Charles Bannerman

Neil MacDonald? Did he not have a brief career with Caley Thistle before going to the Police?

I remember Nero's arrival at Caley was one of the first sports stories I covered for the BBC. I think he was the subject of a goodly slice of Western Isles inspired hype but in reality in the rather larger pond of Inverness and the Highland League Nero turned out not to be as large a fish as people had expected.

I think I might disagree there Alex in that what ended at Culloden was a war, or indeed a series of five wars (1689-90, 1708, 1715, 1719 and 1745) which was entirely internal to the United Kingdom and between two factions which both wanted to rule the country on their terms. From that point of view it's no different from the Civil War of the 1640s, principally called the "English" Civil War but which also had significant ramifications in Scotland in that the upshot was the ousting of Charles I who was king of both countries at the time and his replacement by Cromwell's Commonwealth. Of course what ended at Culloden is actually called "The 45 Rebellion", but possibly in part because those who rebelled lost. In the case of the English Civil War, the rebels won so that may have been why they called it a Civil War instead of a Rebellion. There are also parallel with the American Civil War in that it also was fought between two opposing factions within the same nation, although the causes etc are somewhat different. As for the "monster" don't get me started on the most lucrative con in the history of tourism....

You mean Jimmy Falconer?

You may well be right. I'm not 100% sure it was Wallace.

Oh Chris, old age is setting in Think it was 1978 that he signed for Rangers, then onto Wigan before returning to his rightfull home in 1981.......... i think. That's just about right. Jock Wallace spotted Billy at what I think was a friendly in 1978 and snapped him up and it would have been around 81 that he came back via Wigan.

That was me on the far touchline with the horn rimmed glasses and the Brylcreem. Good to see the old distillery at what was known as the Distillery End before it was called the Comet End. (On which subject, I wonder how Immortal Lidl Ender is doing?!)

Very worthy local organisation. Their exhibitions in church halls and the like are far more illustrative of local history than the stuffed fauna and Jacobites which seem to be the limit achieved by the less than inspiring Inverness Museum.

Was it not 1950? (not that I was around at the time!)

I couldn't make that out, but that's conclusive. I have fond memories of attending the lunch which launched the Matchwinner deal and that was in the spring of 1992 for season 92-93, so you're spot on. That was a massive feed in the Haughdale. Was that not the green away strip? Also, if someone remembers the back of the stand being black and red when it burned down, then that's what the new boarding must have been painted so that corroborates some time between 1992 and 1994. By the way, there's a Ken MacPherson picture of the stand actually burning down on that Sunday afternoon in 1995 in Against All Odds. Good also to see the Telford Street stand from the excellent Mantis site. I still haven't been able to establish what happened to the two footballs at the Telford Street entrance though! That Telford Street stand was a replacement for the one which also burned down in 1950. So when the Jags stand burned down in 1995, that completed the set, since the Clach one also met the same fate in "undetermined circumstances" in 1988.

So the boarded up version was actually painted black and red was it? My memory must be a bit faulty since I thought the boarded up version was bare boards and the photo might therefore have shown the original but I think iI may have called that the wrong way round. What about the apparent absence of a flag and thistle on the flagpole? I was trying to do some dating from the adverts in the 2nd photo but they're not very visible apart from the Tomatin which we all know was at the centre line of the enclosure and a Budget which I can just make out at the near end but which tells little. I have to say, subjectively, that the "look" is early 90s.

It may be interesting to see how this goes down at Celtic Park on Saturday, given the strong Irish links of a large slice of the Celtic support. Antipathy towards the British military establishment on the part of those of an Irish persuasion is, fortunately, receding but has deep historical roots. For instance it was the British Army which put down the 1916 Easter rising with considerable force and which played a large part in its aftermath which in turn led to the War of Independence in the early 20s. The Black and Tans etc from that period were also recruited from ex British World War 1 soldiers. Responsible for, among other things, the Croke Park Massacre, they were hated by the Irish. Indeed the Gaelic Athletic Association (hurling, Gaelic football etc) for decades discouraged its clubs from competing against representatives of the British forces or police and the GAA also for a time banned "British" activities such as rugby. (Now thankfully the Irish play rugby internationals at Croke Park while Lansdowne Road is being redeveloped.) In World War 2 the Irish Free State maintained complete neutrality and rebuffed an attempt by Winston Churchill to get them involved. Then, of course, there was the role of the British Army in post 1969 Northern Ireland with Bloody Sunday etc. It therefore wouldn't surprise me if at least some people with a (non unionist) Irish background didn't have a great deal of sympathy for anything relating to the British Military, irrespective of how fundamentally worthwhile it is.

Look at the back of the stand. I'm wondering if that's the original black and red backing before Jock had the rearmost rows boarded up to avoid having to comply with the Taylor Report. (Apologies for again referring to Jags' legendary parsimony!) I think that alteration was made around 1990 and I also think it was ordinary unpainted wood boarding as opposed to the black and red that's there and which looks like the genuine back of the stand. What about the flagpole? Was there not latterly a Thistle on the top of it? There doesn't seem to be in this photo. There also appears to be no flag but pre 1987 there were King Willie's two from the 70s so that's possibly not a lot of help.

Pea and Ham, from a chicken? Now that's clever! ...."no.... that'll pee the pea and ham...." (There aren't actually going to be too many on here who have a clue what we're talking about here!)

.... who also wasn't a bad keeper by many accounts I've heard!

Jim Smith was a great keeper and the first Caley goalie I remember from the mid 60s. Scarlet Pimple has been in touch with him in Canada.

Yes it would... especially after Jock had the back of the Kingsmills stand boarded up to reduce the capacity below the need to comply with the Taylor Report!

Oh dear DC... you're reminding me of a few skeletons in my own Dalneigh cupboard! Our fireworks exploits reached a zenith when we stuck a Roman Candle in Mrs Anderson the Dalneigh Primary 5 teacher's hedge in St. Ninian Drive and let it off. Alternative.... Banger Chicken sounds like the kind of thing kids from Millburn would do!!! Hilarious though!

You mean that was the only time he was full of himself????

During the hearing, did his supporters set off the fire alarm, throw the Chairman's papers about the place, let off fireworks and declare the Tribunal expelled from office and appoint D deM B as the new Chairman?

Well you can add my rant to your anecdotal evidence!

What kind of money did the man actually pay for books? My only dealing with him was when I placed two manky looking tomes from his shelves on his counter and he tried to charge me 18 quid for them! I left them lying there and departed, making voluble and unfavourable comparisons between his establishment and a jumble sale.

Penny bangers were great... but anyone remember the twopenny ones?! There was a huge wasps' nest in the garages between St. Andrew and St. Ninian Drive with exit and entrance from a small hole in the concrete. The hole was just big enough to push a twopenny banger through! Also, remember "genies" when you would open up a banger (or two or three), pour out the gunpowder and set it alight? Then the old adage... Tommy:"Please miss, Johnny stuck a banger up a dog's ?rse". Teacher: Tommy, it's "rectum". Tommy: Rectum? Bloody near killed him!

Fond memories indeed of that! The one I used to go to was the one just along from the garages beside the electric flats and it was indeed great fun steadily piling up the combustibles during the preceding days and weeks. Then there was also the duty of "guarding the bonfire" just in case outsiders came and set it alight prematurely. We used to light a wee fire beside ours and sit round it, hoping to God that we wouldn't get a visit from the Ferry. I cringe at the thought that I used to keep quite large piles of firweorks in the cupboard below the stairs. we really were so careless with them.

Thanks to TBB, Kingsmills and Mantis for that. I didn't follow football so much during the 70s, a slice of which I spent in Edinburgh, and just don't remember these games at all. The day Kingsmuills refers to is also a rare occasion when all three Inverness teams played in Inverness simultaneously unless they were all drawn at home together between then and 1994 in one of the local cups. A few weeks ago, and last Saturday, ICT, Clach and Inverness City all played at home. Very useful site which I'm glad to have a note of. I was most surprised that the "Honours" section is as extensive as it is, although I note that Jags' most frequently won trophy was the "Charity Cup" which would appear to confirm their status as a "Charity case"!