Ross County Database

1987 - 1/7/1996 Bobby Wilson

Many believe we would not be in our position today had the club not taken the bold move of appointing Bobby Wilson for season 1987/88. Wilson had previously guided Keith to three league titles but was not expected to do the same for County. Wilson was a stalwart with Dundee during the 60 ‘s and early 70 ‘s. It is astonishing when you consider where we were when Bobby took charge.

Early indications were promising as County finished 8th in his first season (with 41 points more than the previous season bottom place finish!). Bobby’s first game in charge was a 1-0 win away to Fort William. There was, however, little improvement in the following two seasons but 1991 saw a remarkable improvement in fortunes as County went from 11th to see the league title come back to Dingwall. The feat was achieved again in 1992, both seasons beating Inverness rivals Caley by only three points.

Bobby had also taken County back into the Scottish Cup for the first time in 15 years. Our first venture ended in a disappointing 4-1 home defeat from East Fife but more notable scalps were gained and these undoubtedly helped County be elected into the Scottish league for 1994. These included comprehensive away victories against Queen of the South and Forfar and an 11-0 home win over St Cuthberts Wanderers.

Bobby managed a complete set of silverware in is Highland League management time with County, collecting the Qualifying Cup, North of Scotland Cup, League Cup and lnverness Cup (twice) to add to the two consecutive League championships won.

1987/88 19 wins, 2 draws, 13 losses.67 scored and 39 conceded

1988/89 18 wins, 3 draws, 13 losses. 61 scored and 51 conceded

1989/90 13 wins 5 draws 16 losses. Both 54 scored and 54 conceded

1990/91 24 wins, 4 draws, 6 losses. 91 scored and 37 conceded

1991/92 24 wins, 3 draws, 7 losses. 95 scored and 43 conceded.

1992/93 19 wins, 7 draws, 8 defeats. 87 scored and 49 conceded.

1993/94 21 wins, 4 draws, 9 defeats. 80 scored and 51 conceded.

1991/92 North of Scotland Cup won after a 1-0 replay win over Lossiemouth. League Cup also won, 3-1 win over Fraserburgh. And a quadruple completed with a 3-2 Inverness Cup win over Caley.

1992/93 Inverness Cup won with 3-2 win over Brora Rangers.

1993/94 County won the Qualifying Cup, beating Huntly 2-1, as Bobby completed his trophy haul.

Looking back at the record it seems remarkable now that County went from 11th to 1st in the space of a season and also that it was Bobby’s 5th season before County won a cup, but were remarkably close that season to a clean sweep of trophies.

138 League wins, 28 draws and 72 defeats. 535 goals scored with 324 conceded. Average score 2.25 v 1.36.

Such was the talent Wilson had assembled for his Highland league side he added only one player to his first squad in the Scottish League, Billy Herd from Cowdenbeath. The team were good enough to finish third but not quite good enough for promotion.

Next season County “slipped” to fourth and Neale Cooper replaced Wilson in the close season as County sought a manager with a bigger name in the game.

Cooper of cource took County onto another however few would deny Wilsons`s influence on the club having also won a sackful of trophies in addition to his league titles.