Defender says Caley Thistle merger gave new opportunities to north footballers
MIKE Noble says the merger of Inverness Caledonian Thistle provided an opportunity for footballers in the Highlands to play in the Scottish League which didn’t exist for them before.
Tuesday marked the 30th anniversary of Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s first match in the Scottish League when they defeated Arbroath 5-2 in the Third Division.
The new club, which was a merger of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle, played their first match at Telford Street Park in front of a crowd of around 1700 people.
The merger of the two clubs, did not go down well with a number of fans from either set, who were against the formation of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Thirty years on, Noble who was a defender at Caley Thistle, says the merger did provide opportunities which would never had existed had it never happened.
He says what the club went on to achieve over the last three decades, justified the decision to merge both clubs at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Noble said: “At that time, it was a big adventure, we didn’t ever think we would get the opportunity to play in the Scottish League.
“When it came around, we had to grab it when the chance was there.
“For the older boys in the squad, it was their last chance to play in the Scottish League and everyone was up for it.
“It was a new challenge for everyone, I don’t think we realised at the time about how much actual travelling there was going to be and it did take its toll.
“But as the seasons went on it became the norm.
“The one worry was it was a step into the unknown for us. We played Scottish League teams in the Scottish Cup, but they were one-off games. Whereas now it was going to be game after game, you had to compete at that level. It was the test we faced to prove that we could do it week in and week out.”
Managed by Sergei Baltacha in the club’s first full campaign in the 1994/95 season, the squad featured players from Caledonian and Inverness Thistle, as well as additions from Clachnacuddin and a few players from elsewhere.
Despite facing against some of their new teammates for years in the Highland League, Noble said there was no issue with the squad gelling together, as everyone was determined to make it a success.
“The majority of boys had played altogether previously and there were boys there who had been with Clachnacuddin, Thistle and Caley at different times.
“All of the boys played through school and the street league, there are a lot of boys who knew each other anyway and either had played with or against each other for many years.
“It was easy to integrate with each other and get on with each other. It wasn’t like we were meeting someone fresh for the first time.
“It was good in that respect, a few of the young boys who came through as well. With the players themselves, there was no worries about getting on with one another.”
Inverness Caledonian Thistle won their first league match 5-2 against Arbroath with Alan Hercher scoring a hat-trick in the first 33 minutes to give them a 3-0 lead at half time.
Arbroath fought back to make it 3-2 in the second half before goals from Paul Mckenzie and Wilson Robertson secured all three points.
Noble says there was an element of players feeling like they had a point to prove being a new club that they needed to have a decent first season.
Recalling the game, he said: “There was a decent crowd there, I don’t know if there was some fans looking for us to fall flat on our faces as there was still a lot of animosity about.
But it was a great day and big Herchey scored a magnificent hat-trick.
“That set the tone for what we were about, we had a great team spirit and we knew all the boys. It was one of those, we were doing really well, then they showed their class and how difficult the league was going to be.
“Nobody really gave us a chance, people said we would never win anything with players from the Highlands and that was good motivation for us.”
Caley Thistle would finish in sixth place in their first season in the Third Division, but would go on to win the title in the 1996/97 campaign in their first season at the Caledonian Stadium.
Noble says it was important that Caley Thistle started their progression up the leagues early, saying if they didn’t, it may not have led to the success the club went on to achieve.
“In the first game, a lot of people went along to be part of history and say that they were there.
“There was support from across the north. It was a great day and the result was the cherry on the top. For everyone who put their neck on their line to make it happen, it felt justification that they had done the right thing.
“What they went on to achieve and get to the Premiership, it felt it was the correct thing to do.
“But it was baby steps at that time and everyone was fearful what might happen if it didn’t work. That was always in the back of the mind.
“When we got promotion, that is when we decided to go full time. That made a massive difference as well. If we hadn’t gone on and won the league, it would have been another year before going full time and it had might been nearly doing thing.
“But because we went full time early on, it provided players with great opportunities.
“That is the one thing when you look back, we couldn’t have progressed if we hadn’t been successful. It is always nice to give other boys a chance to have a full career full time which nobody would have imagined.”
