snorbens_caleyman

Pretty sure the board won't have any idea either

If anyone can contact the powers-that-be, a round of applause - NOT silence! - for Johndo tonight would be a gracious gesture.

Bobby and Freddie Neild were brothers. I remember Bobby as a solid right back. Freddie was a bit more.... "fragile" might be the word. And he was more of a "character". Wore number 11, but I seem to remember him playing as a number 10 or attacking number 6 rather than as an out-and- out winger. My clearest memory of him was the day that he trotted out at Telford Street wearing a different coloured boot on each foot! (Probably black and white back then.) In no time at all, the craic was that this was to enable him to tell his feet apart I think this might actually have got to him, because I don't recall him doing it again.

That's very, very sad news. I was in the same year as him in the Academy, and although our paths didn't cross often, everyone knew him and he was a friend to all. Our paths did cross in the spring of 1974, when we had a mock general election. I was "chairman" of a party who shall remain nameless. Johndo was the entirety of his own party. The result was never in doubt, with him winning on an unstoppable tide of populism. I last saw him on a hot night in Romania, but he didn't look as though he would welcome conversation. He's not the first from my school year to pass away, but he was still far too young. It's a shame that he won't see the club climb out of it's current hole. My commiserations and sympathy go to his family, and to his very many friends.

Back to your picture - see pages 14 and 18 of the Alex Main book about Caley. 5 Cup Finals on successive Saturdays - Oct-Nov 1971. Your pic is on page 18. The stripped player that I didn't recognise is Jim Lynas. Obvious now! I still don't know who the two on the right are. And if you look at page 22 of Rod Clyne's book, you'll see a fleeting mention of my grandfather, Murd Smith, who was Thistle trainer for a while in the 1950s, at the age of around 60! (He had played for and trained Citadel in the 1920s.)

Probably a stupid question, but does anyone act as club historian nowadays? Years ago, when I was clearing out our family home, I came across a number of old team photos - at least A4 size, card mounted. I contacted Ian Broadfoot, and he reckoned that one - if we could prove who it was - could well have been earlier than any other known photo of Thistle. I left them for him at the stadium. And later discovered that he wasn't coming back - I think he had just moved to Perth. I have no idea what happened to the photos, but I still have nightmares about them just being thrown out as rubbish.

https://ictfc.com/ticketing-terms-and-conditions/ Plenty there that they could cite - 9, 10, 15, 22... Number 19 is a good one - "The wearing of colours and/or regalia of any Football Club other than ICT FC in the Main and North Stand is not permitted. Persons wearing the colours of other Clubs will be refused entry to these areas and if already admitted, will be ejected from the Stadium." Presumably directors of visiting clubs are asked to remove their club ties?

That's from when I was still in Inverness, so I can have a good go. Back: Gordy Fyfe, Donald Park, Kenny McKenzie, Bobby Neild, Dave Johnson Front: Dan? Lowrie (president) with the Q-Cup, Dave? Bennett, Bobby Noble, Alan Presslie, Freddie Neild, Chic Allan, George Stapledon, don't know, Kenny McGregor, don't know, don't know. How's that? The reason I know it's the Q-Cup is that I have been researching Roddy Fraser of Thistle from the 1920s-30s, for one of my wife's relatives. Here they are in 1933 - with the very same Q-Cup. The page is taken from the Thistle Centenary booklet "The Hub of the Hill".

Don't think there's anyone here who wants to see the team do badly.

Scotty, I agree 100% with you. When I said "surely many will remain", I meant that I just can't see a complete clearout and replacement happening. Though I would indeed welcome that. If we survive, then a complete reset - new board, new management and new attitudes to players, fans and community - is desperately needed, even if it means some time in the lower leagues.

Did I say that? No. Of course the fans can protest. In fact, without checking, I think I suggested this last season when Dodds was still around. All I said was that the Trust might wish to consider whether to support or arrange such a protest. Robert pointed out, reasonably, that a protest might spook investors. Maybe, but perhaps only if they were planning to keep the current CEO around. There's also nothing to stop fans writing/emailing directly to the SLO with their views. Even if these aren't read, a sizeable inbox sends its own message. Anyway, it's Sneck. When did anyone last protest about anything in the town?

Difficult one. The Trust has to work with whoever is in charge of the club, now and in the future. Even if Gardiner is removed in the near future, surely many of the current board will remain. So gaining a reputation for "rabble-rousing" or stirring things up - which is how the Board would see it - might not be the best thing for the Trust to do. I would expect them to continue to attempt - frequently and persistently - to have dialogue with the club management. Diplomatic, but very clear about the problems. And neither condemning nor condoning actual protests.

My wife has just suggested parking a cherry-picker there with a live-streaming camera on top.

Surely someone daft keen enough to invest £2M or upwards in the club would do enough due diligence work - formally or informally - to tell them that keeping Gardiner on would be disastrous? I would hope that those involved in discussions have spoken to more than just Gardiner and the board. To the Supporters Trust, for a start - and I appreciate that the Trust may not be able to tell us about it if they have been involved. Failing that, just read the news media and this forum!

He does persist in using the term "new owner", doesn't he?

Right - I'm back from the dentist, so I had a look. It was here - https://caleythistleonline.com/topic/29056-lets-go-out-of-sneck/page/81/#comment-557456 My great-grandmother was a Shand, from Speymouth, and I know that I have relatives of that name in Inverness and in the Elgin area. She was married, and widowed, twice. Her first husband was a seaman, and was lost in the North Sea. Her second was my great-grandfather, killed on the tracks at the station. She had 5 children by her first husband, and 3 by her second, the youngest of which was my grandfather, the one-and-a-half year old mentioned in the report of his father's death. Both of her husbands had the surname Smith, which means that I am related to a great number of people in Inverness called Smith, and of course other things. My grandfather was born in Fanellan Cottages on Shore Street. They were owned by, and stood in front of, a tar and soap works. I've seen a map showing them, but have never worked out exactly where they were. There are some old cottages at the junction with Lotland Place which must be strong candidates.

Here are a few more directories for you, then - https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A"Inverness+(Scotland)+--+Directories" It's clear that the railway employed a lot of people from Innes Street. I believe that the Mrs Smith at number 25 is my great-grandmother. She was widowed in 1896, but lived on until 1927. My great-grandfather worked in the loco works which were just outside the station, about where Morrisons is today. He was flattened by a train as he walked along the tracks into the station, to clock on or off. The John Robertson at number 25 is probably also a relative. My father had a cousin, Jack Robertson, who lived on Innes Street, and owned the Esso garage that you see in old pictures of Rose Street. This is possibly his father. The earliest photo of my father that I have is in the back garden of number 43. Along with him is Lamont "Scoobs" Graham - a lifelong friend, and well-known to ex-BB boys of a certain age. (Also Billy Urquhart's father-in-law, to try to bring this back on topic!) So I think the Grahams at number 43 are possibly his parents.

Yup - I have them both, with personal inscriptions from the authors, thanks to my father knowing just about everyone in Inverness football. You may have seen that I was looking for information about Roddy Fraser, who captained the Jags during the 1920s. It turned out that at that time he stayed at 17 Innes Street (and possibly 14, though the writing on a document isn't clear). My grandfather, who played for Citadel at the same time, stayed at 23 or 25 Innes Street - both were in the family. And Rod Clyne's book above starts off by saying that he was born in 1935 “in a little flat at 22 Innes Street”. Later than Roddy Fraser and my grandfather - but Rod Clyne says that his father played for all four Inverness clubs, most notably Clach - and I have seen his name in an "Inverness Select" team listing in the mid 1920s, in either Alex Main's book about or Bill McAllister's one about the Highland League. In short, it looks as though in the 1920s you had at least three footballing rivals living very close to each other - not just in Innes Street, but in a small part of Innes Street! A number of houses at the top of Innes Street were demolished when the Friars Bridge-Longman route was created. The odd numbers now start at 21, and the even at 12. I assume that the original numbers have been retained.

I think that many others, outside of the Highlands, don't realise how bad things are with us. Was talking to my wife's Stenny-supporting relatives last week, and, even though they are plugged into most things happening at that level, they were still expecting us to be up there challienging for promotion. Even when I explained that we had a team of mostly untried youngsters, they still couldn't take it in. "You've still got Mckay who scores all the goals, haven't you?". "Yes, but he's into his late 30s now, and he can only score goals if he is in an attacking position and gets good service!".

He was in town last week

What if he was a convicted felon whose surname rhymed with chump, hump and stump?

The club should just tell us. If anyone knows there's no point in suing them, it's Gardiner

That's why I said "guesses". The 2023 cup final - remember? we were in it! - was on 3rd June, so presumably the proceeds from that will be included in our 2023-24 accounts, which we won't see for another 12 months. And presumably those cup monies will mean that 2023-24 won't be as bad as 2022-23? We've had financial setbacks in the past 12 months, but IIRC they are things which have not materialised, rather than real money actually leaving the club. Still a dire situation, though, even if I'm correct.

So that was up to 30 May last year. Any guesses for the last 13 months?

Aye, 'tis but a flesh wound