History
The Highland League's largest and most successful club, Caledonian won the competition eighteen times- a record they held until they ceased to exist in 1994. Another Inverness side, Clachnacuddin, equalled this record in 2004. The club's greatest period of league and cup success was in the early 1980s when they won three successive titles under manager Alex Main, a journalist who also wrote the club's centenary book 'Caley All The Way - The First Hundred Years' in 1986. The club won the prestigious Rothmans Football Yearbook Award for outstanding non-league club in 1981-82, Rothmans describing them as one of the outstanding teams of their grade in Britain, let alone Scotland.
Caledonian, like other Highland League clubs, were prevented from making the step up to the Scottish Football League due to the lack of a pyramid system. It was largely believed amongst Highland football fans that self-interest amongst Central Belt league clubs held back the prospect of opening up the league to northern clubs, with the perceived long and difficult journeys to the Highlands being cited.
Despite these handicaps, Caley qualified for the Scottish Cup many times, knocking-out larger League clubs on a total of 19 occasions. Notable achievements included knocking out First Division Airdrieonians in 1990 and in 1992 embarking on a run to the fourth round, defeating league sides Stenhousemuir (4-1), Clyde (3-1), before taking Premier Division St. Johnstone to a replay, eventually losing 3-0 in Perth in front of a crowd of 10,000.
Read more about this topic: Caledonian F.C.
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