4000 MILES on the road without a win
Club travel further than NYC in victory hunt
SCOTLAND’S most far-flung football club have gone nearly a year – and 4000 miles – without an away victory.
Wick Academy, in Caithness, last won on the road in April and have endured a dozen gruelling Highland League day trips since then, picking up only two points.
The Scorries’ team bus has racked up 3993 miles, further than the distance from Wick to New York.
The miserable run has included an 8-0 pasting at Clachnacuddin and a 4-0 thrashing at Banks o’ Dee.
Today, they face another daunting 375-mile round trip to Inverurie Locos in Aberdeenshire in search of that elusive win – but they’re 5-2 rank outsiders with McBookie to break their duck.
Chairman Pat Miller said: “I carry about a defeat with me for a couple of days but sometimes the players sing even more when they’re beat than when they win.
“You have to have their positive mindset that things are going to get better. I’m sure this away win we all want is just around the corner. We spend £30,000 on buses every season and it’s a mammoth effort to raise the money to pay for them.
“But the players, the coaching team, the committee, the fans – it draws us all together as a club, and that’s priceless.” He added: “We have a very young, inexperienced team just bedding in this year and it’s taking a while to get the results away from home.
“But we’re lucky to have guys like these because not everybody would pan themselves in doing these trips every other week.
“We’re always down and back in a day. For Inverurie, we’ll leave at 8am and be home about 10.45pm.
“One of the players is a teacher so he does quizzes for the boys on the way there and they have videos and a few beers for the trip home.”
Fishing port Wick is profes sional football’s most northerly outpost, near John O’Groats.
Academy have been playing football in the town since 1893 but even their local derby against Brora Rangers means a round trip of nearly 100 miles.
The Scorries sit 12th in the league and picking up points at their Harmsworth Park home is no problem.
But since winning 3-0 at Turriff United on April 8 last season, they’ve had a dismal run on their travels. In two draws and 10 defeats, they’ve scored seven goals but conceded 39.
Last time out, they lost 3-1 at Brechin City – which at 429 miles is their longest round journey.
The 3993 miles they’ve clocked up is greater than the 3226-mile journey to New York.
McBookie spokesman Paul Petrie said: “Wick Academy is the proof that Scotland loves football like no other nation.
“I’d pay good money to be on that bus home when the win finally arrives. Mayhem.”
I’m sure this away win is just around the corner
CHAIRMAN PAT MILLER ON RUN OF RESULTS