Inverness heroes remember the 2000 victory over Celtic

By Stevie Miller

Inverness pulled off an amazing Scottish Cup shock 10 years ago

Ten years ago on Monday, one of the most seismic results in Scottish Cup history took place as First Division Inverness Caledonian Thistle dumped Celtic out of the Scottish Cup 3-1 in Glasgow.

The Highland side - formed from the controversial merger of Inverness Caledonian and Inverness Thistle only six years before - were still part-time as they knocked out the Glasgow giants.

The omens for Celtic were not good, with the original fixture, scheduled for 29 January, postponed after winds of up to 60 mph tore some of the roof from the Lisbon Lions stand at Celtic Park.

Celtic, like they do currently, were trailing rivals Rangers in the league by 10 points, with pressure mounting on manager John Barnes.

That pressure only increased when the visitors took the lead inside 20 minutes on a sleet-lashed February evening.

Young striker Mark Burchill levelled the scores, but a Lubomir Moravcik own goal put Caley Thistle back in front.

Things got worse for Celtic at half-time as an argument erupted in the dressing-room, with top scorer Mark Viduka not appearing for the second-half, and a second-half Paul Sheerin penalty completed a comprehensive victory for the visitors.

Inverness's manager at the time, Steve Paterson, looks back on the match fondly.

"I'm really proud to have been manager of Inverness when arguably one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Scottish Cup happened," he told BBC Scotland.

"I went in with a kind of quiet optimism.

"I knew I had a special team that was capable of playing some very good football that had a lot of self-belief and a lot of talent.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Share your memories (good & bad) of that night at Celtic Park

"There was a lot of leadership in the ranks and I went there thinking that we could definitely give a good account, but I didn't really consider a victory.

"To go there and win comprehensively was amazing.

"One of my abiding memories was the spontaneous linking of my hands and running to our supporters, which was totally unrehearsed and just a beautiful moment in terms of symbolising the unified way the players had been that night."

Lifelong Celtic fan - and former Hoops player - Charlie Christie was named man-of-the-match that night and thinks victory in Glasgow gave the Highlanders a huge psychological boost.

"It was probably the best night of my life to be honest," he said. It was a fantastic night for the club as a whole.

"I think it put Inverness Caley Thistle on the map and a lot of our success after stemmed from that night in my mind."

Inverness CT manager Steve Paterson celebrates victory over Celtic

Christie recalled that the Inverness players felt Celtic were showing signs of weakness ahead of the match.

"They'd been beaten by Hearts 3-2 on the Saturday and John Barnes wasn't exactly covering himself in glory to be fair," he said.

"There was talk of a regime change at Celtic at that time and Caley Thistle took full advantage."

Forward Barry Wilson, now playing for Peterhead, scored the first goal for the part-timers.

"It's something that will always be there as a special night," said the 37-year-old.

"We had bigger ones with winning the leagues with this club. But, as a one-off, to put the club on the map, it was a special night."

Wilson also recalled the celebration in front of the travelling fans.

"We probably milked it, but if ever there was a night to be milked that was it," he said.

"Unrehearsed as it was, it was just a case of 10-15 boys enjoying themselves and going with the flow."

For Caley, it remains a defining moment - the moment their new club came of age and served notice that a team from the Highlands could compete at the top level.

For Celtic, it marked the end of the Barnes era - two days later, the former England international was sacked, to be replaced four months later with Martin O'Neill.