Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Full name	Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club
Nickname(s)	Caley Thistle Caley Jags Inverness Caley Thistle ICT The Jags Caley Inverness Caley Jags The Pride of the Highlands
Founded	August 1994 (1994-08) as Caledonian Thistle Football Club
Ground	Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
Ground Capacity	7,800
Chairman	Kenny Cameron
Manager	John Hughes
League	Scottish Premiership
2014–15	Scottish Premiership, 3rd
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club (also known as Caley Thistle, ICT, The Caley Jags or Inverness CT) are a football club from Inverness, Scotland who compete in the Scottish Premiership. They are currently managed by John Hughes and his assistant, Brian Rice.

Caledonian Thistle F.C. were formed in August 1994 by the merger of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle, both members of the Highland Football League. The new club was formed with a view to applying for one of the two vacancies in the Scottish Football League, created when the league restructured in 1994 to four divisions of ten teams each. They were successful and were elected to the Scottish Third Division along with Highland derby rivals Ross County. The club's name was amended to Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. in 1996 at the request of Inverness District Council. The council had contributed £900,000 towards the development of Caledonian Stadium, now known for sponsorship reasons as the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. The stadium is situated beside the Moray Firth, in the shadow of the Kessock Bridge. Its construction was promised in their election to the Scottish Football League. The former ground of Caledonian, Telford Street, was used until the new stadium was complete.

History

See also: List of Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. seasons

Chart of table positions of ICT since joining the League.

The club first came to national prominence after their Scottish Cup victories over Celtic in 2000 and 2003: winning 3–1 at Celtic Park, resulting in the headline "Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious" in The Sun which is now framed in the foyer of Caledonian Stadium, and 1–0. Inverness also knocked other SPL teams out of cup competitions, including Motherwell and Hearts. Over the first ten years of their existence the club had been responsible for a total of 12 'shocks' and as a result had gained themselves a reputation as being "giant killers". On 25 February 2007, Inverness's run of cup victories over Celtic came to an end following two goals in the last two minutes of their fifth round tie at Caledonian Stadium. Having led 1–0 for the majority of the game thanks to a Graham Bayne goal, Steven Pressley equalised before Kenny Miller netted the winner in stoppage time. However, another victory against Celtic occurred on 16 December 2007, this time in the league, when the team came from being 2–0 down to win 3–2, with goals scored by John Rankin, David Proctor and Don Cowie.

A significant event in the club's history was the signing of Romanian international Marius Niculae. Niculae was involved in the club's 2007–08 campaign and played at UEFA Euro 2008, before leaving for Dinamo Bucureşti. He later became involved in a dispute with the club over a share of the transfer fee that was not paid to him when he left. As a result, Inverness were ordered by FIFA to pay £133,000 to the player. The club appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and in November 2011, the club won their appeal.

Having won the 2009–10 First Division title in their first year back in the division since 2003–04, Inverness have competed in the top tier of Scottish football. Season 2014–15 saw the club finish in their best ever placing of third.

Third Division

• 1994 – 1997

After a promising start to their inaugural campaign in 1994–95, the club eventually finished sixth in the Third Division. The following season, Inverness CT showed improvement with a third-place finish. In Season 1996–97, they won the Third Division Championship following a 4–1 home win over Albion Rovers in front of nearly 3,000 fans. This was just 5 months after moving into the Caledonian Stadium.

Second Division

• 1997 – 1999

The club spent two seasons in the Second Division. After a closely fought campaign, they finished runners-up to Livingston in Season 1998–99, thereby securing promotion to the First Division.

First Division

• 1999 – 2004

Season 2003–2004 could be regarded as the club's most successful up to that point. In November 2003, they defeated Airdrie United 2–0, with goals from Steve Hislop and David Bingham, to win the Scottish Challenge Cup, and also reached the Scottish Cup semi-final, losing a replay 3–2 to Dunfermline Athletic after a 1–1 draw at Hampden Park. However, the greatest achievement was on the final day of the season, when Inverness defeated St. Johnstone 3–1, with goals from Paul Ritchie, David Bingham and Barry Wilson and, as a result, pipped Clyde to the First Division title. This made the club eligible for promotion to the Scottish Premier League (SPL). However, SPL rules at that time stated that all member clubs must have a stadium with a minimum capacity of 10,000 seats. Caledonian Stadium did not meet this criterion, leaving the club's Board with a dilemma: either to remain in the First Division (like Falkirk the previous season) or to groundshare with Aberdeen, over 100 miles (160 km) away. After consulting with supporters, the Board decided the 'sacrifice' of one season in Aberdeen would be an acceptable compromise to ensure Premier League participation for the club.

Scottish Premier League

• 2004 – 2009

Inverness playing St. Mirren in May 2008 at the Caledonian Stadium.

A change in SPL rules during the 2004–05 season reduced the stadium seating requirement to 6,000 seats for SPL membership. The Caledonian Stadium was rendered a valid SPL venue after a rapid ground expansion, with two new stands added. The stadium was renamed as the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in honour of the local building firm that completed the work in only 47 working days. The chairman of Tulloch, David Sutherland, was also chairman of the club at the time and remains a major shareholder. The club returned to playing in Inverness, defeating Dunfermline 2–0 in their first SPL game in their own ground on 29 January 2005, thanks to goals from Barry Wilson and then player-manager Craig Brewster.

During season 2008–09 season, the team incurred a number of bad results and struggled near the bottom of the SPL. Eventually, manager Craig Brewster was sacked after a run of seven consecutive defeats, ending with a 1–0 loss to Hamilton Academical. This was the first time the club had sacked a manager, and the fans had previously voiced concern about Brewster's ability. Brewster was replaced by former England international Terry Butcher, who was unable to prevent the club's relegation, despite an initial improvement in results. Inverness Caledonian Thistle's tenure in the SPL eventually ended in May 2009 after suffering a 1–0 home defeat to Falkirk. Their final total of 37 points remains the highest ever for a team finishing bottom of the SPL.

First Division

• 2009 – 2010

The team celebrating winning the First Division title in May 2010 at the Caledonian Stadium.

After a slow start to their first season back in the First Division, which looked set to be won at a canter by runaway leaders Dundee who were 15 points ahead in January, Inverness put together an astonishing run of form which saw them go on a 21-match unbeaten run. On 21 April 2010, Inverness secured promotion back to the SPL with two games to spare after Dundee lost to Raith Rovers. Inverness became the first team in ten years to secure an immediate return to the SPL. The team went on to celebrate their promotion with a 7–0 win at Ayr United, their biggest ever away win. On the final day of the season, Inverness beat Dundee 1–0.

Recent history

Having won the 2009–10 First Division title in their first year back in the division since 2003–04, Inverness have since competed in the top tier of Scottish football. In 2013–14, the club reached their first major final – the Scottish League Cup – losing on penalties to Aberdeen. They then beat Falkirk in the final of the Scottish Cup in 2015. That same season, Inverness secured entry to European competition for the first time, with a best-ever third-place finish in the Premiership.

Return to the SPL/Premiership

• 2010 – present

As part of the push for promotion in the 2009–10 season, Inverness went on an unbeaten away run in the league that continued through the entire 2010 calendar year, culminating in a 1–1 draw against Hearts at Tynecastle on 18 December. This extraordinary sequence ended in defeat at St. Johnstone on 2 January 2011 when the Perth side won by a single goal. At the split, Inverness narrowly missed out on a top six spot, eventually finishing in a club record-equalling 7th place. However, two years later, they would finish even higher.

During the 2012–13 season, a 3–0 win over Hibernian on 8 December 2012 saw them rise to second place in the SPL (behind Celtic), their then, highest ever league position.

Continued good form over the course of the season consolidated the club's position in the top-half of the table. Victory over Highland derby rivals Ross County on 16 March elevated Inverness CT onto an almost unassailable points-total in their quest for a maiden 'top-6' finish. This achievement was confirmed the following day as the club benefited from a favourable result in the Sunday SPL fixture. This guarantee of a 'top-6' place ensured that the 2012–13 Scottish Premier League season would see Inverness CT record, their then, highest ever finishing league position.

Ultimately, Inverness CT finished in 4th place, narrowly missing Europa League qualification on the final day of the season, succumbing to a 1–0 defeat from local rivals Ross County.

Inverness CT began the inaugural season (2013–14 Scottish Premiership) of the revamped SPFL Scottish Premiership with a 3–0 win over St. Mirren. This result saw the club take pole-position in the league table. They remained top of the league until the 9th game of the season when they dropped to 2nd place following a loss at St. Johnstone.

On 11 November 2013, Hibernian reached a compensation deal with Inverness for Terry Butcher to move to the club, alongside assistant manager Maurice Malpas.

After an extensive recruitment process, on 4 December 2013, John Hughes was unveiled as the new manager of the club. In January 2014, Russell Latapy was appointed as Hughes' assistant manager.

In February 2014, Inverness defeated Hearts in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. Inverness struck first with Greg Tansey firing the Highland side into the lead. Jamie Hamill then scored 2 goals in 2 minutes and gave Hearts hope of reaching their second League Cup Final in two years. Just when Inverness were on the brink of defeat, Nick Ross equalised in the 94th minute and sent the game to extra time. After no goals being scored in extra time, Inverness clinched the win on penalties.

On 25 February, Inverness beat Ross County in Dingwall in the Highland Derby. The 3–0 win was the first time they had won a Highland Derby in Dingwall in the League since March 2003. They also won the next derby 2–1 on 4 April. The game was also played in Dingwall.

On 16 March, Inverness and Aberdeen faced each other in the 2014 Scottish League Cup Final at Celtic Park in Glasgow. After tense 120 minutes the two teams lined up for a penalty shoot-out. Inverness missed their first 2 penalties with Billy McKay's penalty saved and Greg Tansey firing over the bar. Despite Nick Ross and Aaron Doran scoring their penalties Aberdeen won 4–2.

Inverness finished the season with a 2–0 win over St. Johnstone thanks to second half goals from Ryan Christie and Greg Tansey.

In May 2014 the club announced the American fast food restaurant franchise Subway as their new main shirt sponsor.

Between May and September 2014, Inverness kept a series of consecutive clean sheets, enabling them to achieve a club record of 616 minutes without conceding a goal.

They then reached the final of the Scottish Cup in 2014–15 after defeating Celtic in a tense semi-final.
Further success followed, with a 1–0 victory away to Dundee confirming a record third-place league finish for the club. This also guaranteed Inverness qualifying for European football for the first time – they will compete in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. They capped an extraordinary 2014–15 season by winning the Scottish Cup Final against Falkirk at Hampden Park.

European record

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Astra Giurgiu	0–1	0–0	0–1

Notes

• 2Q: Second qualifying round

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Manager	John Hughes
Assistant Manager	Brian Rice
Coach	Scott Kellacher
Club Captain	Richie Foran
Under 20s Coach	Duncan Shearer
Physio	John McCreadie
Sports Therapist	Stuart Phin
Club Doctor	Dr Derick Macleod
Kitman	John Docherty

Players

As of 11 January 2016

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Ryan Esson 2 DF David Raven 3 DF Carl Tremarco 4 MF James Vincent 5 DF Gary Warren 6 DF Josh Meekings 8 MF Ross Draper 9 MF Richie Foran (club captain) 10 MF Aaron Doran 11 MF Jordan Roberts 12 GK Dean Brill 14 DF Danny Devine 15 MF Nathaniel Wedderburn

No. Position Player 16 MF Greg Tansey 17 MF Lewis Horner 18 FW Alex Fisher 19 MF Danny Williams 20 MF Liam Polworth 24 FW Calum Ferguson 25 GK Owain Fôn Williams 27 MF Iain Vigurs 28 FW Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo 31 GK Cameron Mackay 37 FW Alisdair Sutherland 39 FW Miles Storey (on loan from Swindon Town)

Development squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 32 DF Chris Brown 33 DF Kane Hull 34 MF Jason Brown 35 DF Calum Howarth 36 MF Struan McArthur 38 MF Blair MacLennan 40 FW Jaime Wilson

No. Position Player 41 MF Stephen Rennie 42 GK Daniel Hoban 43 FW Andrew Macrae 44 DF Alasdair Stark 45 DF Cameron Gilchrist 46 FW Chris Blackett

For recent transfers, see:

Main article: List of Scottish football transfers winter 2014–15

Main article: List of Scottish football transfers summer 2015

Notable players

International players

Players who have represented their country whilst contracted to Caley Thistle are:

• Owain Fôn Williams (Wales)
• Richard Hastings (Canada)
• Billy McKay (Northern Ireland)
• Pāvels Mihadjuks (Latvia)
• Marius Niculae (Romania)
• Andrew Shinnie (Scotland)
• Owain Tudur Jones (Wales)
• Jonathan Tuffey (Northern Ireland)
• Davide Xausa (Canada)

Managers

List of permanent Inverness CT managers:

John Hughes in his days as Hibernian manager.

• Sergei Baltacha (15 May 1994 – 13 May 1995)
• Steve Paterson (1 August 1995 – 11 December 2002)
• John Robertson (26 December 2002 – 3 November 2004)
• Craig Brewster (25 November 2004 – 13 January 2006)
• Charlie Christie (13 January 2006 – 26 August 2007)
• Craig Brewster (27 August 2007 – 19 January 2009)
• Terry Butcher (27 January 2009 – 11 November 2013)
• John Hughes (4 December 2013 – present)

Sergei Baltacha had been manager of Caledonian prior to the merger and he carried on as Caley Thistle manager after the merger in 1994. He remained in charge for only one season, leaving in 1995 to be closer to his family in Perth.

Baltacha was replaced by Huntly manager Steve Paterson, who to date is the club's longest-serving manager. During his seven and a half years as manager, from the summer of 1995 to December 2002, Paterson succeeded in taking the club to the Scottish Football League First Division. He also steered ICT to their famous 3–1 Scottish Cup victory against Celtic in 2000.

In November 2002 Paterson was strongly linked to the vacant manager's position at Dundee United. However, he chose to stay with Inverness for another month, after which he left, along with assistant Duncan Shearer, to become manager of Aberdeen.

The club also had a Director of football, with former player Graeme Bennett appointed while Steve Paterson was manager.

Paterson was replaced by former Hearts player John Robertson, whose two-year reign as manager was an exceptionally successful period. Under Robertson, Inverness won the 2003–04 Scottish Challenge Cup, gained another Scottish Cup victory over Celtic, this time 1–0 thanks to a goal on the stroke of half time by club record scorer Dennis Wyness and won the First Division Championship, taking the club into the SPL.

Robertson eventually left to become Hearts manager and was replaced by Dunfermline's Craig Brewster as player-manager.

Brewster succeeded in keeping the club in the SPL. He also introduced new training regimes to increase player fitness and was successful in steering the club to good results against a number of established Premier League sides, including Rangers, Celtic, Motherwell, Hearts and Hibs. After a period of just over thirteen months at the club he left to become the new Dundee United manager after the sacking of Gordon Chisholm.

Former player Charlie Christie was appointed manager on 27 January 2006, after a successful spell as caretaker manager following the departure of Brewster, during which time Inverness achieved three wins out of three games played, including a record victory for the club in the SPL as they beat Falkirk 4–1 away from home. He resigned on 19 August 2007 due to the pressures of the job, and because he believed it to be the correct decision for him and his family. He has now resumed his former role, running the club's Centenary Club lottery.

A short time after Christie resigned, Craig Brewster was reappointed. This was a controversial decision by the club, as Brewster had left to manage Dundee United only 18 months previously.

He was eventually sacked in January 2009, after a run of seven league defeats. Prior to this, the ICT supporters had become increasingly concerned about poor performances and rumours of dressing room unrest, leading to a protest by fans at the team's 1–0 defeat by Hamilton on the weekend before the sacking.

Brewster's successor, the former England international Terry Butcher was appointed on 27 January 2009, along with Maurice Malpas as his assistant. Terry Butcher managed in over 200 matches for the club, the 100th taking place on Friday 6 October 2012, in the 3–1 win over Ross County in the first SPL Highland derby.

In November 2013, after nearly five years at Inverness, Hibernian reached a compensation deal with the club for Terry Butcher to move to Easter Road alongside assistant manager Maurice Malpas.

After an extensive recruitment process, on 4 December 2013, John Hughes was unveiled as the new manager of the club.

Honours

Leagues

• Scottish First Division (second tier):
  • Winners (2): 2003–04, 2009–10
• Scottish Second Division (third tier):
  • Runners up (1): 1998–99
• Scottish Third Division (fourth tier):
  • Winners (1): 1996–97
• North Caledonian League:
  • Winners (2): 1994–95, 1997–98

Cups

• Scottish Cup:
  • Winners (1): 2014–15
• Scottish League Cup:
  • Runners up (1): 2013–14
• Scottish Challenge Cup:
  • Winners (1): 2003–04
  • Runners up (2): 1999–00, 2009–10
• Inverness Cup:
  • Winners (7): 1995–96, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2009–10
• North of Scotland Cup:
  • Winners (4): 1999–00, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12
• Chic Allan Cup:
  • Winners (2): 1994–95, 1998–99
• Football Times Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1998–99
• PCT Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1998–99

Records

Overall

• Biggest home victory: 8–1 v Annan Athletic, 24 January 1998 (Scottish Cup)
• Biggest away victory: 0–7 v Ayr United, 24 April 2010 (First Division)
• Biggest home defeat: 0–5 v Dundee United, 9 March 2014 (Scottish Cup)
• Biggest away defeat: 6–0 v Airdrie, 22 September 2001 (First Division); 6–0 v Celtic, 22 September 2010 (League Cup) and 6–0 v Celtic, 27 April 2014 (Premiership)

• Goal milestones: The club's 1000th goal was scored on Saturday 9 February 2008 by club captain at the time, Grant Munro in a 1–1 draw away to St. Mirren.
• Clean sheet record: 616 minutes – between 7 May and 13 September 2014.

SPL / Premiership

• Record home victory: 6–1 v Gretna, 3 May 2008.
• Record away victory: 0–4 v Gretna, 27 October 2007 and 0–4 v Dundee United, 22 August 2010.
• Record home defeat: 1–5 v Motherwell, 18 November 2012.
• Record away defeat: 6–0 v Celtic, 27 April 2014.
• Most points in a season: 65, in 2014–15
• Fewest points and worst league placing: 37, in 2008–09, finishing 12th.
• Best league placing: 3rd, in 2014–15
• Most goals scored in a season: 64, in 2012–13
• Fewest goals scored in a season: 37, in 2008–09
• Most goals conceded in a season: 62, in 2007–08
• Fewest goals conceded in a season: 38, in 2005–06

Scottish Cup

• Best run: Winners: 2014–15 (won 2–1 against Falkirk).
• Worst run: First round: 1994–95 (lost 1–2 at home to Queen of the South).

Scottish League Cup

• Best run: Final: 2013–14 (lost 2–4 on penalties after 0–0 draw (aet), to Aberdeen).
• Worst run: First round; twice: 1995–96 (lost 3–5 on penalties after 1–1 draw (aet), (1–1 after 90 mins) away to Berwick Rangers) and 2003–04 (lost 1–2 at home to Queen's Park).

Highest attendance

Caledonian Stadium, from the Kessock Bridge.

The club's highest 'home' (league) attendance actually occurred while they were groundsharing with Aberdeen at Pittodrie. With Inverness fans in the traditional home end, and Aberdeen fans filling the away end, a record attendance of 9,530 was set on 16 October 2004. This record may stand for some time, as the crowd that day was bigger than the current capacity of Caledonian Stadium.

The club's highest 'home' (cup) attendance was also recorded in a venue other than their home ground. A crowd of 11,296 watched Inverness play Rangers on 9 March 1996 at Tannadice in Dundee. The game had been switched to Dundee as the club's home ground (Telford Street Park at that time) was deemed unsuitable for the Scottish Cup quarter-final tie.

The highest attendance recorded at the Caledonian Stadium is 7,753 set on 20 January 2008 against Rangers.

References

External links

• Official website
• 'CaleyThistleOnline' ~ Independent Fan Site
• Inverness Caledonian Thistle Supporters Trust site
• BBC report on Scottish Cup defeat of Celtic, 8/2/2000
• Caley Thistle on Soccerbase
• Inverness CT BBC My Club page
• Inverness Caledonian Thistle Highland March site