Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

From disappointment to euphoria; Gary Warren relives Caley Thistle’s unforgettable Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic

Gary Warren celebrates with the Caley Thistle fans after beating Celtic.
Gary Warren celebrates with the Caley Thistle fans after beating Celtic.

The 17th minute.

Resignation briefly flickers across Gary Warren’s face. He has been here before.

Celtic’s James Forrest scampers the wrong side of the Inverness defender. Grappling with him, Warren brings him to the turf. Steven MacLean’s yellow card confirms what he already knew.

“Straight away, I knew I was going to get booked. I knew if I was booked, that would be me out of the final. But you know at that time, you can’t sulk or mope. You have setbacks; that day is still a massive high for me because we managed to win.

“It’s not about me. It’s about the team and the club. If I can play my part, in getting the team to the final, without letting anyone down, then that was my aim.”

There were still, as it panned out, 117 minutes of this 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final still to play. Warren was adamant that a harsh lesson, learned little over a year before, was going to stand him in good stead.

Warren had picked up a yellow card against Hearts in the League Cup semi-final, but continued to “charge around like a bull in a china shop”. A second booking duly came, ending his game and depriving him of a final berth against Aberdeen after nine-man Caley Thistle staged one of the most remarkable cup comebacks in recent memory.

Warren had been sent off in the 2014 League Cup semi-final against Hearts.

“I learned from the previous semi-final. That was me being a little bit naive and stupid. I was still trying to clatter people and run a bit of a tightrope.

“But I learned from then. This is the biggest cup competition in Scotland and you don’t want to let anyone down. I thought to myself I wasn’t going to do that again, with what was at stake.”

That his centre-back partner Josh Meekings was to go through his own mirror-like scenario was bizarre. Meekings, also sent off in that Hearts game, had his straight red card reduced to yellow on appeal, freeing him to face the Dons.

The win over Celtic on April 19 the following year was not reflected upon outside the Highlands for the Caley Jags’ heroics. Meekings’ handball, or rather its complete missing from MacLean and his officials, dominated headlines and subjected the young centre-back to effectively trial by public opinion.

A suspension from the Scottish FA was duly handed out, banning Meekings from the final too. Only diligent and determined legal work from Inverness freed him to feature against Falkirk. Deja vu, indeed.

“It was more afterwards with Josh. When those scenarios happen at the time, you think ‘I’ve got away with one here’. But afterwards he got a bit of stick which wasn’t nice to see. At the end of the day, it’s not his fault the officials missed it.

Warren with goalscorer Eddie Ofere and Marley Watkins.

“It showed his strength of character, at such a young age, to come through that. Two centre-halves, exactly the same situations that occurred two years in a row, you couldn’t write it.”

But let us recap that memorable day, cited by many in Inverness blue as their cup final, their showpiece. The Falkirk win a month later ultimately brought them the trophy, however the toppling of Celtic, treble-chasing Celtic, was another memorable chapter in their history.

Virgil van Dijk, he of £75million-Liverpool-switch fame, dispatched the resulting free-kick from Warren’s foul. Meekings’ escape before the break gave hint it may be Caley Thistle’s day but the sending off of Craig Gordon, for felling Marley Watkins, was almost confirmation.

Greg Tansey scored from the spot. The two teams toed and froed before extra-time, Inverness keen to seize their moment and Celtic unwilling to relinquish their dominance. Eddie Ofere rattled a low shot through Lukasz Zaluska to put John Hughes’ side in front, only for Celtic’s stroke of fortune, in John Guidetti’s free-kick bouncing and skipping over Ryan Esson, to level again.

“That’s one of the only times I’ve seen van Dijk get bullied by two centre-forwards. I thought the two front boys for us caused them all sorts of problems. Van Dijk scored the free-kick but after that, he struggled for the rest of the afternoon.”

A full century of minutes after Warren’s own personal low, team ecstasy arrived. Graeme Shinnie darted between Hoops’ defenders to reach Nick Ross’ pass, angling the ball towards the back post. David Raven, ever the unlikely hero, steered it home. Full-back setting up full-back; Hughes’ footballing utopia had been put on to canvas.

“He would have been over the moon with that goal. That’s at the end of extra-time, not 90 minutes. We were so well-drilled; that was credit to John Hughes, as he transformed that team. He got the best out of me for the time he was working with us.

“That was my final and that’s how I took it. Go and enjoy this one, get the boys over the line and then you can enjoy this as if this is your final.”


Ross Draper, Carl Tremarco, David Raven and Gary Warren with the Scottish Cup.

Sitting in the stands for his return to Hampden Park was bittersweet for Gary Warren.

Ultimately, he watched his team-mates lift the Scottish Cup with a 2-1 win over Falkirk, but he wanted to be out there with them.

“I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the changing room. I ran on the pitch at the end anyway. I was sat with Dean Brill and my Mrs in the stand. It was a proud moment, to see the lads walking out. Thinking about it now, I can still picture it. I wished I was playing in it. That was probably the hardest thing.

“It’s a little bit of satisfaction for the hard work we put in through the season. We did well in the league that year and it’s a big reward to get to the final of the Scottish Cup, going on to win it.”

Warren was one of the first on the scene to console Carl Tremarco, who was understandably devastated after seeing red. Experience had taught him just being an extra presence in the room could help.

David Raven and Gary Warren, who both missed the final, with ex-Inverness boss Terry Butcher.

“I knew from previous experience how he would have been feeling, just to see how he was. I don’t really say a lot – words can’t do too much at that time. He would have been feeling he’d let everyone doing, that we’d lost the game. It was just to be there if he needed anyone.”

One thing that still needles Warren a little is the lack of a medal from that final. Not so much for himself, but for others that also missed out on the game but played their part in the cup run.

David Raven scored the winner against Celtic but missed out through injury. Dean Brill dislocated his kneecap in a league game against Celtic the week before the semi-final, but had played in the earlier rounds.

“I know I didn’t play but the likes of David Raven, Dean Brill, guys that played a big part in that run. Raven scored the winner and didn’t get a medal, because he was injured.

“I know the rules have changed because what we did as a club, putting it to the SFA, but it doesn’t make it any sweeter.”

Gary Warren lifts the Irn-Bru Cup for Caley Thistle after defeating Dumbarton.

The centre-back, now with League 2 side Exeter City, lifted the Challenge Cup in 2018, but the joy just was not as poignant.

“It’s nice to win and brilliant to lift the trophy, but it didn’t really have the same effect. It didn’t make up for me not getting a medal and missing the final.”