Merger Talk

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I once supported Caledonian FC and followed them all over the country. I was a founder of "The Animals" fer fecks sake - Caledonian FC - as in the case of Inverness Thistle FC - are no longer in existence. Ifs and buts are pure toss. O2B.

[clacher_holiday2]

this huge but dormant caley support, has never been anything but a fairytale.

why did only a couple of hundred turn up to save the club from death?

the truth is that there were always dormant football fans in inverness, they just didnt support any of the teams. the same folk would go and watch any inverness club in a scottish cup game and out number the regulars at least 5 to 1.

I'd say its fair to assume that if any of the 3 inverness clubs who existed at the time of the merger had gone it alone then they would probably have a similar level of support we do now. the extra assets available because of the merger were wasted, so the loss of those and the 200 or so fans of the other non merger club can be overlooked as arguements against a single team eventually getting to the top flight.

this is an old one but i still say the location of le stade de calais is still the number one reason more people don't turn out (at least it ranks way over the merger as an excuse). obviously moving somewhere less ridiculous and hopefully to a facility that more closely resembles the real thing, will never happen unless somebody else foots the bill. we missed our chance years ago and have been paying the price since.

[Kingsmills]

Slightly off topic but I tend to agree that the location of the TCS does have an adverse affect on crowds but probably not more than to the extent of a couple of hundred and, in fact, suits many of us who travel from outwith Inverness quite well.

[old caley girl]

Havent posted on this thread yet as the merger time was not a particularly happy one for me and I saw a lot of friends take a lot of flak for sticking to their guns and pushing through what we now know was definately the right decision.

I, at the time, would have loved Caley to have entered the league on their own but I now believe that they would just be like Elgin, a lower division SFL club. My brother is to this day a refusnick. Theres not many of them left beleive me and as Im always telling him its his loss!

As Luke implies this is just history to the younger supporters who have grown up as ICT all their days. Much as I think its important to remember where we came from and for me very happy days, it really is time to move on from this debate.

[Charles Bannerman]

it really is time to move on from this debate.

  (subject to satisfying the natural and commendable curiosity of some of the youngsters on this thread who want to know where their club came from.)

[Kingsmills]

No harm in the matter being raised no more than about twice a year and without invective.

[RiG]

I'd love to know what the definition of "average Invernessian" is.

[+Fraz]

I'd love to know what the definition of "average Invernessian" is.

Witty, charming, intelligent and devilishly handsome. ;-)

[+DoofersDad]

let's face it Rome wasnt built in a day Dougal

 

He's talking to himself!  Finally he's resorted to attempting to convince himself on the merits of his arguments because clearly even he doesn't believe the rubbish he spouts.  Makes for good Christmas entertainment though.

[ferben1994]

As one of the younger members of the ICT fan base I don't know a lot about the merger but ive been surprised to hear that it has kept many fans from both teams away from supporting ICT? Find it quite silly TBH

Really!!!! I sense a rogue stag

[TopSix]

As one of the younger members of the ICT fan base I don't know a lot about the merger but ive been surprised to hear that it has kept many fans from both teams away from supporting ICT? Find it quite silly TBH

Really!!!! I sense a rogue stag

@easterross81

[ferben1994]

As one of the younger members of the ICT fan base I don't know a lot about the merger but ive been surprised to hear that it has kept many fans

from both teams away from supporting ICT? Find it quite silly TBH

Really!!!! I sense a rogue stag @easterross81

I'm not alone :-|

[TheCaleyjags123]

No

[The Mantis]

No

It's OK, as I said earlier we're comfortable talking about it. As the big team in the Highlands we can take it.

[TheCaleyjags123]

Are you being serious? haha

[Charles Bannerman]

 

I'd love to know what the definition of "average Invernessian" is.

Witty, charming, intelligent and devilishly handsome. ;-)

 

I think you're just saying that to exclude IHE!!

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Suits me to a feckin t !!  By the way I can remember seeing crowds of 70,000 in the seventies.  

[Charles Bannerman]

 By the way I can remember seeing crowds of 70,000 in the seventies.  

Amazing the effects of Scotsmac and licking stamps!!

[Bluesman]

Having cheered and cried in the Howden end, marvelled at a young Mr Christie from the cinders at Kingsmills and avoided one or two right hooks at Grant St, life is all about change, nothing lasts forever but the present is there to be enjoyed.

 

Celtic

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

the rest.....

[Kirishima]

I was 14 years old when CT were voted in to the league.  I was a shirt-wearing Aberdeen fan at the time.  I'd watch Caledonian in pre-season friendlies when school was off. Went to the autograph signings, supporters bus, member of the junior supporters club, even wrote a letter to Ian Porterfield at about 7 years old.

 

That was that.  Took a while, like coming off heroin. 

 

These refuseniks are by and large OF fans who were caught out by CTs formation and couldn't kick the habit.  They are questionable Highlanders

[Kingsmills]

In my experience most of us Highlanders are somewhat questionable....

[dougal]

What I find slightly curious about CTO is the lack of Inverness based mods /site admin and this also seems to apply to the most prolific or more vocal posters amongst us I don't really think some posters should accuse all refuseniks to be old firm supporters though when there are a fair number of posters within our own ranks that fall in the same bracket I'd hazard a guess everyone ICT supporter over the age of 35 would have a so called big team me included(Nottingham Forest) Dougal

[CaleyD]

I'm 36 and my big team has always been Caley/ICT...never supported anyone else.

[Kingsmills]

I am 50 and had a brief infantile flirtation with Glasgow Rangers but grew out of it by the age of ten when I was old enough to appreciate just what they and their fans espoused.For the last 40 years my big teams have been Inverness Thistle and ICT although I must confess a soft spot for Clach as my late father supported them all his days and never quite forgave me for my red and black affiliations.

[The Mantis]

ICT are my big team. Whitehill Welfare are my wee team. I don't have any Spanish/English/Italian teams, just teams I can watch regularly (see rant about satellite TV!).