I know it's still about three weeks away but watching the Edinburgh derby last night really got me in the mood for this as Hearts were utter dross. We have a great chance of going through to our first major national cup final and I would say this is our biggest single match since Falkirk at home on the final day in 08/09. ( ) Despite the disgraceful decision to hold the match in Edinburgh I think we are still favourites and if anything that may benefit us as we have a great away record (1 defeat this season).

 

Hopefully Hearts sell a few of their players over the next couple of weeks and we keep our squad as it is. Anyone know how many tickets we have sold so far?

Will this be the lowest ever amount of away fans at the semi-final of a national competition?

 

There are no away fans at a semi-final, it's on neutral territory...

I wouldn't really class Hearts fans as away fans when it's in their Home city

IMHO if we take 2000 to a league cup semi in January, that's really pretty good.  It means that loads of people who are either unable or unwilling for whatever reason to go to away league matches are sufficiently excited by the team reaching the semi final of this secondary cup competition to make the effort and devote the whole day to go.  That sounds really positive to me.

 

The semi final is, after all not the final and is only one game after the quarter final when we played away at Ibrox - a rather tasty prospect in anybody's book I would say.  And how many went to that game?  I don't know but I'll bet it was not a lot more than our usual away support (I'll also bet someone will soon correct me if I'm wrong).  If we get to the final we will get a significant increase in our support and if we get to the final of the proper cup we will get even more.

 

Kingsmills makes the extremely relevant point that Celtic and St Mirren have sold just 13,000 for their clash at a ground local to both clubs.  We are taking over half our normal home gate to a ground nearly 150 miles away.  The 2 of them between them are taking about a quarter of their normal home support to  a local ground.  A league cup semi final is simply not the greatest attraction there is and as far as I'm concerned if we have 2000 at Easter Road that will represent a excellent turnout.  Bring it on!

 

 

Will this be the lowest ever amount of away fans at the semi-final of a national competition?

 

Maybe only for a couple of dozen hours. So far, St Mirren have shifted fewer tickets than we have.

 

Will this be the lowest ever amount of away fans at the semi-final of a national competition?

 

Maybe only for a couple of dozen hours. So far, St Mirren have shifted fewer tickets than we have.

That is embarrassing for St Mirren when it is close enough for them to get to.Why is there such an apathy towards this cup these days do you think,is it because they have taken away the european spot or do people just not have enough money to go? i think years back the earlier rounds were included in a season ticket

 

I know it has been devalued in England for a long time but in Scotland it has been the chance for many clubs to actually win a bit of silverware.

 

maybe it just needs a revamp to get the fans excited again,think its sad that one of our national competitions is treated this way

 

 

Will this be the lowest ever amount of away fans at the semi-final of a national competition?

 

Maybe only for a couple of dozen hours. So far, St Mirren have shifted fewer tickets than we have.

That is embarrassing for St Mirren when it is close enough for them to get to.Why is there such an apathy towards this cup these days do you think,is it because they have taken away the european spot or do people just not have enough money to go? i think years back the earlier rounds were included in a season ticket

 

I know it has been devalued in England for a long time but in Scotland it has been the chance for many clubs to actually win a bit of silverware.

 

maybe it just needs a revamp to get the fans excited again,think its sad that one of our national competitions is treated this way

 

I was thinking along these lines today. Would a two legged semi-final generate more interest? A european spot  would help the teams but would supporters be excited?

I for one would rather have the whole bottom tier sold out full of fans of the club that want to go and have a great time and make a vibrant atmosphere than sell the whole stand and have many people sitting there in silence like home games. So we haven't sold out does it matter all that matters is the result not how many fans we can generate

I'm pretty sure that Livingston took less than 1000 fans to Easter Road for the semi-final the season they won the league cup.

 

 

 

Will this be the lowest ever amount of away fans at the semi-final of a national competition?

 

Maybe only for a couple of dozen hours. So far, St Mirren have shifted fewer tickets than we have.

That is embarrassing for St Mirren when it is close enough for them to get to.Why is there such an apathy towards this cup these days do you think,is it because they have taken away the european spot or do people just not have enough money to go? i think years back the earlier rounds were included in a season ticket

 

I know it has been devalued in England for a long time but in Scotland it has been the chance for many clubs to actually win a bit of silverware.

 

maybe it just needs a revamp to get the fans excited again,think its sad that one of our national competitions is treated this way

 

I was thinking along these lines today. Would a two legged semi-final generate more interest? A european spot  would help the teams but would supporters be excited?

Thought about the 2 legged affair myself but it looks like it's hard enough to get the fans interested in a one off game.

 

really not sure what can be done to sort this cup out,i know they are talking about moving it back to early in the season and have the final in October like it used to be,have to say i used to love it when it was early in the season final usually the weekend the clocks went back under the floodlights at hampden. But i don't think that will be enough to get the fans back watching,not even sure the european place will save it now but we have to try and change it somehow.

 

Would be very sad to see one of our major cup finals dissappear,TGFITW are the worst of the lot and probably wont sell their allocation,looking at pictures from parkhead this season it looks like they aren't such great fans when it comes to Scottish football without the other cheek

There are 100 odd regulars at away games. These people I am pleased are going The other 1800 odd attending I'm not particularly bothered about as they don't make the effort any other week.

 

Any ideas how long would it take to walk from the Edinburgh city centre to Easter Road?

 

If you bus it from the St James Centre ( just off Princes St) you can catch the 7,14,22 or 25 bus to Leith Walk.

In 04 when Livi beat Hibs in the final, they played pars in the semi also at ER. There was an attendance of around 2800 that day which is about 1400 fans each. However that game was played on a tuesday night

There are 100 odd regulars at away games. These people I am pleased are going The other 1800 odd attending I'm not particularly bothered about as they don't make the effort any other week.

 

 

An odd fellow eh? but regular, could be the shredded wheat??    

has there been any advice on where our coaches should park?

 

Ps. would be good if we got a decent atmosphere and seen all the flags out, where has the flag that use to be put in Section A gone? 

Edited January 23, 201313 yr by jamie ictfc

There are 6 Travel Club buses heading to the game on Saturday. 2 of which are leaving at 9am, with the other 4 an hour later.
I believe ALL Travel Club buses will be leaving from the Stadium... (Keep an eye out on the Travel Club pinned thread on the main forum for updates and info).

 

Regent Road is, I believe, the planned drop off and pick up point in Edinburgh. However, announcements will be made on the coaches prior to leaving Inverness as to what the schedule and arrangements are for each particular bus, and quite possibly another announcement on the coaches will come across before parking up in Edinburgh, just to clarify and ensure everyone knows the plan

There are 6 Travel Club buses heading to the game on Saturday. 2 of which are leaving at 9am, with the other 4 an hour later.

I believe ALL Travel Club buses will be leaving from the Stadium... (Keep an eye out on the Travel Club pinned thread on the main forum for updates and info).

 

Regent Road is, I believe, the planned drop off and pick up point in Edinburgh. However, announcements will be made on the coaches prior to leaving Inverness as to what the schedule and arrangements are for each particular bus, and quite possibly another announcement on the coaches will come across before parking up in Edinburgh, just to clarify and ensure everyone knows the plan

 

I was meaning more for other private coaches?  have the club been told that all coaches should park at the same place?

All ICT coaches will be asked to park in Leith links as we are technically the 'home' team

Any ideas how long would it take to walk from the Edinburgh city centre to Easter Road?

 

If you bus it from the St James Centre ( just off Princes St) you can catch the 7,14,22 or 25 bus to Leith Walk.

 

If you bus it your a lazy ***** 

 

20 mins max walking from St James I'd say.

And looking at it another way, Hearts will be taking less than their typical home support for a trip just a few miles across the city. We'll be taking about 2/3rds of our home support for a long journey in the middle of winter, so it doesn't compare too badly.

 

Look at it anyway you want . This is the biggest game ( in my opinion) in the clubs history , Go to it guys. I just wish I could be there but family reasons prevent that.

 

Enjoy your day out

 

Treat every  big day game  as precious.

 

Hearts are a famous old club, their fans have got spoilt with many big games in the past ,  ICT are young and  building a reputation.  This is new and unknown  territory  this is fantastic for the City of Inverness and the club.

Edited January 23, 201313 yr by Laurence

This is the biggest game ( in my opinion) in the clubs history ,

 

Not even in the top 10 IMO.

 

Any ideas how long would it take to walk from the Edinburgh city centre to Easter Road?

 

If you bus it from the St James Centre ( just off Princes St) you can catch the 7,14,22 or 25 bus to Leith Walk.

 

If you bus it your a lazy ***** 

 

20 mins max walking from St James I'd say.

 

I'll be walking from my flat! lol But im sure there might be older peeps who might prefer the bus than a 20 min walk! Especially if its snowing

This is the biggest game ( in my opinion) in the clubs history ,

 

Not even in the top 10 IMO.

Like I said my opinion

Can't see how League Cup semi-final is bigger than the two Scotttish Cup semis (even more so when you consider that ICT were Division One at that time), the relegation decider against Falkirk, or the 1st Division championship game against St Johnstone (and the one prior to that against Clyde).  A "bigger" game in the club's history?  Yes.  Biggest?  Never.

Like I said just an opinion

 

Given the oposition and the potential

 

and the here and now

I'm with you Laurence but I'm English and live in Lancashire so I know not a lot about it. I'm a part time Caley supporter and mainly support Burnley in the Championship. On Saturday, Burnley are at home to Birmingham with a chance to get within a point of a play off position. I'll be at Easter Road though because, to me, it is the biggest match, yet, this season for either Burnley or ICT. If others think it's not a "big" match, then that's fine. The main thing though is that it's ICT''s biggest match this week!

 

I find all this talk about "only" 2000 going to be depressing. I think it's fantastic that so many people are prepared to travel. Inverness to Edinburgh is not that much less than my journey from Preston!

Like I said just an opinion

 

Given the oposition and the potential

 

and the here and now

 

That doesn't make much sense. The here and now? Of course it's our biggest game ever in the here and now as it is our only game.

 

An opinion is fine but opinions can also be wrong! It is a very big game with the chance of getting to the final but it is in no way bigger than our two Scottish Cup semi finals. That is the top cup competition and wining those semi finals on both occasions would have seen us into Europe even if we lost the finals. Also the opposition isn't much different from Dundee and Dunfermline, all beatable teams!

 

I can't actually make the semi which I'm gutted about but I will def be at the final, which I'm pretty confident we will be in!