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How Nessie stole the spotlight from Inverness Caley after a football first

A Rangers and Celtic select v Inverness Caley in 1959 Back row – Ballantyne (Caley), Beattie (Celtic), Mackintosh (Caley),  Lornie  (Caley), Paterson (Rangers), McGillvray (Caley), Kennedy (Celtic), Christie (Caley), Millar (Rangers), McBeath (Caley), King (Rangers)
Front: Crerand (Celtic), McKenzie (Caley), Baird (Rangers), Ingram (Caley), Tully (Celtic), Tulloch (Caley), Queen (Rangers), Clyne (Caley), Conway (Celtic), Munro (Caley), Hubbard (Rangers)
A Rangers and Celtic select v Inverness Caley in 1959 Back row – Ballantyne (Caley), Beattie (Celtic), Mackintosh (Caley), Lornie (Caley), Paterson (Rangers), McGillvray (Caley), Kennedy (Celtic), Christie (Caley), Millar (Rangers), McBeath (Caley), King (Rangers) Front: Crerand (Celtic), McKenzie (Caley), Baird (Rangers), Ingram (Caley), Tully (Celtic), Tulloch (Caley), Queen (Rangers), Clyne (Caley), Conway (Celtic), Munro (Caley), Hubbard (Rangers)

Inverness may have scored a first in Scottish football history, but its time in the spotlight was cut short by Nessie.

Research for a football memories project has shed light on the remarkable story from nearly 90 years ago.

On March 22 1933 the first game in Scotland under modern floodlights was held at Telford Street Park, Inverness.

Caledonian beat Clachnacuddin 2-1 in a benefit match in front of 2,500 spectators to mark the long service of Caley players Andrew Mitchell and K.J. Whitton.

Floodlight football ‘has a promising future’

The following day, The Press and Journal reported the move showed Inverness had “given the lead to Scottish football”.

A member of the North of Scotland SFA told the P&J reporter floodlight football “had a promising future in the north”.

Three lamps, each of 1,000 candle power, were erected on poles along the two sides of the park.

A white ball was used and the report said “play was never difficult to follow”.

The P&J reported in 1933 on the first floodlit match in Inverness.

A second game was played under the lights a few weeks later when Caledonian defeated Aberdeen University 4-3.

But circumstances, and a certain monster, intervened and it was to be a further 26 years before floodlights were installed at Telford Street.

The story was revealed by Jamie Gaukroger, co-ordinator of High Life Highland’s Am Baile culture and history website.

He was addressing a meeting of Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s Football Memories Group which was launched in May. 

Jamie said a few weeks after the floodlit game, the upgrading of the A82 Inverness-Fort William road was completed, helping to bring more visitors to the area.

Story helped launch Nessie phenomenon

“In July 1933, one of those visitors was George Spicer who, while travelling a few miles south-west of Inverness with his wife, spotted a ‘most extraordinary form of animal’ crossing the road in front of their car.”

Mr Spicer later said it looked like a “scenic railway” and he and his wife watched as it vanished into the water.

The story helped launch the Nessie phenomenon and other people, along with London-based media, flocked to the loch in the hope of glimpsing the monster.

Circus impresario Bertram Mills offered a reward of £20,000 (the equivalent of £1.4 million today) if the beast was delivered to him before January 25 1934.

Telford Street park, pictured here in 1984, was home to Caledonian FC.

The conditions were it had to be at least 20ft long, weigh more than 1,000 lbs and be a creature believed to be extinct.

“People camped out along the shores of the loch, trying to spot the beast”, said Jamie.

“In order to assist with the search, Caley’s pioneering floodlights were dismantled and taken a few miles down the road to Loch Ness to set up to assist the search for Nessie.”

It was not until 1959 that Caledonian installed a floodlighting system at Telford Street.

To mark the occasion on March 11, they pulled off a major coup by attracting an Old Firm select side to Inverness.

Celtic players signed for Rangers to play in Inverness

Regulations of the time required all competing players to be signed to a single member club.

So the five Celtic players selected signed for Rangers and re-joined Celtic the following day.

A huge crowd of 6,000 saw Caley lose 4-2 to the Old Firm select, possibly the last time Rangers and Celtic stars played in the same team.

Sammy Baird and Jim Conway scored for the Old Firm while Rodwill Clyne and Jimmy Ingram replied for Caley.

The other Highland League sides in Inverness followed suit later. Clachnacuddin opened their first floodlighting system in 1961.

Celtic came north in February 1972 to open Inverness Thistle’s floodlights.

Gordon Fyfe is joint chair of ICT community trust, which is promoting the football memories in partnership with High Life Highland.

A plaque at Caledonian Stadium commemorates the floodlights erected in 1959.

He said: “The Nessie floodlight story is just one of the fascinating memories that our project is unearthing.

“Inverness has such a rich football history and it is fun researching the stories that made the headlines down the years and recording the stories of players, officials and supporters who helped make them.”

Am Baile hosts the Inverness Football Memories Project.

The ICT Community Trust is keen to mount a permanent Inverness football memories display in the city and welcomes any donations or the loan of memorabilia.

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