Inverness Caledonian Thistle was formed in 1994 by the merging of two Highland League clubs, Caledonian and Inverness Thistle.[3] Between 1994 and 1996, the new club played their home matches at Telford Street Park, which had been the home ground of Caledonian.[3] However, one of the pledges made to gain entrance into the Scottish Football League (SFL) was that they would move to a newly built ground by August 1995.[3] Four sites were considered until early in 1995, when Highland Council gave approval to a site called East Longman, next to the A9 road and the Kessock Bridge.[3] This site had to overcome concerns of the local Harbour Trust that the stadium floodlights would interfere with traffic in the Moray Firth and the need for an access road to relieve traffic from the A9.[3] Inverness District Council approved the plans and authorised £900,000 of public funds to cover a funding gap.[3]
The SFL extended the deadline for a new stadium to 1996, but the District Council was provided legal advice that the public funds could only be provided under set conditions, which caused further delay.[3] The club threatened to resign from the SFL if the funds were not forthcoming, but eventually the District Council granted the funds in December 1995.[3] The new stadium opened in November 1996 and hosted its first SFL match, a 1–1 draw between Caley Thistle and Albion Rovers. The stadium held 5,000 supporters at opening and cost £5.2 million.[3] This was funded by selling the old grounds of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle for £1.1 million, the grant from Inverness District Council, £500,000 from the Football Trust and the rest was provided by the Inverness and Nairn Enterprise Board, sponsors and supporters.[3] The local authority retained ownership of the ground, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle being given a 99-year lease on the site.[1]
In March 1997, the Caledonian Stadium hosted its first international game, a 5–1 victory of Scotland U-16 over England U-16. In 1998 the stadium hosted Group D of the 1998 UEFA European Under-16 Championship, specifically Russia, Ukraine and Croatia. With Israel being hosted in neighbouring Dingwall. The Caledonian Stadium also hosted a 4–1 win of Portugal over Israel in the Quarter Finals. The stadium also hosted Scotland in a 1–1 draw against the Czech Republic in an unsuccessful attempt of qualifying for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, despite topping their group, losing 7–1 on aggregate to Spain.
When the club won promotion to the Scottish Premier League (SPL) in 2004, they faced a problem in that the Caledonian Stadium did not meet a SPL requirement for stadiums to have 10,000 seats.[4] At that time, the Caledonian Stadium had a total capacity of 6,280 and only 2,280 seats.[4] Inverness CT agreed to groundshare with Aberdeen at Pittodrie.[5] The SPL initially rejected the groundsharing application,[6] but accepted it on appeal.[7] The SPL also voted to reduce the 10,000 seat requirement to 6,000.[7] Inverness CT played at Pittodrie for the first two rounds of fixtures of the 2004–05 season, while redevelopment works were carried out at the Caledonian Stadium.[8]
Inverness playing St Mirren in May 2008 at the Caledonian Stadium.
The redevelopment in 2004–05 included the construction of two new stands at either end of the ground, which made the stadium all-seater and increased its capacity to over 7,500. These stands were built in 47 days by the Tulloch Construction Company who are also the club's biggest shareholder. As Tulloch also paid part of the development cost, the stadium had the Tulloch name added to it on completion of the work and the lease on the site was transferred to Tulloch.[1] The lease reverted to the football club in December 2017, except for the stadium car parks.[1] In February 2019, the stadium was renamed the "Caledonian Stadium" after long-time sponsors Tulloch gifted the stadium to the club.
In 2007, the club added a very small stand opposite the Main Stand - called the West Stand. It has a capacity of around 400 and was initially intended to be a 'singing section'. The highest football attendance recorded at the Caledonian Stadium is 7,753, set on 20 January 2008 against Rangers.
In mid-2018, Inverness CT swapped out the original manned turnstiles for more modern barcode scanning ones, becoming one of a handful in Scotland to use these turnstiles, and the first in the Highlands. The ground hosted the 2019 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, played between Highland club Ross County and Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads.[9]
Caledonian Stadium before Inverness vs Greenock Morton, February 2022
On 7 February 2020, a WWII ordinance was discovered near the stadium, leading to the evacuation of the stadium, the device was detonated safely an hour later, and allowing the next days Scottish Cup Fixture against Livingston to go ahead.
In March 2001, the stadium hosted a rugby match between Caledonia Reds in their game against Edinburgh Reivers. In September 2022, the stadium was to play host to a rugby match for the first time in 21 years with Glasgow Warriors hosting Worcester Warriors,[10] however due to uncertainty regarding Worcester Warriors' future, the match was cancelled.[11]
The stadium first appeared as a concert venue when it successfully hosted Elton John in 2007 and its reputation was bolstered further when Rod Stewart entertained 19,400 fans there in 2010, then again in 2016, the second time entertaining 15,000 fans. Tom Jones was due to be performing a concert in his 80th Birthday Tour on 27 June 2020, and Westlife were due to be performing in the stadium on the following day for their "Stadiums in the Summer Tour", but both the tours were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the stadium was used as a drive-in cinema, showing Toy Story, Grease, Joker, and Braveheart, between 7 and 10 August.
The Scottish Premier League was the top-level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when the SPL and SFL merged to form the new Scottish Professional Football League, with its top division being known as the Scottish Premiership. A total of 19 clubs competed in the SPL, but only the Old Firm clubs of Glasgow—Celtic and Rangers—won the league championship.
John Grant Robertson is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. His playing career included spells at Newcastle United, Dundee and Livingston, but he is best known for his two spells at Heart of Midlothian totalling about 18 years, where he is the club's all-time leading goalscorer. He has since managed Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Heart of Midlothian, Ross County, Livingston, Derry City and East Fife.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in Scottish League One, the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, and hosts home games at Caledonian Stadium.
Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they were formed in 1903. Prior to then, the ground hosted the original Aberdeen F.C. from 1899 until the merger that created the present club.
Darren Graham Mackie is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker for Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League between 1998 and 2012, with a loan spell at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2004.
Victoria Park, also known as the Global Energy Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in the town of Dingwall, Highland, Scotland. It is the home ground of Ross County, who currently play in the Scottish Premiership.
The 2004–05 Scottish Premier League was won by Rangers, who claimed the title on the final day of the season by a single point from Celtic, who had gone into the final fixtures leading and were still ahead in the closing minutes of their last game against Motherwell until they conceded two goals, costing them the title with Rangers winning their match against Hibernian in Edinburgh. The dramatic events became known in popular culture as 'Helicopter Sunday' due to the aircraft ceremonially delivering the championship trophy changing direction in mid-flight as the identity of its winners altered suddenly.
The 2007–08 Scottish Premier League season was the tenth season of the Scottish Premier League. It began on 4 August 2007 and was originally due to end on 18 May 2008. Due to the death of Phil O'Donnell and extremely poor weather causing the postponement of fixtures during the winter, as well as a backlog of Rangers fixtures and their progression to the UEFA Cup Final, the SPL decided to move the final round of fixtures back four days to 22 May 2008. It was the first season under the sponsorship of the Clydesdale Bank.
The term North derby is sometimes used to emphasise their relative geographical proximity, when matches are played between Scottish football clubs Aberdeen and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The clubs first met in a Scottish League Cup tie played on 8 August 1998. Inverness first entered the Scottish Football League in 1994 alongside fellow Highland side Ross County, forming the Highland derby. However, Inverness progressed over the next 10 years to form a rivalry with Aberdeen, after winning promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2004.
The 2007–08 season was Inverness Caledonian Thistle's fourth in the Scottish Premier League and 14th since the merger that created the club. They also competed in the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup.
The 2009–10 Scottish League Cup was the 64th season of the Scotland's second most prestigious football knockout competition, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-operative Insurance Cup. Rangers won the cup beating St Mirren 1–0 thanks to a goal from Kenny Miller.
The 2009–10 Scottish Cup was the 125th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The competition was sponsored by the Scottish Government and for sponsorship reasons was known as the Active Nation Scottish Cup.
The Highland derby is a football rivalry that is based in the Scottish Highlands. It is contested between the only two full-time SPFL clubs in the Highland council area, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County. The city of Inverness and town of Dingwall are only 14 miles (23 km) apart, whereas the nearest other professional clubs are over 100 miles (160 km) away from either club. The fixture is the most northerly professional football derby in the UK.
The 2011–12 season was Inverness Caledonian Thistle's second consecutive season in the Scottish Premier League, having competed in the league since their promotion in the 2009–10 season. Inverness also competed in the League Cup and the Scottish Cup.
The 2012–13 season was Inverness Caledonian Thistle's third consecutive season in the Scottish Premier League, having been promoted from the Scottish First Division at the end of the 2009–10 season. Inverness also competed in the League Cup and the Scottish Cup.
Telford Street Park was a football ground in Inverness, Scotland. It was the home ground of Caledonian F.C. and latterly Caledonian Thistle F.C.
The 2013–14 Scottish Premiership was the first season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The season began on 2 August 2013 and concluded on 11 May 2014. This was the first season of the competition being part of the newly formed Scottish Professional Football League after the merger of the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. This season also featured the introduction of an end of season play-off between the 11th-placed team in the top flight and the teams placed 2nd–4th in the Scottish Championship, to determine whether a second team will be relegated from the league.
The 2018–19Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. season is the club's second season in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the Scottish Premiership at the end of the 2016–17 season. Caley Thistle will also compete in the Scottish Challenge Cup, Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup. This season will be the 25th season since Inverness joined the Scottish Football League. This season is also the return of the Highland derby after Ross County were relegated one season after Inverness.
Over the 150-year history of football in Scotland, most teams have occupied several grounds as their home; this has occasionally involved a relocation to another community altogether. Grounds which have been in continuous use for several decades have been extensively redeveloped, particularly since the 1990s, with a few exceptions. This article and the accompanying tables focus on those Scottish Football League / Scottish Professional Football League clubs which have moved to a different stadium, including temporarily, since the 1980s when this became more frequent.
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