The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Meekings’ handball case had to be won – Cameron
Ex-Caley Thistle chairman Kenny Cameron has lifted the lid on the appeal battle which ensued following Josh Meekings’ 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final handball against Celtic – a fight which led to the defender being free to play in the Highlanders’ famous final triumph.
Eight years ago, with Inverness trailing Celtic 1-0 in a last-four showdown to determine who would face First Division Falkirk in the final, a goal-bound Leigh Griffiths shot struck the outstretched hand of ICT defender Meekings.
Referee Steven McLean ignored the pleas for a penalty and red card, and the salt in the wounds for Celtic came when Caley Thistle were awarded a spot kick of their own – when keeper Craig Gordon brought down Marley Watkins.
This led to the Hoops keeper being sent off, midfielder Greg Tansey netting the penalty and the 90 minutes ending with the last-four clash on a knifeedge at 1-1.
In extra-time, striker Edward Ofere shot the Highlanders in front, before ex-Man City forward John Guidetti levelled on 103 minutes.
Caley Thistle would seal a sensational 3-2 victory when David Raven slotted home a Graeme Shinnie cross to spark wild celebrations.
ICT went on to lift the cup by beating Falkirk 2-1 in the final, and Cameron explained why the retrospective charge dished out to Meekings over the handball had to be contested.
He said: “Preparations for our trip to Hampden for the final were slightly impeded by the SFA deciding to charge Josh Meekings for a deliberate handball with a retrospective one-match ban.
“The threat of losing him as well as Gary Warren (who was suspended) and cup-semi hero Dave Raven (who was injured) for the final loomed large, so we had no option but to refute the ban and fight the case.
“We engaged the services of an excellent lawyer from Harper MacLeod, David Kerr, who put up a robust defence for the club and, more importantly, Josh and the case against him was dismissed.”
Cameron explained the work of a couple of stars behind the scenes strengthened the chances of Meekings being free to play in the cup final.
He added: “Our media team at the time, Don Johnstone and Andy Johnstone, put together some amazing split-second footage of the incident, detailing frame-by-frame the time the ball took to leave the foot of Leigh Griffiths and hit Josh on the arm.
“We had very detailed human reaction times which basically showed that Josh could not possibly have had the time to think about ‘saving’ Leigh’s shot as some at the time termed it.
“I recall a headline in the press following the semifinal suggesting we may have broken the internet.
“Some of our Twitter comments from the media team that day were hilarious, such as ‘Celtic fans booing the ref, but in fairness that is a cracking save from Josh Meekings’, or ‘Apparently Meekings shouted ‘I’m in nets’ when that ball came at him so it’s not a penalty’.
“All were done with good grace and in jest and taken in good part by most Celtic fans.”
When Cameron replaced George Fraser as chairman in 2011, Terry Butcher, assisted by Maurice Malpas, had Caley Thistle punching well above their weight in the top flight.
When they were lured away from the north by Hibs in 2013, in came John Hughes, who guided the Caley Jags to a League Cup final in 2014, and a thirdplaced finish and that Scottish Cup triumph the following season.
Hughes opted to head for the exit in 2016 and was replaced by former captain Richie Foran. Unfortunately, the club dropped out of the top flight the following year.
Cameron speaks highly of the coaching staff he worked with. He said: “All three managers I had the pleasure to work with brought differing attributes to the club.”