Merger Talk

[Rival]

And although I wasn't around, the 2012-13 season, like Caleys, was Paschings best yet. 2nd in the Regionalliga Central to LASK Linz and Austrian Cup winners + Euro Play Off Round

[Rival]

This thread will be back

[+Fraz]

This thread will be back

 

[Rival]

This thread makes me want to shoot myself in the face. Same garbage from Bannerman every time - Self appointed merger expert.

Off for a lie down in a darkened room.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I thought that it got more real near the end !!

[Rival]

Caley!

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Due to the increasing number of posts recently heralding the 20th anniversary I thought that it would be important to bump this and of course draw attention to pages 17 to 21.

[Rival]

This thread will be back

 

arnie.jpg

I told you.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

The Howden End is in the sky - The Howden End will never die.

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

But it did - but at least you've still got the memories, photos and the scars to keep you warm at night. Anyway it wasn't even a nice ground ;-)

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

The main thing that keeps me warm is the memory of the Kingsmills Stand burning down.

[+Fraz]

 

 

This thread will be back

 

arnie.jpg

I told you.

 

 

[old caley girl]

Can someone wake me up when the club is 21. Thank you!

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

The main thing that keeps me warm is the memory of the Kingsmills Stand burning down.

Ah - the famous inside job ;-)

Better to go down in a blaze of glory than be bulldozered into the history books....

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Well I suppose that is what happens when it is between going to hell or to heaven.

[+bughtmaster]

So is it Hades Stadium then??  

[Rival]

20th anniversary soon, this manager talk is piishhh

[Sneckboy]

Reluctant to 'bump' this thread, but stumbled upon this article when looking for something else ICT related.

 

It's not your usual Barry Wilson or John Robertson piece in one of the 'Red-Tops', but rather our from our old stalwart Mike Noble doing an article for The Daily Telegraph, no less! Granted, it was in the lead-up to our League Cup final but nevertheless gives an interesting insight, from a (then active) player's perspective, into the mood at the time.

 

Were there really 'no go areas' in Inverness for the players!?

 

Inverness Caledonian Thistle should be embraced by the people, says Mike Noble

Inverness Caledonian Thistle's first final is a source of pride for their former midfielder Mike Noble

 

Back in 1994 Mike Noble was a well-regarded midfielder with a wealth of experience in the Highland League, where he represented Inverness Caledonian.

On Sunday he will be at Celtic Park to watch Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the club created when Caledonian merged with – you guessed it – Inverness Thistle – take on Aberdeen in their first major cup final.

 

Yet Noble reveals that the decision to pool the two clubs’ resources two decades ago was fiercely opposed at the time and confesses that he believed that the experiment was doomed to failure.

 

Indeed, he was convinced, when the new entity was admitted to the Scottish Football League, that implosion was more likely than promotion.

“Twenty years ago I never envisioned us seeing the end of the season, let alone reaching a cup final in 2014,” said Noble, who played in their first-ever senior fixture, a 2-0 League Cup victory away to East Stirling.

 

“It was a difficult time for the club and the first couple of years were tough. When Steve Paterson came in and got better players on board that turned things round and then he got that iconic win over Celtic in 2000.

 

“But the support wasn’t there that they envisioned we would get in the Scottish Football League. I think they expected us to get figures of around 1,500 but it was less than a third of that. So it was difficult.

“We also had a really small squad and it was difficult when we got injuries. Without Dougie McGilvray putting his own money in we could have gone under quite quickly.

 

“There was a lot of hostility between the club and the supporters. There was a pitch invasion and a sit-in when we [inverness Caledonian] played at Rothes.

“It was a really difficult time but it wasn’t the older people wanting to keep the status quo.

The older guys were looking at the future and the younger guys fought the merger.

 

“It got nasty at times and, on a night out, there were no-go areas for players. It was that bad. There were certain establishments you knew would be full of people who were against the merger. We knew not to go to those places.

 

“That alienated a few players. One of them, Alan Smart, who went on to play for Watford, got particular stick for it.

“I remember our last final for Caley in 1993. Alan scored the only goal and got booed by the anti-merger fans, although we beat Forres Mechanics 1-0 to win the North Cup.

“That summed up the strength of feeling. The fans were against the merger, but they still came on the pitch at the end and tried to get our tops!”

 

While Aberdeen were able to sell over 40,000 tickets for Sunday’s final, Inverness have struggled to reach the 7,500 mark and Noble attributes that meagre figure to the simmering resentment to the merger which still persists in pockets of the town.

 

“There are still fans who go to Dingwall and support Ross County instead of Caley Thistle,” he said. "It’s one of those things but, for me, there is no point in looking back.

“It’s done, it’s dusted and where the club has come in a short period of time is remarkable. The club should be embraced by the people of Inverness but it’s not really happening that way.”

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/inverness/10696616/Inverness-Caledonian-Thistle-should-be-embraced-by-the-people-says-Mike-Noble.html#disqus_thread

 

Edit - adding link

Edited June 17, 2014 by Sneckboy

[rocky1]

He is so right we need to forget about those who did not want the merger -let them go and support other teams or stop watching football apart from EPL prima donnas on Sky TV with no atmosphere and no real sense of belonging! .

We need to concentrate in attracting the new people to the city and also our youth to make sure ICTFC is their "big team"

[Charles Bannerman]

Reluctant to 'bump' this thread,

 

Yet Noble reveals that the decision to pool the two clubs’ resources two decades ago was fiercely opposed at the time

How interesting to read this Telegraph exclusive!

 

20 YEAR OLD MERGER CONTROVERSY SHOCK

 

Now that's something nobody ever knew about until the Telegraph "revealed" it two decades later!

 

(Perhaps reluctance to "bump" this thread should be persevered with.)

Edited June 17, 2014 by Charles Bannerman

[buckett]

20 YEAR OLD MERGER CONTROVERSY SHOCK

 

Now that's something nobody ever knew about until the Telegraph "revealed" it two decades later!

 

 

Ignoring the irony, people in the Press & Journal area were quite familiar with the "merger controversy".

 

Not so in the majority of the wider areas served by the Telegraph and so this might be seen as an informative article, probably without the "Banner" headlines.

 

I never fail to be amused by the extreme reaction by certain posters on here every time the M-word is mentioned. Most however see it as an essential part of the club's history and are able to discuss it sensibly without throwing their toys out of the pram!

 

MERGER!

Oops, here we go again!

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

There most certainly were no go areas for the players in the run up to the merger . I personally witnessed Caledonian players being verbally abused and having to about turn and head back over the bridge to town on a Saturday night out . The pubs in the West end of town were not welcoming for the merger .

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Mike was there at the time of the merger and is far more qualified than most to make such statements - I would suspect that the main thing that irritates a lot of the pre merger fans is that many posters tend to suggest that it should just be forgotten. But these things were and are important issues in the lives of the survivors. At times it still feels like a loss - a death. There will always be the thought "what if ?" - I know I have said it before but it could be comparable to ICT and Ross County merging. Now some, if not many, may scoff and laff at that - but Caledonian FC was an institution. It was a passion, it was a love, it was a family. To many it was a case of Caley til I die and forsake all else.

Although many pre merger fans may disagree - I view ICT as a resurrection of Caledonian and I feel that I can continue to say Caley til I die - and feckin sing it. Jeggies were more of a banter rivalry and the merger only served to overemphasise and catastrophise the divide. Mike appears to believe that the merger still has an effect - of course it does. Who do the offspring of the hundreds of original dissenters support these days - NOT ICT.

[gordieict]

 

Reluctant to 'bump' this thread,

 

Yet Noble reveals that the decision to pool the two clubs’ resources two decades ago was fiercely opposed at the time

How interesting to read this Telegraph exclusive!

 

20 YEAR OLD MERGER CONTROVERSY SHOCK

 

Now that's something nobody ever knew about until the Telegraph "revealed" it two decades later!

 

(Perhaps reluctance to "bump" this thread should be persevered with.)

 

 

i certainly didn't know that there were no go areas for the players in town.

[gordieict]

Mike was there at the time of the merger and is far more qualified than most to make such statements - I would suspect that the main thing that irritates a lot of the pre merger fans is that many posters tend to suggest that it should just be forgotten. But these things were and are important issues in the lives of the survivors. At times it still feels like a loss - a death. There will always be the thought "what if ?" - I know I have said it before but it could be comparable to ICT and Ross County merging. Now some, if not many, may scoff and laff at that - but Caledonian FC was an institution. It was a passion, it was a love, it was a family. To many it was a case of Caley til I die and forsake all else.

Although many pre merger fans may disagree - I view ICT as a resurrection of Caledonian and I feel that I can continue to say Caley til I die - and feckin sing it. Jeggies were more of a banter rivalry and the merger only served to overemphasise and catastrophise the divide. Mike appears to believe that the merger still has an effect - of course it does. Who do the offspring of the hundreds of original dissenters support these days - NOT ICT.

 

Totally agree to say the merger had/has no effect is burying your head in the sand. What that numbers are is debatable but there is still a number still resent the merger.

 

I used to go and watch all the Inverness clubs in the HL days and had no real tie to any team but I do understand those that were against it.