Inverness Caley Thistle legend Paul Sheerin admits under-appreciation for famous Celtic win that ‘made people stand up and take notice’ of Highland club
While a Scottish Cup upset over one of the biggest teams in the country would be a point of pride for most football players, for Paul Sheerin it has become something of a source of regret.
The current Kilmarnock assistant manager was part of the famous Inverness Caledonian Thistle side that went ballistic to knock Celtic out of the competition on February 8, 2000.
In fact, he scored Caley Thistle’s third goal from the penalty spot in the 3-1 win, following Barry Wilson’s header and Bobby Mann’s header that was deflected in by Lubo Moravcik.
At the time, it was the biggest result in the Caley Jags’ history. They were still a second-tier side working their way up the Scottish football pyramid, and they defeated one half of Glasgow’s giants in their own backyard.
Coining the headline “Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious”, it became an iconic moment in both ICT and Scottish football history.
Sheerin, though, was firmly in the camp trying to play down the significance of the result at the time.
“At the final whistle it was absolute bedlam, and obviously it was incredible for the crowd we took down midweek, but over the years I probably under-appreciated it,” Sheerin explained.
“It probably changed things for the worse right after, because we enjoyed that win too much. For a week or two the focus went off football for a bit.
“As an individual game, it’s well up there as a moment in my career, but for me it was just a one-off game.
“I saw it as just one night, and we didn’t go on to achieve anything from it, but over the years you see how much what happened resonated and it put the club on the map.
“After the merger they were going through the leagues, but I think that night made people stand up and take notice of Caley Thistle as a team, and the ambition they had as a team to go forward.
“The older and longer in the tooth you get, I definitely started appreciating it and the effect it had a lot more around the club, the city, nationally and beyond.”
Sheerin suspects that the game being postponed from its original date due to storm damage to the guttering at Celtic Park may actually have worked in Caley Thistle’s favour.
As a club just becoming full time, Inverness had never before experienced such hype going into a match, but the rescheduling meant that some of that attention subsided by the time kick off actually came around.
Caley Thistle’s players, then, were surprisingly relaxed on their way to Parkhead.
Some of that was also rooted in the confidence they had in their own abilities, instilled in a large way by manager Steve Paterson.
He was able to spark something in the careers of players like Sheerin, who in turn were emboldened by Paterson’s commitment to ICT’s style of play – which meant they were never going to park the bus even away at a club like Celtic.
“We all wanted to enjoy it and take it all in, and even though it was a shock to everyone else we were determined to go and give it our all, and enjoy it,” Sheerin recalled.
“I don’t think we had huge fear. I honestly don’t think we looked at winning or losing the game too much, it was more about just going and playing, and being us.
“For spells of the game, we did that, albeit Jim Calder was different class on the night and made save after save as we weathered storms.
“We weren’t going to sit in and defend for our lives – Stevie Paterson was never that way inclined. He always set us up to go and play with a freedom, and it was similar that night.
“It was a breath of fresh air for me coming into the club. Pele was quite relaxed about his football. He did his work during the week, and then on a Saturday it was a case of playing our football and being us.
“As a player at that stage who was struggling to find a club and find confidence, it was the perfect club for me, and the perfect manager.
“That bred confidence through most of us, and even when we were struggling with results we always knew we had the backing of the manager, and that he had confidence and trust that we would turn it around.
“It certainly made playing football a bit easier when you had a manager who you knew trusted you as a group.”
Paterson’s trust was clearly well earned, as the Caley Jags went on to deliver one of the biggest moments in Scottish Cup history.
Going in at half time 2-1 ahead, Sheerin remembers the manager as having to bring players back down from the ceiling and refocus them for the second half.
He also credits the leadership of the spine of ICT’s side – Jim Calder, Bobby Mann, Mark McCulloch, Charlie Christie and Barry Wilson – with ensuring the whole side stuck to their guns to defend their lead.
Still, for all of their efforts it was Sheerin who adorned the back pages the next day after his penalty sent Jonathan Gould the wrong way to seal victory.
“I think with Caley Thistle being in the infancy of being a club it made it a wee bit more special,” Sheerin added.
“My biggest thing actually was going out to get the paper the next morning.
“I lived on Dores Road with my wife, and I wandered along to the newsagents and the lady behind the till actually said to me that I needed to buy every one of the papers.
“Lo and behold, that picture of me celebrating the penalty was prominent on pretty much every one of them.”
