A96

Glad to see the stripes back again - it's makes us stand out from other SPL sides. I like it. As for supply - for 'mid July' should we read 'mid-January'? Just hope we don't have the same delays in deliveries from Italy as we had last time! I pride myself in my slim, athletic physique but even I was an XXXXL last time around. Either some of us need to attend 'Fat Fighter' classes or Erea needs to reconsider their sizes.

I still have the bruises to prove it Jock!! :004: Not a blanket accusation against South Kessock folk by any means. These boys were from a different era from yourself Jock and obviously from one with less respect for other people.

Nice one Gringo. :015: Will that be ten-fold increase on last year? If so 10 x 0 = 0 Saw some lads ordering deep-fried M*rs Bars tonight in the Drumnadrochit chipper. I just hope the frying chappie didn't breach the Trade Descriptions Act by using 'Believe Bars' instead.

To be insulted by IHE is an honour and a priviledge. He doesn't really mean it. It's all part of the initiation ceremony for new (and old) posters!!

Harris Academy FP from Dundee Heilandee? Nice, leafy, rugby-playing part of town. Very impressed. I managed to survive a few years in some of the less salubrious parts of that very fine city. Glad to have been there. Dundonians are amongst the most hospitable and generous people I have ever met (most of them anyway). They have (or at least had) an excellent swimming pool too. The old Inverness baths - a true 20th Century Sneck institution. Many fond memories of the old Glebe Street pool - although not all are happy memories. Was rescued by Mr Fallon from drowning on one occasion when just a young kid. He could recall all the fine details of what happened on that occasion more than 30 years later. Mr Fallon is a true gentleman who had a genuine devotion to his work and I can never thank him enough for rescuing me during a moment of lapsed concentration by his colleagues. On that occasion the normally very stringent safety precautions observed by pool staff were found seriously wanting.

Guess what I've just found on the Am Baile website? A picture of old Eastgate. A bit before my time right enough. http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/item/item_pho...sp?item_id=3897

Thanks Caley100. Maybe no need to go to all that trouble. I thought there might be something on the internet that could be posted. There's bound to be old pics of Eastgate in the Museum in any case.

The Balmoral Café it was indeed Caley100/Charles. Proper waitress service and China tea cups - excellent establishment. Back to Eastgate – does anyone have photos of the old Eastgate that could be posted on this thread?

Morrisons was the in place to be during the 60's/70's but can anyone remember the name of the cafe on Queensgate opposite the Post Office? From memory it too was an excellent tea room.

Has anyone managed to figure out yet how Gretna - a club from a town of 3,000 souls - managed to bring 10,000 supporters to the Scottish Cup Final? Even if they emptied out all the old folks homes and graveyards they would still be well short of the 10,000 mark. Perhaps Carlisle has adopted them as their very own diddy team – just like so many Invernessians do for R*ss C**nty?

Heilandee - going by your avatar you look just like me. You must be my long-lost twin? Principles are principles but how is the Scottish nation going to survive without deep-fried M*rs Bars? There has to be a market out there for deep fried Macaroon Bars. Could even call them deep-fried "MacaRooney" Bars? Just like Rooney's England team they would be well and truly battered!

There was another even older hardware store on Castle Street - where the Castle Restaurant now is (long before my time and yours). The shop was owned by my grand-uncle and the shop itself carried his name. I was named after him. So if you can find out the name of that store, Charles, you will know what my real name is. Other Eastgate landmarks - Alexanders the newsagent (with a gold coloured statue of what looked like a Greek godess at the front). Marios - where you could buy a superb salad roll. But most fascinating of all were the auction marts - Hamiltons and MacDonald Frasers. Eastgate (and the rest of Inverness) would be faced with a mass invasion of tackety-booted farmers hitting town on their regular Tuesday visit.

That Peter Watkins film of Culloden was a classic. I have it on video and watch it from time to time. It might have been made on a budget but despite that it excelled in terms of detail and authenticity. And the Highlanders were acted out by genuine Highlanders, many of whom were Inverness lads. The Highlanders looked even scarier than the Ferry Boys who gave me that infamous ‘doing’. Fraser & MacCall. What a class act. If they didn’t have it, it wasn’t worth having. Good old brown paper wrapping for your wire nails (with string of course) by assistants in genuine Ronnie Barker style light brown overalls.

A serious bit of backtracking by Mars Plc I'm afraid, RIG. They can dress it up any way they like but the fact is that they have assumed that everyone in the UK will be supporting England. Not a very clever assumption methinks!

If in doubt, check their special event web site at http://www.marsbelieve.com. You won't find much there about the 2010 Commonwealth Games. It's just a lame excuse by Mars Plc I'm afraid. :020:

And then there was First, Second, Third and Fourth Streets - continued barely unchanged for a couple of centuries or so (in fact the Inverness town scenes in the 1964 Peter Watkins documentary film of the Battle of Culloden were shot in these ancient streets). I have fond memories of getting a 'doing' by some Ferry boys in one of these scary dark alleys some time back in the early '70's. :019: And the Eastgate Chipper. Has there ever been - or will there ever be - any other chip shop approaching anywhere near such high standards of excellence when it comes to fried food? :020:

Kingsmills, you could always get the Lidl immitation Mars bars instead. Not quite the real thing, I admit, but it's the principle that counts.

Mars Bars are now called "Believe" Bars. Every Time you buy one you will be registering your belief that England will do us all proud and win the World Cup. Respect to our English friends and fellow ICT supporters - but could you really see Mars Plc doing that if Scotland were the only UK country to qualify for the World Cup? Question: Will you now be buying more or less Mars Bars now that you know the significance of each purchase? Check out http://www.marsbelieve.com

On the positive side we have an excellent pitch. It is one of the largest in the country and the playing surface is superb. As for our stadium as a whole................well...................I reckon the Toftir Stadium in the Faroe Islands edges ahead of us by a fair margin. But that is only my humble opinion.

Elgin City? Ross County? :012: Games against our lesser neighbours may be a major coup for them but we've moved on from playing these diddy teams. Our appetites can surely only be whetted by playing English Premiership sides or teams from the major European leagues. We need a pre-season challenge, not a cricket score.

Tough call as there have been so many heroes in our team this season. I will have to break the trend though by suggesting Ian Black. When I saw him playing at Pittodrie for us last season I thought he was pretty useless - seemed only capable of moving the ball sideways or backwards. Just can't believe the improvement over 12 months though - especially with his tigerish tackling in midfield and excellent distribution of the ball. Therefore the wee man has to get my vote. :021:

He must be one desperate C**nty fan if he's going to support us against anyone. Glad to have on board though. On the other hand, perhaps most C**nty fans are really secret admirers of their mighty neighbours in Inverness but are just too shy to admit it.

Absolutely proud of Charlie, Parkie and all at ICT for an amazing post-split performance and a tremendous season. Nice to be "fourth" in the SPL, isn't it? :004:

I think the impressive turnout for the Scotland Futures match versus Turkey proved that we are a football city. 6,000 turned out on a freezing cold evening for (to all intents and purposes) a practice match when less than half that were expected (I know I spoke to the man who sells the pies). If that match had taken place in Edinburgh, Glasgow or Dundee - supposed "football cities" - it is unlikely that the crowd would have been half of what turned up in Inverness.

Official attendance at tonight's game v. Falkirk was given as 3100 something. Funny thing is that there were a lot less empty seats tonight than there were at the Dundee United game yet the crowd on that occasion was given as 3600 odd. There must have been at least four times as many Falkirk supporters there tonight as there were United fans a week last Saturday. Perhaps with ticket prices being cut by 50% for the Falkirk game, the same discount may also have been applied to the counting of those paying at the gate?