Charles Bannerman

Johnboy, as far as writing and journalism are concerned, I'm only a part timer and I'd better not slag off accountancy since my son is a trainee CA.

Soemone mentioned the Inverness Cup earlier in this thread. Now there's a competition which has gone into steep decline in recent years. Even though that is clearly a symptom of the huge progress the game in the Inverness area has made in recent years, as an Invernessian I regret its recent obscurity. Who could forget that legendary final at Grant Street in December 1995? Almost 3000 packed in to watch Caley Thistle beat County 5-2... hat trick from Man of the Match Iain Stewart but Daisy Ross was outstanding that day. It was also a debut for both Brian Thomson and Mike Teasdale. Then there was also another superb final around 1992 when County beat Caley (and I mean "Caley") again in front of a large crowd at Kingsmills. HOE through Roy MacLennan took over sponsorship of the competition in 1993 because I remember the sponsorship being marketed as "a compeition for the new Caledonian Thistle club to play in next season". I recollect that one well since my then 7 year old son attanded the draw with me and was asked to pull out the home teams. An apprentice Howden Ender at the time, he was delighted to take Caley from the hat at the first attempt. I think the Inverness Cup also produced one of the most boring matches I have ever seen.. Caley v Clach at the Caledonian Stadium about seven or eight years ago. We were all just praying for a goal... for ANYONE to stop it going to extra time. Unfortunately in recent years the competition seems to have suffered frequent delays and for some reason some ties don't get played until the next season... the whole thing seems to have become relegated to the sidelines. A casualty of progress I suppose.

Do you not really mean that Boots corner is no longer there? :015:

Inverness Castle??!! That really is incredibly bad! What image does Inverness Castle convey? Reliance prison vans by day, acne ridden wee neds in burberry baseball caps peering over the dashboards of beaten up Vauxhall Novas by night and the ever present incontinent seagull crapping its bowels out over a decidedly green and white looking Flora MacDonald's head. Let's not go there!

.... especially if Pele has anything to do with it!

That's exactly the point I'm making in my post!

Things you don't see any more.... Turnbull Sports! (See Sports Shops thread.)

The shop in Inglis Street was MacPherson's until the mid 70s, Leisuropa after that and then I think, Intersport. I still have the Inverness Harriers shoulder bag which I bought from Leisuropa in 1976. It has been used very regularly ever since and is still in excellent shape - the zip even still works. What an item! Don't make them like that these days. Upstairs in Coutts was like Aladdin's Cave! What do you say about Turnbull Sports?! Maybe you should ask a few people who worked for him - they would have a few tales to tell. Start with Peter Corbett! Suffice it to say that he overstretched himself by opening more shops, hit the skids, closed the shops, started "network marketing" water purifiers and disappeared from Inverness.

Yes we all know that but it still means that these guys need to live "away from home" which they don't especially like, would prefer not to do and don't do if they either don't have to or there's no significant advantage from doing so. And while I agree that people from the central belt are perhaps a bit more conscious of distance than we Highlanders (for whom it's long been part of the culture) that's just the way things are. Irrespective of how disadvantageous this "Central Belt" thinking is to clubs up here, it's part of football life and they might as well get on with it. I had a very interesting discussion in the press box on Saturday with a gentleman who thought that it was terrible that Rangers had to travel to Inverness and Aberdeen so often. Unfortunately we had just got to the bit where I was pointing out that this was a trip ICT and the Dons had to make every fortnight when my phone rang. Whether or not it was significant that this gentleman happened to be wearing a royal blue tie and had a large royal blue hankerchief in his suit pocket I wouldn't care to comment.

Where in the UK, pray, has the game developed more dramatically at top level over the last decade or so than in Inverness? I would suggest that Marius Nicolae stands to contribute a huge amount to that ongoing development - in a situation where, for reasons of geography, it is very difficult to attract high quality players to Inverness. There is also no doubt that he is of the highest calibre and he only misses the 75% criterion because of injury.

I think too much fuss is made about departed/ departing players. I would really find it difficult to say much against the manner of the departure of Dargo, Brown or Dods and I am certainly not aware of anything that any of them has said against Caley Thistle at any time since. I think, to an extent, they have been harshly judged by SOME ICT fans. I know that the Dargo situation looked very messy... will he, won't he etc.... and to some it might have seemed strange that he then signed for St. Mirren. However I don't think that the player's fundamental need to get back south is fully appreciated. In particular, I understand that his girlfriend was very keen to get back home and in that light I can appreciate that he would want to take his time about it - and who could blame him if he waited for the best possible deal once he had made a decision to move? As far as I am concerned, Mark Brown made a career decision to take up an offer from a very large club - with far more money, more exposure to the international shop window and opportunities to play in Europe. The reverse side of that decision was that there was a significant chance that he would spend a long time on the bench, which he has done.... until now.... Remember also that a large slice of the profit which Caley Thistle has just declared has come from Mark Brown's move. I also think that Darren Dods' move to United was very much influenced by the central belt factor, and understandably so. A lot of these players come up here, do a great job, but understandably want back home after a while. And what a professional Darren was during the months between his pre contract and passing the captain's armband on to Grant Munro. I certainly made a point of shaking him by the hand and congratulating him on that after the last home game. Caley Thistle fans thought there was no life after the departure of, for instance, Bobby Mann and David Bingham. Need I say more on that? And despite the slight controversy apparently generated at the time by Mrs. Mann, I note that Bobby is rightly on the short list for the Hall of Fame.

I had no idea Oor Wullie and The Broons were so unobtrusively blasphemous! Kryptoblasphemers even! I'm not so sure that Kelvinsaaaiiide is quite so posh these days... given the number of footballers that live there now. Morningside... now that's different. Down there a creche is a motor accident and crepe paper is something you find hanging on the wall in the toilet.

Scotty... so is that what Caley D looked like when he was a kid? :015: Heilandee... that's EXACTLY it! And as a son of the City of Discovery, your knowledge of Oor Wulie is encyclopaedic. Jings, crivvens help ma boab! Actually it was only when a Glaswegian family called Brown (I joke not!) moved in across the road from us in Dalneigh in the 60s that I realised that people really did use phrases like "jings" and "crivvens", which until then I thought were entirely a figment of the imagination of DC Thomson.

OK... I realise it's open season on the BBC at the moment and it's easy to take a swipe but the Rankin thing is a simple and obvious Freudian type slip. Ian Rankin is, of course, the well known author of the Inspector Rebus mysteries and whoever wrote the copy has quite simply interchanged Christian names. It's something we've all done. In fact the best memory I have of that was when Alan Michael was doing commentary from the Caledonian Stadium and he referred to "Geri" Halliwell in the visiting goal! Gringo... yes, there was a period when ICT's home record wasn't great, but across the wider picture of 13 years I would suggest they have quite a formidable home record. I'm sure you've heard the term "Fortress Caledonian Stadium".

Yah!... yah!... yah!..... I was watching an old western on Channel 4 this afternoon and suddenly the cowboys got on their horses and began this litany to get the critturs moving. It's something I haven't heard for years since the golden era of the western movie. Surely I wasn't the only kid in the early 60s that used to run along the street, slapping myself on the left thigh and shouting "Yah!... yah! ... yah!...."? At least I hope I wasn't!

I met Jock McDonald at Dingwall last Saturday and he was reminding me of how he got King Willie to Kingsmills. Jock, on taking over as Jags Chairman, had basically decreed that the Highland League title would be coming to Kingsmills. Now, Jock's decrees have the habit of assuming reality, but to do this he needed a manager and decided on Willie. Elgin's fee was ?150 so he borrowed ?10 from each of 15 people, including his father, and Willie arrived on a wage of ?3 a week! The resulting back to back titles in 1972 and 1973 are now a part of Black and Red folklore. Willie was a gentleman and it was also a privilege to work with him in the press box after he retired from the active side of the game.

SP - Curly will be rotating in his grave at French like that!

SP - I'm absolutely certain that there were over 6000 there for the St. J game in 1992 and it was packed out that afternoon. Kingsmills - I would defer to your superior knowledge here. I only based my original statement on a subjective feel for the place. (And it must regularly have felt as if there were 7000 in the notorious Kingsmills away dressing room!) I think, though, that both these observations confirm that neither Kingsmills nor Telford Street could hold 10,000 although I believe Grant Street originally was much bigger. I can't remember who on earth I had the conversation with recently about Grant Street finally being bought outright by Clach with money they got from selling players from their great 1948 team. If that hadn't happened and they hadn't owned the place to sell part of it as part of the 1990 rescue, the club would certainly have gone down the tubes at that time.

This is what I was trying to say earlier. I'm sure it was in the Clach Centenary book, The Lilywhites, that I read about crowds of 10,000 plus for some special games there in decades gone by. Indeed I think Grant Street was the only ground in Inverness capable of accommodating that kind of number. Before the 1990 sell off of land, it was huge. In the case of Telford Street, it was certainly creaking at the seams with 6000 for the St. Johnstone cup tie in 1992 and I also think a similar number for Rangers in 1984. As I recollect, I don't think Kingsmills was even as big as that. Certainly I changed the BBC copy we ran to the biggest SEATED attendance.

I'm splitting hairs here perhaps, but might this not just be the biggest SEATED crowd ever to watch as football match in Inverness. I have a feeling the Clach Park used to attract over 10,000 on odd special occasions in years gone by. (I'll not tempt fate by saying that this won't even be the biggest seated crowd if the Singing Section have anything to do with it!)

Automatic pilot, wanderer!

Fair enough. I haven't actually seen the link since when I realised it could be dodgy I reversed out of it before it kicked in properly. I would have to add that part of that split second decision was a desire for my computer not to be recorded as having visited anything inappropriate. However if those who have actually seen it say it's all right, I'm happy enough to go with their judgement.

Scotty... I inadvertently opened this post before I realised its potentially dubious nature. As it happens the video doesn't seem to work but might this not best be deleted?

Strangely (and I use the adverb advisedly) enough, very shortly after I first read this thread, I visited Tescos to fill up and witnessed a poor woman in a similar fankle. She had, with some difficulty, managed to get the nozzle to the hole (look, there are bound to double entendres in this post but I just can't be @rsed thinking up an alternative PC vocabulary) but couldn't get it to produce petrol. From the next pump I advised her to press the "Pay at Kiosk" button which she did but this only produced tiny bursts of fuel. It was quite clear that although she'd managed to manoeuvre the nozzle to the hole, she had it in at the wrong angle and this was creating a back pressure which was instantly causing the pump to stop automatically. Using rather more PC vocabulary than I have used here, I then explained this latest problem to her and at last petrol seemed to rush forth without the poor woman landing on her backside on the forecourt. I'm not being sexist here am I?.....

Now that the short list for the Hall of Fame is public on the MFR website, I thought I'd place some very brief biographical reminders here just in case anyone needed their memories refreshed about the 12 nominees. In no particular order..... Alan Hercher - scored the club's first ever hat trick v Arbroath in its very first SFL game in August 94. Played a huge part in the 96 Cup campaign which ended against Rangers in the QF with vital goals v Livi and East Fife. An absolute stalwart of Inverness football who was just snatched in time from shinty. Mike Noble - Captain courageous of the 97 D3 winning side. Does much more need said? Like Herch, a local lad and a hero of the Highland League into the bargain. Defensively so solid in thes early years and one of "the few" who made the successful transition from the HL to the SFL. Good to see him still looking after the mascots on match days. Jimmy Calder - I feel another book coming on! What a man! Caley Thistle's answer to Alf Tupper, the tough of the Track, who held down the day job whilst performing amazing and eccentric sporting feats on a diet of fish and chips. Penalty stopper supreme. Heart stopper supreme also when he used to come off his line in terrifying fashion. Would probably find it difficult to get on top of the crossbar these days. Iain Stewart - Fantastic value for the frightening 30K the tribunal told Pele he's have to pay Lossie for him. All time top scorer until eventually overhauled by Dennis and 27 in one season. Frequent destroyer and evader of defences. Just how many hat tricks did the wee man score? Mike Teasdale - made his debut along with Brian Thomson in the famous victory over Ross County in the Inverness Cup Final in December 1995. Superb both in midfield and defence and to my mind his goal which beat Alloa 1-0 at Telford Street was the one which turned the 97 championship season in the right direction after the customary slow start. Brian Thomson - at the risk of appearing to dwell too much on goals, no one will ever forget Thomson's strike which beat Stenhousemuir 1-0 in the Scottish Cup in 1996. Minutes later on Sportsound "Caley Thistle....... will play..... Rangers...." And there were so many more. A guy I got on especially well with. Hope he's at the Legends' Night. Paul Cherry - just how many "Man of the Match" awards did he lift in 96-97? So utterly solid in the middle of the park and no messing... hence the odd red card (don't read this Blackie!). Yet another of Pele's great signings. And a very nice looking wife too if I remember correctly! Paul Sheerin - it was a wee bit like the assassination of JFK. I remember exactly where I was when he put away that penalty to bury it 3-1 at Celtic Park. Unfortunately I wasn't at Celtic Park, but I did stop my car in the middle of Culduthel Road when the award was given. I hope passers by didn't spot it rocking to and fro and come to the wrong conclusion! The latest recruit among the list of 12 and what a player. He's more than welcome to share my taxi to the Drumossie on the night. Bobby Mann - we were in the front foyer at the Stadium as Bobby glared down at me and said "It wuz MAH goal!" I had had the temerity to refer in an interview to Lubo Moravcik's OG at Celtic Park but since then it has been Bobby's. Apart from his own rock solid contribution, I also believe Bobby had a big positive influence on Grant Munro. I trust the slightly controversial manner of his departure and his lack of pace against a certain D. Agathe of Raith Rovers won't count too much against a great ICT player and captain. Paul Ritchie - I remeber meeting Paul in the Heathmount when he was up with Partick in the Cup last year and thinking "what a gentleman"... and that was apart from the amazing contribution he made on the field, especially in terms of the goals he scored. Let's just forget his efforts on behalf of Hamilton which put ICT out of the Cup in 97! I always admired him for keeping up his profession of accountancy while still playing. Iain MacArthur - on top of 30K for Stewartie, we all thought another 20K for this guy was really pushing the boat out, but what a bargain! Iain MacArthur's part in the D3 championship was absolutely massive and very much needed in defence, given Pele's attacking flair. It was a great pity he was so badly affected by injury. Daisy Ross - Hat trick Stewartie may have been the official man of the match in the 95 Inverness Cup Final, but to me it was Daisy's game. He tore Ross County apart down the left and it was so good to see yet another Highland player make such a huge mark for Caley Thistle. How many miles did Daisy knock up between Kinlochbervie and Inverness to play and train? Vetle Andersen - Well there you go. Just in case some people don't understand why Charlie, Barry Wilson, Dennis Wyness etc aren't on the list, the rules are that it can only be players who have been at least 3 years away from the club. Statistically - 1 - Nine of the players were Pele signings (which, despite SP's great talent with signings, is inevitable because of the time rules). The other 3 were there from the start through Thistle and Caley. 2 - Six of the 12 were in what I quote in my book as Pele's "preferred starting eleven" in 96-97 (and Herchie by that stage of his career was a regularly used sub who Pele could be guaranteed to use on 75 minutes). Three more - Christie, Hastings and Wilson - are ineligible since they're still there but will surely have Legend status conferred on them in the fulness of time. Paul Sheerin hadn't arrived by then. The other player is Scott "Trigger" MacLean who himself was no mean operator.