9 Years Ago Today

[Charles Bannerman]

instead of dismissing our achievement on 8.2.00 you should be using your journalistic powers to take advantage of that day to inspire the next generation of ICT fans especially the ones who may be influenced by what the few pre merger rebels have to say about us.

I could take elaborate exception to the first few words of the above quote but I will avoid the temptation. I'm actually rather more concerned about the danger of Caley Thistle being remembered as a one result club due to an over emphasis of that one match. I'm also a bit concerned that the real reason for the years of attention it has received from outwith ICT at any rate has more to do with the fact that it was Celtic that ICT beat than with the intrinsic value of the performance. In other words I do tend to write off a certain percentage of the hype about this which originates externally as more of a statement about Celtic and somewhat patronising towards ICT.

As for the "few pre merger rebels" I really don't think there have ever been enough of them to have had any significantly adverse effect and if I wasn't worried about them in the mid 90s I certainly am not now. My view was that the omelette in question was never going to be made without breaking a few eggs and that the benefit gained from what has happened has outweighed the loss by many orders of magnitude.

Like Scotty I respect the fact that they are entitled to their view but am at the same time thankful that they did not succeed in preventing what has happened and that they are now no more than a footnote in history and really a product of their own delusions of their own significance

Edited February 9, 2009 by Charles Bannerman

[Guest birdog]

Charles, I apologise for any offence that I may have caused you, this was not my intention.

[AJS]

If only it had taken place on the Saturday.

Then i would have been there.

[Yngwie]

Chances are we'd have lost though.

[Charles Bannerman]

Charles, I apologise for any offence that I may have caused you, this was not my intention.

Birdog... absolutely no offence taken at all! At the time I had the same John F Kennedy Moment as many other people from Inverness who could not be there. (In other words when Paul Sheerin took the penalty I remember stopping my car in the middle of Culduthel Road to catch the commentary.)

Indeed far from underestimating the achievement, I look on it as a major springboard for the series of momentous achievements which led to entry to the SPL in 2004, and as such part of a bigger picture. For various reasons I was unable to be there (just as I had to miss Thistle's 3-0 defeat of Kilmarnock and Caley's penalties win over Airdrie). However a colleague on the Glasgow newsdesk happened to know I was still in Inverness that night and I was duly dispatched to the Phoenix to record one of the most memorable vox pops I have ever done.

However, I did happen to be there on the Saturday and had a press pass so got into the ground and stood on the pitch watching the "fluttering guttering". That, as it happened, gave me the opportunity to do a pile of interviews with players/ management/ directors which led to a huge PARADISE LOST back page headline in the Courier. I also managed to eat my fair share of the 20,000 spare pies Celtic needed to get rid of... and Inverurie thought they had a problem with 2000!

Edited February 10, 2009 by Charles Bannerman