Stuart McCaffrey never made the breakthrough at Aberdeen – but he will always be grateful for the support he received during his time at Pittodrie.
Defender McCaffrey joined the Dons in 1998 at the age of 19, following his former Hibernian manager Alex Miller to the north-east.
The transfer was subject to a tribunal, which saw Aberdeen pay £60,000 to the Easter Road outfit.
Although he broke into the Scotland under-21 squad, McCaffrey’s progress with the Dons was cruelly thwarted by a pelvic injury.
After more than a year on the sidleines, McCaffrey moved on to Caley Thistle in 2000 without making a first team appearance for the Reds.
Although the breakthrough did not materialise at Pittodrie, McCaffrey has nothing but fond memories of the way the club managed him through difficult times.
McCaffrey said: “Alex Miller had signed me for Hibs when I was 14, as a schoolboy.
“When he was at Coventry I was going to be moving there when my contract finished at Hibs.
“Alex then got the Aberdeen job, there were some discussions had and he was keen for me to come in at the end of my contract.
“I had a great time at Hibs but the chance to go to Aberdeen, and work for my old boss, was the big attraction.
“Unfortunately that didn’t work out for Alex either, it maybe didn’t work out for either of us, but it was great to be there.
“Aberdeen is an incredible club. The staff there, such as John Sharp and David Wylie, really looked after me.
“They put me back together, which obviously wasn’t for the benefit of the club, but hopefully for the benefit of Inverness.
“The physios never gave up on me, but whilst I didn’t go on to play for Aberdeen they made sure I was able to have a career and play at Inverness. That was a very enjoyable period for me.
“The hard work that they put in, I got a great reward out of. They also got a kick out of it as they were keen to see me getting going again.
“It was hard at the age of 19 or 20, and feeling my world was coming to an end because of this injury.
“They were great with me, as was everyone else at the club.”
Jess played key role in Inverness move
McCaffrey’s move to First Division side Inverness was initially a loan move, which was made permanent in 2001.
The Glasgow-born player revealed Dons legend Eoin Jess played a crucial role in teeing up his successful move to Caley Thistle, following contact from then Caley Jags assistant Duncan Shearer.
McCaffrey added: “I got my move to Inverness for a couple of reasons.
“The first reason was that Marvin Andrews headered Richard Hastings, who fractured his cheekbone.
“Inverness needed a centre back for a month, and Eoin Jess had a call from Duncan Shearer.
“Eoin knew I was a young lad trying to make my way in the game, he saw something in me and put his name to me.
“He told Duncan that I could go and do a job for them for a month, to let Richard’s face heal up again.
“Richard’s face did go and heal, and that month turned into seven-and-a-half years.”
Inverness move was just right for McCaffrey
McCaffrey went on to make 198 appearances for Caley Thistle, before moving to St Johnstone in 2008.
Although signed by Steve Paterson, he would play a crucial role in helping Inverness win promotion to the top-flight for the first time under John Robertson in 2004.
McCaffrey was thrilled to enjoy such a fruitful period after overcoming his injury problems.
The 43-year-old said: “It was a real fairytale story. When I first came to the club it was a bit of a culture shock in going from Aberdeen to Inverness.
“We had no full-time physio, we had to look after our own kit, having been spoiled rotten at the bigger clubs I had been at.
“It was a bit of a reality check, but it was a really good group of players all the way through my time there.
“All the players who came in tried to take the club forward, as did any manager who came in.
“It was an incredible period for the club.
“To this day, I think it’s still a very unique club to be at. That togetherness is still there now, as we still speak regularly online.”
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