Club History

Ross County Football Club were admitted to the Scottish League in 1994 following many years in the Highland League.  The club spent five seasons in the Third Division before being promoted in 1998/99 season as champions winning the league by 13 clear points.  Supporters of Ross County in the Highland capital of Inverness had travelled through to Dingwall to support the team during these first five seasons.  A few mates ran buses to matches but there was no formal club until 1999.

Season 1999/00

The Inverness Ross County Supporters Club was formed in the Tarry Ile Bar, Inverness when only five people attended who were charged with canvassing for additional members.  The club was formed and joined the recently formed "Association of Ross County Supporters Clubs" which included Dingwall, Black Isle and Edinburgh.  Inverness Ross County Supporters Club was officially born and has grown over the years!

That first season of being an official club saw the team promoted after finishing third in the Second Division under the management of Neale Cooper.  The club was raising money by obtaining commission on the sale of Ross County Lottery tickets which had the club on a firm financial footing.   Buses to home games were proving popular and after picking up in Inverness we picked up a squad in North Kessock to travel to Victoria Park in Dingwall.  The club ran buses to four away games that season at Firhill Stadium to see the team play both Hamilton Accies and Partick Thistle who were ground sharing at the time.  We enjoyed the hospitality in the Niblick Bar, Aucherarder before and after games on our journey's south!  Also we headed to Hamilton and a cup tie in Dumbarton only to see the game postponed due to the adverse weather  but continued on our journey down the A9 and took in old Highland rivals Huntly who were playing in Falkirk in the Scottish Cup.  At the end of the season the club travelled to Firhill to play Hamilton Accies and four members famously dressed as Elvis and led the singing as the team celebrated promotion.  At the Player of the Year dance in the Ross County Social Club secretary Stewart Maclennan presented Ian Maxwell with our Player of the Year award. 

 Season 2000/01

The season started with an away trip to Ayr United and then a short trip from the Tarry Ile to Caledonian Stadium to meet our Highland rivals Inverness CT for the first time in three years.  An Alex Bone penalty ensured a 1-0 victory for Ross County and how the supporters wished we had further than a mile's travel during the victorirous celebrations on the bus afterwards!  Buses to home games were now going over the Black Isle to pick up in Beauly and Conon Bridge and definately the busiest bus of the season was for the visit of the mighty Rangers on 18 February for a live TV Scottish Cup game.  Though Ross County came out with a lot of credit Rangers won 3-2 to send us home disappointed.  At the Player of the Year dance in the Ross County Social Club treasurer Dougie Anderson presented once again defensive lynchpin Ian Maxwell with the Player of the Year award.  Ross County had finished their first season in the First Division in a respectable sixth place. 

 Season 2001/02

The clubs membership had risen steadily and had a healthy core of 35 supporters and we were now producing and selling polo shirts with the supporters logo on them!  They proved so popular to buy after the blue tops sold out, white coloured tops were also produced and sold out.  The shortest away trip that season with the exception of our Highland rivals Inverness CT was to Perth to visit St Johnstone and we twice put buses to this venue and enjoyed the excellent 208 Pub in Perth which was to be the start of a long standing friendship between the locals and our members!  At the Player of the Year Dance treasurer Dougie Anderson presented Ross County goalkeeper Tony Bullock with his player of the year award at the Ross County Social Club.  All the supporters celebrated Ross County FC's highest ever league finish with fourth place in the Scottish First Division.

Season 2002/03

The club took the bold decision to withdraw from the Association of Ross County Supporters Club.  The club was wound up and reformed under the name "Inverness Ross County Independent Supporters Club" and was responsible for its own destiny!  The club started selling fleeces to members which again proved popular within the membership.  The club made two away visits to Perth for St Johnstone games enjoying a buffet beforehand at the outstanding 208 Pub!  We also travelled to Cumbernauld to see Clyde and towards the end of the season Alloa Athletic in a vital relegation battle.  Unfortunately every away bus trip saw the team defeated but it was a tough season on the park with Neale Cooper resigning half way through and the experienced Alex Smith appointed and the club members experienced many lows as the season went on!  However the team won their final home game 4-1 against Ayr United to secure their First Division status.  Victoria Park went wild with delight and relief that day as the team finished eighth in the First Division table.   However our best trip that season was the short journey to Caledonian Stadium to see us beat our local rivals Inverness CT 5-1 on a cold Tuesday night - one of the best nights ever!  After the last game against Ayr club members Dougie Anderson, Susan Forbes and Nicky Power presented goalkeeper Tony Bullock with our Player of the Year award on the Victoria Park pitch.

Season 2003/04

At our summer AGM Stewart Maclennan stepped down as Secretary having held the post since the clubs formation in 1999.  As a former Ross County player of the 1950's and life long supporter he was made an Honary Life Member of Ross County Football Club by chairman Roy MacGregor which the whole supporters club were very proud of.  Stewart was also made an Honary Life Member of the Inverness Supporters Club for all his hard work starting and running the club over the years.  A new committee was formed and saw the way forward as holding more regular meetings to improve communication.  We also bought a Box Bonanza Draw Ticket to support Ross County FC further financially.  On the pitch things were much improved with the team going top of the First Divison on the opening day of the season and regained top spot again in mid September after beating Raith Rovers 7-1 for our record Scottish League Score.  We ran away buses to the League Cup tie against Cowdenbeath, a league match with our friends at Clyde and our now customary visit to St Johnstone.  In mid November we were 3-0 down to Inverness CT after only 34 minutes at Caledonian Stadium but fought back to draw 3-3 with a last minute Steven McGarry strike to send us into dreamland!  Having beaten ICT 1-0 in the New Year derby match we then visited Celtic in our biggest match in the clubs 75 year history  at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup Third Round.  Two buses from Inverness travelled down the A9 for the match  and we narrowly lost 2-0 to the team who were the SPL champions and who had been UEFA Cup finalists the previous season!  It was also probably the loudest Ross County support in history as we outsang the Celtic!  We purchased a large club banner which still travels to all the matches and were given a special tour of the brand new Highland Football Academy just after it opened.  The team had to many draws and our championship challenge fizzled out but we had our first overnight away trip to Ayr United in April where we enjoyed a 2-1 victory and a great night out with some Ayr supporters.  We held our first Player of the Year Buffet Dance in the Royal British Legion Club, Inverness which we hosted enjoying music from Schiehallion and presenting our main player award to midfielder John Rankin.  Some members also attended the Kenny Gilbert Testimonial Dinner in Dingwall before the end of the season which the club finished in sixth position.

Season 2004/05

Ross County opened the season well having knocked St Mirren out of the Challenge Cup and new striker Alex Burke scoring seven goals in four games!  We then went on a poor run including a League Cup defeat to rivals ICT before our away bus to Raith Rovers saw us return to winning ways which started a better run of results for the team.  We won every game in the Challenge Cup culminating in our first Scottish League final apperance against Falkirk at Perth.  Though we lost the final 2-1 we enjoyed the "jump" when David Winters opened the scoring and the final had a fantastic atmosphere with us enjoying mixing with the other fans in the 208 Pub pre and post match!  Other away buses ran to Perth for visits to St Johnstone and to Clyde where our friendly relationship with their fans continues year after year!  We again supported the football club financially by buying a Box Bonoza ticket to put money back into the club we follow.  Some members supported the Kenny Gilbert Testimonial Match against Rangers in Dingwall which gave the wee man a great send off following his retirement from the game through a serious eye injury.  Our members presented Jim Lauchlan with his man of the match award following an impressive new year home win over St Johnstone at home.  The club struggled in the second half of the season but we ensured our safety with three games to go and eventually finished in sixth place.  Our second Player of the Year Dance took place in the Chieftain Hotel, Inverness with the team and directors present with speeches, presentations and a dance to the band Age Concern.  We also raised £350 in a raffle for the Baby Care Unit at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness.  Our members enjoyed a number of visits to Ross County's match day hospitality and a couple of members also attended Ross County's Annual Dinner at the Drummossie Hotel, Inverness which we enjoyed with football pundit Ron Atkinson.  The fans applauded defender Mark McCulloch who played every minute of every game this season - the ultimate proffesional!

 Season 2005/06

We decided to sponsor a player at Ross County each season to support the club further.  Captain Jim Lauchlan was our sponsored player this year and we also purchased club pennants to pass to friends of the club.  One pennant even made it to Gran Canary to a pub full of memborbila when member Andrew McNicol passed one on to a delighted owner!  The season started with a new manager after Alex Smith had been sacked and John Robertson took over.  We opened the season well being top of the league for a number of weeks and put on away buses to St Johnstone, Dundee and Clyde.  Members attended hospitality at the Brechin City home match on 17 September and were presented with a signed County ball from man of the match Mark McCulloch.  However the club was rocked in October when we were knocked off the top of the league, manager John Robertson resigned due to finanical constraints and the club chairman announced the club was in deep finanical trouble and asked everyone to assist them in anyway possible.  The supporters rallied and "Save Our Staggies" a fundraising group was formed with some Inverness Supporters Club members amongst the committee.  We also made a £500 donation to the football club from our funds to assist the club in their hour of need!  An away match in November saw us visit Stranraer but rather than take the road some of our members and friends flew to Belfast via a new airlink and spent the weekend there and taking the ferry across to Stranraer for the match which we won 3-2!  Under the management of Gardner Spiers the results picked up and midfielder John Rankin scored seven goals in five games to win the Bells Player of the Month for November.  There was too many draws over the season including a high scoring game for our away trip on the bus to Brechin and Gardner Spiers was sacked before the end of the season despite us finishing on 56 points which was a highly respectable  fourth placed finish.  At our annual Player of the Year dance with Schiehallion providing the music at the Chieftain Hotel, Inverness John Rankin was named our top player and this was later agreed by his fellow proffesionals as he won the First Division Player of the Year the first County player ever to achieve this award!  Scott Leitch was appointed the clubs new manager with two games remaining!

Season 2006/07

Our clubs season started with a high spot when at our AGM Dougie "Tatties" Anderson was made an Honary Life Member of the club having been our Bus Convernor since the clubs inception. This was to be a historic season for Ross County for two reasons - one bad one good!  Under the managership of Scott Leitch all the experienced highly paid players were released and a new younger team brought in.  The clubs financial position was a major problem and the league form throughout the season was a struggle culminating on the final day of the season with us being relegated for the first time in our history.  We won just nine league games over the season and so were relegated in bottom position a major disaster to the clubs supporters who had never experienced relegation before.  However earlier in the season we again reached the Challenge Cup final at Perth where we defeated Clyde on penalties for our first Scottish League trophy!  That was a great day out for us as fans as two bus loads made the journey down and had a great time pre and post match socialising with the friendly Clyde fans in the 208 Bar.  We sponsored club captain Don Cowie and sold out of t shirts and jackets from the clubs new range of merchandise.  We had further away buses over the season to Clyde and St Johnstone but on the final day we were relegated with a home defeat by Gretna who were promoted on the same day to rub salt into our wounds!  Our Player of the Year Dance at the Chieftain Hotel featured Schiehallion entertaining us well into the night and Don Cowie being named as our top player.

 Season 2007/08

Manager Scott Leitch had been sacked following our releagation and Dick Campbell was appointed manager for the season back in the Second Division.  Campbell had the team at the top of the league after a few matches but was also sacked and replaced by veteran player Derek Adams.  The management upheaval didn't affect the team though as they stormed to the championship and bounced straight back to the First Division at the first attempt.  Our club sponsored the shirt of striker Sean Higgins and enjoyed a bus to Raith Rovers as we won the league by a distance.  There was great celebrations when we clinched the league at Victoria Park and then some weeks later were presented with the Second DIvision Trophy at our final home match.  At the POY Dance the Second Division Trophy was on display as the leagues top scorer Andy Barrowman won our top player award!  The dance was held as usual at the Chieftain Hotel, Inverness and featured Torridon entertaining us as the players, staff and members enjoyed another memorable night!

Season 2008/09

Under the stewardship of Derek Adams we had a topsy turvey league campaign clinching our safety in the First Division on the final day of the season by beating Morton.  We again sponsored the shirt of striker Sean Higgins for the season!  Though we finished in 8th in the table the league was that tight we actually finished 5th equal!  The biggest trip of the season was to Perth to see our Challenge Cup Final apperance against Airdrie United in November.  Two buses headed down the A9 and the sing song in the 208 Bar was superb.  Unfortunately we lost a tight game on penalties to Airdrie in what was our third challenge cup final apperance in five years.  We also ran a bus to Clyde but attended other matches on the train as the credit crunch meant buses to matches being uneconomical and the train proving cheaper and safer for club members.  At our Player of the Year Dance with Schiehallion at the Chieftain Hotel, Inverness long serving player Mark McCulloch took the top player award which the members were delighted with as he retires from football!  He was the player who attended every Player of the Year Dance since we started running them and his loyalty and support to our supporters club was much appreciated.  Also congratulations to our outgoing Bus Convenour Dougie Anderson who at the POY Award was made an Honary Life Member of Ross County Football Club for his services as a former player and life long fan of the club!  He was given the award by the Ross County new chariman Dave Siegel for Dougies loyalty to the football club over the years!

Season 2009/10

Ross County manager Derek Adams had signed all his player prior to pre season training starting which made a noticable difference as the club were in the higher positions in the league right from the start.  We were in the upper end of the table all season and finished in fifth spot with 56 points equalling our previous best points total from 2006.  We were described as championship contendors throughout the season but a massive fixture back log and too many draws mean't we finished mid table.  However the season will be remembered by everyone for our amazing Scottish Cup run beating Berwick Rangers 5-1, Inverurie Locos 4-0, Stirling Albion 9-0, Hibernian 2-1 in our first ever quarter final appearance and then beating Celtic 2-0 in a Hampden Park semi final - our best performance ever and a result that sent shock waves throughout the world!  The feeling of the members as we beat Hibs in Dingwall in the last minute and then played the mighty Celtic off the park at Hampden are indescribable!  Our supporters club sponsored the shirt of  midfield player Stuart Kettlewell and with the credit crunch affecting everyone it wasn't practical to take buses to away games so members travelled on the train meaning no losses for the club and everyone together for the matches!  Memorable matches included the two trips to Dundee, twice defeating Highland rivals Inverness in 2009 and the magical Scottish Cup run.  We were in second place at the end of January with Paul Lawson player of the month and Derek Adams manager of the month!  This season also saw former County youth academy product and captain Don Cowie (now a Watford player) being capped by Scotland in the Autumn against Japan and Wales.  Our annual Player of the Year Dance was another success at the new venue of the Crown Court Hotel and thanks to all members and Ross County staff for attending.  With County's great season and amazing Scottish Cup run mazy forward Michael Gardyne was among three other players shortlisted for Player of the Year and Derek Adams was in the top three for Manager of the Year (a very rare event for a First Divison manager) and Steven Craigs goal against Celtic was in the top 10 goals of the season.  The season finished two weeks later than expected when we met Dundee United in the clubs most historic ever game the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park and despite losing 3-0 we had a great and proud day for every supporter.  The most successful season in Ross County's history and the first Highland side to ever contenst a Scottish Cup Final in front of the biggest crowd to ever watch the team in action.  A forthnight following the final County's goalkeeper Michael McGovern won his first international cap for Northern Ireland against Chile following a hughely successful debut season for our team!

 

Season 2010/11

Our AGM in July saw Stewart Maclennan step down as chairman and Derek Fraser accept the role for the coming season.  We agreed to continue with the player shirt sponsor so we are again the proud sponsors of Stuart Kettlewell for the coming season!  Our first away trip was the shortest away game of the season on the train to Elgin for the Challenge Cup First Round which saw us beat our old Highland League Rivals on what was the start of a great cup run all the way to the final in Perth at the end of November.  County's cup form was brilliant early in the season progressing against Morton, Partick Thistle and Forfar Athletic in the Challenge Cup which saw us reach the final against Queen of the South in November 2010, our fourth final is six years!  Our cup form was also impressive in the League Cup knocking out SPL side St Mirren in Dingwall on penalties following a pulsating game before being knocked out by SPL side Dundee United, our third cup defeat to them in a year and beamed live across the country by the BBC.  However our league form was up and down and we finished the first quarter of the season on just nine points, joint second bottom of the league with a host of other clubs in the ultra tight league!  Our run to the Scottish Cup Final last year worked against us as teams came to Dingwall and defended in depth meaning few goals scored, few points and not the best for us spectators to view!  Members enjoyed two fantastically funny away trips to Raith Rovers and Falkirk on the train with plenty of laughs along the way and the trip to Falkirk saw an unlikely County away win to ensure we all enjoyed the long journey north afterwards.  Manager Derek Adams left the club in November 2010 to take over as number two at Hibernian and everyone wishes him well and will always remember our Scottish Cup run that Adams took us on in Spring 2010!   Willie McStay was appointed in November and members were gutted when the Challenge Cup Final was postponed due to the weather meaning the new manager's first game in charge wasn't to be a final!  The season went into cold storage somewhat with lots of games postponed across the country.  Come the New Year we lost in Dundee in the league and then met our cup nemises Dundee United but this time drew 0-0 in Dundee meaning a replay in Dingwall which unfortunately we lost on penalties after a pulsating cup tie!  The team then got embroiled in a relegation play off battle with Cowdenbeath showing incosistent form and struggling at the wrong end of the table.  Willie McStay parted company with the club and experienced boss Jimmy Calderwood took over!  There was relief however when we took a break from league duty and won the Challenge Cup Final against Queen of the South in Perth on 10 April 2011.  A great 2-0 win with goals from Barrowman and Vigurs we thoroughly enjoyed by us fans our second time holding the trophy!   Following a long battle with Cowdenbeath we ensured our First Division safety on the last day of April after wins away to QOS and Falkirk ensured we finished eighth in the table and just avoided the relegation play off spot!  We finished 8th with 41 points and had the leagues second best defensive record having conceded only 34 goals but also the leagues lowest scorers with just 30!  At the last home game against Cowdenbeath in Dingwall the team paraded the Scottish Challenge Cup trophy.  A poor campaign in the league but sucess in the cups again!  Jimmy Calderwood left the club at the end of the season and was replaced by a well known face for next season!

Season 2011/12

The committee of the supporters club was re-elected unopposed following the AGM.  The club are delighted to again be shirt sponsors for midfield player Stuart Kettlewell for the coming season.  There was great enthuisam as Ross County started their eleventh season in the Scottish First Division after the summer break!  There was seven new signings including three experienced campaigners and Derek Adams returned to the club as manager!  And what a season it proved to be with the team winning the most First Division matches ever and becoming First Division Champions 2012!  However the season started badly with the players taking time to gel.  We were Challenge Cup holders but went out in the first round at home to Elgin City before drawing our first league game and then losing 5-1 to Hamilton Accies away which was our heaviest defeat in eleven years.  However who would have believed such a heavy defeat would be our only league defeat for the whole season as the team embarked on a 34 match unbeaten run and spent the vast majority of the season top of the league culminating in becoming champions for the first time ever!  In the Scottish League Cup we beat Queens Park and then got revenge against Hamilton Accies to get a moneyspinning tie at home to Celtic which was live on television and where our cup run came to an end!  A great week saw us beat QOS at home, Hamilton away in the cup then a hard fought draw at Falkirk followed by the dream cup draw!  One week changed our season with forward Steven Craig scoring 4 goals in three matches!  The good form continued and at the quarter part of the season we were top of the league on 16 points with just the one league defeat to Hamilton!  The unbeaten run went on for months and months beating the previous best of 23 matches (the previous record held by Dundee) and went on until the season was over!  Postponements saw nearest challengers Falkirk draw level with us on points in late February but winning our games in hand saw the lead extend to nine points following a hard fought win at Ayr United and home wins over Queen of the South and Partick Thistle saw us win all three games in six days!  We then beat second placed Falkirk in mid March in front of 4302 fans to put us fifteen points clear of them and Dundee.  The massive crowd that day knew we were onto something big!  We went 34 matches unbeaten and we knew promotion to the SPL was imminent for the first time in our history just 18 years after joining the Scottish League and we won it on 10 April 2012 without even playing a game!!  The following night at Ayr United we danced, sang and partied throughout the whole 90 minutes and the players joined us at the end so fans and players celebrated together a magnificent achievement!  There was still big wins over Dundee and Hamilton Accies and the day the First Division trophy was presented was unforgettable with the cup paraded round Dingwall on an open top bus plus live music, legends, presentations and all sorts of extra's making it a gala occasion.  The supporters are very proud of their team with their great run.  In fact in 18 years in the league the team have amassed over a 1000 points in the Scottish Football League and now embark on unknown territory - bring on the Scottish Premier League!

Season 2012/13

This is the moment of history - Ross County commence playing football in the Scottish Premier League.  Our AGM went well and we welcomed new members, agreed to change the name of the supporters club to "Inverness Staggies" and produce a new website and facebook page.   Our supporters club will again sponsor Stuart Kettlewells jersey for the coming season!  Soon this website will be replaced by a new site with Inverness Staggies!  Watch this space for further details!