Scottish Cup and The Great Freeze

[Charles Bannerman]

I suppose the next question the weather may pose could be over this coming Saturday's Scottish Cup tie against Motherwell. Realistically, even if there isn't a significant thaw, it would really require another hugely badly timed big dump of snow to bomb this one out. But, looking out at the winter wasteland brought back a number of memories of Baltic weather and Cup ties in years gone by.

For instance -

Early 1979 - Inverness Thistle v Falkirk. The late 70s produced two consecutive extremely hard winters (to the extent that there was speculation that we were entering another Ice Age!) and this tie at Kingsmills was postponed a record 29 times before it eventually went ahead weeks late (and Jags unforunately went out.)

January 1990 - I seem to recollect that the legendary replay where Caley put out Airdrie on penalties at Telford Street sailed pretty close to the wind in terms of the weather and went ahead on a really bitter night. Amazing, isn't it, that the 20th anniversary of that famous occasion comes up in a few days time.

February 1992 - in similar terms Caley v St. Johnstone looked very unlikely to go ahead but the frost relented and a famous 2 all draw took place in front of a packed house on a pitch the consistency of treacle.

January 1996 - ICT v Livingston at Telford Street. This came at the end of an incredibly cold spell with temperatures below minus 20! No one thought there was any chance at all of this game going ahead but the frost suddenly gave way and the pitch thawed out in the nick of time but was again pretty viscous. ICT took a 2-0 lead but were pulled back to 2 all before Alan Hercher SPRINTED (sic) :D through to grab the winner. Subsequent defeats of East Fife (in a replay at Methil) and Stenhousimuir (1-0 away - wonderful Brian Thomson goal) paved the way to a quarter final against Rangers.

It's a while since we've had a really cold spell and in fact the current one is probably the worst since that extremely severe 95-96 episode, but this weather certainly brings back a few frozen Cup memories.

Let's see what this weekend brings.

Edited January 3, 2010 by Charles Bannerman

[Heilandee]

Was reminiscing wi Grassa and Brian Fraser as we shovled several tons of sna fae the park last Sat about the Nairn County V Dundee Scottish cup gemme which they both played in.Brians excuse for the pumping was the pitch was rock hard and the Nairn lads had normal studs but the Dee's had rubber dimples on their boots. Great day oot,i was at RAF Alness at the time and got freebie tickets from Bobby Geddes who came fae Invergordon.Sna and ice didnae stop gemmes in them days!

[Caley Stan]

Great post, Charles. It's good to be reminded of all three of those special games at Telford Street. The Airdrie game in 1990 was the night that i fell head over heels for football and Caley.

Does anyone have video footage of the game to post on tinternet?

[The Mantis]

A wee bit of action here.

It goes back to the old days of dialup so it's very wee and there's no sound either.

[DornochJAGGIE]

Was reminiscing wi Grassa and Brian Fraser

Brian from Dornoch? The County fan.

[Charles Bannerman]

I have a distinct recollection of being in B and Q's car park, waiting for a FT (sorry... Full Time score, not Football Times!) before going into the shop when that late equaliser went in at Broomfield. Then, to my infinite and ongoing regret, I was not at the replay and on this occasion - unlike February 8th 2000 when it simply was not practicable - it was a conscious decision. I basically decided that I really was due a night in with my then young family, plus the fact that the BBC had staff covering the match so I was surplus to requirements....and the freezing weather probably put the tin lid on it.

That is one occasion which I really, really regret missing. I can just imagine the atmosphere in the Howden End during the shootout! I also note from DJS's excellent account on the Caley Nostasgia Page that the 20th anniversary of that night comes up three weeks today.

Oh, and also that the crowd was "only" 3000. I might actually have expected more even though it was so cold - given that almost exactly 2 years later 6000 plus (allegedly although I have heard claims of more!) packed out Telford Street for the St. Johnstone game.

And indeed I really wonder if, IN PRACTICE, that 1992 attendance has not actually been beaten by a cup tie in Inverness since that day, notwithstanding the size of the crowds for the Aberdeen game in 2000 and the Celtic game in 2003?

Edited January 3, 2010 by Charles Bannerman

[DJS]

The Airdire match is up there as one of my favourites ever. Pitch was truly awful and the Diamonds were pushing at the time for promotion from Division 1. It was a superb performance by a Caley side that wasn't that great.

[old caley girl]

Ah great memories of the Airdrie match. Didnt see any of the penalties as I had my eyes shut! Never would happen now of course would have been cancelled on health and safety grounds.

[Alex MacLeod]

Everyone is making comment about whether or not its right to cancel on safety grounds. Here's a little scenario. One that the police assess as risk. A few thousand people, mostly adults, are leaving a stadium at once. Out onto slippery roads. Heads down against the weather. A child slips and falls. People who see this try to stop but those behind haven't seen and keep coming. Before you know it there's a number of people on the ground and on top of the child. The child doesn't survive. If that were your child would you make the same comments.

[+DoofersDad]

Everyone is making comment about whether or not its right to cancel on safety grounds. Here's a little scenario. One that the police assess as risk. A few thousand people, mostly adults, are leaving a stadium at once. Out onto slippery roads. Heads down against the weather. A child slips and falls. People who see this try to stop but those behind haven't seen and keep coming. Before you know it there's a number of people on the ground and on top of the child. The child doesn't survive. If that were your child would you make the same comments.

Where do we draw the line on this though? If the football is called off then maybe they go walking somewhere and the kiddie falls through some thin ice. A child could trip and fall when there was no ice around with the same tragic result. I just think society has moved too far in pandering to H&S issues. You can never eliminate risk so lets try and educate people about hazardous situations so that people can take appropriate actions to minimise risk and let people decide what is reasonable for them. There has to be something wrong in society when you buy a cup of coffee and there is a warning that the container may contain hot liquid. If the attitudes of today had been around in 1990 then there would be nobody reminiscing about the Airdree match today.

[Charles Bannerman]

I think much of the problem is that Britain has ceased to be an industrial power so we have to employ people instead in Sports Administration and Health and Safety. :)

Seriously, though, I do have a suspicion that the legal profession and the media have a lot to answer for. However if I were to allow this response to take a political turn I might also suggest that since the mid 90s, and especially since they came to power in 97, the (New) Labour Party, having ditched Socialism for the cause of electability, needed a substitute bandwagon and espoused Political Correctness.

But to return to lawyers and the media. In an increasingly litigious society where firms of solicitors specialise in compensation claims there is an increased risk that someone will sue and the Law will be assinine enough to uphold the claim. As a result those who call the shots are less willing to put their necks on the line.

As for the media, certain sectors of it (and I would single out Fascist rags like the Daily Mail) are obsessed with attributing blame, even when blame is not really all that relevant a factor. For instance on Saturday the Mail's weather coverage plumbed the depths of blaming the forecasters. Again, those who call the shots have become unwilling to put themselves in the firing line.

Also, as the generations which suffered the Depression and two World Wars die out, we are left with a society which has known nothing but the Welfare State (which has become the Nanny State) and has never had it so good. (I suspect Harold MacMillan was just a few years early coining that phrase.) Life has become incredibly soft and always manages to offer an instant fix which also maybe means that people have become terribly precious about themselves as well as rather incapable of making their own realistic decisions.

Edited January 11, 2010 by Charles Bannerman

[Alex MacLeod]

Everyone is making comment about whether or not its right to cancel on safety grounds. Here's a little scenario. One that the police assess as risk. A few thousand people, mostly adults, are leaving a stadium at once. Out onto slippery roads. Heads down against the weather. A child slips and falls. People who see this try to stop but those behind haven't seen and keep coming. Before you know it there's a number of people on the ground and on top of the child. The child doesn't survive. If that were your child would you make the same comments.

Where do we draw the line on this though? If the football is called off then maybe they go walking somewhere and the kiddie falls through some thin ice. A child could trip and fall when there was no ice around with the same tragic result. I just think society has moved too far in pandering to H&S issues. You can never eliminate risk so lets try and educate people about hazardous situations so that people can take appropriate actions to minimise risk and let people decide what is reasonable for them. There has to be something wrong in society when you buy a cup of coffee and there is a warning that the container may contain hot liquid. If the attitudes of today had been around in 1990 then there would be nobody reminiscing about the Airdree match today.

Yes maybe but he wont have three thousand (in our case) people trampling over him.

[tm4tj]

Lets not get carried away with what if's. What if an earthquake swallowed all the fans up on the way to the game....what if those that stayed at home had there houses burned down in a great fire.....what if...

Responsible risk assessment is what will determine the outcome. If the risks are greater than the need to play the game then it won't be played.