A look back at Inverness Caley Thistle’s play-off history ahead of their final against Hamilton in the Highland capital
Inverness Caledonian Thistle have it all to do in the second leg of their Championship play-off final this weekend.
A 2-1 defeat away at Hamilton Academical on Wednesday evening means they will have to overturn a deficit to preserve their second-tier status for next season, and avoid dropping into League One.
This is the third time the Caley Jags have found themselves in play-offs at the end of the season, so is history on their side? Here’s a look back at their previous attempts at making it all the way through post-season matches.
2018/19
A full 25 years after forming to enter the Scottish Football League, Caley Thistle entered their first play-off run as they tried to earn promotion to the Premiership.
Finishing third in the Championship meant they would have to do it the hard way, with a quarter final against Ayr United.
The first leg at Somerset Park set them up nicely, though, as Charlie Trafford and Jordan White (2) found the net in a 3-1 win.
A 1-1 draw at home, with Coll Donaldson getting his name on the scoreboard, was enough to seal progress to the semi finals, where Dundee United awaited.
With home advantage first up this time, Liam Polworth’s red card meant that a 1-0 defeat – while far from ideal – was not a total disaster as it was a score Inverness could feasibly overturn.
At Tannadice, though, three goals for the hosts and refereeing decisions that left then-boss John Robertson incensed put paid to Caley Thistle’s hopes of a return to the top flight for another year.
2021/22
Again finishing third three years later, Inverness this time won both legs of their quarter final against Partick Thistle.
Shane Sutherland and Austin Samuels sealed a comeback victory at Firhill, before Samuels struck again at the Caledonian Stadium to make it 3-1 on aggregate.
If that seemed relatively straightforward, though, it only meant that the drama was saved for the semi final against Arbroath.
A 0-0 draw in the Highlands left the tie in the balance, and both teams would find it hard to make the breakthrough at Gayfield too.
That was only part of the story though. Having already lost Tom Walsh to long-term injury against Partick, Shane Sutherland suffered the same issue at Gayfield, and when Danny Devine was sent off Inverness were forced to try and hold on with nine men.
Going into extra time, a substitute was finally allowed to replace Sutherland, but then Wallace Duffy was given a red card of his own shortly before a penalty shoot-out.
Somehow, Inverness prevailed, winning 5-3 on penalties to set up a final against Premiership outfit St Johnstone.
Supporters, pundits and players alike would have been forgiven for thinking destiny was pointing towards Premiership football returning to the Highland capital.
A late rally in the first leg to secure a 2-2 draw would have done nothing to dispel that feeling either, with Reece McAlear chipping in with a brace at the best possible time.
The second leg at McDiarmid Park was in the balance at half time, with no further breakthrough, but two goals within 10 minutes of the restart killed off any hopes Inverness had. A further two goals for St Johnstone at the end made it look far worse on the scoreboard than an admirable effort deserved.
2023/24 – so far
This season is the first time Caley Thistle have been in self-preservation mode during a play-off campaign, fighting to stay up rather than win promotion.
Perhaps reflecting their season as a whole, the matches so far can hardly be described as comfortable.
A 0-0 draw away at Montrose in the semi final led to manager Duncan Ferguson admitting their hosts had been the better side on the night.
However, the club’s record goalscorer Billy Mckay popped up with the only goal of the second leg to keep Inverness in contention for that Championship spot next season.
As stated earlier, there is still plenty of work to do after a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of the final away at Hamilton earlier this week.
Aribim Pebble’s late goal does give them hope though – and ICT will need to hold on to every ounce of that they have to get the result they need on Saturday evening.
