Buckie Thistle’s Jack Murray was crowned player of the year at last night’s Breedon Highland League awards dinner in Inverness.
The 23-year-old defender was not only a colossus at the back as the Jags won the championship, but scored a remarkable 26 goals in all competitions.
It was a double success for Buckie on the night with Graeme Stewart, who stepped down earlier this month, named as manager of the year.
Brechin City, also picked up two awards. Ewan Loudon was named young player of the year and Grady McGrath’s 28 league goals earned him the top scorer trophy for the second year running.
Murray is the first Buckie player to be named player of the year since Kevin Fraser in 2017.
He said: “It means a lot, at the start of the season you don’t really set out for these individual awards.
“The team comes first, but it means a lot for me and my family to win this individual award.
“When it’s voted for by the fellow players it’s very special because there are so many top players in the league.
“Normally this award seems to go to the strikers, but this season with the goals I scored that maybe played a part.
“On a personal level the season couldn’t have gone much better for me.
“I don’t think I’ll score that amount of goals again, but the team comes first and we were delighted to get that league trophy.
“Graeme has played a big in this as well. At times when I was bombing on trying to score he was probably thinking ‘what’s he doing?’
“But he gave me that flexibility so a massive part of this is down to Graeme and my team-mates.”
Second success for Stewart
Stewart was previously named manager of the year in 2017.
He said: “It means a lot, but it’s a team award. I couldn’t have done the job without Lewis MacKinnon (assistant manager), Hamish Munro (first-team coach), Darren Strong (goalkeeping coach) and David Young (physio) and the players.
“I’m delighted to receive it, but it’s an award for us all.
“I’m thrilled for Jack because I think he deserved it. There’s between 300 and 400 players in the league who vote for it and it’s something he should never forget because not many people win it.
“I’m enjoying the break from management and we’ll see what happens in the future.”
Young player of the year Loudon said: “It means a lot, I’m grateful to the people who voted for me.
“The hard work I’ve put in over the season has paid off with this very nice recognition.”
Meanwhile, Deveronvale were winners of the fair play award.
Inverurie Locos’ car park steward Sandy Hay and Huntly’s husband and wife duo Bill and Kathleen Beaton, who serve as kitman and committee member respectively at Christie Park, were recognised with unsung hero awards.
There was also a special presentation for exceptional commitment to the Highland League to recently retired referee Billy Baxter.
The Inverness-based official has hung up his whistle after quarter of a century, which has included being a regular in the Highland League for the last 21 years.
