Charles Bannerman

Is this you talking about yourself again IHE?

Well you started it.... you invaded Poland

You mean like they or the police let people going to Ness Bank Church park anywhere they like along the Haugh or the Riverside on a Sunday morning, the only difference being that this obstructs traffic while parking on the verge at the stadium doesn't? 12th man - the OPINION that people can park on private property when they like and at the same time also deprive the owners of that property of the right to operate it as they choose, such as by closing gates, is nonsense!

It was 1989. Early Learning shops in Saudi Arabia must sell a lot of shaving foam! I suspect this happens quite a lot in age group distance running where African runners' dates of birth tend to uncelar to say the least.

http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Sport/Football/Row-threatens-end-of-Inverness-and-District-Welfare-season-05092013.htm As far as I recollect, about 10 years ago or so they fell out with the Scottish Amateur FA and hence defected to the Scottish Welfare FA with whom this latest fall out seems to have been. As I recollect, they were also with the Welfare before the Amateur back in maybe the 60s and 70s but am not clear as to whether it was also a fall out that led them to go Amateur in the first place. I am also unclear as to whether the rattle is in need of retrieval again because they have gone back to the SAFA for a second time or whether they have resolved their differences with the SWFA. But in any case the people who organise the football you see on midweek summer evenings at the Buight and elsewhere around Inverness seem to have an amazing capacity to fall out with the establishment, whoever they may be!

I don't know about teams, but I really hope that this time they are going to manage to get ths coming season finished without a fallout with their national governing body.

Who?

I was only using "squiggler" as a generic term for long range John Rankin efforts, even though the term only went public in his post ICT era.

I think the thing about Caley Thistle is that for a club which only reaches its 20th birthday later this month there are so many and they are difficult to choose between. The short list must surely include John Rankin's late, late "squiggler" to beat Rangers 2-1 at home between Christmas and New Year 2006.

Not a steal at all! I am more than happy to donate it. (Come to think of it, the title was Dougie McGilvray's idea anyway!) I've just come up with a new word: "plagiarism". :-p Edited because: Added tongue-in cheek smiley for FS. Actually what happened was that the "working title" I used during the writing phase was "Blue, Black and Red" and this was reflected in the fact that that I collated all my notes in a "Black and Red" brand hardbacked notebook - on to which I stuck a couple of blue plastic squares, just in case anyone took exception. On the other hand the notebook was still "predominantly black and red" Then when we got down to discussing an actual title, Dougie McGilvray, as Chairman of the day, expressed a strong preference for "Against All Odds" which has rather grown on me over the years - and with some justification. Consider also, for instance, since the book was published in 1997 - * Coming back from 3-0 down in the Cup against Ayr. * Emerging, smelling of roses, from a £2 million+ debt crisis in 1999. * Celtic 1 Caley Thistle 3 * Winning the First Division TWICE (2004 and 2010) from an apparent position of no hope. * Getting the SPL to scrap their absurd 10,000 seat rule and bend their 31st March rule to allow entry via a groundshare. * Putting the north and south stands up in 40 odd days to alow SPL football to come to Inverness. There's probably more, but now.... * Coming back from 2-1 down with nine men to win through to a first major national cup final. Incredible stuff which sounds more like a Roy of the Rovers novel.

Not a steal at all! I am more than happy to donate it. (Come to think of it, the title was Dougie McGilvray's idea anyway!)

Yes, so do I and the best by a long way was in December 1995 in front of a 2500 crowd at Clach Park who witnessed a scoreline of Caley Thistle 5 Ross County 2. Iain Stewart scored a hat trick but many would have given MoM to Daisy Ross on a day when Brian Thomson and Mike Teasdale made their ICT debuts. Then before that there was the 1993 final at Telford Street where Jags won 1-0 against Clach and (ironically!) Iain Polworth scored the only goal of the game. In the semi final Jags beat County 6-3 which was the last time Thistle ever scored six goals. Certainly back in the 80s and 90s there was a decent entry with all three Inverness clubs, usually plus Forres, Nairn, Ross County, Brora and I think Fort William. I seem to recollect that there was some slight controversy over Elgin. Whether it was that they turned the invitation down I can't remember. In the early 90s Highland Office Equipment - through Roy MacLennan, a Jaggie - sponsored the cup. After County and ICT went into the SFL they still tended to put in teams, and the 1995 final was between two full strength sides. However the competition went into decline after that, with the SFL sides using kids more and more - or even not entering at all. I certainly remember being at a semi final at the Caledonian Stadium between ICT and Clach which was so dire that we were praying for a goal to spare us extra time! It's a lovely old cup which (according to the Jags' history "Hub of the Hill") dates back to 1895, but I think the competition has gradually faded away completely in recent years.

I think they managed for several decades to penalise the Highlands for being in such a remote spot by keeping us out of national league football until 1994. That's therefore one of the reasons why I was delighted to see both ICT and Ross County in the top six of the SPL last season. The likes of Clydebank (sic) chairman Jack Steedman, who said that Highland teams would get into the SFL over his dead body are perhaps now gone but I am still quite sure that there is a degree of central belt resentment about what has transpired up here over the last 20 years.

If they do, there could be a few Christmas Carols coming from the main stand, led by Our Mutual Friend, captain Richie Foran. If not the main stand will revert to being something of a Bleak House - and also if Little Doran happens to Oliver Twist his ankle. Will the Old Curiosity Shop be open after the game for the purchase of replica kit which fans still want to buy despite these HardTimes? Meanwhile the identity of the assistant manager remains The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

You mean you expect him to ghost past the Aberdeen defence?

The chance would be a fine thing! The BBC in Inverness has one, first generation, Glensound box which is on call for everything in the news department such as election coverage and other remote broadcasts via ISDN as well as for use in conjunction with a satphone. Consequently kits for use at the TCS and GES have to be supplied as and when from Glasgow. As far as I am aware the BBC was obliged to reduce its commentaries for budgetary reasons and I suppose if you have up to six simultaneous online or on air commentaries, some of the listener figures must be pretty small. I understand that MFR have also discontinued their live commentaries but I am not privy to the reasons. Remember also that the only time that a Caley Thistle match won't have live BBC Radio Scotland commentary tends to be when there is a 3pm Saturday kick off. Agreed, that is the majority of games, but in the case of those at other times such as Sundays, early Saturday or Friday nights, there will usually be live commentary in addition to occasions when ICT is the Saturday commentary game which has happened a few times this season already. I can understand that fans want to hear full commentary on their own team's match but personally I prefer the Open All Mics format since you not only get pretty instant coverage of important aspects of the game you are especially interested in, you also get the complete picture across the whole of Scottish football rather than the brief score updates from elsewhere during commentaries. I am, of course, writing this in a personal capacity since I am not on the staff of the BBC. But I would suggest that BBC Scotland offers very generous coverage of Scottish football, given that there are 12 "big" teams plus others and a licence base of just 5 million people. For instance during 3pm Saturday games you have the options of Open All Mics, online updates, maybe a commentary if yours is "the game" and there are also second half TV updates and full times on the results programme on BBC 1 Scotland. In effect Radio Scotland offers football coverage from midday right through to 7pm. Given the demographics of Scottish football support, there is a limit to what is financially realistic for broadcasters but maybe clubs could indeed do something themselves.

The SPFL issued a statement on November 18th which said: "...the final decision on timings and venues for matches rests solely with the SPFL."

Yes I'm sure you do...... but what's that got to do with Kenny Cameron?

But at least there's more red than blue on the flag!

I do believe that bus is turning left from Strothers Lane into the Farraline Park bus station in an era when the ramp up to MacRae and Dick can still be seen behind it. Judging from what looks like an Austin 1800 and the very short skirt on the girl who appears to be wearing a Royal Academy blazer, the photo may date from the mid/late 60s to the early 70s. The tin shed on the right of the photo is also long gone. But to return to topic - I have only been on the Caley Club bus once, for last October's derby. I could certainly recommend it, except that when I came back out of the stadium after that particular 3-1 home win I jumped on to the bus in the layby with the words "Is this the Caley Club bus. I looked up just as one of a number of very glum faces replied: "No! This bus is going to Dingwall!" It was a very long five steps back off that bus amid robust abuse

CAPTION - "Now I wonder? Caley Thistle or Ross County?" Congratulations Scotty!

CAPTION - "Now I wonder.... Caley Thistle or Ross County??" Congratulations Scotty!

Looked at totally clinically and objectively there is actually a strong case for this. But it's a completely nonsensical non-starter which virtually no one would want. The case for the notion is that I do wonder if the population base of the inner Moray Firth is capable of sustaining two top six Premiership sides? Things have changed massively since two teams came into the Third Division in 1994. A single team would be a significantly more formidable entity. But here's the top and bottom line - there is absolutely no desire for any merger to happen and there are one or two other massive factors against it as well. Apart from what I said in the first sentence of the second paragraph, there are no factors in operation which would make a (further) merger desirable or feasible. * Unlike what happened in 1993/94, Dingwall and Inverness are two completely distinct communities. The earlier case offered huge progress for the single entity of Inverness. * There is also not the well defined carrot, such as Inverness at last getting into national league football after decades of rejection, that there was 20 years ago. * The question of location alone would kill the whole thing stone dead. * Mergers tend to take place when both parties' fortunes are at a low ebb - as was the case in Inverness in 1993. This is most definitely not the case at the momernt - quite the opposite. * A merger now would be rather different from selling the notion simply to season ticket holders. Voting power in both camps now lies with shareholders and the personalities involved, I am certain, would want none of it. So... I actually agree with Davie here. Let's not go there or there will be exploded brains all over the place! In fact, looking at the OP, why did FC start this thread in the first place?

Very interesting to hear an eyewitness account of what was a bodyblow for Inverness football back in 1950. And we just have to wonder how much more information Alex Main would have obtained for Caley All The Way had he had access to the club records which also went up in smoke that night. However I think we do know that IHE doesn't have National Service ahead of him!

I have to say I think this thread might be getting a bit of a "Seville" feel about it! I have also heard a few anecdotal claims about five figure crowds at Inverness football matches in the immediate post war years. But whilst not doubting the sincerity of those making these claims, which I am sure they genuinely believe, I just find the idea a bit difficult to come to terms with. I would question the claims of attendances of 10+ - 13000 on a few grounds. * Did even Grant Street have the capacity to accommodate such crowds, even though they were almost all standing? * The figures claimed are around half the population of Inverness (men, women and children) at the time. * To get to figures like that, think of the crowd that packed into Telford Street for the St Johnstone game in 1992, or imagine the Caledonian Stadium pretty full - and double that. * Did anyone actually count the crowds in these days? I do know that matches back in these days attracted large crowds and, for instance, whuilst researching something else in the Courier came across a claim of 7000 at Grant Street for a Scottish Cup tie - which I would believe. But when it gets to 10+ - 13000 I begin to struggle a bit.