Players' Gallery

	Mike Andrew Champions Caley signed Chunky for £2000 from Thistle in 1988, after seven years with the Fools on the Hill. Though he won every honour in the game with Thistle, his six years at Caley produced only three medals, and neither Mike nor Caley were destined to win a league championship again. Criticised for his laid-back style on the park, Mike was in fact an accomplished, competitive centre half and sweeper, and went on to 254 appearances in the Caley shirt, as well as playing for a season in the Scottish League with Caley Thistle. Playing with British legion in 2003 www.northsport.com

	Sergei Baltacha Having been impressed by the set-up at Caley during a visit with St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup, Sergei had over 50 caps for the Soviet Union and his arrival in the summer of 1993 as player-manager was seen as something of a coup for the club. However, supporters soon became disgruntled by his defensive style of play, and Sergei himself was guilty of a few blunders in his position as sweeper. Events on the field (during the final season of Caley's history) became less and less relevant as the merger talk began to dominate, although Sergei did lead Caley to the North of Scotland Cup, their last ever trophy, before being appointed the first manager of Caledonian Thistle.

	Davie Brennan Davie joined from Shotts Bon Accord following a move North to work in Aviemore, and had one season at Caley pre-merger. He made 27 appearances as a tenacious right back, quickly winning over the Caley support. He carried on to play for CT in div.3 but soon moved back to Highland league with Clachnacuddin.

	Charlie Christie One of the most gifted players Inverness has ever produced, Charlie has always been a player for the big stage. His two spells at Caley were not without controversy, including walking out on the club more than once, and falling out with supporters on numerous occasions. Charlie's father was a Thistle man, so during a sticky spell at Caley, Charlie was happy to move to Kingsmills where he played a large part in Thistle's League win of 1987. This brought him a move to Celtic, but after a year he left of his own volition and returned North to sign once more for Caley, while the club showed its will to hold on to him by appointing him commercial manager. Charlie allegedly once sat on the coach to Fort William with the spew bucket, having over-indulged the previous evening, believing the game to be off. Full time football with ICT has brought out the best in Charlie. For Caley, 229 appearances, 90 goals. www.northsport.com

	Roddie Davidson Roddie was a true Caley stalwart who became the club's longest serving player. He signed for Caley on 1st May 1975, made his debut on 25th September 1976 and stayed until 3rd September 1993 when he joined neighbours Thistle. The following day he made his debut against his old club. Roddie's position was right back but the sight of Roddie thundering forward was a common and stirring sight! Roddie made 760 appearances for Caley, and chipped in with 27 goals. He amassed a fabulous haul of 22 medals including 5 Championships, and appeared 32 times in the Scottish.

	John Docherty Doc's time at the Caley Park spanned the years from 1977 to 1990 (with a few months at Falkirk), and he was rewarded with a testimonial against Hearts in 1987. Hailing from Renfrewshire, he played with Benburb, Aberdeen and Elgin, before Alex main snapped him up, surprisingly, on a free transfer. He became a fireman and adopted Invernessian. Made over 400 appearances and won a host of medals including five League championships, then went on to manage the club. Seen here swinging his trusty left foot. (Calum Ferguson collection)

	Alan Hercher Herchie was a great servant of the club and scored many important goals from midfield, including a good few in the Scottish Cup, and possessed considerable aerial power. He could also play as a forward or a defender and earned a testimonial against St. Johnstone in 1997. By this time he was no longer the slim young lad who joined in 1986 from Ross County, and, though Sergei did get him to introduce muesli to his breakfast, he remained unaware of the three eggs and eight slices of toast which usually followed. However Herchie remained a great favourite, who never hid on the park , even on a bad day, and many people will harbour memories of him arriving late in the box to power home a header. 208 appearances, 129 goals.

	Martin Lisle Another stalwart of the midfield and a Caley man through and through. "Zico" joined Caley as a 16-year old in 1979 and stayed until 1994 after which he spent another season with Caledonian Thistle. Famed for his tackling and furious workrate on the right side of the park, Martin would be described nowadays as having "a great engine". Martin made 538 appearances in the Caley blue and scored 120 times.

	Kevin Mann Another firm favourite with the fans, Kevin joined from Dundee in 1981 and travelled every week from Aberdeen with Wilson Robertson, with whom he shared a testimonial against Thistle in Caley's final home match. He could play left back, sweeper or midfield and amassed 31 appearances in the Scottish. In all he wore the jersey 521 times, scoring 50 goals. Interview with Kevin Mann (from LSM)

	Mark McAllister Mark made his debut in October 1988 and, though somewhat injury prone, made the left back position his own, going on to 138 appearances and scoring 9 times. Mark scored a glorious winner against Ross County in April '93. No sooner had Barry Wilson equalised for County, and revealed a "let's all laugh at Caley" tee-shirt, than big Mad Dog McAllister was running through the inside left channel, a trail of defenders in his wake, to crash a powerful drive past Hutchison, before running along the Howden End swapping high fives. His Scottish League career never really took off as he moved to London for work reasons.

	Danny MacDonald A right-sided midfielder who possessed wonderful skill, Danny suffered a terrible knee injury against Stenhousemuir in the "Scottish" in 1992. After a long period in and out of the game, he damaged it again in a friendly at Bankfoot in July 1993, within 10 seconds of the game starting. He did go on to have a brief spell with Caley Thistle in the Scottish League, but was forced to give up playing. Yet another ex-Jaggie, he made 154 appearances for Caley and scored 47 times. www.northsport.com

	Mark McRitchie Mark made the Caley no. 1 jersey his own in late 1990 and went on to 182 appearances. Like many a 'keeper before him he acquired the unfortunate nickname of "Dropsie" though as the end of Caley approached, Mark was having his best spell. He played a blinder in both Scottish Cup matches against St. Johnstone and it was rumoured that bigger clubs, including Rangers, were interested. Mark was the natural choice for ICT ahead of Jim Calder of Thistle, but early in his SFL career his confidence appeared to desert him and he was soon back in Highland League football with Lossiemouth. www.northsport.com

	Colin Mitchell Went from Caley to Thistle, to Reading, back to Caley in 1990. Mitchie suffered from the fact that two creative midfielders, himself and Charlie Christie, were something of a luxury in the same side. However they often played together successfully, though Mitchie's habit of finding the wrong moment to release the ball annoyed some fans. The possessor of a sweet left foot, he was something of an expert with the dead ball, with two classic strikes in Caley's final season, against Elgin and Huntly. It is surprising then, to find that , in 120 appearances, he scored only 7 times.

		Mike Noble Mikey played 77 times, scoring 14 goals as an attacking midfielder, though he could play centre-half, and actually went on to 100 appearances in Div.3 with Caley Thistle, mainly in defence. Mikey famously alienated himself from the Caley fans at one away match at Lossie during the merger controversy when he told them to "f*** off and support somebody else". www.northsport.com

	Iain Polworth "Polly" was signed by Alex Ferguson for the Dons, but after a couple of years he was back at Telford Street in 1987, still only 19. Probably made more appearances as a sub than as a starter, or maybe it's just my memory. His big moment, again as a sub, was scoring the equaliser against St. Johnstone in the Scottish Cup with eight minutes left. This left him with the dubious distinction of the worst goal celebration ever. www.northsport.com

	Wilson Robertson Every Caley fan loved Wilsie. He had days when he couldn't hit a coo on the erse wi a banjo, and players such as Martin Lisle used to stand next to him in team photos to make their tans look deeper. But on days such as when he scored an injury-time winner in the 1991 Q-Cup final, or blasted a late 20-yarder past Jim Calder to beat Thistle, or waltzed through the entire County defence, all was forgiven. Joined Caley from Dundee in 1981, and travelled up from Aberdeen to the Caley Park every week for 13 years, plus another year with Caley Thistle, before moving to Buckie Thistle then Bon Accord. Wilsie amassed 494 appearances, scoring 191 times, and won 17 medals.

	Billy Skinner Following a long spell in the wilderness with Thistle, Howden Ender Wad came home in August 91 (for a Caley record of £8000) in time to play against his old club (and miss a penalty). An acclaimed right-back, he was unlucky to break his leg weeks later in the 4-0 rout of Ross County, and missed the remainder of the season. This meant that he never played a Scottish Cup tie with Caley, but he was an ever-present in 92-93, and played 73 times for the club in total, scoring twice. www.northsport.com

	Alan Smart "It's white, it's blue, it hasn't got a clue" was the verdict of the Caley fanzine after a brief honeymoon period. Smart was signed by Baltacha (from Brechin's reserve side) but soon became embroiled in the merger controversy. As an outsider who travelled up the A9 in Sergei's car, his views were not appreciated, and when he scored the only goal in the North Cup Final, many actually booed him. His season with Caley was unspectacular, though soon after the merged club joined the Scottish League, he was off to Preston, Carlisle then Watford, scoring the goal which beat Chelsea in the Premiership. All of which goes to show that people like me know sod-all about football.

	Billy Urquhart The Legend, and scorer of countless (well at least 401) goals for the Blues. Billy spent the years from 1978 to 1981 with Rangers then Wigan Athletic, sandwiched between two spells at Caley. He won 6 League medals and 6 Qualifying Cup medals with Caley amongst a total haul of 25, and scored 17 times in the "Scottish". Given that Billy represented the Blues 637 times his place in the hearts of the Caley support is assured. That's why, when you log on to the Caley Nostalgia Page, the first image you see is The Legend scoring against Elgin. What a guy. Still playing at 43 .....and again in 2001 .......and an interview in 2003 www.northsport.com

Auld Yins Gallery

Fred and Bobby Neild, Nov 2001

Alan Hercher, April 2005

Donald "Rasper" MacDonald, May 2001

Steve Polson, April 2005

Roddie Davidson, May 2001

Billy Urquhart and Davie Milroy, April 2005

Mike Andrew, April 2005

Alan Hercher, April 2005

Charlie Christie, April 2005

John Docherty, April 2005

Peter Corbett, March 2006

Alex Main, March 2006

P. Corbett, K. Mann, W. Macdonald, A. Hercher M. Lisle, W. Robertson, J. Bellshaw March 2006

3 photos above courtesy of Peter Paul

			21 July 2007. Ex-Caley v Ex-Keith at Kynoch Park
				Kevin scores with ease, Wilsie blasts home, Doc hits the woodwork!
					Back: R.Summers, J. Docherty Front: K. Mann, K.Taylor, W.Robertson

updated 27July2007