tayside, with Joe McCabe returning from injury to grab a double from midfield.
Six of the best against Nairn County saw Jags climb back up to second place in the league table at the end of September. Jack MacIver and Dale Wood scored their first goals for the club, Dale’s one a 30-yard screamer into the top right corner.

A tricky trip to Rothes was negotiated well the following midweek, Jack Murray netting a double and a brilliant individual strike from Scott Adams sealing the win late on.

Champions Brechin City were due to visit Victoria Park on 7th October, but the game was postponed, as was the scheduled league trip to Strathspey Thistle two weeks later due to the impact of Storm Babet – more on that fixture later!

Buckie returned to action in between those postponements with a five-star display at Inverurie Locos in the Aberdeenshire Shield, Josh Peters netting an excellent hat-trick to fire his side through to a semi-final clash with Aberdeen.

A typical cup tie followed at Mosset Park against Forres, Jags edging the hard-fought Scottish Cup Second Round clash with what turned out to be the goal of the round from the imperious Jack Murray. The win earned Thistle a trip to Broxburn Athletic in Round Three…
The dreaded drainage issues were starting to rear their ugly head in November, as the home fixture against Lossiemouth was postponed. Another cup exit followed in midweek at the hands of a clinical young Dons outfit, despite taking an early lead through the in-form Peters.

A return to winning ways was secured in the league encounter at Inverurie Locos, followed by a virtuoso performance from young Jack MacIver saw him score a sublime free kick and contribute four assists in a five-two win over Wick Academy, with Peters grabbing another double.

Saturday 25th November 2023 saw Buckie Thistle make the trip to West Lothian to take on East of Scotland Premier League leaders Broxburn Athletic. A potential tie against one of the big guns in Round Four was at stake, and that contributed to a great atmosphere at Albyn Park.

An already depleted Jags squad suffered another blow when Joe McCabe pulled up in the warm-up, he was replaced at right back by Hamish Munro. It looked like it might not be the visitors day when they were reduced to ten men after just 22 minutes, Scott Adams picking up a harsh second yellow card for a late challenge. A towsy affair saw the score remain goalless until the home side went in front ten minutes from time, Jags producing a good response only for Peters to be denied an equaliser by the offside flag, before Darryl McHardy’s volley was hacked off the line in injury time. With Broxburn screaming for full time, Jack Murray’s cross fell for Peters to produce a clinical finish and send the tie into extra time. The home side thought they’d won it when Turner found the net from a long-range free kick on 117 minutes, but this Buckie side don’t know when they’re beat, and after hitting the woodwork three times within a minute, goalkeeper Stuart Knight headed on MacIver’s corner and Peters was there to head in his second and send the match to a penalty shoot-out. Knight and Peters were the heroes again as the big number one saved Broxburn’s fifth spot-kick, giving JP9 the chance to sweep home the winning penalty and send the visiting fans, players and officials into raptures.

An incredible day was followed on the Sunday night by the dream Fourth Round draw – Celtic at Parkhead!!! Videos emerged of the players celebrating the draw on their Xmas night out in Edinburgh and the media circus began with the tie set for Sunday 21st January in Glasgow.

December was a quiet month with three of the five scheduled league fixtures postponed, but the Jags did earn a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Turriff in another late show at The Haughs, before ending the year in spectacular style by smashing eight past Forres at Mosset Park. Scott Adams and Jack Murray both grabbed doubles, while John MacLeod made his long-awaited return from injury from the substitutes bench.

2024 began with another disappointing postponement at home to Formartine, but a tough trip to Huntly saw Jack Murray bag a late winner the weekend before the trip to Parkhead.

Sunday the Twenty-First of January 2024 will live long in the memory of so many Buckie Thistle fans, players, management and officials alike. The buzz and build-up to the match was incredible in the town, and a huge crowd turned out at Victoria Park to see their heroes off on the Saturday.

Two and a half thousand Jags fans descended on Parkhead for the biggest game in the history of Buckie Thistle Football Club. The players did their fans and families proud with an excellent display, conceding only five goals to their full-time opponents and very nearly grabbing a goal themselves late in the first half, Peters denied by Joe Hart when sent clear by a great through ball from Hamish Munro.

A once in a lifetime experience for everyone involved.

Progression in the Aberdeenshire Cup followed, substitute goalkeeper Euan Storrier the hero saving two penalties in a shootout victory over Banks o’ Dee at Spain Park, earning the Jags a Quarter-Final trip to Deveronvale.

A disappointing defeat at Nairn County saw boss Graeme Stewart describe it as his team’s “worst performance in three years”, but the Jags then bounced back from going two-nil down early on to defeat local rivals Deveronvale at Longside and advance to the semi-finals of the Aberdeenshire Cup.

The ongoing drainage problems at Victoria Park saw the home clash with Rothes moved to Princess Royal Park in Banff, where a hat-trick from Josh Peters clinched a vital three league points.
Three season-defining league clashes in eight days followed, starting with a St. Valentine’s Day massacre of Brora Rangers at Dudgeon Park. Aberdeen loanee Tom Ritchie made his debut in goal as four goals in the opening 31 minutes fired the visitors to an outstanding 5-1 victory.

Their scintillating form continued three days later with a crucial win over league leaders Brechin at Glebe Park. Max Barry produced an outstanding individual performance as he netted twice in a 3-2 victory, including an 89th minute winner.

Good things certainly came in threes as the Jags made it a huge nine points out of nine against top opposition by edging out Fraserburgh at Grant Park, the in-form Lyall Keir bagging his third goal in three games to claim all three points and move Thistle to within six points of leaders Brechin, with three games in hand.

The tough schedule caught up with the team on the Saturday though, as they suffered only their second home league defeat in four and a half years against Clach. The visitors won it with an injury time penalty, after it looked like Jack Murray had rescued a point with his own nerveless injury time spot kick.

Buckie climbed back up to third place with a comfortable home win over Lossiemouth the following midweek, before another home fixture against Strathspey was postponed after a morning deluge at Victoria Park.

One of the most impressive performances of the season followed in the Aberdeenshire Cup Semi-Final at Bellslea, as the Jags smashed five past rivals Fraserburgh to set up a final meeting with Inverurie Locos. Jack Murray grabbing another double to continue his outstanding goalscoring exploits from centre half.

Lossiemouth stunned Buckie with two goals in two second half minutes at Grant Park to put a dent in their title hopes; but the Jags bounced back in midweek with a vital victory over Banks o’ Dee at Victoria Park, Andy MacAskill using the blustery conditions superbly to score directly from a corner.

Four points from two tough home games followed against Inverurie Locos and Formartine United, before another disappointing defeat to Wick Academy at a windswept Harmsworth Park left Thistle ten points behind league leaders Brechin, with just two games in hand.

A must-win clash at home to Brechin saw the Jags come from a goal down at the break to win 2-1 thanks to goals from the outstanding Max Barry and Jack Murray, but another frustrating afternoon followed at Princess Royal Park with a goalless draw against Deveronvale.

With Buckie idle again after the postponement at Keith on Saturday the 6th of April, Fraserburgh blew the title race wide open with a 4-2 win over leaders Brechin at Bellslea, leaving the Jags nine points behind with three games in hand.

The Keith game was moved to Monday the 8th, beginning a gruelling period of six games in 13 days. The Jags enjoyed a comprehensive 3-0 win over Keith and followed that up with an excellent 2-0 victory against Brora Rangers at Grant Park, thanks to goals from joint top goalscorers Josh Peters and Jack Murray. This closed the gap at the top to just three points with a game in hand, the title race was well and truly back on!

Doubles from Jack MacIver and Lyall Keir inspired the Victoria Park men to a 6-goal romp against Deveronvale on Saturday 13th April, a tally matched by Brechin in their home win over Forres Mechanics.

Thistle then put another six past Strathspey Thistle at Victoria Park two days later to go level on points with the Angus men, four goals behind City on goals scored. Jack Murray bagged a late double to overtake the absent Josh Peters as top goalscorer with an impressive 23 goals.

The return fixture at Grantown two days later was preceded by a nervy 1-0 win for Brechin over Keith at Kynoch Park, leaving Buckie knowing a five-goal win at Strathspey would put them top of the table going into the final day…

The rampant Jags duly obliged, surging two goals ahead of Brechin at the top of the table. The impressive Scott Adams netted twice, and the incomparable Murray netting a hat-trick in a 7-0 thrashing of the home side.

That set up a title-deciding final day against Keith at Victoria Park on Saturday 20th April.
Brechin had a tougher task on paper against Brora Rangers at Golspie, while Fraserburgh had enjoyed a tremendous end to the season, and still had an outside chance if they could rack up the goals against Strathspey at Bellslea and take advantage of any slip-ups elsewhere.

Buckie got off to a great start, Max Barry finishing off excellent build-up play between Andy MacAskill and Jack MacIver with a fine curling finish to put the home side ahead in the eight minute.

The Jags were unable to add to the early goal, though, and a nervy encounter ensued against a resilient Keith outfit. Elsewhere, news of Brora’s second half leveller had the home fans at fever pitch, while Fraserburgh were taking care of their business with an 8-0 half time lead against Strathspey.

A tense second half saw few clear chances created at either end, but Buckie held on for the win to clinch their twelfth Highland League title and send the home fans into raptures. Captain Fantastic Sam Pugh was presented with the trophy at 6pm and a great night was had by all!

An astonishing effort from everyone involved to win the final six league matches in only thirteen days, a tremendous achievement at the end of an unforgettable campaign.

Three days later, despite dominating the Aberdeenshire Cup Final against Inverurie Locos at Kynoch Park, Jags couldn’t make the breakthrough and lost on penalties after a goalless 90 minutes.

More upheaval was to follow with the departure of manager Graeme Stewart after almost ten years at the helm, then star men Max Barry and Jack Murray stepped up into the Scottish League with Peterhead and Elgin City respectively. Forward Scott Adams also left to join Formartine United, while Shaun Wood has retired due to an ankle injury after 12 years excellent service to Buckie Thistle.

Lewis Mackinnon was appointed as manager on 9th May, hopefully he can continue where Spider left off and bring more success to the club. Lewis has been at Victoria Park for a total of 17 years as a player and assistant manager, so he was the obvious choice for the job.

Fraser Robertson and local lad Innes McKay have signed from Rothes and Deveronvale respectively, with gaffer Mackinnon looking to make more additions to the squad this summer.

2023-24 was an incredible season for Buckie Thistle Football Club, one unlikely to be beaten for sheer drama and excitement!

We go again…