I only ask because I've been trying to solve the riddle that is Stadium Ownership for some time now. I was under the belief that the ownership of the stadium had passed to the new Trust which was set up with charitable status to reduce the interest/tax etc on the debt and better facilitate it's repayment via rent received from the club, but that doesn't seem to fit with what appears to be going on in the background.

For a start, the Trust that was set up is now a Dormant Company which means that if it still owns the stadium then it can't be receiving anything by way of am ongoing market rent....yet the club is still paying rent.

There's certain documents online with the Highland Council saying that loans that had originally been set up in the name of the Trust had been transferred to a new property company (Inverness Caledonian Thistle Property (2004) Ltd) which was set up to manage the new stands. It would appear however that they do not hold ownership of the stands as they "Sub-lease" them to the club....which means that they are leasing them from another company (possibly Inverness Caledonian Thistle Property Ltd...note the missing 2004, which means it is a separate company). Both these companies would appear to have no connection to ICT and are owned either in whole, or in large by Tullochs/Inverness Holdings.

I also noted from this years accounts that the club only have a 50% stake in Caledonian Thistle Properties Ltd (yet another different company), when last year they had 100%...and on doing a little investigating the other 50% now appears to be owned by Tullochs/Inverness Holdings.

So that's 4 companies....

Caledonian Thistle Properties

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Properties

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Properties (2004)

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Trust

...that all seem to have a finger in the pie of stadium related property, but I have no idea which "bit" of property might belong to each. It would also seem that whilst the club are paying rent (which has increased by ?39,500 between last years accounts and this years) but that money doesn't seem to be making it's way back to the company which was originally set up to deal with the debt.

So, who owns the property/lease? Who owns the Debt? And who are we paying rent to?

I had kinda envisaged us paying off the debt (indirectly via rent) and perhaps purchasing the stadium back at some point, or that if we were to move then the debt would be cleared and their would be enough money left to set us up in a nice new stadium and be debt free....with the hope that we might be left a little in the bank to play with.

However, it would seem that one of two companies owned by Tullochs/Inverness Holdings would be the ones to profit from the sale of the remainder of the lease at our current location. Anything that the club might see from such a deal would be entirely down to good will.....which makes me a little uncomfortable. Not to mention the fact that it makes the club itself practically worthless in terms of attracting anything by way of substantial investment.

I'm not suggesting anything underhand or improper, and we could spend forever going through discussing the merits of every possible scenario, but all I'm really interested in is if anyone can add any facts to the above or point out where I have definitely made an error.

The whole trust thing is shrouded in secrecy which, to my mind, is utterly unnecessary.

The whole trust thing is shrouded in secrecy which, to my mind, is utterly unnecessary.

I take it that the other 50% is owned by Tulloch?

ICT basically own 50% of a company which is not trading and has ?6000 of debt. Caledonian Thistle Properties IS NOT the trust and does not own the stadium buildings and/or the lease on the ground. It used to own Grant Street but sold it to the Common Good Fund a few years back.

Been doing a little more digging to establish the fact that we were led to believe that the stadium was being transferred to a Charitable Trust and I didn't have to look far. There's two articles on the official website which come under "Club History" which clearly state what I've been saying.

The first can be found at - http://www.ictfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Club...~892997,00.html

Where it says........

The AGM of the PLC on Friday 25 August saw the unveiling of the Board's revival plan "The Road To Premier League Football". This envisaged the setting up of a Charitable Trust to take ownership of the Stadium and shoulder the debt of ?1.9m. The Football Club would lease the Stadium back, raise cash for football purposes and move on free of debt. Arrangements were put in place and the plan eventually voted through by shareholders on 1 March.

And also on - http://www.ictfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Club...~892999,00.html

Where it says........

...the transfer of Caledonian Stadium to a Charitable Trust was completed - the debt of ?2.6 m was wiped out as a result.

Their is also an article on the Scotsman site at - http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/SPL-extend...sors.2256483.jp - Which reads......

Inverness Caledonian Thistle will start the new season debt free, after transferring Caledonian Stadium to a new charitable trust, freeing it from interest rate payments of ?250,000 a month. It means all income from the football operation can now be devoted to the team.

And one final link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/football/..._ct/1077686.stm - the BBC archives which also state that it was the Trust which would be taking ownership of the stadium.

We reported on it at the time and from memory the discussion on the forum centred around the fact that although not ideal to be selling the family silver, because it was going into a Charitable Trust then it was the best we could hope for under the circumstances.

To now discover that in reality the property and lease ended up in the hands of a company which had/has the power to do as they please with it, and that any gains would not would not necessarily benefit either the club or a Trust which was to be set up to serve the interests of the footballing community leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

All this, IMO, adds up to a very clear picture of us having the wool pulled over our eyes, and whilst the situation may never change, I do think we deserve some form of explanation as to why we were mislead. I can't help but feel that the whole "Charitable Trust" thing was nothing but a smokescreen to divert attention from what was really going on, as opposed to a change of plan for the benefit of anyone other than one person.

Been doing a little more digging to establish the fact that we were led to believe that the stadium was being transferred to a Charitable Trust and I didn't have to look far. There's two articles on the official website which come under "Club History" which clearly state what I've been saying.

The first can be found at - http://www.ictfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Club...~892997,00.html

Where it says........

The AGM of the PLC on Friday 25 August saw the unveiling of the Board's revival plan "The Road To Premier League Football". This envisaged the setting up of a Charitable Trust to take ownership of the Stadium and shoulder the debt of ?1.9m. The Football Club would lease the Stadium back, raise cash for football purposes and move on free of debt. Arrangements were put in place and the plan eventually voted through by shareholders on 1 March.

And also on - http://www.ictfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Club...~892999,00.html

Where it says........

...the transfer of Caledonian Stadium to a Charitable Trust was completed - the debt of ?2.6 m was wiped out as a result.

Their is also an article on the Scotsman site at - http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/SPL-extend...sors.2256483.jp - Which reads......

Inverness Caledonian Thistle will start the new season debt free, after transferring Caledonian Stadium to a new charitable trust, freeing it from interest rate payments of ?250,000 a month. It means all income from the football operation can now be devoted to the team.

And one final link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/football/..._ct/1077686.stm - the BBC archives which also state that it was the Trust which would be taking ownership of the stadium.

We reported on it at the time and from memory the discussion on the forum centred around the fact that although not ideal to be selling the family silver, because it was going into a Charitable Trust then it was the best we could hope for under the circumstances.

To now discover that in reality the property and lease ended up in the hands of a company which had/has the power to do as they please with it, and that any gains would not would not necessarily benefit either the club or a Trust which was to be set up to serve the interests of the footballing community leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

All this, IMO, adds up to a very clear picture of us having the wool pulled over our eyes, and whilst the situation may never change, I do think we deserve some form of explanation as to why we were mislead. I can't help but feel that the whole "Charitable Trust" thing was nothing but a smokescreen to divert attention from what was really going on, as opposed to a change of plan for the benefit of anyone other than one person.

Well done Caley D - good digging and proud of you for speaking up.

The only thing I could add is the fact that no matter what, our dear saviour was always only interested in one thing - the good of football in the town!

To now discover that in reality the property and lease ended up in the hands of a company which had/has the power to do as they please with it, and that any gains would not would not necessarily benefit either the club or a Trust which was to be set up to serve the interests of the footballing community leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

A couple of questions. Firstly, have you been able to establish who the directors of the company concerned are? Secondly, do a) This company or b ) The Trust or c) Both or d) Neither enjoy limited liability status?

Edited September 18, 200817 yr by Charles Bannerman