The island football season is approaching a nail-biting finish as Point and Stornoway Athletic fight for the Lewis & Harris League win.

Currently tied this weekend at the top of the leaderboard with 34 points each, the two battling teams are due to play their final games next week on Saturday 12 September.

Brian Smith, chairman of the Lewis & Harris Football Association, told welovestornoway the season was coming to “an exciting end” and praised everyone involved.

He shared some reflections with WLS about the high points along the way and some of the challenges, too.

He said: “It’s not been an easy season. We had a lot of transport problems for the Highland Amateur Cup when a couple of the teams got their buses cancelled in Ullapool when they were going for away matches. That was chaotic, but luckily the teams all mucked in together and we managed to get one of the two teams that had buses cancelled to their game and back again, because the teams co-operated which was fantastic. It was really good to see.”

The lack of communication from bus companies and the stress of getting the competing teams to their destination had been “a bolt out of the blue”. But it was "great to see" the teams work together and support their island competition off the pitch.

As well as the transport issues, the island players and clubs had to contend with the general challenge of the weather forcing games to be cancelled and rescheduled. 

However, “we’ve managed to muddle through," said Brian. "There’s been some fantastic work behind the scenes to get games on and when they get cancelled, get them moved. It’s been a huge team effort from the association and fantastic co-operation from the clubs as well. 

“I mean, some clubs have sat and twiddled their thumbs for three weeks due to the weather leading to cancelled games and cup ties having to be reorganised and replayed, and it’s superb that everybody’s just worked their way together and it’s now going to reach the stage where next Saturday we’re going to have a climax that’s basically a perfect result for island football.”

At the time of writing, Point and Stornoway Athletic were tied on the leaderboard, with the winner being decided after their next games. And, as they are not playing each other on the last game of the season, Brian said both teams were “really relying on the other one to slip up”.

On the night of the final League match, Brian travels with the trophy to the winning team at their final game. Last year saw him race from the football pitch in Barvas, where he was watching Westside FC and Ness FC go head to head in bouts of pouring rain and “being eaten alive by midges”, to then travel over to the football pitch in Back to hand over the trophy to the 2025 league winner, Back FC.

As soon as he heard Back had scored a goal, he knew where the trophy was going and he headed off. 

He said: “I’d like to apologise to all the police officers who saw me going across, just seeing blue streaks going across the Moor. But I managed to get there when everybody was still at the grounds and give them the trophy and let them celebrate in front of their own fans, which was fabulous.”

After the close of the League, it will be time to celebrate the teams and especially Player of the Year at their annual awards night. The clubs are treated to an end of season evening out, awarding stand-out players and their supporting teams.

Talking about last year’s awards night, Brian recalled with pleasure how well the teams had mixed with each other throughout the night.

“I looked up and thought, ‘hmm, has there been some transfers I haven’t heard about?’ because everybody was on everyone else’s table, and it was superb. You couldn’t hear anything but laughter.

“It’s great, the spirit there is between the teams. I mean, there’s fierce rivalry on the pitch but as soon as the games are finished, they’re all shaking hands and everything’s forgotten, it’s all put to bed.”

As for the community spirit, Brian again called it “fierce”. 

He talked about the in-person and online support, noting that each club has a following of around 2,000 on their individual Facebook pages, while also noting the “almost tribal” community support from local and visiting fans.

“It’s fantastic to see and this year the behaviour overall has been superb. From players, from managers, from supporters, everything seems to be that it happens on the pitch, they’re all fiercely behind their team but then afterwards, they’re all back to being friends and neighbours.”

Brian praised the attitudes of teams and communities for making it an enjoyable season, as well as their sponsors from throughout the year who have allowed them to compete against teams on the mainland and throughout the Western Isles.

He said that the committee were “eternally grateful” to all their sponsors throughout the season who have supported them in holding games within their own league, and with hosting visiting teams such as Clachnacuddin FC, who played the Islands Select Team at Goathill in Stornoway – to which they drew 2-2. 

He hopes the continued sponsorship and support will allow for the start of having regular visits from other semi-professional teams, as well as maybe a professional team.