A book I've been reading about the towns and cities of Scotland says in its Inverness section that there were failed talks about a merger among Clach, Thistle and Caley in 1937. Is this familiar to anyone on this forum, even though Mantis was probably the only one who was around at the time?
I am aware that the merger issue raised its head from time to time over a period of several decades, for instance Clach activated the concept in the mid 80s as they began to slip towards their 1990 crisis.
In general, I believe that enthusiasm for a merger tends to thrive at periods of weakness, which is why I would argue that 1993 when Thistle and Caley were both on their way down after successful spells was a prime time to have one.
In the case of 1937, this wasn't long after Citadel went to the wall (1934 I think) so it may have been a rocky time for football in Inverness as a whole, or there may be other reasons.
Does this ring a bell with anything anybody has read or heard?
ADDED MODIFICATION - come to think of it, looking at some of the other dates in the Inverness section, there may be a little leeway for flexibility here. For instance the book says that Charleston Academy was in place "by 1988" (it opened in 1978) and the original Caledonian Stadium was completed "by 2000" (1996). There are one or two other dodgy looking dates which are not relevant here, so 1937 may need to be taken slightly flexibly.
A book I've been reading about the towns and cities of Scotland says in its Inverness section that there were failed talks about a merger among Clach, Thistle and Caley in 1937. Is this familiar to anyone on this forum, even though Mantis was probably the only one who was around at the time?
I am aware that the merger issue raised its head from time to time over a period of several decades, for instance Clach activated the concept in the mid 80s as they began to slip towards their 1990 crisis.
In general, I believe that enthusiasm for a merger tends to thrive at periods of weakness, which is why I would argue that 1993 when Thistle and Caley were both on their way down after successful spells was a prime time to have one.
In the case of 1937, this wasn't long after Citadel went to the wall (1934 I think) so it may have been a rocky time for football in Inverness as a whole, or there may be other reasons.
Does this ring a bell with anything anybody has read or heard?
ADDED MODIFICATION - come to think of it, looking at some of the other dates in the Inverness section, there may be a little leeway for flexibility here. For instance the book says that Charleston Academy was in place "by 1988" (it opened in 1978) and the original Caledonian Stadium was completed "by 2000" (1996). There are one or two other dodgy looking dates which are not relevant here, so 1937 may need to be taken slightly flexibly.