The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
‘Those were the best years of My managerial life’
Steve Paterson takes pride in moulding Inverness Caley Thistle from a Highland League select to a side which conquered Celtic in the cup
Steve Paterson was appointed Inverness manager in 1995, just 12 months after Caledonian and Thistle had merged to form the new club.
After finishing sixth in the Third Division in the club’s maiden season under Sergei Baltacha, Paterson was tasked with laying the foundations to move the club up the leagues.
Paterson was fresh from winning back-to-back Highland League titles with Huntly, and set out to raid the division for its top talent to spearhead his Inverness side.
They went on to gain promotion in 1997, putting the wheels in motion for a transition to full-time football.
Three years later, by which time they had reached the second tier, Paterson guided Inverness to a memorable 3-1 victory over Celtic at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup.
Paterson reflects fondly on the excitement around the rise of Scotland’s newest club at the time.
He said: “My first chairman was Dougie MacGillivray and I remember specifically having the remit that we would get to the Premier League in something like eight years. That gave us two seasons to get out of the Third Division.
“The first season was very much me modelling my own team and getting in my own kind of players.
“Without being too critical, the team hadn’t achieved. The first season was a massive change to all the players.
“I almost built a Highland League select, with guys like Iain Stewart, Iain MacArthur and Mike Teasdale, which got us to the next step.
“We then went almost to a mixture after that, as lads like Jimmy Calder and Davie Ross and so many more wouldn’t have wanted to go full-time.
“We had a thing going on where the full-timers tended to be younger lads, boys that maybe didn’t have careers who were able to take that challenge.
“We mixed it and when we got up to the next league, that was when we decided we would become a full-time club.
“There was so much that went on and it was exciting times. It was just great to be a part of that.
“My seven or eight years with Inverness was a fantastic time, and along with Huntly the best years of my life in management without a doubt.
“It was successful into the bargain, which made it all the better.”
Such was Paterson’s belief in his Caley Thistle team, he has long maintained his famous triumph over Celtic came as no surprise to him.
Paterson nevertheless takes pride in the way the triumph is still celebrated 23 years on, given Inverness kicked on to win the competition with victory over Falkirk in 2015.
He added: “I maybe played it down a bit.
“Maybe it was me, because I knew I had such a good side and such a great bunch of guys, I had a lot of belief in them.
“Without disrespect, Celtic were in a transition period. John Barnes had come in, Kenny Dalglish was involved in the model going on at that time.
“Obviously it still stands the test of history.
“I said at the time I felt Berwick Rangers was a bigger shock in beating Rangers in 1967. Just recently, Darvel beating Aberdeen.
“Equally, I’m aware that teams like Darvel have done quite well financially to attract good quality players.
“I think ours was more a fairytale with the team being only six years into its history. It will always stay there as a magical thing.
“It happened 23 years ago and they have actually won the Scottish Cup since then under John Hughes.
“They were a Premier League team so it was different circumstances, but it was a tremendous achievement.”
Despite his managerial success, some of Mosstodloch-raised Paterson’s fondest footballing memories came during his playing days – when he made a highly successful switch to Japanese side Yomiuri in 1983.
Paterson added: “My story is different, as my finest footballing days were abroad. That doesn’t really get recognition.
“Not that I’m looking for credit or acknowledgement, but I find that much bigger than my management achievements.
“I was a wee lad from a village in Morayshire and I was the first professional and European to play in Japan.
“I was the top scorer in Japan, I won the Japanese treble. Personally, I find that more fascinating than my other achievements.
“The media at the time was just a newspaper, there was no social media. It was nearly 40 years ago.
“It was a bit like Rose Reilly who went to Italy and was never recognised until she was really old.
“It’s something I’m really proud of.
“I was five or six years at Manchester United and I played half a dozen or maybe a dozen games.
“After that my story went overseas. I did really well in Australia and was reunited with Tommy Docherty, which I loved.
“My journey then took me to two years in Tokyo, which was fantastic. But it got very little coverage.
“As I get older and reflect back, it was incredible. The way I was treated, I was almost like a prince of Tokyo in football terms.”
I think ours was more a fairytale with the team being only six years into its history. It will always stay there as a magical thing