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1995-96 - A Scottish Cup Adventure

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The 1995/96 season started with a new management team, some new players and renewed optimism that the worst of the Club's problems were behind them. A prominent addition to the playing staff was the Lossiemouth striker Iain Stewart. His goalscoring exploits were to make him a priceless asset. Elgin defender Iain MacArthur and winger Davie Ross from Brora Rangers were also to prove important acquisitions. The 1995/96 season started with a new management team, some new players and renewed optimism that the worst of the Club's problems were behind them. A prominent addition to the playing staff was the Lossiemouth striker Iain Stewart. His goalscoring exploits were to make him a priceless asset. Elgin defender Iain MacArthur and winger Davie Ross from Brora Rangers were also to prove important acquisitions.
The season's first competitive match was an away Coca-Cola cup tie against Berwick Rangers on 5th August. After a 1-1 draw and extra time the Inverness side went out 5-3 on penalties. Two league defeats and exit from the League Challenge Trophy at the hands of Alloa did not auger well for the rest of the season. Things improved and they gradually pulled off the foot of the Division with a series of high-scoring wins - 5-0 against both East Stirling and Alloa, 5-1 against Arbroath and 6-1 against Albion Rovers. At half time the Albion score was 6-0 and the manager was furious that they eased up and lost the second half 1-0! His major fear was that goal difference could make all the difference at the end of the season - in the end this was not an issue. 
Along with Livingston, Brechin and Ross County they became clear promotion contenders. By November 11th Caley Thistle were second with Livingston top and Ross County 3rd. December 9th saw County comprehensively defeated 5-2 in the final of the Inverness Cup. This match also marked the debut of new signings Mike Teasdale and Brian Thomson. January 6th was the start of a superb Scottish Cup run. Livingston were defeated 3-2 at Telford Street and in the 3rd Round East Fife were dispatched after 2 games, extra time and penalties. The deciding match took place on Monday 12th February and the following Saturday they went to Stenhousemuir and won 1-0 thanks to a Brian Thomson goal. This result achieved a place in the Quarter Final of the Cup and a home draw against mighty Rangers. On safety grounds the Scottish Football Association moved the game to Tannadice, Dundee. The build up was electric and cars and buses streamed down the A9 on the morning of March 9th. Rangers won 3-0 but it was a great day for players, officials and fans. 
Arguably the cup run was counter-productive as it led to a league fixture backlog and a run of poor results. Draws against Alloa and Queen's Park either side of the Rangers game were disappointing and a 2-1 defeat by rivals Ross County the following Saturday really upset Steve Paterson. A 1-1 draw against Arbroath on 23rd March effectively ended the League challenge but it only became mathematically impossible with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Cowdenbeath on 13th April. Steve Paterson then set about planning for 1996/97. Seven players were placed on the transfer list and the free transfer lists of other clubs scoured for potential recruits to strengthen the team.
1995/96 saw Caledonian Thistle and Ross County finish 3rd and 4th in the League respectively with the Inverness side 15 points behind runaway winners Livingston and 6 behind second placed Brechin. Iain Stewart was top goalscorer in the Third Division with 24 goals and defender Richard Hastings was capped by Canada at Under 20 level.
The Stadium saga continued throughout 1995/96 with the sum of £900,000 being on everyone's lips. This was a sum pledged by Inverness District Council towards the project but thrown into doubt by a number of procedural and economic difficulties. The total Stadium cost was to be just short of £5 million and a complex web of mutually dependent funding relied on the Council releasing the £900,000. On Monday December 19th a final vote secured the funding. A condition was the incorporation of Inverness into the Club name, a matter already considered at the Members' Club meeting the previous June. Inverness District Council went out of existence on March 31st 1996 to be replaced by Highland Council. The £900,000 had still not been paid by then but new Chief Executive Arthur McCourt acted quickly to ensure that it was available from the Inverness Common Good fund - albeit in 2 instalments. An important piece in the financial jigsaw was Inverness Harbour Trust's commitment to meet the cost of a new road through the Longman Industrial Estate - an essential requirement of the development. Construction could now begin although the best estimate for completion was now Autumn 1996. Once more the Scottish League and Texas Homecare (now part of the Sainsbury Group) agreed to a delay. The stage was now set for a new Stadium, a new name - Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. - and (hopefully) promotion.


Copyright to and used with permission of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC Club Historian - Ian Broadfoot
By Scotty in History ·

1994-95 - Birth of a Team

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The first official Caledonian Thistle match was on Saturday 30th July 1994 against St Mirren although two low-key matches had been played the previous week.
On Wednesday 20 July they beat RAF Kinloss 2-0 and on Friday 22 July they beat Golspie Sutherland 5-1 with both matches being played away from home. The first official Caledonian Thistle match was on Saturday 30th July 1994 against St Mirren although two low-key matches had been played the previous week.
On Wednesday 20 July they beat RAF Kinloss 2-0 and on Friday 22 July they beat Golspie Sutherland 5-1 with both matches being played away from home.
The 31 July came and the doors of Telford Street were opened for a Caledonian Thistle match for the first time. St Mirren won 3-0 but the result was less important than the fact that the match took place.
The Club's first competitive match was a Coca-Cola Cup 1st Round match against East Stirling on Tuesday 9th August 1994. It was played at East Stirling's Firs Park and Caley Thistle won 2-0. The honour of scoring the first goal went to Wilson Robertson.
The following Saturday they played their first Scottish League match at Telford Street and spectacularly beat Arbroath 5-2. Alan Hercher was the local hero with a hat-trick. The Inverness fans came down to earth the following Wednesday when they went out of the Coca-Cola Cup 3-0 at Dundee.
The first local derby against Ross County was on the 27th August in Dingwall with the visitors winning 3-1. By September 10th the new Inverness Club sat proudly at the top of the Third Division after victories against Albion Rovers and Forfar.
September 28th saw a classic B&Q cup tie against Dundee at Telford Street. The score was 1-1 after extra time and the Inverness side only went out 4-3 on penalties.
League performances began to decline after this and Caledonian Thistle slipped down the Division. It was clear that promotion was not going to be achieved in the first season.
December 17th marked the Club's Scottish Cup debut against Queen of the South. After a lacklustre performance they lost 2-1.
The second half of the Season saw few good results and open criticism of the manager's defensive style of play. Two 3-1 victories over Cowdenbeath were heartening and a 3-0 win at Telford Street against Ross County on the second last Saturday of the season was relished - this result ended County's bid for promotion.
Pressure on Sergei Baltacha mounted and before the season was over he decided to resign. He left after the last league game of the season on 13th May having achieved 6th place in the Third Division.
Off the field financial matters dominated - not least the matter of a new Stadium. Its location was a matter of long debate. In the end it came down to a straight choice between Stratton Farm, just off the A96 Nairn road, and East Longman. Inverness and Nairn Enterprise favoured Stratton but East Longman was chosen, mainly as land assembly was simpler.
The Club agreed to lease a 9.03 acre site for 99 years from Inverness District Council. A major financial hurdle was the transfer of both the constituent clubs' assets to the new club and this proved very difficult.
It was not until May 1995 that the final major impediment of a court case involving Thistle assets was resolved. Sheriff James Fraser ruled against an interdict motion brought by Thistle member Martin Ross.
Caledonian members had already pledged their assets after lengthy battles. Kingsmills Park was sold for £486000 to builders Hugh MacRae and this money became part of the sum required for the new Stadium.
May 1995 not only saw the conclusion of the court case but it was also the month that full planning permission for the Stadium was granted. Sadly it also saw the departure of Jock MacDonald as Chairman but he was immediately made Life-President.
Stadium Director Dougie MacGilvray took over and in the same month ex-Manchester United player and Huntly player/manager Steve Paterson was appointed to replace Sergei Baltacha. Ex-Dundee and St Johnstone player Alex Caldwell became "Pele" Paterson's assistant.
29th June 1995 witnessed the inaugural meeting of the unified Caledonian Thistle Members' Club which was to be open to season ticket holders but with membership subject to the veto of the Board. The members voted to amend the Club's name to incorporate the word Inverness from the start of season 1996-97 but the detail of how this was to be achieved was left for another day.
This had been the wish of the Council when granting the lease of the East Longman site although it had not been a requirement. It had long been clear that the Stadium deadline of summer 1995 would not be met but the Scottish League were sympathetic and could appreciate that the merger was a unique situation with many unforseen complications.
The aim now became Summer 1996 when hopefully promotion to Division 2 would have been achieved. Telford Street Park had already been sold to Texas Homecare and they agreed to retain their option to purchase despite the delay.


Copyright to and used with permission of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC Club Historian - Ian Broadfoot
By Scotty in History ·

ICT Formation

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Three Inverness teams were founder members of the North of Scotland Football Association in 1888 - Thistle, Caledonian and Clachnacuddin. Thistle was formed in 1885 with Caley and Clach both dating back to 1886. Over the years rivalries thrived and each had its period of dominance. Clach won four back-to-back Highland League Championships in 1902/06 and again in 1920/24 but in the modern era Thistle and Caley dominated the Inverness scene.
Three Inverness teams were founder members of the North of Scotland Football Association in 1888 - Thistle, Caledonian and Clachnacuddin. Thistle was formed in 1885 with Caley and Clach both dating back to 1886. Over the years rivalries thrived and each had its period of dominance. Clach won four back-to-back Highland League Championships in 1902/06 and again in 1920/24 but in the modern era Thistle and Caley dominated the Inverness scene.
Thistle had an excellent spell in the early 1970s and this led to an application to join the Scottish League in 1973. They came very close but lost out by one vote to Edinburgh's Ferranti Thistle. In 1986 a proposed breakaway league nearly led to another opportunity but it came to nothing. Similarly in the early 1990s Berwick Rangers were struggling to survive and the Inverness sides watched every move.
The opportunity came in 1993 when the Scottish League voted to expand from 38 teams to 40, split into 4 Divisions. This time the question of geography was not an issue as the A9 trunk road had been upgraded to a high standard and Perth was only 2 hours away.
The Scottish Cup is the vehicle by which teams in the south have come to know and fear Highland League sides. Each year the four semi-finalists in the North Qualifying Cup gain a place in the Cup draw and the hope of giant-killing or at least a big pay-day. Thistle and Caley took part in many cup classics over the years with the modern-era highlights being matches against both halves of the Old Firm. In 1983/84 Caley defeated Stirling Albion in a 3rd Round replay to clinch a home tie against Rangers. The town buzzed with excitement but there was to be no upset as Rangers easily won 6-0.
Thistle's claim to fame in modern times was a classic 3-0 win over Kilmarnock at Kingsmills Park in February 1985. They went on to a lucrative tie against Celtic at Parkhead and a 6-0 defeat. In 1990 Caley scored a penalty shoot-out victory against Airdrie in a third round replay at Telford Street and in 1991 they held St Johnstone to a home 2-2 draw. They lost the replay 3-0 but the thousands of fans who went south that night to Perth sent out a strong message - Inverness could support a Scottish League team.
When the first discussions regarding a combined Inverness team took place, set up by Inverness and Nairn Enterprise Company, it was mooted that all 3 teams would amalgamate but Clach pulled out. The full details of the merger of Caley and Thistle is told in Charles Bannerman's book "Against All Odds" (published by the Club in August 1997) and there is no room here to detail the saga. This book should be required reading for any teams considering such a merger. The financial troubles of some Central Scotland teams would suggest that other combinations should happen but it would not be easy. We can gloss over the troubled merger with the excuse of lack of space and move on to the Scottish League vote on 12th January 1994. The Inverness side amassed 68 votes to top the poll with Ross County second on 57 votes - their cause having been greatly enhanced by a fine Scottish Cup run. In fact on the Saturday before the vote they trounced Forfar 4-0.
The stage was now set for top-flight football in both Inverness and Dingwall. The last League derby match between Thistle and Caley took place on May 11th 1994 with Caley winning 1-0. May 14th 1994 saw both clubs play their final Highland League matches. Thistle lost 2-0 at Kingsmills Park to Lossiemouth while Caley drew 1-1 at Huntly - Huntly's manager being Steve Paterson who eventually led the combined Inverness side to the Third Division Championship in 1996/97.
The wrangles between the anti-merger camps at both Caley and Thistle continued and on several occasions the existence of the merged team was thrown into doubt. The teams which had lost out in the Scottish League vote waited in the wings ready to take their chance - notably Gala Fairydean. This was a time of meeting after meeting, threats of Court cases, legal advice and general acrimony all round. Inverness and Nairn Enterprise Chairman Norman Cordiner brokered a deal between the clubs in order to present a united front to the Scottish League. Former Thistle Chairman Jock MacDonald became the new club's Chairman and his 21 year involvement with the SFA was a major asset. His Vice-Chairman became Caledonian's Norman Miller. The compromise name of Caledonian Thistle F.C. was chosen and Caley's Sergei Baltacha became manager. Thistle captain Dave Milroy joined him to run the reserve team.
The club's application to join the League contained a promise to move to a new Stadium after one season - this was to dominate the activities of the new Board for some considerable time and it is no exaggeration to say that it nearly led to the club's financial downfall. Initially matches were to be played at Telford Street Park - Thistle's Kingsmills Park was originally the choice but it proved unsuitable. The stage was now set for season 1994/95 and the start of Scottish League football in the Highlands.
Copyright to and used with permission of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC Club Historian - Ian Broadfoot
By Scotty in History ·

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