With only 24 years of history, supporting Inverness Caledonian Thistle is never going to produce 54 Scottish League titles, European Cup success or constant victories. However, it has provided the opportunity to see my team rise from nothing to becoming an established team in Scotland which I thoroughly enjoy following.
Born in 1994, the team was formed as part of a merger between Inverness Thistle and Caledonian, 2 clubs who were originally part of the Highland League that were granted entry to the league system. I started supporting Caley in 2001 when I was only 6 years old and at the time the club had already achieved a momentous feat, having beaten Celtic at Parkhead 3-1 whilst in the third flight of Scottish football creating the iconic headline ‘Super Caley go ballistic Celtic are atrocious.’
This success was the start of our rise through the league’s as we were promoted to the SPL in 2004, where we remained for every year apart from one until 2017. During this time we achieved the feat of finishing 3rd in the league in 2015 and qualifying for Europe as a result where our small city club managed to take hundreds of travelling fans over to Romania to play Astra Giurgui, which unfortunately ended in an aggregate defeat.
Oh, and not to mention in 2015 as well we managed to win the Scottish Cup, an achievement that at the time Hibernian had not managed for over 110 years whilst we managed it within 21 years of our creation.
Sadly, the group of players that won the Scottish Cup moved on to better clubs and since we have relegated to the Scottish Championship, however my love for the club from my hometown still burns on.
I make sure to follow Caley wherever they go, attending most away games they play during the season, meaning I have now visited over 25 of the 42 league clubs in Scotland’s home stadiums.
Unfortunately, this season we have achieved the unconventional achievement of drawing seven consecutive games in the league which equals the Scottish record and sums up how as a team we are currently performing averagely. Despite this though, we still have a shot at the play-offs and hopefully, soon we will be able to represent the North of Scotland in the nation’s top division once again!
