The highest highs of Caley Thistle’s existence sweep back into view as they renew acquaintances with an old family friend, the Scottish Cup.
Few clubs in Scotland, outside Celtic and Rangers, can claim to have as much of an attachment to the competition, given the role it has played in catapulting the team from the Highland capital into global consciousness.
With the arrival of the final on Saturday, the Championship side take an unlikely seat back at the top table once again.
We have just come through the 40-year anniversary of the Gothenburg Greats, where Aberdeen rightly showered its heroes of yesteryear with every accolade imaginable. Memories of that drenched night in south-west Sweden could not be washed away.
For Inverness, it is eight years since their greatest moment. Fresh off an improbable third-place Premiership finish and booking a maiden voyage into Europe, they found enough material to write another chapter in the club’s ever-expanding novella by beating Falkirk to win the cup for the first time.
Who is to say where Caley Thistle might find themselves in 32 years, when their win at Hampden reaches the magic 40. Greg Tansey and Ross Draper may well be venerated with the same gusto among Caley Jags supporters as Neil Simpson and John McMaster are by their counterparts along the A96.
Few would have expected them to plummet from triumph to tragedy in less than two years, with their status as cup-holders and European representatives ended by a swift push through the Premiership trap-door. They have yet to return.
Nostalgia bound to rear its head
So when their fans find themselves in the shadows of the national stadium on Saturday tea-time, nostalgia, the insatiable drug, will once again take over.
Many will be transported back to the golden year of 2015; while Jeremy Clarkson and Sepp Blatter’s careers were taking a death roll, a young man from Glossop was punching his name into Highland history.
That Saturday afternoon was a moment in time, one which only saw its significance emerge in the aftermath.
The team which won the trophy was soon broken into fragments. Graeme Shinnie, their driving force wherever John Hughes played him, left for Aberdeen, while Marley Watkins’ burgeoning performances earned a move to Barnsley. Eddie Ofere disappeared into the ether, Nick Ross bade farewell to his home town and Aaron Doran and Gary Warren endured injury nightmares.
Caley Thistle supporters still got to stamp their passports for Romania. Sun-burnt Highlanders sound-tracking Bucharest’s old town with Sweet Caroline – before it was co-opted as English football’s de-facto anthem – is a hazy, wonderful memory.
The journeys down the A9, watching the milometer rolling inexorably on, have soon seen their purpose crystalised. Getting used to treading Scotland’s most dangerous road to watch your team play is a right of passage for anyone holding a candle for the Caley Jags.
It is often endured with logistical furore in the background. Inverness have long been punished for their geography; an upstart club from the Highlands, whose budget is dwarfed by full-time clubs in the Central Belt, clearly have upset whatever Scottish football deity might exist. Trips south for major cup games have often meant dawn starts and transport chaos, with social-media campaigns for more ScotRail trains a nailed-on certainty.
Hampden offers the chance to dream
And so it is thus this Saturday. The odds are stacked overwhelmingly against Inverness, pitting themselves against a green-and-white silverware juggernaut.
Mentions of ‘Going Ballistic‘ will casually be trotted out, glossing over numerous more significant achievements in the club’s 29-year history.
Make no mistake, if blue-and-red ribbons end up adorning the famous old trophy by dusk on Saturday, it will trump the achievement of dumping John Barnes’ Bhoys 10-fold.
No-one expects it to happen. Few will give Billy Dodds and his side a prayer, expecting nothing but a Celtic procession. The circumstances are markedly different to 2015.
But for Draper and Tansey, you can read Sean Welsh and Scott Allardice. Robbie Deas and David Carson can emulate Josh Meekings and Carl Tremarco. Danny Devine and Aaron Doran remain from 2015. Billy Mckay is an adopted Highland institution.
No-one need excuse Caley Jags fans getting lost in nostalgia this week. They should be encouraged to, savouring every last drop.
Because as much as football gets warped in its own ugliness of greed, hatred and ridicule at times, at its core remains an unshakeable emotional joy. One kick of a bag of wind, in the right context, can reduce human beings to tears.
So when Inverness supporters head for Hampden this weekend, they may do so more in hope than expectation. But they can embrace the dream.
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