Inverness Thistle
Formed 1885
Merged with Caledonian in 1994 to form Caledonian Thistle
Kit History
1890-1894 d
1894-1902 d
1902-1904 d
1904-1905 d e
1905 d
1905-1920
1920-1921 d
1921-1925 e
1932 e
1936-1938 e
circa 1950 j
1951-1955 d e k
1955-1960
1960 e
1962-1963 d i
1963-1966 d
1966-1968 d
1968-1969 i
1969-1970 h
1970-1974 e h
1974-1976 e h
1976-1977 l
1977-1979 h
1979-1980 e h
1980-1983 e
1984 e
1984-1986 e
1987-1988 e
1991-1992 l
1992-1993 e
1993-1994 e f
Background
Inverness Thistle was formed
in 1885 along with rivals Caledonian and were joined by a third senior club, Clachnacuddin a year
later. In 1888 these three clubs became founder members of the North
of Scotland FA and a year later, Thistle absorbed Crown FC and won the Inverness Charity Cup, their first honour. Their first recorded colours were chocolate and white, an extremely unusual combination in Scotland. In 1893 they helped form the Highland League, winning the title at the first attempt. Two years later they absorbed another local team, Inverness Union FC and moved into Kingsmills Park, which would be their home until 1994.
For the next 80 years, Inverness Thistle (known as "The Jags") competed in the Highland League, winning eight championships in all. Their last honour was the Inverness Cup, won in their final season.
Thistle applied to join the SFL in 1973 but lost out to Ferranti Thistle (who became Meadowbank Thistle) by a single vote. Like the other top Highland League sides, the Jags earned a strong reputation in the Scottish Cup and in February 1985 they knocked out Kilmarnock. The Scottish League, however, remained a closed shop until the decision to restructure the competition for the 1994-95 season, created two additional places.
To ensure that Inverness would finally have a team playing in the top-flight, Thistle and Caledonian submitted a joint bid over the objections of many of their supporters. This was accepted and the extraordinary task of amalgamatiing these two historic rivals began in the summer of 1994.
Click here to go to Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Click here to go to Caledonian.
Sources
- (a) Caley Thistle Online - an excellent photographic record of the club's kits. My thanks to Alison McInnes for drawing it to my attention.
- (b) SNSPix
- (c) Caley Nostalgia
- (d) Alick Milne
- (e) Inverness Thistle FC
- (f) Ralph Pomeroy
- (g) ICT Official Site
- (h) Seoras Mackintosh
- (i) Ralph Pomeroy
- (j) Alasdair MacNeill
- (k) Ian McConnel
- (l) Caley Thistle Online - action and team photographs from their Highland League days
Photograph courtesy of Inverness Thistle FC