There have only been 43 Highland Derbies in all, with Caley winning 21, County winning 11 and a further 11 being drawn. Both sides have their famous victories over their rivals to boast about. County fans’ favourite game against their rivals must surely be their 5-1 win away in Inverness in 2002. Although Caley have never won by more than 3 goals in a Highland Derby, they’ve managed 3-0 wins on six occasions with perhaps their favourite being on the way to clinching the Third Division title. Both teams have squared off in cup competitions five times, with Caley winning all but one game which was a Scottish Cup 4th Round game that finished a 3-3 draw in December 2012. Perhaps the most consequential match between the two sides was in the final game of last season’s SPL where the sides met at Victoria Park with Caley a win away from securing a place in the following season’s Europa League. Caley Thistle fans brought beach balls with them to taunt their rivals about their impending tour of Europe but left deflated as Ross County won the game 1-0 courtesy of an Andre Hainault strike which, along with a St. Johnstone win over Motherwell, meant that European football would not be brought to Inverness.
Caley Thistle have generally been the more successful of the two sides overall, but it isn’t to say they are dominant over their Dingwall opponents. Caley Thistle have spent seven more years at the top table of Scottish football compared to Ross County and have only finished below them in the league in the 1994/95 and 2001/02 seasons. However, Ross County have reached the final of the Scottish Cup, a more prestigious feat than Inverness’ League Cup final visit this year, and have won one more Challenge Cup than Caley. The battle between the clubs’ success has never been conclusive.
The Highland Derby is almost always billed as friendly in the media but it definitely isn’t a love-in. Although both clubs share cordial relations on the administrative side, with both clubs sharing the Highland Football Academy based in Dingwall and good connections between staffs; the fans are decidedly partisan when it comes to their relationship with the other lot from over the Bridge. Insults aplenty are to be heard at the games with each side using offensive and sometimes racially charged slang against each other – with County fans referred to as ‘gyppos’ because of Victoria Park’s proximity to a caravan park and Caley fans being named ‘tinks’ in response. Since both clubs have played each other more regularly in recent years there ahs been an increase in the tension between teams. Because neither club has asserted an overwhelming dominance, both sets of fans claim to be the “real” representatives of the Highlands. Caley’s usual phraseology is “Pride of the Highlands”, whereas County tend to use “We Are the Highlands”. Couple this with Caley’s disputed origin and it’s clear that there are many divisions between fans of the Highland clubs.
Players aren’t immune to the contagious antagonism and often get into small scuffles on the pitch, or sometimes worse with Alex Bone’s attempt to headbutt Charlie Christie after already being sent off in 2000. Red cards aren’t uncommon. Although I wouldn’t ever pretend that the Highland Derby can match some of the more intense atmospheres in some other British games, it is no shrinking violet either.
Perhaps because of the closeness of the two clubs’ staffs there have been a large number of players that have transferred between the clubs throughout the years, giving fans more reason to attack the other side. Originally the flow of transfers was from Ross County to Inverness, with Steven Hislop, Barry Wilson, Don Cowie and John Rankin some of the players making the switch to Caley, who were generally higher in the league system than County. However, in recent years more players have been making the trip in the other direction such as Caley stalwarts Ross Tokely and Grant Munro who finished off their senior careers at Victoria Park. The acceptance of players from former rivals is not automatic and only players that have performed well are reprieved from fans’ criticisms. There is no friendliness at all towards old players playing for the other side, as the chants directed towards Iain Vigurs and his new-born child at last season’s final game of the season showed.
Both teams square off tonight in what will be the final “El Kessocko” of the season and perhaps longer should County fall from the Premiership. It will definitely be a derby full of passion and will hopefully produce some great football in the way it has many times before. A win for the home side would also be welcomed by this less than impartial commentator. Either way it is sure to be another fine example of Scotland’s biggest emerging derbies, even if it isn’t quite the biggest yet.