ex-player Alan Hercher at 52 years of age. He was the club's first captain, goalscorer and hat-trick scorer – in their first league game against Arbroath. In tribute, a minute's silence was held at Inverness' first home game of the 2018–19 Scottish Championship season against Ayr United which ended in a 0–0 draw. Come the new year, Inverness were doing better than they had the previous season, sitting in the play-off spots despite drawing nearly every game. The club beat rivals Ross County to progress into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup before making the semi-final after a last gasp winner from Aaron Doran against Dundee United. This was the 4th semi-final appearance for the club, after appearances in 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2014–15. They played Heart of Midlothian, but were unable to proceed to the final, as they were defeated 3–0. By the end of the season, Inverness had secured a play-off spot, after leapfrogging Ayr United into 3rd place. In the quarter-finals, Inverness defeated Ayr, winning 3–1 in the first leg, and drawing 1–1 in the second, securing a comfortable 4–2 aggregate win. However, the joy was short-lived after facing Dundee United in the semi-finals. In the first leg, at home, they fell to an unfortunate 1–0 loss while down to 10 men after Liam Polworth was handed a straight red for an apparent high foot on Mark Connolly while making a clearance. Inverness went to Tannadice with heads held high hoping to overturn the 1–0 deficit, but hope began to fade after United were awarded and scored a controversial penalty just before half time. The penalty was conceded by a Brad McKay handball, after it deflected off his heel. Again, controversy followed just after half time, when a handball wasn't seen by the referee which resulted in John Robertson being sent to the stands for flicking a water-bottle in aggravation near the 4th official. Inverness went on to lose 3–0, 4–0 on aggregate. After the match, Robertson stated in an interview with the BBC on what punishments he'd receive from the SFA for his actions;"I don't care. They [the SFA] can ban me for as long as they want. I'm going to start speaking out now because I've had enough of it." July 2019 saw the beginning of the 25th Anniversary Celebrations: a new 3rd Kit was announced as well as a special friendly game. The League Cup