Welcome to the now legendary Caledonian Football Club Memorial Thread started by RayBees and PRS in July 2007. All Caley fans are welcome to share their memories and nostalgia about the once great and tragically no-longer-with-us club. Keep All ICT chatter out! Enjoy:


Ok here it is by popular demand (even if it's only me and PRS). I'm sure Jaggies are allowed to contribute a small amount though.

Hey PRS I've been wondering what dya reckon Wilsie, Kevin Mann, et al are up to these days? They should be in some sort of Hall of Fame or something. Living legends!

You lot ruined many a Saturday in my youth, but is depressed me even then to see a club disappear under the circumstances (and that includes Thistle as well, depsite Lossie beating them in their last ever game ).

I hear there is some new team in Inverness called Caledonian, are they in anyway related?

There's a team playing in the Inverness amateur league called Caledonian. Think thats maybe what you've heard of.

Trips to Lossie were always nice. It always seemed sunny when i visited and we used to take the football and go for a kickaround in the park before the game. Ahhhh.

Thats how we pick our first 11 these days.

Not sure what Wilsie and Kevin are up to but I went to see them play for Bon Accord at Beith in the Junior Cup about 10 years ago. Both are Caley legends. They signed for Caley in 1980 and were still there in 1994, travelling for every game from Aberdeen. Caley had a tradition of long serving players travelling from Aberdeen. Bob Summers from 1974 to around 1988, the great Allan Presslie from 1963 to 1978. I think his son, Paul played for Lossie, no doubt Jimmy Shaker can confirm. When Elvis Pressley died in 1977, the Howden End made up their own "tribute" (to Campdown Races) "Elvis is dead,but Alan lives on, doo da etc".

I miss Caley. They were one of the teams that made the HFL special and a trip to Telford Street or a visit from Caley were among the highlights of the season as you always felt it was a big game against a big club.

Although I like the inclusion of Wick Academy and Inverurie Locos in the HFL these days, these clubs haven't replaced the likes of Caley and Elgin City - and I think the HFL is a lot poorer as a result.

It's not the same anymore. Although what happened with the Caley and Inverness Thistle merger obviously affected you guys more than anyone as you actually lost your clubs, I think it was felt further afield through all fans of HFL fitba as well.

clubs in inverness have been merging for over 100 years.

ever heard of citadel, inverness celtic etc caley never died



sends a shiver down my spine when i think what mightve been if the merger never went ahead the time it did. in 2 weeks we're playing the gers at home in a run of the mill league game, a team with more support in inverness than ict do, who we took 7 from 9 points of them last time out. 15 years ago a rangers XI coming north for a pre season kick around wouldve been like a cup final, there will be 7,500 people at the league game and regardless of whos playing its remarkable what caley have achieved since the merger surely having one club in inverness with almost 3,000 season ticket holders is better than two with about 100.

live in the past if you want, the ground was embarrassing, the legends wouldnt last 5 minutes today and the highland league gash on show every week would make most inverness fans stomach turn. nobody should get all bleary eyed thinking about it, most of the old howden enders i meet at the football today can get a bit nostalgic over a pint but every one to a man knows whats happened since has made it all worthwhile

besides all that.. as i say to them, who the hell says caley died

You don't know what you are talking about, do you. The only thing achieved since the merger was a fake plastic club with a fake plastic support who will all disappear upon relegation, and a new Currys on the site of a football ground.

Oh Clacher no one asked for an ICT opinion. This is a Caley thread not an ICT one so maybe you should, y'know, go away. It sends a shiver down my spine thinking about the merger and how it absolutely wasn't worth it, so there you go. I think Caley could've achieved a whole lot more than ICT ever will on their own but that wasn't allowed so boohoo. I don't lose sleep over it but i would like you to get back to your pre fab stadium for the game against the huns. I'm sure the match will be dull and the atmosphere non existent as usual. Loads of Rangers fans will be sitting in your end singing horrible songs louder than you.

Let us have our memorial thread and just why don't you stay away? We stay away from your ground after all.

Raybees can remember the season the Jags should have won the league 1987/88 fan we came fae 3-1 doon tae beat Caley 4-3 at Telford Street and we bottled it by getting beat by the Bloo Toon at hame on he last seterday o the season meaning we had to go up to Clach and win 8-0 in the last game. That game ended 2-2 and thus Caley pipped Buckie to the title again

That sounds like the mother of all gutting ends to the season B.A. I was about 7/8 years old at the time so can't quite remember it. It must've been the equivalent of when Hearts blew the title in '86 in terms of fans crying in their bovril. As for not beating Clach.....the shame! Wasn't that at the start of their pish years??

Caley were a good away trip, particularly Telford Street. I guess that's maybe what ICT lack, history.

Caley-County games in the early 90s were almost always crackers - good crowds, good banter, loads of goals. Billy Ferries was another all time legend - i used to hate him, Gordon Connolly and Barry Wilson. One time I shouted something at Connolly and he came up to me and threatened to beat up my dad!!

I like County now though. A lot of my Black Isle mates are County fans. I was at the Gretna game in April and it was absolutely gutting.

There were several mergers in the early days of Scottish football, but these clubs were in their infancy and a bit like ICT, had no tradition. Caley and Thistle had. I always opposed the merger, but I went to see ICT in their first few games and you know what, I found I had no feeling at all for this new thing that had killed the team I love. Fact is, any fans I speak to from premier clubs talk about how souless and lacking atmosphere the new ground is. To you Telford Street might have been an embarrasment, but it had character and atmosphere, the supporters had a real passion for their club, by all accounts ICT lacks all of these. Re Howden Enders now supporting ICT, I knew many Howden Enders, only one of whom goes to see ICT. You would get a more balanced opinion if you talked to those who would not go near the new club - which is the vast majority - and see how they feel.
By the way, Citadel did not merge, they disappeared completely.

First Scottish Cup tie I attended was Caley v County in December 1969. Caley won 5- 0 with a crowd of 3500. I really enjoyed going into school on the Monday - I attended Frotrose Academy

oh boo f#ckin hoo, no point attempting to deal with any of you lot is there, like i said too bleary eyed about a past that is exactly where it should be.

you ever see caley win at ibrox and parkhead?

every seen them play at hampden? ever seen the name inverness on a scoreboard winning a scottish cup semi?

ever see them win national trophies?

all of that actually means hee-haw to me being honest but it puts whatever nonsense youre talking about above into perspective. if the fans didnt want it, they wouldnt have voted for it.

since the merger the people of inverness have been voting with their feet every second saturday since 1994.

and as above.... caley didnt die

I thought fans didn't vote for it though.

I thought the vote was won by the pro-merger lobby bringing in a raft of new members to vote in favour of the merger?

Correct mate. Clacher is acting like a clown without makeup. And he really has a problem with Caley fans and fans of Highland league teams.

Caley didn't die.

ICT constantly get called Caley.

The fans that go sing 'Caley,Caley'.

The ground is called the Caledonian Stadium.

The home strips have been mostly blue.

Caley didn't die, but Thistle did!

Nope, they both died unfortunately. I don't care what the ICT fans chant - to most folk they are ICT or just plain old Inverness - either way they are a club that was borne out of the strangulation of two proud old clubs in a political battle. Another Franchise FC.

There is one hell of a gaping hole in the Highland League.

Bang on. ICT fans can chant "Caley, Caley" as much as they like, but they are not Caley and to those of us who actually supported the Caley or Thistle, they never were and never will be. Great idea, lets merge these two clubs to try to get people who dont attend football to watch and never mind that in the process we'll stuff the fans who actually did support these teams.

go f**k yourself

When two clubs join forces and become one, it is called an amalgamation.

When were they founded? Not 1994 for sure.

You have always got to take the earliest foundation of the two joined clubs. That is when the history started. The youngest of the two clubs was the roots of foundation. Fact.

Were Livingston founded in 1974? No they were founded by a team called Ferranti Thistle in 1943.

Thistle and Caledonian never died, but were reborn through marriage, so get your facts right and all you hangers on to all the lies...........GIRUY!

lossie i couldnt give a monkies about the highland league mate, its made up of fisherman, bakers and places like rothes. i prefer the spl

the first round of merger voting for caley members ended something like 53-50 in favor of merging, the second round was about 260-250 after both sides of the argument press ganged support

so, 250ish people voted against ict being formed, we had an average home attendance (excluding away fans) about 19 times that last season.

im not going to post anymore on this topic as the reality of todays situation with regards to inverness football is that the merger was clearly a success. plus when posed the question about clubs being killed off it gives all the ex caley fans the chance to be smug as f#ck to the odd ex thistle fan who pops their head out of the gutter, so its all good

hello hello, we are the caley boys

Do you ever sing "We are the Thistle Boys"?

we hardly sing hello hello tbh

unlike the telford street days we dont have aspirations to become rangers bum chums anymore

cant think of any 'thistle' tunes off the top of my head

Caley never had "aspirations" to be Rangers bum chums. Now disappear back the ICT plastic stadium where you belong, no,on second thoughts,carry on as every posting you have put on here shows you have no understanding what it is to be a real fan and show ICT in a poor light.

as a queen of the south fan you know f**k all about the murder so keep your ill informed opinions to yourself

As an outsider can i ask a few simple questions?

Firstly, how did fans of both Caley and Thistle see the merger at the time?

Why was there a need to merge?

Could the new club not have been called, say Inverness FC and the existing two clubs could have remained in the Highland league, perhaps under a slightly different guise, if legalities said they could not technically continue?

And, now of the current fanbase, is there still any degree of animosity between fans of Caley and Thistle.

Lastly, when the club first played in 1994, why were Caley represented more predominantly than Thistle, in terms of club colours, the ground and players/staff?

Man, i genuinely didn't want this thread to develop into an argument about the merger as it's been done to death and i know ICT fans will come on here blabbing crap like "boohoo", "bitter, blinkered Caley fans afraid of progress", "just look at the unbridalled success story of ICT now" and "aren't Tulloch Construction brilliant at pre-fab staiums" yada yada yada.... but here goes.

For the record, the vast majority of Caley fans were vehemently against the merger. There isn't a doubt about that. I can't really speak for Jaggies. The votes that were organised by the pro-merger board members would've made Robert Maxwell tip his cap in appreciation.

Secondly, there was no need to merge. Caley didn't need Thistle to go into the league. How could they when a smaller club like Ross County got into the league? Absolutely preposterous.

Thirdly, the idea of an Inverness FC being formed, in addition to Caley, Thistle and Clach, was never mooted as that would've been just stupid.

I've no idea about the current fanbase because i don't know any ICT fans.

Needless to say, the new team was dominated by ex Caley players/staff because Caley were a much bigger and better team than Thistle. The comically named Inverness Caledonian Thistle Club play in blue, red, and white.

I miss both Caley and Thistle.

Let's reminisce!

The inititial board was 5 Caley reps to 3 Thistle based on the relative assets of both clubs. Caley fans were very anti merger. For one thing they did not want their club to disappear into a merger, for another, they saw no reason why they should merge to enter the Scottish League. I have a good laugh at Clacher 2 coomets when he talks about the Inverness public "voting with their feet" and going along to watch ICT since 1994. Yup, they did vote with their feet. In spring of 1995, just over 400 turned up for a home match against Albion Rovers. No doubt there is a generation coming up who to whom the Caley and Thistle heritage means nothing, but the merger meant there are many football fans in Inverness who now do not attend football. I only know one Caley fan who watches ICT and that is on an occasional basis.

OK back to the thread topic.

I don't know if i can remember my first Caley game but i remember loving the fact that you could buy pies, sweets, etc in the shop at the back of the Howden End. And changing ends at half time up to the Comet End! Magic!

Well thanks for replying guys. I have a slightly clearer picture now of whats going on.

I hate the idea of plastic/franchise football clubs, but never really thought of ICT in that way. I knew that there was/is a small element of bitterness from both camps regarding the merger, but just kinda assumed that the majority saw it as a step up.

I never thought for a minute that a fair number of Caley/Thistle fans would stop supporting a club altogether.

I would hate anything like this to happen to Saints. It is unthinkable really when you get down to the bare bones of it all.

RIP CALEDONIAN FC AND INVERNESS THISTLE FC

The first game I ever attended was a Caley Thistle select against Celtic at Telford Street in 1968. I had just began to take an interest in football. I was taken to see Celtic and came home a Caley fan. Have no idea why, it just was. There is a theory that many fans don't choose their team, it chooses them and that is exactly what happened to me. Whatever, from that day onwards, there was never going to any other team for me but Caley.

At that time it was widely acknowledged that only one team would get in from the north and that the second team would come from the south. At that stage County were the most succesful side in the league, and had just built a new stand with the promise of a new one to be built if they were succesfully elected. We certainly had a forward thinking board at that time, and I think Caley etc felt that if they went it alone their initial bid wouldn't have been as good as what County were promising. The Inverness clubs' respective boards certainly thought that a united bid would give them more weight to their election manifesto.

It was certainly a surprise to us that we actually got two north clubs elected. County were lucky in the respect that they were in the right place at the right time. Just six years previously before the appointment of Bobby Wilson we were sitting rock bottom of the Highland League

The reason for the merger was that Inverness and Nairn Enterprises would only give backing to this arrangement and would not support a bid from any of the existing teams in Inverness. It became clear quite early on that the candidates from the East of Scotland league were unlikely to get a place on basis of lack of support, finance etc and I do not think anyone was surprised that the place went to two highland clubs. Inverness was always going to get one of these places, based on the size of the town/city. Caley would have got in on their own.

The Caley pies, more slippery than the Clach defence. In my youth, the Comet End was the Distillery End as Glenalbyn Distillery stood where Comet is now. There was an enclosure there as well, but nothing like the Howden End.
A mate of mine from Edinburgh who watches junior and senior football came up for a league game against Thistle in, I think 1992/3 - it was the game where Wilson Robertson hit 30 yarder in the last minue to give us a 3-2 win - and he had to admit that the Howden End had one of the best atmospheres that he had experienced at any level of football.
There was something about the Howden End that other teams found intimidating and it was known outside of the Highland League. For Caleys Scottish Cup tie against Meadowbank Thistle in 1978 in Edinburgh, the programme, referring to the lack of atmosphere at Meadowbank, commented that they "did not have a Howden End" for their fans.

re your last sentance,i agree.The caley support would still have their team as would the jags fans,all happy.why the primary concern was how happy a small clique of non football supporting/aberdeen supporting business people were regarding the football situation in the town is beyond me

I would've said that Telford Street would've had a better atmoshpere than the Meadowbank Stadium but then so would any ground by all accounts. Or were Meadowbank even playing there then??

I've sadly only seen photos of the enclosure at the distillery/comet end although it looked a bit rickety. Did you manage to salvage any items from Telford Street after the demolition? I didn't get any myself. I'm still fuming that my uncle sold an entire suitcase full of programmes & fanzines that i had collected. What i would pay to get that back now.

Have a few programmes, but I was never a collector and have all the LSM fanzines bar one. Lot of autographs from the late 60s and early 70s but that is about it. The Distillery End was rickety - it was a tin shed at best, but you could get a good sing song.
Meadowbank was a souless place at best. Would sometimes go there in my student days - atmosphere probably resembled an ICT home game.

Thanks to all former HFL clubs who have moved onwards and upwards, thus allowing new clubs into the closed shop.

I know 2 older gentlemen who refuse to have anything to do with the new team. I suppose younger generations, and time, will eradicate almost all memory of the two former clubs which is a pity.

And the huge success enjoyed by ICT will accelerate this process. Still, at least youngsters are now more likely to grow up supporting a local side rather than Rangers or Celtic.

Going by the protests at Thistles last ever game, most of them were less than enthusiastic re the merger.

I will consider it a great day for football when ICT begin their slide into the shite.

Ooh. Nail on head I think.

FWIW, I know fans on both sides who to this day refuse to follow ICT. In fact they'd all rather go to a County game than to the dump which says a great deal about how they feel the fans were treated. I can't imagine what it must feel like to have your club's identity ripped apart like that.

This scenorio would never have happend if Scotland had a pyramid system were teams could enter year on year through the non-leagus and into the scottish league just like in most other countries then we could have seen if Caley could have done it by themselves. I never grew up with caley and are a born and bred Caley thistle fan.

"For the record, the vast majority of Caley fans were vehemently against the merger. "

then why did they vote in the majority to merge


the only people ive met in inverness who claim they are anti-ict/merger can usually be found in the chief or portland club wearing rangers tops, all of them claim they were against the merger in the early 90's but the voting figures dont add up

you have to remember the footballing climate in inverness at the time, everybody claimed to have a favorite team but on match days about 200 would turn up at each ground. if they were strongly against an spl side being formed in inverness then they shouldve been a bit more vocal at the time

so "boohoo", "bitter, blinkered Caley fans afraid of progress", "just look at the unbridalled success story of ICT now" and "aren't Tulloch Construction brilliant at pre-fab staiums"

Clacher, your total stupidity and ignorance is getting to be quite funny. Personally i don't go to the Chieftain or Portland and i make a point of not talking to Rangers fans so i can't comment on that but to say "about 200 would turn up at each ground" is total garbage. Never ever did i see a crowd that low at a Caley match. In fact, games against Thistle, County, Elgin would get a minimum of 1,500 and sometimes a lot more.

The dodgy merger vote has been well documented on this post. People were very vocal in their stance against it at the time. You were obviously tucked up in bed at the time or walked around with your hands over your ears going "lalalala i cant hear anything lalalala".

Is this the level of muppet who goes to ICT games these days? No wonder they can't even think up any songs.

And i thought you said you wouldn't post on this thread anymore. Bugger off!

changed my mind mate, free country and all that

you coming down to the game this weekend v rangers or you heading to grant street?

an ICT fan calling himself Clacher.which is it?are you a little confused?we already know youre a dick