Inverness Caley Thistle

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 competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, and plays its home games at Caledonian Stadium.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle won the Scottish Cup, were runners-up in 2023 and were also runners-up in the Scottish League Cup in 2014. They have also won the Scottish Challenge Cup twice. Its highest Premiership position is third in 2014–15.

History

Formation and early years

Before 1994, there were three football clubs in Inverness competing in the Highland League: Clachnacuddin, Caledonian, and Inverness Thistle. Inverness Union, which competed in the Highland League in the late 19th Century, merged with Inverness Thistle in 1895.

All three clubs had won a number of local titles, and Inverness Thistle narrowly missed out on being elected into the Scottish League in 1973. In 1993 the league agreed to expand by an extra two teams, and improved road links to Inverness now meant that competing in national competitions was more possible.

Caledonian Thistle F.C. was formed in August 1994 from the merger of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle (both formed in 1885), with an objective of taking up one of the two available places in the Scottish League. The merger was opposed by some supporters of both clubs, with Caledonian fans staging a number of protests, but the merger went through and the new club was selected to the Scottish Third Division along with fellow Highland team, Ross County.

Caledonian Thistle started 1994–95 with a game against Arbroath on 13 August 1994, which ended in a 5–2 win at Telford Street Park, the former home ground of Caledonian. Alan Hercher scored Caledonian Thistle's first league goal, and went on to complete a hat-trick. The club eventually finished sixth in the Third Division, and followed this up with a third-place finish in 1995–96. Before the start of the 1996–97 season the club changed its name to Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. Part of the application to join the Scottish League was a commitment to move to a new stadium and, a year later than originally planned, Caley moved to the newly built Caledonian Park in November 1996. With a new name and new stadium, the club finished 1996–97 as Third Division champions, earning promotion to the Second Division. The club spent two seasons in the Second Division. After a closely fought campaign, they finished runners-up to Livingston in Season 1998–99, securing promotion to the First Division.

First Division (1999–2004)

The club first came to national prominence after their Scottish Cup 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.

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 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.

2001 Name Change Ballot

In late January 2001, following Inverness' Scottish Cup, in which ''Caley Thistle'' overturned a 0–3 deficit to win 4–3, fans were asked to fill in a voting card on whether the club should change their name to reflect Inverness's recently granted city status. However, the name change was overwhelmingly rejected by the fans in attendance by 412 to 1,067, mostly on the grounds of the amount of success they had under the Inverness Caledonian Thistle name, namely it being just shy of a year since they had beaten Celtic in the Scottish Cup. The name Inverness City was registered by the club, seemingly in case of a change of heart within the voters, however it was soon dropped when Inverness CT won the Scottish First Division in 2004, and were promoted to the Scottish Premier League. With the name now free to use, in 2006 now defunct local amateur side Inverness City were born, and competed in the lower echelons of the Scottish Football Tier System, playing in the North Caledonian Football League and later the North Junior Superleague, before folding in 2019 due to lack of a home ground.

Scottish Premier League (2004–2009)

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.

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 București. 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 the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and in November 2011, the club won their appeal.

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 is the (equal) highest ever for a team finishing bottom of the top-tier in Scottish football.

Return to the First Division (2009–2010)

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 a 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, winning the league by 12 points.

Return to the SPL/Premiership (2010–2017)

Having won the 2009–10 First Division title in their first year back in the division since 2003–04, Inverness competed in the top tier of Scottish football from 2010 to 2017. 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. That same season, Inverness secured entry to European competition for the first time, with a best-ever third-place finish in the Premiership.

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 Caledonian Thistle 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 Caledonian Thistle's record, their then, highest ever finishing league position.

Ultimately, Inverness Caledonian Thistle 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 Caledonian Thistle 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.

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.

Further success followed that season, with a 1–0 victory away to Dundee, scored by Eddie Ofere, confirming a record third-place league finish for the club.
This also guaranteed Inverness qualifying for European football for the first time – competing in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

Scottish Cup victory and European qualification (2014–2015)

Inverness Caledonian Thistle capped an extraordinary 2014–15 season by winning the Scottish Cup Final against Falkirk at Hampden Park. This result came after they had defeated Celtic in a tense semi-final.
As of 2025, the Scottish Cup in the Second qualifying round. The club were drawn against Romanian outfit FC Astra Giurgiu. An estimated 500 fans followed the team to Romania, watching the team grind out a 0–0 draw. However this was not enough to set up a tie against West Ham United in the next round, as the Romanians had narrowly beaten the Highlanders 1–0 in the first leg in Inverness.

Relegation and the Scottish Championship (2017–2024)

The team failed to carry the form from the previous season due to the loss of key players such as Marley Watkins, Graeme Shinnie and Edward Ofere. Furthermore, an approach from Dundee United to bring John Hughes to the ''Tangerines'' in October was rejected by Inverness, leaving Hughes frustrated.

The club's defence of the Scottish Cup began by beating Stirling Albion after a replay. In the following round, a Jordan Roberts goal against Motherwell set-up a tie against Hibernian. Inverness lost a replay to the Edinburgh club, who eventually went on to win the competition. Hughes left at the end of the season after mutually terminating his contract, citing a collapse in relations with the board.

Club captain Richie Foran was appointed as his successor, despite having no previous managerial experience. The club started the season scoring fifteen goals in four League Cup group games. They also recorded a 2–2 draw in the league against Celtic, the only club to take a point off the Glaswegians for close to a year. However, this good form dropped off, and Inverness did not win a league game from October until February – when a last-minute overhead kick from Billy Mckay lead to a 2–1 win over Rangers.

Inverness were relegated to the Scottish Championship on the final day of the 2016–17 season, despite recording a 3–2 victory over Motherwell. After Foran was sacked from his position, former manager John Robertson was appointed as his successor on 14 June 2017.

Inverness reached the 2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, after a 3–2 win over Northern Irish invitee side Crusaders at home, meaning the club's would make their fourth cup final appearance, and John Robertson's second challenge cup final at the club. Inverness went on to lift the cup on 24 March 2018, with Carl Tremarco scoring the only goal of the game seconds before the game was due to go into added time. Robertson became the first manager in the cup's history to lift the trophy twice with the same club.

This cup win kick-started an unbeaten run of 13 games as Inverness went from lingering around the lower echelons of the table to mid-table. However, despite a late push, an injury-time equaliser in the final home game of the season against Dunfermline meant the club narrowly missed out on the promotion play-offs by just two points, finishing in 5th place despite winning 3–0 away to Greenock Morton on the final day, which would've confirmed a play-off slot had Dunfermlne either drawn or lost to Dumbarton.

In August 2018, the club was saddened to learn of the death of ex-player Alan Hercher at 52 years of age. He was the club's first captain, goalscorer and hat-trick scorer – in their first league game against Arbroath. In tribute, a minute's silence was held at Inverness' first home game of the 2018–19 Scottish Championship season against Ayr United which ended in a 0–0 draw.

In the new year, Inverness were doing better than they had the previous season, sitting in the play-off spots despite drawing nearly every game. The club beat rivals Ross County to progress into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup