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Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 82.41.236.68 (talk) at 14:33, 20 August 2005 (Added squad list as per official website). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Inverness
File:Inverness Caledonian Thistle logo.gif
Full nameInverness Caledonian Thistle
Football Club
Nickname(s)Caley Jags
Gegründet1994
GroundCaledonian Stadium,
Inverness, Scotland
Capacity6,280
ChairmanKen Mackie
ManagerCraig Brewster
LeagueScottish Premier League
2004-05Scottish Premier League, 8th

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the city of Inverness. They are currently playing in the Scottish Premier League and are managed by Craig Brewster, who is also a player for the club.

They play in blue, red and white strips, and are nicknamed Caley Thistle. Their home ground, Caledonian Stadium, is situated beside the Moray Firth, in the shadow of the Kessock Bridge.

History

The club was formed as Caledonian Thistle F.C. in 1994 following the merger of Caledonian F.C. and Inverness Thistle F.C., both members of the Highland Football League, to fill a vacancy in the Scottish Football League.

After a promising start to their inaugural season, Inverness eventually finished sixth in the Third Division in Season 1994-1995. The following season, they finished third and, eventually, in Season 1996-1997, Caley Thistle won the Third Division Championship.

The club then spent two seasons in the Second Division and, after a closely-fought season, finished runners-up in Season 1998-1999; a feat which saw them promoted to the First Division.

Season 2003-2004 is regarded by many as Caley Thistle's most successful. In November 2003, they defeated Airdrie United 2-0 to win the Challenge Cup and reached the Scottish Cup semi-final, losing a replay 3-2 to Dunfermline Athletic after a 1-1 draw at Hampden Park. However, the best was still to come. On the final day of the season, Inverness defeated St Johnstone 3-1 and, as a result, pipped Clyde to the championship. This made them eligible for promotion to the Scottish Premier League. Things, however, were not as simple. SPL rules stated that all member clubs must have a stadium with a minimum capacity of 10 000 seats. Caledonian Stadium did not and this left the club's board with a dilemma: do they remain in the First Division (like Falkirk the season before) or do they groundshare with Aberdeen, over 150 km away? After consulting with supporters, the board decided the sacrifice of one season in Aberdeen would be worth it for Premier League football.

After a change in SPL rules during the 2004-05 season to only require 6 000 seats for SPL membership, Caledonian Stadium was made a valid SPL venue after a rapid ground expansion, which added two new stands. Caley Thistle returned to playing in Inverness, playing and defeating Dunfermline in their first SPL game in their own ground on 29 January 2005.

The club are also famous for their Scottish Cup victories over Celtic in 2000 and 2003: winning 3-1 (resulting in the memorable headline "SuperCaleyGoBallisticCelticAreAtrocious" in the SUN newspaper) and 1-0 respectively. Inverness have also knocked-out other SPL teams including as Motherwell, and Hearts and as a result had gained themselves a reputation as being 'giant killers', but following their promotion to the SPL, they have now become 'giants' themselves.

Managers

Famous Players

  • Craig Brewster
  • Jim Calder
  • Charlie Christie
  • Bobby Mann
  • Stuart McCaffrey
  • Juan Jose Carricondo Perez (Juanjo)
  • Duncan Shearer
  • Iain Stewart
  • Ross Tokely
  • Barry Wilson
  • Dennis Wyness

Current Squad

Goalkeepers

1. Mark Brown Scottish
21. Michael Fraser Scottish

Defenders

2. Ross Tokely Scottish
3. Stuart Golabek Scottish
4. Darren Dods Scottish
5. Stuart McCaffrey Scottish
14. Stuart McCaffrey Scottish
16. Richard Hastings Canadian
18. David Proctor Scottish
20. Tom Parratt Scottish

Midfielders

6. Roy McBain Scottish
7. Barry Wilson Scottish
10. Richie Hart Scottish
12. Russell Duncan Scottish
23. Liam Fox Scottish
24. Ian Black Scottish

Strikers

8. Steve Hislop Scottish
9. Graham Bayne Scottish
11. Juan Jose Carricondo Perez Spanish
15. Liam Keogh Scottish
17. Craig Dargo Scottish
19. Bryan Prunty Scottish
25. Craig Brewster Scottish
26. Chris Finnegan Scottish
28. Rory McAllister Scottish


Honours

  • Scottish First Division(1): 2003/04
  • Bells Challenge Cup: 2003/04
  • Scottish Third Division(1): 1996/97
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