Charles Bannerman

They were repeatedly being kept out of national league football by a protectionist cartel of self interested Scottish League minnows who were scared to a paranoid degree about the conventional order of things being upset and of what has now actually happened over the last six years. However in 1994 that was sorted and the result has been evident ever since. Part of that amounts to challenging the notion that being a "big City" club with loadsa supporters doesn't really guarantee success. Commitment, bottle, ethos, a collective and organised desire to succeed and fundamental expertise count for a great deal as well.

How may gallons does it take to fill Les up? A LOT more than it takes to fill up your "place of work" I'm sure! :) But if he's as successful at filling up the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday as he was for Barry's testimonial, I'm sure there will be a few more V and Ks coming his way in the Social Club after the game.

I am told that another of "the finest ever to wear the Caley blue", one William Urquhart Esq, was teaching old Caley songs to some of the young lads on the train to Ayr last Saturday... but was having some difficulty explaining the absolute significance of the Howden End which went under the bulldozers when many of them were still in nappies.

I actually filled Les up with Vodka and Coke last night and he told me that it's going to be "Torridon and the Staggies" performing "We're On Our Way" live with a medley from the Dingwall Gaelic Choir as a supporting act.

I can exclusively reveal that it's the Alexander Brothers with Andy Stewart, Moira Anderson and the White Heather Dancers.

Was it not something like "CHIG" that he used to shout?

On which subject, at the County game last night I had a chat with the real Section G steward... the lady with the red hair who seems to do such a splendidly diplomatic job there, and I think she's rather looking forward to Saturday's game!

:P

So that'll be two quid for a match ticket then ... plus a ?30 "turnstile fee" .... plus another ?20 for a programme... ?30 parking fee within 5 miles of the stadium... another ?50 to get your car out of the car park again.... ?10 team lines announcement fee... ?15 for a hot dog... ?25 for a drink.... ?5 to go to the toilet (each time).... a ?100 supplement for cup ties that go to extra time.... ?40 extra if the undersoil heating is on.... etc etc.... You don't like Ryan Air do you Charles?? Oh... and I forgot the mandatory ?20 charge for the Leprechaun stewarding Section G. But.... NOPE... I don't.

So that'll be two quid for a match ticket then ... plus a ?30 "turnstile fee" .... plus another ?20 for a programme... ?30 parking fee within 5 miles of the stadium... another ?50 to get your car out of the car park again.... ?10 team lines announcement fee... ?15 for a hot dog... ?25 for a drink.... ?5 to go to the toilet (each time).... a ?100 supplement for cup ties that go to extra time.... ?40 extra if the undersoil heating is on.... etc etc....

Ren, thats the union flag of Great Britian and Northern Ireland designed in 18 0 something. It features the white saltire on a blue background, the cross of David on a white background and also the red saltire of NI on a white background. The current Union Flag is an updated version of the original and its creation follows the Act of Union with Ireland (that's the WHOLE of Ireland) in 1801. When the Irish Free State went its separate way following the 1921 Treaty, the Union Flag remained unchanged. The fundamental question about flags at football grounds surely must be - is the flag being shown for genuinely football purposes or is there a significant Sectarian/political dmiension. There is a perfectly good reason for ICT fans to show an Irish tricolour as a tribute to three citizens of that country who have played such an integral part in this season's promotion. Celtic fans previously flying the Swedish flag in tribute to Henrik Larsson was equally legitimate. Celtic flying the tricolour (which they did above Parkhead until relatively recently) or Celtic fans flying one is a little more debatable. They are very much an "Irish" club (although you could question the legitimacy of that in scottish football but on the other hand you have to suspect a political dimension. On the other hand Rangers fans displaying the Red Hand flag has to be blatantly sectarian since there is no conceivable link with their club APART from a Sectarian/ political statement about the Six Counties.

Did they stick enough stamps on your forehead to get you posted home safely?

I have to say that the BBC have been reporting the Savage and Bangladeshi developments for well over a fortnight. Anyway.. the reason I posted here was to point out the irony that the said Councillor Corbett happens to be Chairman of the Licensing Authority . I will not fail to jar him about that one next time I see him! However, it would appear that any alcohol ban at Clach Park would not be as easy to get round as the smoking ban since as far as I am aware Inverness's laws against drinking outside would eliminate the smokers' expedient as an option. I am actually told, though, that the Bangladeshis may be happy enough for the Social Club to continue in the town end of the building if a partition was erected between there and the main hall which is what they want to use but that is unconfirmed.

That more or less sums up the situation as I understand it at a time when money is tight and there are several much higher priorities. And yes, there would be a problem with the gas line. I recollect that David Sutherland once told me that it could be overcome with something called a cantilever - but that would cost a million. In any case the current capacity of 7700 just about matches the absolute maximum that could now be expected next season, on the basis of what OF attendances had slightly declined to in 2008-09. I think I'd better stop this now or we will have IHE back on about the aquifer...... :tonguecheek:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t..._ct/default.stm I don't know if a "linked" page changes with the site from which it originates, but as of the time of this message there were TV interviews with Terry Butcher and Russell Duncan and a radio interview with George Fraser. Ross Tokely also did two very good interviews for radio. I think there's a link to one of them on another thread but I can't see them as archived on the BBC site. I'm not trying to upstage the "newsfeeds" forum here, merely attempting to offer a direct link to a single source of several interviews with key personnel.

I am REALLY surprised that none of the razor sharp wits on these forums picked up on that little gem. :004: Laurence... the sequel to "Against All Odds" has effectively already been written since the club's statistician Ian Broadfoot published "Going Ballistic" about five years ago. This book takes the tale on from where I left it on the day that the Third Division title was won through to entry to the SPL in 2004 although Ian's book concentrates rather more on the playing side than mine does. A couple of other observations on intervening posts. Unfortunately I have to inform Alternative Maryhill and various members of the Thistle Disapora that the Kingsmills Tea Hut has now unfortunately gone the way of Monty Python's parrot - it is defunct, it is no longer there. The sheds and garages of which it was part opposite the Queens Park have been converted into a building site. Reading the story this week of battlefield archaeologists' efforts to find the precise site of the Battle of Prestonpans reminded me of the slight uncertainty which already exists over where Citadel's ground precisely was. I hope we never lose track of where various features of Kingsmills and Telford Street Parks were. (I once bought a TV from the centre circle at Telford Street!) Oh, and Laurence... please excuse Immortal Howden Ender. You WILL eventually get used to him.

Gee thanks Laurence!! :D And so unassuming of you to describe your thread as "not important". Of course it's important! Please ingnore Mantis. He is an unashamed propagandist for the (predominantly ) blue and white side of the said merger. However he does seem to have misinterpreted your circumstances. Might it have been more likely that you were actually outside Telford Street Park since you refer to "giant killing acts" (plural) whereas in the case of Kingsmills Park the 1985 singular would perhaps have been more appropriate? But seriously... welcome!

Naw naw MacKenzie.... I deliberately made the point at the top of the thread that it was motivated by the analogy with ICT's current situation at the top of the First Division. :D

You mean when it burned down? :023: Certainly that night at Grant Street I think the entire Howden End, committee, playing staff etc etc simply translated itself that half a mile to Grant Street Park. As Dalneigh Caley says, it was a great atmosphere there. It was also a time when Inverness football totally dominated the Highland League. Ross County were only a year on the road to recovery from their debt-enforced amateur status, Elgin's day under Pele was yet to come and the Aberdeenshire teams which currently dominate the league were very much the poor relations. Since 1987, Caley and Thistle between them had swept the boards and there was one point during 88 (I think it was after Thistle won the Q Cup) all the available honours (League, League Cup, Q Cup, North Cup and Inverness Cup) resided on one side or the other of the River Ness.

Possibly the closest scenario to the current one in the First Division which I can directly recollect is the finish to the Highland League title race in 1988. Buckie had looked odds on favourites to take the title as the only other contenders Caley went up the Hill to Jags Park for their final game on the last Saturday of the season. The only thing that would do Caley was a win at Kingsmills (against what, before the Howden End veterans get on the case, I would stress was an incredibly good Jags side!) and for Buckie to slip up v Peterhead. Buckie duly did so, but the Inverness Thistle defence was proving obstinate... until Wilson Robertson grabbed the only goal of the game late on. This completely changed it, leaving Buckie three points and seven goals behind Caley, but Buckie still had to complete their programme at the Clach Park the following Wednesday night. Now these were the days when customers in the Rodgers' shop outnumbered spectators at the Clach Park where things had become utterly dire in the run up to the 1990 near collapse. As a result, the 8 goal win Buckie needed couldn't be entirely ruled out. It wasn't surprising, then, that Grant Street was full of Caley fans who had become Clachers for the night and the atmosphere in there was amazing. (This may also have been the last game at Grant Street before the stand (ahem!) "burned down". ) In the end it was a 2 all draw so Caley won the league by two clear points but, having been at both games, it was a great few days for football in Inverness. As it happens this was also Caley's last ever Highland League title. Great memories.

Not quite. I would expect that Richard Gordon will do the commentary while Messrs Robertson and Ferguson are there as ex pros to do summarising and general discussion and Jim Spence is there as a reporter to do interviews etc. Remember this is not simply somebody describing 90 minutes of football - it's a whole evening of football coverage which I am sure will touch on a wide range of issues and there's half time and post match up until 10pm to fill as well. Believe me - if you just had one or two voices for that period... you'd notice it!

So when Colin Baillie joined the Millburn staff, did much change? Interesting insight there, though, into the casual attitude adopted by some in these days. Maybe it was partly a "familiarity breeds contempt" thing on the part of ex servicemen?

I'm putting this here on the ICT forum since it is presumably of interest to ICT fans who may want to follow the progress of their team's chances of lifting the First Division title on Wednesday night. Live commentary - Raith Rovers v Dundee on Radio Scotland 810MW from Richard Gordon with John Robertson, Derek Ferguson and Jim Spence.

I doubt if the people who lost their jobs would agree.

ICT's longest winning run is eleven which started on November 16th 1996 with a 2-0 home win over Ross County and ended on February 22nd 1997 with a 1 all draw at home to Forfar. It was part of what is also ICT's longest unbeaten run of 22 games which was bracketed by defeats on October 26th 1996 and April 26th 1997 - dates which are exactly 6 months apart.