 | |
  Telford Street Park Location within Inverness area | |
| Full name | Telford Street Park |
|---|---|
| Location | Inverness Scotland |
| Coordinates | 57°28′55″N 4°14′48″W / 57.4819°N 4.2468°W |
| Owner | Caledonian F.C. |
| Capacity | 5000 (550 seated)[1] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1926 |
| Demolished | 1996 |
| Tenants | |
| Caledonian 1926–1994 Caledonian Thistle 1994–1996 | |
Telford Street Park was a football ground in Inverness, Scotland.[2] It was the home ground of Caledonian F.C. and latterly Caledonian Thistle F.C.[2][3]
Caledonian played at the eponymous Caledonian Park until the mid-1920s, when Telford Street Park was built. A fire destroyed the original stand in 1950, and a new one was built.[4]
A merger between the three Inverness clubs (Caledonian, Clachnacuddin and Thistle), who all played in the Highland Football League, had long been mooted.[2] The proposal gained momentum in 1993, when the Scottish Football League (SFL) announced it would expand its membership by two clubs and would look more favourably on a joint Inverness bid than if each individual club applied.[2] At the same time, Caledonian had received an offer of £750,000 from Texas Homecare for Telford Street Park.[2] The club wanted to replace their ground with a new all-seater stadium that would require government funding, but the authorities indicated their preference for a facility to be used by a merged club.[2]
Despite clear opposition from most of the supporters, the directors of Caledonian and Thistle pressed ahead with a merger proposal.[2] The new club, which was initially called Caledonian Thistle, gained SFL membership in 1994 and played its home games at Telford Street Park.[2] As part of its SFL membership bid, Caledonian Thistle had pledged to find a new ground by August 1995.[2] The league granted an extension to August 1996, as the proposed new site required £900,000 of funding from Inverness District Council.[2] The club threatened to resign from the SFL if the funding was not provided, but it was authorised by a 14-12 majority in December 1995.[2] The new Caledonian Stadium was opened in 1996 and Telford Street Park was demolished to make way for a retail park.