A Champion Day Out
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What a day it was. So many memories that I really want to note down so I can come back to them in future years. I suppose looking back at the last week I'm surprised how worked up and nervous I got. People my age are meant to be mature and sensible and not get worked up about football matches. Well, by Saturday morning the butterflies were fluttering and the bowels were moving freely. First stop of the day was at the Innes. I have never seen it that busy. It was simply heaving with people while Colin and his team behind the bar struggled manfully to keep up with demand. The mood was surprisingly upbeat. People were believing. The Mantis arrived having already been up Little Wyvis that morning. Busy bars were the order of the day in the Sneck on Saturday it seems. Apparently the Clach Club ran out of both vodka and ice. The vodka is hardly a surprise but you'd think folks down the ferry would have fridges at home by now. I must say I felt better when I got to the ground. People were obeying the advice to get there early and by 2.15pm when I got into the ground the terrace was well filled. By the time the game started it was really full with both the walkways and stepped area thick with people. There seems little point in going over the key points of the game as most of you were there, heard it on the radio, saw it on the TV or have read about it in half a dozen newspapers. Just in case you've been on the moon over the last couple of days, Caley Thistle won the game 3-1 with goals from Bingham, Wilson & Ritchie and thus secured the 1st Division Championship. The atmosphere was tremendous and easily the best ever at Caledonian Stadium. There was noise all around the stadium and virtually all of it positive. Even when things were sticky the crowd remained patient. This has been one of the most encouraging aspects of 2003-04 as the fans have found their voice. Some of the credit for that must go to our drummers. They certainly get the crowd going and while some fans took a while to warm to the tubthumpers, I think virtually everybody has now been won over. They have also become a focal point for younger fans ( and other just young at heart) who want to make a noise and a good group is forming in the Bridge End. Not before time this team is starting to mature and develop its own culture and traditions Despite this, there were one or two tense but brief periods when the ground went deathly quiet. A couple of things stick in the mind from these moments. First of all from out of the silence came a echoing voice bawling from the Bridge End , "DO YOU BE - LEIVE?" Sounded like Iain Coia to me. Secondly, a horn that sounded like a duck being strangled trying to get a chorus of O2BA going. Hugely funny! The second goal brought out a first at Caledonian Stadium - a streaker. My initial reaction was that Johndo looked much thinner than I would ever have imagined. McSaatchi would surely have approved, however, that the cheeky lad's pubes were an excellent match for the socks he had left on. How appropriate was it that Paul Ritchie scored the goal that killed the game? Hugely. The old man has had a great season and become hugely popular with the fans. I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if he is top scorer in Division 2 next season. Dick Campbell has made an excellent acquisition. The calls over the tannoy to keep off the pitch as the final whistle approached were never going to be heeded. As hundreds of people hurtled onto the grass I was watching my son, Sandy, to see what he and his mate, Ranald, intended doing. They never budged but I sensed they fancied going for it. I told them they could if they wanted to and decided I would go with them. As I try to be a responsible parent I felt it only appropriate, but I had no real desire to be there myself. And if you believe that you'll believe anything! I found being on the pitch quite surreal and almost like being plonked down in a computer game to a place you are familiar with but you are getting a completely different angle on. I almost wished I had a football. For me, one of the enduring images of the day was in the midst of the charge onto the pitch, which looked a bit like the battle scenes from Braveheart with extra kilts and flags, was the sight of Bronson in the thick of it pushing Colin at top speed. Nice touch Simon. Eventually, the famous old trophy arrived and was presented. A number of the players had their kids with them for the lap of honour and there was hardly a dry eye in the house. It was about 5.50pm before I left the ground and after running Clan Sutherland home I returned to the Innes. The party was in full swing and Grampian TV arrived to get in on the act. They wanted some community singing and there was no shortage of folks happy to help out. They also wanted an interview and made straight for Iain Coia. How does he manage it! Am I right in thinking that was Tyrone the Neep conducting the interview? The thought just dawned on me later. A brief trip home was required to shower, change and produce a few hundred rather rushed words for the P&J. However, I was soon back down at the Chieftain for the Supporters' Club party. There was an excellent turn out by the players who were understandably all in fine form and more than happy to join in the singing and partying. The cup was there and everyone wanted to get their hands on it, myself included. The cup is the trophy presented to the top club in Scotland before the SPL era and the dates and names on it are a roll call of Scottish football history. That space on it will now need to be found for the words Inverness, Caledonian and Thistle I am only starting to get to grips with. All of this was not lost on those who were treating the cup with great tenderness and reverence as they they studied the names and dates on it. Then again, there was Uncle Albert who dropped the lid! I had a chat with a well known local chemistry teacher / sports broadcaster / athletics coach who revealed how he'd love to get his hands on a particular ICT player to teach him how to run properly. Bet you'd never guess which one. It was great throughout the day to meet a whole heap of Internutters I had not met before. The number must have run well into double figures. Guys, it was great to make the acquaintance of all of you. And so to Johnny Foxes where the Immortal Howden Ender's sporran disintegrated while he showed Nicola Paterson how he use to dance at the Caley 30 years ago. As I had much to do on Sunday, I had stayed perfectly sober and gave Doresboy a lift home. Drew, like myself, is another old Howden Ender and clearly was just as struck as I am at the enormity of what has been acheived here. This is truly remarkable. By voting as a Caley season ticket holder in favour of the merger I suppose I played my own very small part but I never (repeat NEVER) envisaged what has happened in the last decade. It is an astonishing story and ICT have produced a happy ending for Iain Broadfoot's new book. Climbing through the leagues and the runs in the Scottish Cup have been great but this beats them all. We stand poised on the brink of the SPL with a skillful footballing side, one of the best management teams in the country and a board that has the full respect of the fanbase. I've seen many pictures over the years of teams celebrating league and cup wins. However, as I've opened the papers in the last couple of days I see MY team full of men that I see in Tesco's or Barbazza's and this time they are clutching the trophy and the medals. Guys I know I can say hello to in the street. People who are part of my community. It's a fantastic feeling. The pressure now building on the board to say yes to going to Pittodrie seems to be growing by the day. Clearly the fans' view on this issue was shifting quite rapidly before last Saturday but it really is hard to find any fans now who are unwilling to give it a try. One thing that has really blown me away, though, is the ICT Love Fest presently happening. Like many other clubs some of our fans have been heard to sing, "No one likes us, we don't care." Actually, right now, that couldn't be further from the truth. The general feeling of good will right now from many other football clubs and fans everywhere is astonishing. The media has gone ICT crazy as well and the message, "Go for It ICT", has been heard loud and clear from Delahunt, Walker, Spiers, Leckie and others. The pressure on the SPL is also growing and change in some shape or form seems inevitable. Lex Gold continues to trot out the same old tired drivel and I imagine he is dreading the prospect of ICT going to Aberdeen. Thus far the media outwith Scotland hasn't really got to grips with this story but when it hits the UK and International papers and TV screens, as it surely must, when the Caley Thistle board makes a decision one way or another, his position will become increasingly uncomfortable. The SPL has no friends at all right now and the Bank of Scotland must be starting to question if they are getting their money's worth as they remain in cahoots with an organisation rapidly becoming a laughing stock. But enough of that. How fantastic do you feel right now Caley Jags fans?
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Guest in News 2004-05 ·
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