Ross County clinch 2nd Division

By: Ian Rose | April 7th, 2008

I hope that some of you appreciate the historical importance of this post. Mark your calendars, folks. An Inverness Caledonian Thistle fan is about to praise Ross County. Though the two have been bitter rivals since the old days, when County and both of Caley Thistle’s original teams were in the Highland League, I like to think I give credit where credit is due, so here goes.

The title races in Scotland are winding down. It’s been a few weeks since East Fife wrapped up the Third Division, and now the Second Division, the third tier of Scottish football, is also decided. Ross County FC, the pride of Dingwall, clinched the Second Division title this weekend with a win over relegation-bound Berwick Rangers.

This season has been a strange one for County. In a move reminiscent of Vlad Romanov’s sacking of George Burley, chairman Roy McGregor dumped his manager, Dick Campbell, when the Staggies were top of the league table, and replaced him with a relatively young and untested man, Derek Adams. When he made the change, McGregor promised fans “style and panache” from his team, and in the months since, they have delivered, consolidating their lead with a run of eleven wins in twelve matches. In every one of those matches, you could pretty much tell you were looking at a team that had progressed beyond the rest of the Second Division field, and was ready to try their luck with the likes of Dundee and St. Johnstone.

Congratulations to Ross County. For us Caley fans, who have had some admittedly rubbish football to watch lately from our own boys, the promotion of our rivals will bring mixed reactions. For my own part, I would love to see the rivalry played out in more than just preseason friendlies, and when they are ready, I hope they get a chance to join Caley Thistle in the top flight. More importantly, I hope things don’t go the other way. After the way we’ve played in February and March, we’ll have to improve just to ensure it’s not us joining them in the second tier.