Sneckboy

H/T Inverness CT 3-2 Hamilton Accies

Och, even the best of friends can find the atmosphere strained and can even fall-out at times when they're away on holiday!

From what I can garner from 'looking back' through the records of our SPL/Premiership home games, it is indeed a record low crowd - for the Caledonian Stadium. Obviously, there have been lower crowds for some Cup games - and we dipped below 2,000 on a few occasions when we were using Pittodrie as our home. But, reliable figures from our first period in the SPL are difficult to source - so I've reluctantly used Wikipedia's entries for that period. So could be subject to error...I'm happy to stand corrected. But, for now, the 2,228 is the record low crowd for a top-tier league fixture at the TCS.

The crowd was 2,228 according to Soccerway.

Penalties taken for ICT. (Most recent: Greg Tansey (scored) v. Kilmarnock - 24th April 2016) Match penalties Greg Tansey Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y (100%) James Vincent Y (100%) Richie Foran Y (100%) Iain Vigurs Y (100%) Aaron Doran Y X (50%) Penalty shoot-outs Ross Draper Y Y (100%) Aaron Doran Y Y (100%) Iain Vigurs Y (100%) Greg Tansey Y X (50%) Richie Foran X X (0%) Combined total (* = penalty shoot-out) Iain Vigurs (100%) Y* Y Ross Draper (100%) Y* Y* James Vincent (100%) Y Greg Tansey (92%) Y Y* X* Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Aaron Doran (75%) Y* Y Y* X Richie Foran (33%) X* Y X*

Of course! It's the same with left-backs...Stuart Golabek, Richard Hastings and Graeme Shinnie are the only guys that spring to mind. Possibly Kenny Gillet - and Lionel! But, It shows that players have made these positions 'their own' at the club for a number of seasons - and we haven't been chopping and changing all the time. Continuity is particularly important in defence, which is all the more reason to feel disappointed that Raven is probably leaving!

I was going to start a Poll asking who the fans consider to be our best ever right-back. But, it would clearly be a bit of a 'loaded' question with an obvious agenda, in light of the recent reports surrounding Raven's likely departure! But, I was also struggling to recall enough players to justify a Poll. I've not had the chance to look up former players, but off-the-top-of-my-head, I've only got: David Proctor David Raven Mike Teasdale Ross Tokely Obviously, players like Graerme Shinnie, and Josh Meekings have slotted in there at times - but who am I overlooking? Somebody obvious?

Another pic of Raven in happier times! Looks like the last 'survivor' from this photo is also on-his-way. This photo is from just 12 months ago (almost to the day!)

Aye, it's gutting. Raven just loves it up here. Please, not Aberdeen! - their favoured right-back, Shay Logan, has hinted he'd be keen on a move back down to England. I can see McIness raising-an-eyebrow at this news and showing some interest.

Update: Since the last list, I've noticed that U20 player Chris Blackett is on loan at Forres Mechanics. And today, it appears that there's to be no contract extension for David Raven. Not confirmed officially, but there are quotes attributed to Raven - so I'm going with it. Would be delighted to edit his contract status here, if anything changes - but not holding my breath. Signed until the end of season (2018-19): • Gary Warren • Ross Draper Signed until the end of season (2017-18): • John Hughes - Manager • Brian Rice - Assistant Manager • Ryan Esson Signed until the end of next season (2016-17): • Richie Foran • Greg Tansey • Josh Meekings • Carl Tremarco Signed until the end of this season (2015-16): • Dean Brill • Aaron Doran • Danny Williams (Pre-contract signing for Dundee) • James Vincent (Pre-contract signing for Dundee) • David Raven (not being retained) • Danny Devine • Ali Sutherland (on loan at Brora Rangers) • Liam Polworth • Lewis Horner • Calum Ferguson • Cammy Mackay • Nat Wedderburn • Jordan Roberts • Owain Fon Williams • Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo • Iain Vigurs • Alex Fisher • Ryan Williams • Liam Hughes On loan until the end of this season (2015-16): • Miles Storey (from Swindon Town) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Development Squad players available for this season (2015-16): • Calum Howarth • Jason Brown • Jaime Wilson • Kane Hull (on loan at Fort William) • Struan McArthur • Blair MacLennan • Chris Brown • Stephen Rennie (on loan at Fort William) • Chris Blackett (on loan at Forres Mechanics) • Daniel Hoban (goalkeeper - on loan at Strathspey Thistle) • Alasdair Stark • Andrew Macrae • Cameron Gilchrist

Today at 6pm Partick Thistle v Inverness CT (at Airdrie) This is our penultimate game of the season, and last away fixture. One match left after this, home to Hamilton Accies - provisionally next Tuesday.

114 years for Hibs, in fact!

On Friday night, Toby Agdestein finally scored his first goal for Haugesund! http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=56447

Eh, Celtic haven't got ANY Saturday 3pm kick-offs!

Has never happened before! Two non-top top-flight teams in the final! Also sorry for East Fife. Their famous record will no longer be a quiz question!

Penalties aren't the strongest aspect of his game! I had a gut feeling he was going to miss. Although he's slotted-away a few for Dundee United this season, I think he missed 5 of his last 7 for us. And again, one-on-one's were never his forte.,,as demonstrated today. He's a poacher, an instinctive finisher in the penalty box - and is deadly when he goes on streaks of goals. But he has his weaknesses. All that said, I'd have him back at Inverness in a heartbeat!

Adopting the same methodology as the study being discussed, the percentage of Scotland attending football, using my attendance figures is 3.76%. This is largely consistent with the 3.68% sated in the above survey which was using only 2012 data. Now, without the 'Old Firm', that figure reduces significantly to 2.12%. But, it still holds-up well compared to other nations. Scotland would be identical with Denmark, and still in the top 10. But, there are major flaws in the study. For example, Spain is only counting 2 levels of football. The Spaniard we released, Lopez, is playing 3rd-tier there, in one of many Regional Leagues at that level. I've no idea what the crowds would be like there, or the many levels below that. But none of them being included, does make the survey less than robust! Still, I've always had a keen interest in attendance stats, but there are always so many variables at play.

Celtic 46917 47079 44585 138581 46194 Rangers 45744 42657 32798 121199 40400 Heart of Midlothian 13163 14123 15985 43271 14424 Aberdeen 9611 12918 13359 35888 11963 Hibernian 10489 11027 10170 31686 10562 Dundee United 7547 7599 8113 23259 7753 Dundee 5958 4738 6966 17662 5887 Motherwell 5362 5175 4286 14823 4941 Kilmarnock 4647 4250 4076 12973 4324 St Mirren 4389 4511 3869 12769 4256 Partick Thistle 3614 5001 3777 12392 4131 St Johnstone 3712 3806 4592 12110 4037 Ross County 4430 3787 3525 11742 3914 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 4038 3558 3733 11329 3776 Falkirk 3127 3114 4661 10902 3634 Dunfermline Athletic 3796 3331 2523 9650 3217 Queen of the South 1659 1724 2778 6161 2054 Raith Rovers 1829 1659 2598 6086 2029 Greenock Morton 2137 1686 1728 5551 1850 Hamilton Academical 1231 1436 2877 5544 1848 Livingston 1308 1157 2364 4829 1610 Ayr United 1007 1905 1128 4040 1347 Queen's Park 2803 425 608 3836 1279 Airdrieonians 936 1592 830 3358 1119 Cowdenbeath 791 623 1574 2988 996 Dumbarton 925 938 1072 2935 978 Alloa Athletic 551 876 1429 2856 952 Arbroath 684 1054 721 2459 820 Clyde 1313 513 525 2351 784 East Fife 526 1249 557 2332 777 Stirling Albion 890 616 770 2276 759 Elgin City 1030 574 544 2148 716 Forfar Athletic 539 865 735 2139 713 Peterhead 938 573 580 2091 697 Brechin City 549 900 552 2001 667 Stenhousemuir 543 826 584 1953 651 Berwick Rangers 914 468 466 1848 616 Stranraer 426 802 541 1769 590 Montrose 831 363 419 1613 538 Annan Athletic 641 409 393 1443 481 Albion Rovers 387 408 552 1347 449 East Stirlingshire 612 343 315 1270 423 2013 2014 2015 Total Average

If my arithmetic is correct, taking away the 'Old Firm', Scottish attendances as a percentage of the population, don't fare as badly as I was expecting! I can't find any reliable sources for 5th level attendances, so am only going with the figures for the 4 SPFL divisions. So the actual figures for Scotland would be slightly better. But that could be argued for all countries - as not every league is included in the stats. The average attendances of the 42 clubs, over 3 seasons (season ending by year):

I thought that, too. But, it seems that yellow cards for 'simulation' CAN be appealed - although they can't be appealed for anything else. However, the deadline passed at the SFA without any approach from Hearts, so they've effectively 'accepted' the punishment!

Dani Sanchez has signed for Finnish level 2 club, FC Jazz.

He's one of the 7 players signed for next season: Signed until the end of season (2018-19): • Gary Warren • Ross Draper Signed until the end of season (2017-18): • John Hughes - Manager • Brian Rice - Assistant Manager • Ryan Esson Signed until the end of next season (2016-17): • Richie Foran • Greg Tansey • Josh Meekings • Carl Tremarco

Those are impressive figures. I should have given the source...http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2012/04/02/revealed-the-most-dedicated-football-nations-the-faroes-iceland-cyprus-scotland-and-england-020403/ (the publication is a little dated, from 2012) MLS consists of 'only' 20 clubs, plus the study goes down to just two-levels for the USA (the NASL is also included). Even if they all sold-out their grounds every week, in an enormous country of 300+ million, it's going to 'return' a relatively small percentage of the US population attending. I think the 'flaw' is in the methodology.

Finally, as well as Europe - Scotland has the 4th best football attendances in the world! A completely different study by an American based company, conducted a survey of all the world's leagues, and the top European nations come out top. Again, it's Faroe Island's top, followed by Iceland, Cyprus and Scotland. But, make-of-it-what-you-will...however, there is a consistency towards Scotland having remarkably good attendance stats - relatively!

I'm aware of the book, but haven't got it! As soon as I read the OP, I immediately thought of Scotland as 2nd behind Albania - same as Kingsmills. I think it was a widely held assumption after a 'study' a few years ago. There have been numerous studies done over the years and Scottish attendances are some of the very best in Europe and the world. Regardless of the study, Scotland is always one of the top countries. Albania has slipped somewhat, however. Not even in the equation now. I can only assume the 'Albania' stat was from around 2011, when their domestic attendances were significantly better than now. It's virtually halved over 5 years since then, with an alarming year-on-year reduction. http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm The website above is the favoured resource for stattos as it's usually spot-on with its accuracy, despite covering all of Europe. For ictfcsince94, this would be your best bet for comparing us to Real Madrid etc. An interesting statistic from here https://theballisround.co.uk/2012/06/12/the-most-passionate-football-nation-in-europe/ has Scotland at 4th in Europe, although, none are specifically for the past few seasons - but the trend is the same; folk in Scotland attend football at a pro-rata rate more than those of England, Germany etc... We're ranked just behind the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Cyprus, Another study concludes the same: except this time, we're above Cyprus, but still behind the Faroes and Iceland. The darkest colours again showing Cyprus, Scotland, Iceland and the Faroes as the top football supporting countries