Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious

ID: PC_INVFOOT_MISC_005 DESCRIPTION: Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious Was this the greatest headline in Scottish Football history? On the evening of Tuesday 8 February 2000, Paul Hickson, chief sports sub-editor at The Sun, came up with this memorable headline that still has people talking. Inverness Caledonian Thistle, playing in the SFL First Division and just six years out of the Highland League, had just beaten Celtic 3-1 at Parkhead in a Scottish Cup third round tie to create one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Cup. It was certainly Celtic’s worst defeat and a victory that will never be forgotten in Inverness. According to an online article in the Guardian just days after the match, Paul explained that the headline came into his head long before the final whistle when it became obvious something big was happening. “Celtic losing to a team nobody had heard of – or could even spell – that was the story,” he recalled. His sports editor, Steve Wolstonecroft, had mentioned the 1960s headline used when Liverpool striker Ian Callaghan scored three goals against QPR: “Super Cally Scores a Hat Trick, QPR Atrocious". Apparently, Paul hadn’t heard of it, but he hit back with "Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious". The next day the whole country was talking about the headline. And the legend was born. The newspaper headline is still displayed prominently at Caledonian Stadium and “Caley go Ballistic” was to feature on commemorative tee-shirts and was used as the title of a book written by the late Ian Broadfoot recalling the first decade of the club. Under manager Steve “Pele” Paterson, Inverness Caledonian Thistle stunned Celtic on a snowy night in the east end of Glasgow in front of a crowd of 34,389. Winger Barry Wilson put ICT ahead in 16 minutes before Mark Burchill equalised one minute later. In the 24th minute ICT skipper Bobby Mann restored the Inverness lead with a shot that took a deflection from Celtic’s Lubo Moravcik. Paul Sheerin slotted home a 57th minute penalty to secure the historic win and trigger wild celebrations among the travelling ICT support. The fall out of the result was that John Barnes, in his first season as manager, was sacked together with his assistants, Eric Black and Terry McDermott. At the time, Celtic trailed Rangers in the league by 10 points. Director of Football Kenny Dalglish took over until Martin O’Neill was appointed as the new boss. Inverness Caledonian Thistle drew Aberdeen in the next round and, after a 1-1 draw at Caledonian Stadium, lost the replay 1-0 at Pittodrie. The victory over Celtic remains one of the club’s greatest achievements and the headline remains one of its fondest memories. PLACENAME: Glasgow DATE OF IMAGE: 8 February 2000 PERIOD: 2000s SOURCE: The Sun COLLECTION: Inverness Football Memories - stories Asset ID: 49730 KEYWORDS:

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