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Ross County

Formed 1929

Elected to Scottish Division Three 1994

Kit History

Background

In 1929 officials of the amateur side, Dingwall Victors decided to disband and form a new club that would represent the whole of Ross & Cromarty in the Highland League. Their ground was renamed Victoria Park (a nod to the predecessor club) and the new club adopted the Caberfeidh or Stag’s Head of the Seaforth Highlanders as their badge. To this day the club are known as “The Staggies.”

Ross County were admitted immediately to the Highland League and won the North of Scotland Cup in their first season. They had a largely undistinguished career although they did win the Highland League Cup in 1950.

The team adopted navy and white for the first time in 1953 and their new shirts were adorned with a stag's head crest.

In 1967 Ross County won the Highland League title for the first time, followed two years later by a second League Cup. The North of Scotland Cup was won again in 1970 and 1972.

No badge was worn in the 60s and 70s but in 1982 the stag's head reappeared, this time embroidered directly onto the shirts.

In 1987 the stag was dropped and replaced by a simple set of initials.

Their next league success did not arrive until 1991, the same season that the now familiar crest was adopted. This was followed by a Highland League and North of Scotland Cup double the following season. This gave the management the confidence to prepare an application to join the Scottish Football League in 1994 when restructuring created two vacancies in the new Third Division. Five clubs applied for the two places, three of them from the Highland League. Ross County’s chairman, Hector MacLennan and club secretary Donnie MacBean made their pitch to the League using cue cards worked out on the train while the competition had pipers and video presentations. Sincerity appears to have triumphed over presentation and the modest Ross County were elected along with near neighbours, Inverness Caledonian Thistle (a combined bid from the two leading Inverness clubs). The SFL had traditionally been loath to admit members from the north of Scotland: this election marked a change in attitude that would open the doors to Elgin City and Peterhead some six years later (albeit at the cost of severely weakening the Highland League).

The Staggies made an immediate impression on the new Third Division and in 1999 they won the championship followed by promotion to the First Division the following season. In 2007 Ross County were relegated back to the Second Division although they had some compensation, having won the League Challenge Cup in November 2006. The following season they bounced straight back up, wrapping up the divisional title on 5 April.

In 2010 the team finished fourth in the First Division and reached the Scottish FA Cup final for the first time in their history but were beaten by Dundee United. Two seasons later they won the SFL First Division and took their place in the SPL for the first time in the 2012-13 season, retaining their place in the first tier until 2018 when they were relegated. However, they won the Scottish Championship title the following season to make an immediate return to the top tier.

Ross County are firmly committed to involving the community and representing the Highlands & Islands on the national stage.

Sources

• (a) SNS Pix
• (b) Alick Milne
• (c) dsargent.co.uk
• (d) Ross Hamilton
• (e) Ross County Official Website
• (f) Ricc Attanasio – www.jumpers4goalposts.com
• (g) Ross Matheson
• (h) Willie Kay
• (i) David Redshaw
• (j) Donald Gellatly (HFK Research Associate)
• (k) Roddy Gray
• (l) Scott Sargent (The Tannerba')
• (m) Ross County FC Team Photos run by Roy Bremner and submitted by James Coulter
• (n) Old Football Shirts
• (o) Ian McConnel
• (p) Keith Macrae
• (q) Roy Bremner

Photograph provided by Ross County FC Team Photos. Crests are the property of Ross County FC.