Charles Bannerman

Corbett, Barker and Cleese! Sorry DC, but you probably don't get that one either. So, if you are born a WC is it possible to inoculate yourself against becoming an MC should you happen to become rich? Is this what Alan Sugar has done since it would appear from what has been said that the fact that he was born a WC guarantees him this status for life, despite the fact that he's worth millions? Is this some kind of jab you get along with tetanus and polio to stop you from ever becoming Middle Class? And if you are upper class (UC) but require conversion for political ends, is there some kind of upmarket pill you can take that will make you a WC? Is this what Wedgie took in order to make the downward class mobility from being Lord Stansgate (UC) through Anthony Wedgwood Benn (MC) to plain Tony Benn (WC). (Presumably he was still UC when he called his son Hilary because in WC terms that's rather like being "a Boy Called Sue") Old Chinese saying: "Socialism is the greatest political philosophy in the world - until you have to apply it to youerself." I wonder if some people, in middle age, ever look back on their former political views the same way as adolescents of the 70s do on their sartorial and tonsorial preferences?

Did you ever play Wolfie Smith on the TV in a previous incarnation?

On which subject, does any one know where you can buy an old fashioned "record player" these days? I have loads of vinyls but nothing to play them on since the old one clapped out a few years ago.

Yes, I think the Ceaucescu era in Romania was well to the bad side of evil and they both richly deserved what they got in front of the world's TV cameras. Romania was probably among the worst of the post war Communist dictatorships and possibly verging on what things were like during Stalin's almost 30 years of terror in the Soviet Union. Indeed Romania possibly epitomises the bizarre twist which European politics took between the 1930s and the end of the 1980s. We went to war in September 1939 in principle to support Poland. In doing so, we faced up to and eventually contributed to the defeat of a vile German dictatorship. But also during that process, we actually jumped into bed with Stalin who was arguably a good deal worse than Hitler was, even though his PR in this country during the war the the "Good Old Uncle Jo" image. Then when the war finished, OK the likes of France, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium etc were liberated but at the expense of Eastern European countries like Romania, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and - ironically - Poland being cast under the Communist yoke. Was Europe a lot further on at this point? That, of course, was until the Wall came down etc in the late 1980s, so arguably the Cold War was merely an extension of World War 2 and the entire process wasn't won until that point. A decade after that, of course, there came George W Bush......

And you wonder why Glasgow has got such an appalling health record?

Now that's interesting! Didn't know about that one. Oh well, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde: "To lose one grandstand may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness." Was the cause of the first Grant Street conflagration and clearer than that of second? And the answer to the trivia question: "Which was the only Highland League club in Inverness not to have had its stand burn down?" would (as far as I know) be: "Citadel".

1950 I believe (I wasn't born at the time!) I think many of Caley's old records were lost in that fire which didn't help Alex Main when he came to write "Caley All The Way". As I've said on this site before, it is a strange irony that the stands at Caley (1950), Clach (1988) and Thistle (1995) all burned down.

WHY NOT? Because Open All Mics covers all SPL games and usually about a couple of the First Division matches involving the highest placed teams so this week it's the Dundee and QoS games. Another consequence of relegation I'm afraid. Robbo's at the Hearts game. Listeners will get score updates from Inverness within Open All Mics though.

I went down to the stadium this morning just at the time Tabitha was posting to say that the game was on and it was an entirely different world down there compared with the rest of Inverness which I drove through to get there. Visibility right along the sea front was really quite good (at least half a mile) and there was actually a shaft of sunlight shining down on the Black Isle. I have to say that, with the Black Isle being Ross County territory and all that, the said shaft of sunlight and where it was landing did somewhat seem to symbolise the current respective fortunes of the two Highland clubs! By the way there is no Open All Mics from Inverness today I'm afraid.

Oh dear, we seem to have huge Freudian problems with rugby as well as athletics! So maybe the key to the balance I was advocating on the Harriers thread is therefore to put the Rugby chip on one shoulder and the Athletics one on the other.

I don't know about ex members because we actually have rather a lot of current ones, but this Life Member of the Harriers certainly could. Methinks, reading between the lines of your post, that either you have never been near the Harriers so haven't got a clue what you are talking about or you used to go along but socially or athletically or academically, or possibly for all three reasons, you felt you couldn't quite fit in. Your problem - not the Harriers'. Just to put you right on one or two other matters, the last Harrier to win a national championship medal on home ground at the Queens Park actually came from the darkest Ferry. The first Harrier of the modern era to win a national title was brought up in a council house in Hilton. As for the "football" reference, one of the best athletes I ever coached was Neil Fraser who gave up the offer to play for Caley (where he was coached by Hamish Munro) instead to go on to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, Great Britain at the European Indoor Championships and to hold the national record for the hurdles for 7 years. There have been quite a few more like him performing at a level which, with all due respect to our footballing colleagues, has not really been aspired to too often by Invernessians within that sport. If you could only manage to take half of that apparently rather large chip and place it on the other shoulder, you might manage to achieve a rather more balanced viewpoint.

Given an abundance of counter attractions (of which televised football is just one) plus the large number of fans in the local area of the Old Firm and other large clubs, I have a suspicion that to get the kind of numbers you are talking about ON A REGULAR BASIS to watch First Division (or even SPL) football in Inverness the prices would have to be SO low that the activity would become even more loss making than it is now. The unfortunate fact about a great deal of full time professional football is that there is a fundamental imbalance between the wages paid and the fact that the men who receive them can only work profitably for an hour and a half a fortnight. (OK... no jokes about ICT's recent second halves!) The demand is not sufficient to sustain what is effectively economic lunacy. This is absolutely fundamental. However it is perfectly understandable that the fans feel that paying approaching ?20 to watch this level of play for an hour and a half is a lot of money and would like to see that reduced. But I'm not convinced that price reduction would produce the necessary proportional increase in gates at this level of football. It is an unfortunate fact that, even at current prices, these are actually quite heavily subsidised by other activities. In economic terms, I don't think football at this level has the right elasticity of demand for a drop in ticket prices to be compensated for by the necessary increase in attendances.

I haven't seen the incident but I'm sure a carbon copy of it in an ICT strip in years gone by would indeed have brought forth a loud cheer from the Inverness support. And indeed Kingsmills makes the point well that Barry is currently playing for QoS because, a year ago, ICT chose not to extend his contract. It is also worth making the point that when Barry went to Livingston this was, at the time, an opportunity to play in the SPL and in Europe which was not available in Inverness. As far as I recollect, Barry is not currently a member of the ICT Hall of Fame because he was ineligible at the inaugural election since he was still at the club.

Since the matchday thread hasn't come up by the time I need to leave for the Clach Park, I'm just starting this fresh one to say that there is an Open All Mics with Des McKeown from Palmerston this afternoon. (Perhaps some kind Mod could transfer this to the match day thread when it is started.)

You should in fact kill three birds since this is also scheduled to be Ross Tokely's 500th game for Caley Thistle. (I now imagine that some grumpy old mann will complain that this thread has been dragged off topic :P ;) )

You mean even further up ee rodd than Week? :009: :( :D

Damn!!! :009: :( :D

In that case there must be a phenomenal number of "reporters" on this forum! I never thought I would see the day when someone would be criticised for being too negative on "caleythistleonline" no less. :P Before squashing the myth of negativity about last night's post, perhaps I should first observe that I think I get the picture. It seems it's perfectly OK to be as negative as you like about the Board, the Chairman, the Former Chief Executive, the Stewards, the Pie Shop, the Players, the Manager, the Club Shop, the Stadium Announcer etc etc etc.... But NEVER even APPEAR to say anything negative about the FANS! Now, as for that alleged negativity... my original post.... I'm actually asking the question in the opposite direction - but no more than asking the question. Is there not room for a bit of disappointment that the Caley Thistle contingent was only what I would estimate to be 2000 or maybe just over? This bit asks a question about a statistical fact. This would seem actually to be LESS than this season's normal home support of around 2500-2700 although, unlike at home games, they made a lot more noise. This bit links that statistical fact to another one, moves on to echo an observation about noise at home games frequently made on here and ends with a positive statement. In the pre SPL days when home support was typically of the order of 1800, rather less than for this season so far, I seem to recollect travelling supports for major Scottish cup ties and previous Challenge Finals being rather more that what turned up at a relatively easily accessible venue on Sunday. This bit states a number of statistical facts. Is the difference maybe that many of the "glory hunters" (whom I would define as people who turn up in the ICT end at major games but who attend the Caledonian Stadium at best infrequently) no longer bother? Or is it the case that, post SPL, the Challenge Cup - even the final, is regarded by many as a bit old hat? This bit makes the only real judgement in the post - about a section of the ICT "support" which over the years has been frequently criticised on here. It concludes by asking a question about how the fans of a team which spent quite a long time in the SPL now perceive this SFL knockout competition. So just let me summarise my original point. The number of fans in the ICT stand on Sunday appears to have been smaller than at recent home league games and less than under similar circumstances some years back, when there was a smaller home support

I'm actually asking the question in the opposite direction - but no more than asking the question. Is there not room for a bit of disappointment that the Caley Thistle contingent was only what I would estimate to be 2000 or maybe just over? This would seem actually to be LESS than this season's normal home support of around 2500-2700 although, unlike at home games, they made a lot more noise. In the pre SPL days when home support was typically of the order of 1800, rather less than for this season so far, I seem to recollect travelling supports for major Scottish cup ties and previous Challenge Finals being rather more that what turned up at a relatively easily accessible venue on Sunday. Is the difference maybe that many of the "glory hunters" (whom I would define as people who turn up in the ICT end at major games but who attend the Caledonian Stadium at best infrequently) no longer bother? Or is it the case that, post SPL, the Challenge Cup - even the final, is regarded by many as a bit old hat?

Can't remember anything more expensive than threepence for a cone and sixpence for a slider anywhere!

As a typical born and bred Inversnessian, I find Heilandee's contribution a helluva lot more intelligible than the Mannie's. Righe'eenufmun!

Agreed Caley D. (And I won't tell them that you have an interest here in that your brother is a senior member of staff there! :) )

In that case you probably featured in my vox pop which went out on the BBC the following morning! I was fortunate enough to have had my tape running when Charlie scored what turned out to be a short lived equaliser.

Yes, missed Caley100's reference above! Was Murd not also great Caley fan and in fact did he not even take the money at the stand at Telford Street, sometimes assisting the old boy whose name temporarily escapes me but who, until he died just a few years ago used to sit in the bottom bar in the Social Club post match and allow himself to be filled up with free drink?