Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. in their tenth season in the
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
,
Scottish Challenge Cup
The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,season 2003–04. They won their first major trophy when they won the Challenge Cup beating
Airdrie United
Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...
in the final 2–0 with goals from Steve Hislop and David Bingham, and at the end of the season, they won the First Division Championship and securing promotion to the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
. However, SPL rules at that time stated that all member clubs must have a stadium with a minimum capacity of 10,000 seats.
Caledonian Stadium
Caledonian Stadium is a football ground in the Longman area of Inverness, Scotland, near the banks of the Moray Firth. It hosts home matches of Scottish Professional Football League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
History
Inverness Caledon ...
did not and this left the club's board with a dilemma: either to stay in the First Division like
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
the previous season or to groundshare with Aberdeen's
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they were ...
, over 100 miles (160 km) away. After consulting with supporters, the board decided the sacrifice of one season in Aberdeen would be worthwhile for Premier League football.
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...