If we still have a team

We are scheduled to play Annan Athletic on Saturday 19th October at 3:00pm as the second phase of League1 fixtures begin. Having played all nine of the teams we find ourselves second bottom of the table with only one win from our opening round of games, a 1-0 win over Queen of the South in the Highlands, who, incidentally are sitting one point off the top in fourth place. However, should administration hit us then a 15 point deduction would see us go bottom on minus 6 points. Worse would follow with top earners being removed from the club and all the other embargo's that go along with these situations. It's almost inevitable that we will drop into League two after 30 years of being in existence. 

As expected, Administration has now been confirmed this evening, Friday, 18th October 2024.

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Match/Ticket & Bar94 Info

Supporters Trust Fans Meeting

ADMINISTRATION CONFIRMED

Club Statement 29 18th OCT

ICTFC GO FUND ME PAGE

ALL OFFICIAL CLUB NEWS

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Events off the Park have caught up with us after more than five seasons of tyrannical malfunction and despite some last ditch efforts to find a buyer to take on the club and their debt we find ourselves heading for Administration and redundancies and all that goes along with it unless there is one final twist to this sorry self inflicted saga. News coming out of the club is changing every few hours, so fingers crossed for a happy ending as we enter Administration on Monday.

Bar 94 will be open after the match and will include a presentation to the Man of the Match. If popular, it will hopefully become a permanent additional facility for those attending the games. 

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Our Season so Far on the park

INVERNESS CT:  D L D D W D D D L  Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium. We beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon. That was followed up by us throwing away a two goal lead at Alloa to end up with a 2-2 draw six minutes later. A Danny Devine volley and Calum MacLeod with his first goal for the club were the scorers at Recreation Park. Last time out we had a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Cove Rangers who opened the scoring through Adam Emslie. James Nolan on loan from Manchester United's youth squad levelled the game before the hour. Next up was a home game against Stenhousemuir. Quite frankly this was a dull game with neither side able to score although Musa Dibaga did make a wonderful penalty save in the first half. Relegated Arbroath was our final game of the opening round of fixtures and despite creating enough chances, we came away from Gayfield with our second defeat of the League1 campaign. Away from League duty last weekend, we put up a good fight against Livingston in the Challenge Cup at Almondvale but lost out 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after it finished 2-2 over the ninety minutes. Paul Allan and Charlie Gilmour were our scorers during the ninety minutes.

Annan Athletic: W W L L L D L L W  After an encouraging start to the season that included two wins over Inverness, one in the League Cup and one in the League, they hit a bit of a slump losing five of the next six League games before beating Montrose 1-0 at home. They crashed out of the Challenge Cup last weekend as Queens Park beat them 1-4, Nikola Ujdur scoring in that one.

Our League encounter in August ended in defeat at Galabank at the start of the League campaign.

Too Little Too Late: Inverness added their two new signings to their squad which meant Keith Bray was benched with Wallace Duffy returning to the starting XI and Musa Dibaga as back up keeper on the bench. Annan had one change with Josh Dixon replacing Paul Smith in midfield. Jack Newman had the only notable save of the first forty-five denying Aidan Smith after ten minutes. Other than that it was Annan on top without overly threatening. After the interval Annan were awarded a penalty after fifty minutes and Tommy Goss duly scored from the spot. That was the difference between the sides as Annan took all three points despite a late charge from the visitors.

Plenty of early posturing and the first action for the keepers saw Jack Newman save brilliantly from an Aidan Smith header in the tenth minute as Annan came close to the opening goal. Inverness' first effort followed soon after as Adam Brooks shot over from a tight angle. Annan were controlling the pace of the game in the first quarter and forced three corners to no avail. Smith again went close on the half hour when he shot just wide. Josh Dixon shot over from the edge of the box ten minutes before the break and Wallace Duffy picked up a yellow for abruptly stopping an Annan attack. Half Time: 0-0

Danny Devine gave away a penalty five minutes after the restart when he fouled Tommy Goss who got up to slot home the spot kick into the bottom corner. Luis Longstaff fired a free kick over the bar and Billy Mckay was denied by the keeper after a turn and run from Longstaff. Almost a tap in for Smith but for a great interception by the defence. Devine headed wide from a Charlie Gilmour free kick as we tried to get back on level terms. A double denial for Inverness as Gilmour's effort was well saved then Devine hit the underside of the bar from the recycled ball as we entered the final ten minutes. Bray shot wide as we pushed for an equaliser with Annan looking for the final whistle. Annan were by now hanging on by a thread and a couple of late corners for the visitors came and went before the final whistle ended the siege. Full Time: 1-0

Here are your fixtures for Saturday 19th October and this is how the table looks ahead of Saturday's fixtures

Latest Team News

It's bad enough off the field of play, but we don't have our troubles to seek on the park either. Flynn Duffy, Ethan Cairns, Lewis Nicolson, Charlie Reilly and possibly Charlie Gilmour are all out. Danny Devine was missing at Livingston.

CHALLENGING TIMES AHEAD

It certainly is challenging times ahead as we travel to Almondvale (Home of the Set Fare Arena) to take on Livingston in the Challenge Cup on Saturday 12th October. However there will be more challenging times ahead as we have set a deadline of the 16th October to see which way the pendulum swings. The leader in the polls at the moment is administration. That's the lesser of two evils. It looks unlikely at the moment that a realistic takeover bid will materialise in time to save our club, but administration is more palatable than liquidation, where the club, as we know it now, would cease to exist. Livingston know a thing or two about this subject. Their rise up through the leagues from 1995 was short-lived as they were plunged into administration on 3 February 2004 less than ten years after becoming Livingston FC from the ashes of Meadowbank Thistle, formerly Ferranti Thistle. It was 13th May 2005 before Livingston emerged from administration, following a period of financial turmoil in which the previous boardroom occupants were ousted to make way for Pearse Flynn's Lionheart Consortium. In July 2009 the club faced further financial problems and were on the verge of suffering liquidation before a deal was struck. It looks like we are living in a parallel universe. Livi went down to League Three before recovering back into the Premiership and currently sit in the Championship after being relegated at the end of last season. Will we have to follow that model as we look to get out of the mess left by Scot Gardiner and his negligent board?

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Livi Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus info

Don't forget: 2:00pm Kick-Off

Open Meeting Full Video

Save ICTFC Fund

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Livi are unbeaten and riding high in the Championship at the moment, third behind Falkirk and Ayr United, having won four and drawn for. They drew 0-0 with leaders Falkirk on Tuesday night which makes them one of the form teams and favourites for promotion this season back into the Premiership.

Inverness are a mess on and off the pitch. Only one league win over Queen of the South in our opening round of fixtures and we sit second bottom of League 1. In our defence, our defence is fairly resilient, it's scoring goals that has been our Achilles heel.

The last time we met Livingston was also in a Cup tie. We knocked them out of the Scottish cup in season 2022/2023 on our way to a jolly at Hampden Park for the Scottish Cup Final, virtue of a terrific 3-0 win at Almondvale. Billy Mckay with two tremendous strikes from distance and a Sean Welsh header.

Let's wallow in this while we still can.

Latest Team News

<<<That was the Livi starting XI against Falkirk on Tuesday night. If you can name them all, well done. How unhelpful are these pictorial team lines without names unless you are a superfan!

Jerome Prior (28), Ryan McGowan (5), Liam Sole (7), Scott Pittman (8), Stephen Kelly (10), Jamie Brandon (12), Stevie May (17), Daniel Finlayson (19), Michael Nottingham (21), Robbie Muirhead (23), Cristian Montano (26)

Andrew Shinnie, David Carson, Samson Lawal and Reece McAlear were subs on Tuesday night. McAlear played the final fifteen minutes and Shinnie came on for the final five minutes.  St Johnstone player Stevie May has always been a decent player and is at Livi on loan from Perth.

Steve Pittman has three league goals and Robbie Muirhead and Stephen Kelly two apiece.

Inverness

Good news for our u18 squad who beat Hamilton 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to progress into Rnd 4 of the Scottish Youth Cup. We might be needing these guys pretty soon...

Charlie Reilly has a hamstring injury. Other than that it's as you were with Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns no doubt all missing out again. Keith Bray could be in the squad after playing a bounce game in midweek.

Meanwhile, on the pitch

With the noose of administration tightening around the Caley Jags' neck, the team on the park will head down to Gayfield on Saturday looking to put off-field issues behind them as they take on a rejuvenated Arbroath at 3:00pm. Flynn Duffy appears to be the main one missing out again although Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns may also still be absent. Loan signing Charlie Reilly will meet up with the squad at Arbroath and will be in contention for a place in the squad on Saturday. 

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Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info

£££SAVE ICTFC FUND£££

OPEN MEETING ON MONDAY 7th

Finances & Threat of Admin

Panos Thomas Resignation

There's a lot to take in in the above links

Have a read on CTO for fans reactions

Charlie Reilly on Loan

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Historically we hold a big advantage over Arbroath. However, most of that was built up in a previous life when we dished out the odd seven goal thrashing. Changed days now and many of the more recent games are close affairs.

0 - 0 (H)

2 - 1 (H)

1 - 1 (A)

1 - 2 (H)

3 - 2 (A)

2 - 4 (A)

2 - 0 (H)

4 - 1 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

0 - 0 (A)

It's a long time since our first encounter with Arbroath back in August 13th 1994 when Alan Hercher scored that hat-trick as we started off on the bottom rung of Scottish Football. He would be turning in his grave if he knew what they have done to our club now. 30 years of memories; Scottish Premier League Football, a Scottish Cup win and European Football, all undone by total mismanagement on a scale unheard of around here. Hang your heads in shame!...

Ian Broadfoot reported on this historic occasion: Caledonian Thistle's Scottish League debut resulted in a tremendous performance and a fine victory. Alan Hercher was the hat-trick hero as Caley Thistle got their League campaign off to a flying start. Three first half goals by Hercher set the scene for a dramatic opening League 3 encounter. In the opening minutes Caley Thistle 'keeper Mark McRitchie had to look sharp to save a 15 yard drive from John Reilly. In 13 minutes Mark McAllister won a corner and Alan Hercher headed in Graeme Bennett's kick to score Caley Thistle's first ever Scottish League goal. It was not long before he also scored the second and third! Before that Arbroath came close on two occasions -the first when a John Brock header went inches past the post and the second when a 25 yard free kick almost found the net. John Scott and Mike Andrew had chances for the home side before Alan Hercher again wrote his name into the record books. In 31 minutes he shot home his second goal through a ruck of players then headed home another corner in 33 minutes.
Half Time: 3-0
In the second half Arbroath came back into it and scored through Brock and Reilly - Caley Thistle bounced back and scored twice more.
In 71 minutes Paul McKenzie latched onto a long McRitchie clearance and lobbed over the keeper then Wilson Robertson completed the scoring six minutes later with a high ball from 22 yards.
Full Time: 5-2
This rounded off an exciting match and an historic occasion for both the club and Inverness.

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Season so Far

INVERNESS CT:  D L D D W D D D  Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium. We beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon. That was followed up by us throwing away a two goal lead at Alloa to end up with a 2-2 draw six minutes later. A Danny Devine volley and Calum MacLeod with his first goal for the club were the scorers at Recreation Park. Last time out we had a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Cove Rangers who opened the scoring through Adam Emslie. James Nolan on loan from Manchester United's youth squad levelled the game before the hour. Next up was a home game against Stenhousemuir. Quite frankly this was a dull game with neither side able to score although Musa Dibaga did make a wonderful penalty save in the first half.

ARBROATH FC: L D L D D L W W  Arbroath were propping up the League at the start of the season but have slowly lifted themselves up to mid-table with wins in their last two games over Annan at home and Cove Rangers away. Their three defeats came from Stenhousemuir (2-1) on day one, Kelty Hearts (0-3) on day three and Queen of the South (2-1) on Matchday six. The draws came against Montrose, Dumbarton and Alloa in that order. They also dumped Montrose out of the Challenge Cup with a resounding 3-0 win at Gayfield

There's nothing to separate the sides on the park, but will the off-field struggles affect the players.

LATEST TEAM NEWS

The Smokies had this squad representing them in their televised clash against Cove Rangers last weekend. Just to be sure, there's pics of all their Starting XI for good measure. They came away with their second win in a row and bagged four goals in an excellent 4-2 win. Scott Stewart, Innes Murray. Ali Spalding and Jack Wilkie were the scorers

Ryan Dow is top scorer with three League goals. Scott Stewart has bagged two.

Arbroath have scored 10 goals in the League but have conceded 11. In contrast, we have only conceded 6 but have only scored 6. Something is going to give.

INVERNESS

Flynn Duffy and Lewis Nicolson definitely out and no news of Ethan Cairns. Charlie Reilly will manifest at Arbroath. He made five appearances for them last season so will know his way to the stadium.

Wonderful gesture by Duncan Ferguson to do the job for nothing at the moment to help our plight. Some might say that's what he is worth, however hats off to him for doing it.

Warriors up for the Battle

The second home League1 game in a row has Stenhousemuir visiting for the first time since 1998 when we won 2-1. Mike Teasdale scored both goals as we came from behind to win that relegation battle after Ian Little had opened the scoring early in the first half. It's a standard 3:00pm kick-off this Saturday afternoon apart from Cove v the Smokies which can be seen on BBC Alba at half past five. The revamped 94' Bar will be open at mid-day for both sets of fans with Supporters Trust members and helpers at your service and if you are free around 10:30am on Saturday morning, pop over and help with the tidy up around the Stadium.

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Match/Ticket Info

Livingston Date Ch Cup

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Brian Thomson

We have only met Stenhousemuir eight times in total, winning six and losing once, a 3-2 reverse at Ochilview in August 1997. Our top scorer of all time against Stenny is Brian Thomson who has scored seven times in all competitions including a hat-trick in a league cup encounter in 1997 at the Caledonian Stadium. Get yer boots on Brian, we need someone to put the ball in the net. Alas, Brian can't make it, he's washing his hair this weekend.

Signed from Huntly - Position: Forward
Previously with Fraserburgh, Motherwell, Peterhead & Arbroath
Debut Played: 16 Dec 1995 - Last Game: 2 May 1998

Third Division Championship medal 1996/97; Joint top Second Division goalscorer 1997/98 (20 goals) Scored a barrowload, including the vital goal v Stenhousemuir which gained access to Rangers in the Scottish Cup in 1996 and he was a star in that quarter final at Tannadice as well. He made a stunning debut v Ross County in the Inverness Cup Final in December 1995.
First Goal: January 13th, 1996 - Alloa Athletic 0 - 2 Caley Thistle (Div 3 "The first goal came in 30 minutes - a header by Brian Thomson after a cross from Richard Hastings)

Season so Far

INVERNESS CT:  D L D D W D D  Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium. We beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon. That was followed up by us throwing away a two goal lead at Alloa to end up with a 2-2 draw six minutes later. A Danny Devine volley and Calum MacLeod with his first goal for the club were the scorers at Recreation Park. Last time out we had a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Cove Rangers who opened the scoring through Adam Emslie. James Nolan on loan from Manchester United's youth squad levelled the game before the hour with his first goal for the club. The optimist said it's only one defeat in seven games. The pessimist said FFS, we've only won one game out of seven. Billy Dodds said folk have been sacked for less...

Stenhousemuir: W L L W W L D  Having been promoted as Champions in season 23/24, the Warriors opened their account in League1 with a 2-1 home win over Arbroath but lost the following week at Kelty (2-0). Another loss followed at Alloa (1-0) before a 3-2 home win over Cove Rangers. The highlight of their season so far was a 5-1 thrashing of Annan Athletic at Ochilview. Bilham, Anderson and a Blair Alston hat-trick did the damage as Stenny took their chances whilst Annan only took one of their many opportunities. Montrose brought them back down to earth in the next League game with a 3-0 win at Links Park. Last week a no scoring home draw where Queen of the South dominated the game as Darren Jamieson earned the Warriors another vital point. They also knocked Falkirk out of the Challenge Cup on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Jamieson was again a standout for Stenhousemuir denying Falkirk half a dozen times. Blair Alston is their top scorer in the League with three goals followed by midfielder Michael Anderson on two. Former Hearts defender Gary Naysmith is the Warriors manager.

It's difficult to assess the teams this early in the season with everyone capable of pulling off wins over all the other challengers.... except for us with our waltzing slowwww slowwww slowwww slowwww slowwww approach to the game which must be easy to set up against and our lack of penetration in the final third.

           Saturday 28 September 2024

• Inverness CT v Stenhousemuir 
•  Kelty Hearts v Annan Athletic 
•   Montrose v Alloa Athletic
• Queen Sth v Dumbarton  
• (BBC Alba) Cove  v Arbroath (17:30)    

Latest Team News

Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns are still out and Keith Bray has not trained all week. We remain toothless up front with Billy in a withdrawn role and little other attacking options available. Striker for the weekend anyone?

Here's Dunc talking about his young team, strikers (or lack of), grass, defence and goals; the hardest part of the game isn't it>>>

<<<This was the Stenhousemuire starting XI that Gary Naysmith went with in the home draw against Queen of the South. Nat Wedderburn was a sixth minute sub for the Warriors as Kyle Jacobs went off injured. With six yellow cards last week, looks like the Warriors will be up for the battle. Last week was an open game with Queens more than matching their hosts who were thankful for keeper Jamieson pulling off a handful of great stops. Assistant manager Brown Ferguson bemoaned a number of injuries during this game and was pleased with the battling point against a full time team in QotS.

Alston, Taylor, Steele, O'Reilly and Jacobs were all substituted against Queens. Maybe Alston for his own good having just been booked in the closing stages of the game.

Ayr United midfielder Scott Tomlinson has recently signed on loan for the season at Ochilview.

Bring your own curry oot

Cove Rangers are the visitors on Saturday for a League 1 encounter at the Caledonian Stadium with a kick-off time of 3:00pm. Unfortunately curry is off the menu due to lack of interest, let's hope that malaise does not transmit onto the field of play. Inverness will be without Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns. Paul Allan and Charlie Gilmour are back in the squad after injury and Ferguson is still looking for a striker on loan. It's just the ninth meeting between the clubs with Inverness in the driving seat with six wins, one defeat and one draw. The last four games all went the way of the Caley Jags when Cove popped up into the Championship in season 2022/2023. The pick of that games was a 6-1 win for Inverness at home with Billy Mckay notching a hat trick. More of this would be dandy: Happy New Year: Inverness began 2023 with a crushing win against Cove. Two from Billy Mckay and one from Danny Devine countered the opening goal from Jack Sanders. Two quickfire own goals within five minutes of the restart put the hosts 5-1 ahead. Mckay notched his hat-trick from close range as we ran away with the game. Big win to start the year, just what we needed.

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Match/Ticket Info

Challenge Cup Fixture Date

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Season so Far

INVERNESS CT:  D L D D W D  Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium a fortnight ago. Last weekend we beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon. That was followed up by us throwing away a two goal lead at Alloa to end up with a 2-2 draw six minutes later. A Danny Devine volley and Calum MacLeod with his first goal for the club were the scorers last weekend.

COVE RANGERS: L L D L W W  Cove got off to a poor start in the league with defeats at home by Annan (3-1) and Queen of the South away (2-1). A 1-1 draw at home to Dumbarton was followed by another loss away to Stenhousemuir (3-2). However, they are on the up now after winning their last two games oner Montrose (1-0) and a good win at Kelty by 3-1.

Fixtures for Saturday 21st September 2024

•   Inverness CT v Cove Rangers
• Alloa v Kelty
•    Arbroath v Annan Ath
•    Dumbarton v Montrose FC
• Stenhousemuir FC v Queen of the Sth 

LATEST TEAM NEWS

INVERNESS will be without Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns. Paul Allan and Charlie Gilmour coming back will be a boost to the squad after injury and Ferguson is still looking for a striker on loan. Dunc likes the grass, doesn't he...

Cove Rangers

<<< Cove's starting XI last weekend in that excellent 3-1 win at New Central Park, Kelty. Megginson had given Cove a half time lead but Cunningham squared the game just after an hour. Yule blasted in five minutes before the end and Marshall added the third in stoppage time to complete the job. Mitch Megginson and Blair Yule are always a danger and Captain Fraser Fyvie has been around with Connor Scully part of the fixtures and fittings. Midfielder Findlay Marshall is top scorer with three goals. Megginson and Adam Emslie have scored two apiece. Marshall and winger Emslie joined this season from Aberdeen and are great acquisitions for manager Paul Hartley.

Here's the strike from Blair Yule at Kelty. Boom!

A goal which Yule never tire of watching 🚀@CoveRangersFC's number 8⃣ with a scorcher in Fife! pic.twitter.com/shwd0YtOA5

— SPFL (@spfl) September 17, 2024

We failed to score at Kelty and are once again one of the lowest scoring teams in the league with the best defensive record. Nothing changes really. Cove are one of the high scorers but have one of the worst defensive records thus far. However, we need to be aware of the threat from Megginson and Yule.

A bit of Recreation at the Indodrill

Matchday 6 has Inverness travelling to Clackmannanshire to face one of the top sides in the table and a team we often struggled against away from home through the years, especially in more recent times. With events off the field of play casting further dark shadows over the future of the club, it's a tough ask for the players to remain focussed when their futures are at stake thanks to the incompetence and now unrivaled power hunger of our former tyrannic leaders. Flynn Duffy, Charlie Gilmour, Paul Allan and Ethan Cairns are still out but Jack Newman, Luis Longstaff and Keith Bray return to the squad.

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Match/Ticket Bus (10:00 am) Info

Investment Topic on CTO

Payer Sponsorship on CTO

Hospitality v Cove Rangers

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Are you a budding Picasso, Constable or Vincent van Gogh? If so, the ICT Supporters Trust are looking for volunteers this weekend to help brighten up the bar area at the Stadium with a paintbrush or roller to make it more inviting and less Gulag in appearance. Oh, not that kind of painters then...unless you fancy doing a mural... 

We have accepted the challenge to bring the bar up to date and hopefully make it a destination venue for all fans pre (and hopefully in the future post) games. We have already stripped out the bar and started the prep work but to ensure we get the bar open in time for the Cove game we are seeking help from our members this Sunday to get some fresh paint on the walls. 

We have all the materials we just need hands to tackle the job and many hands make light work. If anyone is able to help then please be at the sports bar from 11am this Sunday. Can’t stress enough that we need plenty of painters please. 

We also need joiners who can spare a few hours, doesn’t need to be Sunday.  There are some jobs that won’t take long with the right level of expertise. Please contact us on info@ictsupporterstrust.org and we can sort out a time that suits you and to look over what needs done. 

We do have the edge over Alloa, but that was in a previous life before Gardiner & Co decimated our club. Our new look squad will find a battle hardened Wasps a difficult byke to cycle, like we often did over the years and they will no doubt have a sting in their tail. Our last meeting was in the Championship in season 20/21, and we have lost twice and drawn three of our last five encounters.

1 - 1 (A)

2 - 2 (H)

1 - 2 (A)

0 - 2 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

3 - 2 (A)

2 - 0 (A)

2 - 2 (H)

3 - 0 (H)

2 - 1 (A)

Who could forget the dramatic ending in the 1999 Challenge Cup Final when 4,043 fans were at the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie to watch a Martin Cameron inspired Alloa lift the Challenge Cup after a 3-3 draw, extra time and penalty shoot-out. All this despite a Paul Sheerin hat-trick and an unikely hero in Alloa Keeper Mark Cairns who scored the fifth penalty then saved the clincher from Teasdale.

It was bitter disappointment for Caley Thistle as they lost their first ever senior cup final on penalties. They came from behind three times in normal play then again in extra time to take the game to a penalty decider. Alloa took the lead in 20 minutes when Gary Clark hit a low ball past Les Fridge from 15 yards. Barry Wilson equalised in 29 minutes with a neat chip over the keeper. A defensive error let in Mark Wilson to score Alloa's second in 33 minutes but Paul Sheerin equalised from the penalty spot just after half time. This lasted 2 minutes before Martin Cameron made it 3-2 with a 15 yard angled volley. Another penalty goal by Sheerin made it 3-3 in 56 minutes. 14 minutes into extra time Alloa again took the lead when Martin Cameron beat the defence and ran on to score. Paul Sheerin completed his hat trick 8 minutes from time with a 16 yard shot. It was 4-4 on penalties after the regulation 5 attempts each. Alloa keeper Mark Cairns was the hero when he scored to make it 5-4 then saved Mike Teasdale's penalty. The Cup was on its way to Alloa after an exciting match.
Alloa Pens (Irvine, Boyle, Cameron, Little, Cairns) Beaton miss.
Inverness Pens (McCulloch, Tokely, Byers, Wilson) Sheerin, Teasdale saved.
Report by Ian Broadfoot

The Season so far

ALLOA Athletic: D D W W D  Alloa are unbeaten and they began the League campaign with draws at home to Queen of the South and away to Dumbarton followed by a home win over Stenhousemuir and another win away to Annan at the same ground we lost 1-0. Last time out they drew 0-0 at Gayfield. Last week was Challenge Cup action and Alloa pulled off a shock 1-3 win over Partick Thistle who had opened the scoring through our olde 'friend' Brian Graham. However, three second half goals from Kevin Cawley (65', 76') and Scott Taggart (90'+5 pen) gave the Wasps a tremendous result and a home tie against Arbroath in the next round. That was Cawley's 79th & 80th goals for Alloa.

INVERNESS CT:  D L D D W  Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium a fortnight ago. Last weekend we beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon.

          League 1 Fixtures all @ 3:00pm

• Alloa Athletic v Inverness CT 
• Annan Athletic v Dumbarton FC
•    Kelty Hearts v Cove Rangers
•      Montrose FC v Stenhousemuir 
• Queen Sth v Arbroath 

Latest Team News

Alloa

Manager Andy Graham has a wealth of experience at his disposal. Alloa's line up in their recent league encounter with Annan Athletic shows some well experienced players in there, notably strikers Conor Sammon and Kevin Cawley. Former Morton defenders Calum Waters, Scott Taggart and midfielder Luke Donnelly are now at Recreation Park. Stefan Scougall is also well experienced having been at St Johnston and Carlisle United in more recent years.

Inverness have one or two filtering back into the squad. Jack Newton has returned from Dundee United after getting injections in his knee without requiring a major operation. Keith Bray and Luis Longstaff will also join the squad again after injury. I would imagine Big Musa will retain the gloves whilst Newman proves his fitness on the bench with the other two returnees joining Jack on the sidelines.

Bino's Challenge

Stirling Albion are the opponents this weekend in the Challenge Cup, known as the SPFL Trust Trophy this season. We enter this competition in the 3rd round and welcome the Bino's to the Caledonian Stadium for a 3:00pm kick-off on Saturday afternoon. Last time we met we scraped through to the next round of the Scottish Cup with a hard fought 3-2 win at home a couple of years ago with Dale Carrick scoring a Bino's brace before Aaron Doran nicked it in the second half.

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Match/Ticket Info

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We have played Stirling Albion a total of eleven times over the years, the last game being a Scottish Cup tie which we narrowly won 3-2 thanks to a strike from Aaron Doran, sadly no longer here. The stats show that we have a total of six wins, four draws and one defeat. That defeat was in 1996, and yes, if you guessed it was in the Challenge Cup then you would be correct.

Challenge Cup - Rd 2, Tuesday, August 27th, 1996, 7:30 PM at Forthbank Stadium, Stirling:  The Inverness side put on an excellent performance and were unlucky not to take more from this game. They had several good chances in the first half with the best being on the stroke of half time when they were denied first by a McGeown parry and then by an Andy Paterson goal-line clearance. Stirling stepped up a gear in the second half and they took command. Gibson and Bone scored for Stirling before Iain Stewart pulled one back. As the visitors searched for an equaliser Bone stole a third in the last minute. Full Time 3-1

Starting XI: Jim Calder; Mike Noble, Richard Hastings, Iain MacArthur, Paul Cherry, Charlie Christie, Davie Ross (Iain Stewart 72), Mike Teasdale, Barry Wilson, Alan Hercher, Brian Thomson.

Subs Not Used: G Bennett, Neal Sinclair

Banana Skin Avoided: A potential banana skin encounter was made all the more plausible given the 2015 Scottish Cup winners permanent injury crisis. Stirling Albion are on a roll at the top end of League Two whilst we are struggling to get players on the park recently. With that in mind we made a late swoop into the transfer market to snap up right back Ryan Barrett on a short term loan until January. He was thrust into the squad for this Scottish Cup game having been training with the squad this week. Dale Carrick scored a first half brace with Wallace Duffy and Max Ram replying for Inverness who only woke up after the opening goal. After the break Aaron Doran restored the hosts lead and we held on to go into the draw for the fourth round. Not pretty, but we got there. Full Time 3-2.

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There's the new 30th Anniversary Away Kit as modelled by Inverness Caley Thistle Ladies players Natalie Bodiam and Julia Scott. The Anniversary badge was designed by Inverness CT fan Stewart Coghill

Latest Team News

Inverness have a few more injuries to contend with so I would expect to see some newer faces thrown in at the deep end with Newman, Cairns, Longstaff, Bray, Gilmour, a pair of Duffy's and probably Paul Allan all out. Wallce Duffy could be fit enough to play this weekend, We missed out on Alfie Bavidge and have a big striker on trial at the moment.

Boss Duncan Ferguson has revealed full-back Flynn Duffy is sidelined after suffering a punctured lung and two broken ribs. Ahead of Saturday’s home SPFL Trust Trophy third round tie against League Two opponents Stirling Albion, Inverness have seven first-team players missing due to illness or injury – with Flynn's case being the most serious. Charlie Gilmour is most likely out for two weeks because of mild concussion, while a health issue continues to rule out striker Ethan Cairns.

 There ya go, ah told ye we needed mare defenders didn't I... ye cannae huv enough can ye... we're a young team urn't we... we need more goals don't we... Hey, Teacher, Leave those kids alone....

Maybe some home grown talent like Calum Mackay, Calum MacLeod, Robbie Thompson, Shae Keogh, Ben Corner and Mathew Strachan will get some game time and loan players James Nolan and Connall Ewan will benefit from some competitive action to get the sharpness back and should feature. Big Musa has looked decent between the sticks in his two starts and will probably need to retain the gloves with Newman out and Martin MacKinnon possibly back at Clach???

Stirling Albion

<<< That was the Stirling Albion squad that beat Spartans 1-0 last weekend, a result that puts the Binos third in the table with nine points after three wins and two defeats in League 2. Ross Davidson was the scorer in that one.

Alan Maybury, the former Hearts defender is the man in charge this season having replaced Darren Young after The Bino's were relegated at the end of last season. I notice that Dale Carrick is still there and you might remember that it was he that scored twice in the first half in the Scottish Cup tie in 2022. He generally led us a merry dance in that first forty-five and will be worth watching this time round. Cammy McKinley is top scorer with two goals. Derek Gaston, the former Arbroath keeper is their No1 and he is always a difficult man to get the ball past.