https://www.facebook.com/ICTFC

 

Club Statement

As one major part of our planned strategic restructure of the club, ICTFC are delighted to announce an innovative agreement with League 1 side Kelty Hearts which will see the club move our training base to the Fife club’s New Central Park Stadium.

This creative partnership will mean that we will hire their excellent facilities which include a 3g pitch, onsite grass pitches and offices for our coaching staff, as our training base during the week starting from this coming pre-season in June.

The last few years have seen the geographic challenges in getting players to move to the Highlands become ever harder for a number of reasons.

Caledonian Stadium will always be our home, but other factors in Scottish football have changed and where we train should not be an impediment to the quality of the players we can attract to Caley Thistle, or to our potential to progress.

The commercial success of the city of Inverness – which will always be our home - both as a tourist destination and a place to live, has led to very high prices for the accommodation we require to house players. In addition to these high costs which our competitors do not carry, the extremely limited housing stock in Inverness continues to be both a challenge and a huge factor working against us.

Increased playing budgets in and around the central belt has meant that on many occasions, even when we have offered players more favourable terms than our competitors, sometimes even agreed deals, we have then been told that the player has changed his mind due to challenges relocating their families. Support structures in and around the families of players may all be in and around the central belt, partners will have jobs where they live and moving kids schools to the Highlands and moving home itself can just be seen as impractical for a one or two year contract.

It makes it particularly challenging for us to sign senior players, a category which through no fault of our budget, or of previous ICT Managers, we have struggled to attract in the last few seasons.

Similarly, our location means that we miss out on the opportunity of signing promising players from the larger clubs in Scotland, on loan or otherwise.

For the avoidance of any doubt we absolutely intend to continue to develop our own homegrown Highland boys and we will take the appropriate steps to make sure that by being creative, innovative and practical, they do not miss out on the chance to have a pathway to first team football with their team. We have a proud tradition of introducing local players in to our first team and this will absolutely continue.

We obviously never intended to be in the same division as Kelty when originally exploring this concept, but football throws strange things at you sometimes and having reassessed the proposition and judged that the pros still far outweigh the cons, we would like to thank the Board of Kelty Hearts and MD Stefan Winiarski and his management team for considering this unique to the SPFL partnership, and then seeing and agreeing on the possibilities and benefits for both clubs.

To reiterate, by moving our footballing department's training base to central Scotland, both the club's Board of Directors and the club's First Team Management feel we give ourselves the best possible chance to attract the highest quality players to the club, allowing some of the players we sign to also live in and around the central belt while playing for ICTFC.

We now look forward to taking further positive strides on and off the pitch to address the football and financial challenges we face we believe this exciting opportunity to help us attract players previously not available to us and build a better squad, is one of the first steps we can make and we hope to develop further innovative partnerships.

Inverness is and will always be our home.

The Caledonian Stadium will always be where we play our football. We hope this venture will help us achieve our goal in giving our supporters a team to be proud of.

Edited May 24, 20242 yr by The Mantis

Hopefully there will be some clarity from the club today. At the time of writing, we have no chairman, our accounts are overdue and a major income stream from Statkraft has fallen through, while we don't know which players have been offered new contracts (or if any actually have been offered new deals) and any player recruitment is surely on hold until Keltygate is resolved.

 

 

I suspect - and hope - that Alan Savage is positioning himself as the club's saviour, or at least as the figurehead for those who might step in and rescue the situation.. His youth academy gesture has got him some credit with the support, and he's publicised his disgust with the Kelty plan and with Gardiner. But the outgoing board will want some of the money they've put into the club back, and their replacements will not want to give them a penny because of the mess that they wlll have to clear up. The longer it takes to sort that out, the weaker our position will get and the more likely administration becomes.

 

Edited June 4, 20241 yr by hislopsoffsideagain

11 hours ago, ICTPaisley said:

Ideal for the turncoats 

proposing to watch Clach is a distraction/not an option and they(Clach)  are milking it playing the local team card. with respect its not the same product. We need to concentrate on saving our team  .

The Board must surely understand that the club has no future without the fans and that the fans feel betrayed.  They must recognise that the failures which Achfary so eloquently summarises in his latest post, lie with the Board collectively and not just with the Chairman, and that therefore they have to take responsibility for resolving the crisis they created.  They must surely understand that there is a need to reach out to the fan base if solutions are to be found.

The first step would be to issue some brief communication to let people know that somebody is still in the building.  I am sure we all appreciate that to reverse the Kelty deal and to relieve any employee of their duties may involve difficult negotiations and legal advice and that therefore they may be severely limited on what they can say.  But there is no good reason to say nothing.  Why can they not put a simple holding statement out?  This might simply:-

1. Officially confirm that Ross Morrison has stood down as Chairman.
2. Confirm whether Morrison remains on the Board or not.
3. Confirm who is interim Chairman.
4. Clarify the position regarding the overdue 2022/23 accounts.
5. Acknowledge the strong feelings and concern amongst the fan base and that fan engagement will be important moving forward.
6. State that discussions are taking place around the Kelty plan and the positions of certain employees, but that detail clearly has to kept confidential at this stage.
7. Confirm that the Board are committed to resolving issues so that we will be able to field a competitive team at Annan on July 13th.
8. Agree to provide regular updates.

Do they not understand that the longer the silence goes on, the angrier and more disillusioned the fans become?

38 minutes ago, hislopsoffsideagain said:

I suspect - and hope - that Alan Savage is positioning himself as the club's saviour, or at least as the figurehead for those who might step in and rescue the situation.. His youth academy gesture has got him some credit with the support, and he's publicised his disgust with the Kelty plan and with Gardiner. But the outgoing board will want some of the money they've put into the club back, and their replacements will not want to give them a penny because of the mess that they wlll have to clear up. 

Well said.  100%.

Inverness

What a mess!

3 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

Acknowledge the strong feelings and concern amongst the fan base and that fan engagement will be important moving forward.

It might be difficult to achieve but amongst the fans are some very experienced and talented individuals who almost certainly would offer voluntary service on bodies set up by the Club to help consider proposals e.g. moving training to Fife, making profit from potentially providing concerts, leasing a piece of land, applying to the Council for planning permission. If the Trust had a board member or two it could possibly vet selected persons to assist the club. That goodwill surely exists and anyone helping the Club, well would be helping the club. Just a thought. Being objective, the current model has not worked.

1 hour ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

It might be difficult to achieve but amongst the fans are some very experienced and talented individuals who almost certainly would offer voluntary service on bodies set up by the Club to help consider proposals e.g. moving training to Fife, making profit from potentially providing concerts, leasing a piece of land, applying to the Council for planning permission. If the Trust had a board member or two it could possibly vet selected persons to assist the club. That goodwill surely exists and anyone helping the Club, well would be helping the club. Just a thought. Being objective, the current model has not worked.

When Boris Johnson gave the now former MP Rory Stewart a senior cabinet post, he gave him the Africa brief.  Rory wanted and expected Middle East, justifiably - he had been deputy governor of Iraq, director of an NPO in Afghanistan,  and spoke Dari and Urdu fluently.

His puzzlement at getting Africa, a continent he'd never set foot in, was explained to him by a colleague as thus: some leaders won't choose people for roles in which they have a knowledge advantage over said leader

It's normalised that fans are to be kept at arm's length - but it is just absurd at non-profit making ones.

The fact that the ICT boardroom has been like the bat cave for years is a choice, evident by the hurdles/shutters Ross et al put up to stymie the Trust's proposal

At ICT, there are a number of very relevantly-skilled professionals that would volunteer, of course many have done so in the past, but CEOs and MDs eventually alienated them.

Hopefully a stronger and emboldened Supporters Trust and fan-led new media will sharpen consultation/scrutiny of future choices of stewards?

Seems this is the current view of the boardroom.

 

7 minutes ago, Achfary said:

When Boris Johnson gave the now former MP Rory Stewart a senior cabinet post, he gave him the Africa brief.

Off topic ( Scotty this forum maybe needs a spoiler alert button) but… just started reading his book “Politics on the Edge” a couple of days ago after waiting about 6 months. Just reached the point where he’s working under Cameron.

If the Kelty move is off due to fan pressure, they need to let people know so that people can arrange to buy season tickets.  This whole shambles could be an opportunity to galvanise the fanbase, re-engage them.  As it stands, we don't know who the chairman is, we don't know what players have been given deals, we don't know if the manager is going to stay around, we don't know if we are going into administration.

Just now, ictchris said:

If the Kelty move is off due to fan pressure, they need to let people know so that people can arrange to buy season tickets.  This whole shambles could be an opportunity to galvanise the fanbase, re-engage them.  As it stands, we don't know who the chairman is, we don't know what players have been given deals, we don't know if the manager is going to stay around, we don't know if we are going into administration.

The club probably do not know what is a realistic price for a season ticket. Also Gardiner is probably the only person able to do things. If Directors reach a decision someone has to action them. Who apart from Gardiner administers?

I remain positive the board, along with front man Gardiner are busy working on their plan B as we speak

When is the club going to update the fans on what is going on? 🙈

Edited June 4, 20241 yr by robbo1985

THE SILENCE FROM THE CLUB ON ALL that is going on is deafening 

A very large iceberg lurks dead ahead but we don’t even know if the Captain has seen it. In fact all we know is that there’s no longer even a Captain…. and even that we’ve had to find out for ourselves.

21 minutes ago, Charles Bannerman said:

A very large iceberg lurks dead ahead but we don’t even know if the Captain has seen it. In fact all we know is that there’s no longer even a Captain…. and even that we’ve had to find out for ourselves.

The captain saw the iceberg looming ahead in the distance, so plotted a course 136 miles south. However, this sparked a mutiny and he was made to walk the plank. The mutineers then set the ship back on course, so that they can see the iceberg close up.

9 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

The captain saw the iceberg looming ahead in the distance, so plotted a course 136 miles south. However, this sparked a mutiny and he was made to walk the plank. The mutineers then set the ship back on course, so that they can see the iceberg close up.

Starring Scot Gardiner as William Bligh… and the ICT Supporters’ Trust as Fletcher Christian….

Then, to mix Maritime Metaphors, the latest problem is that “I see no signal”, but that’s possibly because the Board are still playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe.

Edited June 4, 20241 yr by Charles Bannerman

Taken from the Moray Firth this afternoon.

3 hours ago, ictchris said:

If the Kelty move is off due to fan pressure, they need to let people know so that people can arrange to buy season tickets.  This whole shambles could be an opportunity to galvanise the fanbase, re-engage them.  As it stands, we don't know who the chairman is, we don't know what players have been given deals, we don't know if the manager is going to stay around, we don't know if we are going into administration.

It would, but I can't imagine there'd be many purchases until we get word that Gardiner has been thrown on his arse out the front door

If there ever was a time for fan investment, it would be under a new and trusted Chairperson following a clear out of the duds on the board. Perhaps that’s not far away at all. 
 

I wonder what a fan investment offer would look like? How much is needed to buy another year of solvency? Who communicates what’s needed? 

I commend the ST for the lobbying work that has no doubt contributed to meaningful change so far. I hope the ST are strongly involved going forward whatever happens. 
 

In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity!

 

 

3 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Taken from the Moray Firth this afternoon.

I’m wondering if HMS Sneck actually needs to be renamed the Marie Celeste…. because it very much looks as if there’s no one there.

Why did so many on the board all go along with this nonsense for so long. I find it difficult to accept that they are all incompetent, though looking at the management at my work and suits in general, it’s quite possible they are.

23 minutes ago, NuclearDachshund said:

Why did so many on the board all go along with this nonsense for so long. I find it difficult to accept that they are all incompetent, though looking at the management at my work and suits in general, it’s quite possible they are.

A colleague!

The board are all retired, except Graeme and Scott Y as newer appointments, .  

Gardiner is largely unimpeded, at least was under Ross, hence the mess.  

Edited June 4, 20241 yr by Achfary