Ross County Football Club
After a false dawn when Ross County played three games in the fledgling Highland League in 1893, the Dingwall club reformed in time for the 1929/30 season.
(Under the name of Ross-Shire County, played in The North of Scotland Cup 1888/1892, and The Inverness Charity Cup 1887-88/1890-91)
At a meeting of junior club Victoria United Football Club at he beginning of May 1929 'supporters and friends' decided to seek admission to the senior ranks.
It was also agreed to secure an enclosure and erect a grandstand on the field adjoining the Jubilee Park. Steps were also taken to secure the necessary funds. Provost Murray opened a fund for donations and
acknowledgements would be made each week in the local press. The secretary, D. G. Elder, who worked at the bookstall at Dingwall railway station, said he would be glad to receive and acknowledge
donations as well as a half-crown membership fee. Things moved on apace and Ross County were accepted into the HighlandLeague without much fuss. A game was arranged against an Inverness Select to be played at the new Victoria Park to raise funds for the new club. A crowd of around 1,200 turned up to watch an entertaining match which ended 2-2. After the match the management entertained the players and officials in the Caledonian Hotel. A scribe at the time wrote: “These social amenities tend to create the true sporting spirit off and on the field.”
The teams that day were: Ross County – Gray, Munro, Johnston, Maclennan, Pirie, Grant, Scott, Traill, Morrison, Mackenzie,Young.
Inverness Select – Nelson (Thistle), Ballantyne (Thistle), Clyne (Clach), Ross (Thistle), Forbes (Clach), Shaw (Citadel), Mackenzie (Thistle), Smith (Thistle), Robertson (Clach), Cameron (Clach), Paterson (Citadel).
Very noticeably there were no Caley players in the select team. Maybe it was because they were to appear at Victoria Park the following Saturday(August 17) for County's first Highland League fixture. County, or the “Babes” as they were known at the time won 2-1 against Caley. Young scored County's opener when he got on the end of a Traillfree kick to net off the underside of the crossbar. The roles were reversed for the second when Traill scored following a Young corner kick.
Caley did pull one back through Aird and the visitors had the chance to level before the end when they were awarded a penalty. However, Watson's spot kick was well saved by Gray. Despite his heroics the County keeper came under a lot of criticism for his display. One local report read:“Gray did not field or hold the leather with too much confidence – he is rather apt to leave his goal unattended.”
Interestingly Gray only survived seven games before disappearing off the scene.
County were able to build on their winning start and they went on a run of seven games without a victory, including a 3-1 defeat to Inverness Thistle in the first round of the Qualifying Cup North.
A second victory eventually came on October 12 in the shape of a 2-1home win against Forres Mechanics. Both goals were scored by D. Mackenzie. The highlight of the season was County's first senior cup success – a
2-0 victory against Elgin City in the North of Scotland Cup final at Telford Street on March 15, 1930.
The snow-covered park did not suit the silky skills of the highly-fancied Moray side and County took full advantage of the conditions. Morrison scored the first goal just before half time when he
lobbed Pale after being put through by Pirie. The Elgin keeper was in the wars early in the second half when he collided with County forward Kerr and had to be replaced by Paterson. However, City should have been level when they were awarded a penalty when Johnstone brought down Bremner in the box. But Cross pulled off a “marvellous” save from MacLaughlan. The trophy was secured 10 minutes from the end when Grant capped a fine game with the decisive goal. The team and officials were met by a pipe band in Dingwall and marched to the Cross where Provost Murray handed the cup to Pirie. A celebratory
dance in the Town Hall followed. County's cup winning team was: Cross, Munro, Johnstone, Garrow, Pirie,
Young, Morrison, Traill, Kerr, Grant, Cameron. County finished the season in eighth place out of twelve with a total of 17 points. All in all, it had been a very satisfying 'debut' season for the “Babes”of the Highland League.
Ross County's second season in the Highland League – season 1930-31 – saw them finish fourth in the table.
County were unable to retain the North of Scotland Cup but they didn't end the season empty-handed – the Inverness Cup was taken out of the Highland capital for the first time in its history following a 3-1
victory in the final against Clachnacuddin. The appointment of a player/coach, Hart from St Johnstone proved to be a success. Despite losing their first game of the season, 4-2 to Inverness Citadel at Victoria Park, County recorded a couple of impressive wins against Clach (5-1) and Elgin City (4-2). County's centre forward Aird was the main man with four goals against Clach and another two against Elgin. Aird proved himself to be a prolific goalscorer. He netted five times against Keith in a 10-0 win in October and five more in an 8-1 romp against Forres Mechanics in the North of Scotland Cup. County were drawn against Inverness Caledonian in the first round of the Qualifying Cup. The cup was played over two-legs with the first leg at
Victoria Park, ending in a 3-3 draw. However, County lost the second leg 2-1 at Telford Street and for the second year running were out of the competition. County won nine of their 22 games, drawing another five. One very notable result was a 5-1 league victory against defending champions Huntly at Victoria Park in April.
Also in April County progressed to the final of the Inverness Cup after a 3-2 aggregate victory against Caledonian. Caley, incidentally, went on to win the league championship. There was one very strange result, which was played in between the two Caley games, against Wick Academy, who were a non-league side in those days. Wick ran out 6-1 winners – we can assume County were without a few of their regular first team players for that particular game. As mentioned earlier, the highlight of the season, apart from a very
credible fourth place finish, was winning the Inverness Cup for the first time thanks to a 3-1 victory against Clach at Citadel Park. County didn't get off to the best of starts. After just a few seconds a 'miskick' by Munro and an 'error of judgement' by Mackenzie led to Clach centre forward Rose shooting past Lobban for the opener.
The Dingwall men got their act together and Urquhart scored with a sublime 30-yard free kick after he was fouled by Clyne. The ever-reliable Aird netted following a goalmouth scramble to give County
a 2-1 interval lead. Clach, with the elements against them, created numerous chances but poor finishing let them down in front of goal. The Lilywhites failed miserably to use the wind to their advantage in
the second half and County scored the decisive third goal when Cowie hooked home Davidson's cross.
It was sweet revenge for the previous year when Clach defeated County4-1 in the final.
The following night a large 'spectatorate' turned out to see Aberdeen's first X1 play County at Victoria Park.
According to one newspaper report Aberdeen's aim was not to 'run up a substantial goal lead, which they could easily have done' but instead gave a 'masterly exhibition of how simply football can appear when
played by experts. Every device known to the game was demonstrated clearly – intricate dribbling bouts, body swerving, and how precis positional play can bring the maximum of effort for the maximum of labour. 'the final scored was Ross County 2, Aberdeen 3.
At the club's annual general meeting, which was held in the Burgh Court House, Mr T H Burns presided. The large attendance was told of County's 'decided improvement' in occupying fourth place and the annexation of the Inverness Cup.
Once concern, however, was the state of Victoria Park. Apparently 'several complaints had been lodged as to the condition of the pitch,' and 'it was agreed to enter into a scheme to have it drained and put into more playable order, the powers of executing it being left in the management's hand, while the expenditure is to be met by various functions.
Thanks to John MacLeod