Plea for hockey sponsorship after ‘jinxed’ team hit by more disruption

Shetland Hockey has made a plea for local sponsorship in their bid to retain the Scottish District Cup, after their travel plans were disrupted yet again.

The players have had to personally pay for ferry travel next month and an overnight stay in Aberdeen after their quarter-final game was postponed at the last minute this weekend.

And with NorthLink working to a dry-dock schedule, the team have to travel two days before their next game – and sleep in pods, with no cabins available.

They had been due to face Glasgow Academicals in the last eight on Sunday, but the game was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Shetland have not played a single minute in the competition since lifting the trophy last May.

And coach Derek Leask said it felt like the team was “a bit jinxed” after their success in 2023.

Their game has been moved to Sunday, 24th March, with the blues having to sail down on the Friday night and stay a day in Aberdeen because of the NorthLink dry-dock schedule.

“This is all personally funded by the players themselves,” he said.

“We have great support from our current sponsors but with all this expense and inconvenience to our preparation we’d welcome any other assistance from Shetland companies out there looking to help a local team retain a Scottish national cup”.

Anyone interested in sponsoring the team can contact them at shetlandhockey@hotmail.com