Home of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC
Opened 1996
Capacity 7,512
★★★★★
★★★★★
I have liked Inverness for decades but haven't spent much time there as I live over 400 miles from the place.
I had hoped to watch a match there in July but the heat wave struck and I had to reschedule my trip.
Three years ago, when I collected my semi-final ticket from the stadium 🏟 I was allowed to take a 360 degree video from inside the ground which took in a part of The Moray Firth and the Beauly Firth. To get to where I took the video I had to go through the Players' Entrance and down the tunnel.
I got some good photos and videos once again today. Prior to that Hampden match three years ago, I hadn't been to a football game in maybe thirty years. I am a follower of rugby union.
Shame about today's result.. a draw did seem quite likely.
I had a good time there chatting with a local on the back of the upper level of seating. I liked the fact that many seats near where I sat had people's names on them. I sat on seat T1.
5 months ago
History (from Wikipedia)
Inverness Caledonian Thistle was formed in 1994 by the merging of two Highland League clubs, Caledonian and Inverness Thistle.[3] Between 1994 and 1996, the new club played their home matches at Telford Street Park, which had been the home ground of Caledonian.[3] However, one of the pledges made to gain entrance into the Scottish Football League (SFL) was that they would move to a newly built ground by August 1995.[3] Four sites were considered until early in 1995, when Highland Council gave approval to a site called East Longman, next to the A9 road and the Kessock Bridge.[3] This site had to overcome concerns of the local Harbour Trust that the stadium floodlights would interfere with traffic in the Moray Firth and the need for an access road to relieve traffic from the A9.[3] Inverness District Council approved the plans and authorised £900,000 of public funds to cover a funding gap.[3]
The SFL extended the deadline for a new stadium to 1996, but the District Council was provided legal advice that the public funds could only be provided under set conditions, which caused further delay.[3] The club threatened to resign from the SFL if the funds were not forthcoming, but eventually the District Council granted the funds in December 1995.[3] The new stadium opened in November 1996 and hosted its first SFL match, a 1–1 draw between Caley Thistle and Albion Rovers. The stadium held 5,000 supporters at opening and cost £5.2 million.[3] This was funded by selling the old grounds of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle for £1.1 million, the grant from Inverness District Council, £500,000 from the Football Trust and the rest was provided by the Inverness and Nairn Enterprise Board, sponsors and supporters.[3] The local authority retained ownership of the ground, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle being given a 99-year lease on the site.[1]
In March 1997, the Caledonian Stadium hosted its first international game, a 5–1 victory of Scotland U-16 over England U-16. In 1998 the stadium hosted Group D of the 1998 UEFA European Under-16 Championship, specifically Russia, Ukraine and Croatia. With Israel being hosted in neighbouring Dingwall. The Caledonian Stadium also hosted a 4–1 win of Portugal over Israel in the Quarter Finals. The stadium also hosted Scotland in a 1–1 draw against the Czech Republic in an unsuccessful attempt of qualifying for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, despite topping their group, losing 7–1 on aggregate to Spain.
When the club won promotion to the Scottish Premier League (SPL) in 2004, they faced a problem in that the Caledonian Stadium did not meet a SPL requirement for stadiums to have 10,000 seats.[4] At that time, the Caledonian Stadium had a total capacity of 6,280 and only 2,280 seats.[4] Inverness CT agreed to groundshare with Aberdeen at Pittodrie.[5] The SPL initially rejected the groundsharing application,[6] but accepted it on appeal.[7] The SPL also voted to reduce the 10,000 seat requirement to 6,000.[7] Inverness CT played at Pittodrie for the first two rounds of fixtures of the 2004–05 season, while redevelopment works were carried out at the Caledonian Stadium.[8]
The redevelopment in 2004–05 included the construction of two new stands at either end of the ground, which made the stadium all-seater and increased its capacity to over 7,500. These stands were built in a remarkable 47 days by the Tulloch Construction Company who are also the club's biggest shareholder. As Tulloch also paid part of the development cost, the stadium had the Tulloch name added to it on completion of the work and the lease on the site was transferred to Tulloch.[1] The lease reverted to the football club in December 2017, except for the stadium car parks.[1] In February 2019, the stadium was renamed the "Caledonian Stadium" after long-time sponsors Tulloch gifted the stadium to the club.
In 2007, the club added a very small stand opposite the Main Stand - called the West Stand. It has a capacity of around 400 and was initially intended to be a 'singing section'. The highest football attendance recorded at the Caledonian Stadium is 7,753, set on 20 January 2008 against Rangers.
In mid-2018, Inverness CT swapped out the original manned turnstiles for more modern barcode scanning ones, becoming one of a handful in Scotland to use these turnstiles, and the first in the Highlands. The ground hosted the 2019 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, played between Highland club Ross County and Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads.[9]
On 7 February 2020, a WWII ordinance was discovered near the stadium, leading to the evacuation of the stadium, the device was detonated safely an hour later, and allowing the next days Scottish Cup Fixture against Livingston to go ahead.
The SFL extended the deadline for a new stadium to 1996, but the District Council was provided legal advice that the public funds could only be provided under set conditions, which caused further delay.[3] The club threatened to resign from the SFL if the funds were not forthcoming, but eventually the District Council granted the funds in December 1995.[3] The new stadium opened in November 1996 and hosted its first SFL match, a 1–1 draw between Caley Thistle and Albion Rovers. The stadium held 5,000 supporters at opening and cost £5.2 million.[3] This was funded by selling the old grounds of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle for £1.1 million, the grant from Inverness District Council, £500,000 from the Football Trust and the rest was provided by the Inverness and Nairn Enterprise Board, sponsors and supporters.[3] The local authority retained ownership of the ground, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle being given a 99-year lease on the site.[1]
In March 1997, the Caledonian Stadium hosted its first international game, a 5–1 victory of Scotland U-16 over England U-16. In 1998 the stadium hosted Group D of the 1998 UEFA European Under-16 Championship, specifically Russia, Ukraine and Croatia. With Israel being hosted in neighbouring Dingwall. The Caledonian Stadium also hosted a 4–1 win of Portugal over Israel in the Quarter Finals. The stadium also hosted Scotland in a 1–1 draw against the Czech Republic in an unsuccessful attempt of qualifying for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, despite topping their group, losing 7–1 on aggregate to Spain.
When the club won promotion to the Scottish Premier League (SPL) in 2004, they faced a problem in that the Caledonian Stadium did not meet a SPL requirement for stadiums to have 10,000 seats.[4] At that time, the Caledonian Stadium had a total capacity of 6,280 and only 2,280 seats.[4] Inverness CT agreed to groundshare with Aberdeen at Pittodrie.[5] The SPL initially rejected the groundsharing application,[6] but accepted it on appeal.[7] The SPL also voted to reduce the 10,000 seat requirement to 6,000.[7] Inverness CT played at Pittodrie for the first two rounds of fixtures of the 2004–05 season, while redevelopment works were carried out at the Caledonian Stadium.[8]
The redevelopment in 2004–05 included the construction of two new stands at either end of the ground, which made the stadium all-seater and increased its capacity to over 7,500. These stands were built in a remarkable 47 days by the Tulloch Construction Company who are also the club's biggest shareholder. As Tulloch also paid part of the development cost, the stadium had the Tulloch name added to it on completion of the work and the lease on the site was transferred to Tulloch.[1] The lease reverted to the football club in December 2017, except for the stadium car parks.[1] In February 2019, the stadium was renamed the "Caledonian Stadium" after long-time sponsors Tulloch gifted the stadium to the club.
In 2007, the club added a very small stand opposite the Main Stand - called the West Stand. It has a capacity of around 400 and was initially intended to be a 'singing section'. The highest football attendance recorded at the Caledonian Stadium is 7,753, set on 20 January 2008 against Rangers.
In mid-2018, Inverness CT swapped out the original manned turnstiles for more modern barcode scanning ones, becoming one of a handful in Scotland to use these turnstiles, and the first in the Highlands. The ground hosted the 2019 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, played between Highland club Ross County and Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads.[9]
On 7 February 2020, a WWII ordinance was discovered near the stadium, leading to the evacuation of the stadium, the device was detonated safely an hour later, and allowing the next days Scottish Cup Fixture against Livingston to go ahead.
Things to do in Inverness.
Johnny Foxes.
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Hootananny.
