Does the chairman change mean Tullochs are pulling out of the club?  £200K would be better spent on the Stadium rather than some airy fairy trust.  Hopefully the new chariman will be more positive about a 4th stand, the present waffle about a gas main is just a load of codswallop.  Caley need a double decker with boxes on that side, nothing less!

caleydon... I will both answer your questions and take issue with a couple of your statements.

No, Tullochs will not be "pulling out of the club". They will still retain two "Tulloch" directors on the Board and shares will be transferred to the Inverness Sports Trust whose directors will be David Sutherland and his Tullochs deputy George Fraser. Also, in response to a direct question from me in an interview on Wednesday night, David Sutherland quite categorically stated that support for Caley Thistle by Tullochs would continue. (However I would add my own opinion here that the football club also needs in the longer term to become more self sufficient.)

As far as the 4th stand is concerned.... how often could the crowd exceed the current limit of 7500 and by how much? How often, for that matter, are there fewer than 2000 empty seats at the moment? Is it worth spending upwards of £1M for the sake of something like three games a season?

As for the "present waffle about a gas main" being "just a load of codswallop", the situation, again described publicly by David Sutherland in an interview, is that to build something as heavy as a stand over the gas main would need a device called a "cantilever". This would be extremely expensive and couldn't be justified in relation to the usage a third stand would get. Something lighter like a family enclosure might be realisitic but there are other items of expenditure which have higher priority.

Finally, with reference to your statement that "£200,000 would be better spent on the stadium rather than some airy fairy trust"... you seem to have forgotten that ICT is not the only sports club in town and that Tullochs are very aware of the need to support other sports. They have mentioned athletics, shinty and rugby as examples. The £200,000 is NOT specifically, if at all, for ICT. Unfortunately I detect on these forums an occasionally proprietorial attitude towards Tullochs. ICT are not Tullochs' only beneficiaries, even within football, and indeed the company was supporting other sports before Caley Thistle was even a glint in ther eye of the enlightened gentlemen who got it here.

In the intervening years, Tullochs have helped football to catch up on other sports in Inverness in terms of standards. Before 1994 many other sports were producing performers up to advanced international standard (and still do) whilst football (partly because of the intransigence of the SFL clubs) was struggling along at local level - ie the Highland League.

We are all familiar with the revolution which has allowed football to play a welcome catchup in the last 12 years. That has been assisted by Tullochs' money and all Tullochs are doing now is to re emphasise their previous policy of helping a wide range of sports.

Caleydon. Charles has given you a typical detailed reply that your post didn't really warrant.  David Sutherland is standing down as Chairman but he and Tulloch will continue to play a very important part in the future of ICT.

To quote DS from the News Story...

"....working closely with the Board and Chief Executive Mike Smith, who has full responsibility for the club's administrative and commercial arms..."

Why does this worry me?  :confused07:

Charles

Thanks for your allegedly somewhat lengthy post. Frankly I didn't really notice that because I enjoyed the detail and the accuracy etc. and since I am over the hill (metaphorically-speaking that is) and far away I am pleased that you spend your valuable time keeping things up to date for people like us. :clapping04: