This Saturday is our first home game of the season and it is a big one. For the first time in our history, we entertain Rangers in Inverness. Sorry it is not a big game, it is huge. It is the sort of game we should relish: remember going to Tannadice ; going to Parkhead, the first time, then coming home gutted only to return a few days later and, oh what a night we had then; remember Celtic coming to Inverness; remember not being able to concentrate at work; remember the secret smile you had, as you relished the challenge your team had been given; remember the dream we had last year. You know the one: finishing eleventh in the league and returning home to Inverness, having won the right to play top-flight football in the highlands, for the first time in history. It was more than just our dream, it was our destiny, and we felt it, we believed it.
Well the dream became reality sooner than we had even dared to think it was possible and then, turned sour, quicker than milk left out in the mid-day sun, in Florida, in July.
The reason was simple, hundreds of Celtic fans had bought tickets for the home end and nobody seemed willing, or able, to do anything about it.
The backlash was swift: the clubs official message board was awash with messages of condemnation; the phone lines were jammed and the operations manager’s inbox was full to overflowing.
The result was a promise from the club that this would never happen again and some will be looking at this game as the next big test. I don’t think so. The “next big test” came on the last day of the season.
We were encouraged, through the media, to come and say thank you to the team for such a great season and we did, in our numbers, but did we get the chance to say thank you?
No, what we got was not one but two pitch invasions by opposition fans. Opposition fans, who took great delight in goading the Caley Thistle faithful and in the middle of it all, surveying the scene, with a happy smiling face, our operations manager- clearly seen on the television coverage! Strike two.
So here we are, facing Rangers in Inverness for the first time and I’m more concerned about what goes on in the stand, than what goes on on the pitch. Everyday we hear of more and more Rangers fans who have tickets for the home end.
So I say to the club, please get this sorted. The priority ticket sales, clearly, has not worked. Get a supporters database set up ASAP, or use the one that is already there in the shape of the supporters club.
To my fellow Inverness Caledonian Thistle fans, I make this plea: If you find yourself in the vicinity of a Rangers supporter, do not confront them or berate them, report them to the nearest steward, calmly. Do not confront the steward or demand immediate action, as this is not always possible. Always remember that, if there is trouble within the ground, it is our club who will be punished.
Lets do our talking on the pitch.