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    Boardroom Banter - Dec 2003

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    Welcome to the December issue of Boardroom Banter. There have been a number of issues and discussions on the message boards of the website, and quite a few emails received at our new email address of banter@caleythistleonline.com which we want to try and comment on this month.

    TEMPORARY STANDS

    As has always been the case the Board have the long-term viability of the Football Club very much to the forefront during its decision making processes no matter the subject. With regard to the Temporary seating arrangements, we met with the S.P.L. representatives last season and were given certain assurances re our proposed plans. There were no adverse comments made at that time and the only criteria we were asked to fulfil re our plans was that the seating as we proposed was to be covered and would have a current safety certificate.

    We foresaw no problem in achieving this as this type of seating is utilised at sporting events all over the U.K. and it is incumbent upon the suppliers to ensure that all the certificates are in place post construction where upon we would then take over the responsibility for it and it would be inspected and checked by a Structural Engineer prior to each and every home game. The only stumbling block to this plan was the fact that we maybe required to have the Certificates to hand by April 30th in the season prior to promotion if that were achieved.

    We are currently in the process of corresponding with the S.P.L. to ascertain if there is to be a relaxation of this stipulation as it could, in the worst case scenario, mean that we erect the Temporary Stands in March 2004 only to find that having gone to the substantial expense of doing so we then failed to achieve promotion. We are certain we do not need to go into the implications of this outcome as they are self explanatory and there for all to see.

    Given that it would take at the outside 6 weeks from start to finish to erect the stands to meet the S.P.L. criteria we can see no good reason to force us down this route and assume that we will receive a fair hearing to this dilemma.

    We can confirm that the Management Team are aware of the situation as it exists and that we all have the longterm survival and success of the Club in our minds and we intend to pursue Official Planning Permission for our proposal shortly.

    NEW SPL CRITERIA

    In a letter just received this week we have been informed that it is now a further requirement that adequate pitch protection be supplied which must be of an "underground or under pitch heated type". This brings with it added difficulties as we could not possibly have this in place by April 30th which is still during the playing season but we are sure we will be allowed a relaxation on this front providing we could assure the S.P.L. that we had the capability to provide it prior to the start of the 2004/2005 season.

    HIGHLAND FOOTBALL ACADEMY

    As the name suggests, this is a Highland Facility and neither the domain of ICTFC or for that matter RCFC to spite any indications in the local and national press to the contrary.

    This is a Publicly funded facility and neither ICTFC or RCFC have put any direct funding into the venture at this stage and it is open to use by any Football Club in the Highland area or for that matter any sporting group as it has the ability to be a multifunctional facility. The project is overseen by 2 Directors neither of whom have any affiliation to either Club mentioned above.

    At present there is a working committee made up of various bodies and this committee does contain representatives of both ICTFC and RCFC.

    There appears to some form of illusion/misconception being created surrounding the Academy its owners, users, funders, participants, a point that we hope has now been fully cleared up and for the avoidance of doubt it is a facility for the whole of the Highlands and is the exclusive domain of no one team or organisation.

    CAR PARKING

    Following numerous complaints in reference to the length of time it takes to clear the car parks at the end of the games we can inform you that with the assistance of the Stewards we will be looking to further improve on the situation as it stands.

    On Saturday at the Q.O.S. game the home car park was cleared by 4-48pm which we are not certain can be improved upon and this was witnessed by one of the directors who had been asked to observe the situation in light of several comments on the website and complaints received via email.

    What the club cannot legislate for are people who get it into to their heads that they can ignore the Stewards and try and push and bully their way to the front of the queue.

    Following the complaints received, one of the directors confirmed that he was in the car park at the end of the game and what happened was a car trying to push its way into the line of traffic (rather than wait his turn) came to rest against the car in front, at an angle, but did not damage it. When the driver of the car in front wound his window down to enquire from the driver of the car that was leaning against his car, if he had in fact caused any damage things took a turn for the worse. The driver of the offending car for some reason completely lost the place and launched into a tirade of abuse directed at all around him, he then proceeded to reverse slightly and take a run at the car at the head of the queue spinning his wheels as he did so resulting in the damage to the other drivers car.

    This matter was handed over to the police by the stewards, which we think was the correct action given the circumstances and they dealt with things accordingly.

    On receipt of the police report on this incident the club will also take appropriate action against this driver as we cannot tolerate this behaviour within the confines of the ground.

    The name and address of the driver of the damaged car was also taken and the Club will be writing to him in due course with our sincere apologies for the behaviour of one of our supporters.

    COMMERCIAL

    Having reviewed our commercial activities over the last few weeks the Club have appointed Les Kidger (from the club shop) as Business Manager until the end of the season.

    Les, in conjunction with the Directors, has been holding the fort over the past few weeks on a voluntary basis and his contribution has been greatly appreciated, and we are just putting this situation on a more formal footing.

    There will be further appointments made in the coming weeks to add strength and back up in other areas of the business as we move forward.

    The Club Shop has continued to go from strength to strength and we are delighted at the fans response to our new lines and it is a very welcome income stream for the Club.

    2004/2005 STRIP

    The new strip for next season has been on display in the Stadium and on occasion outside the Club Shop and we can assure you that the fans have been canvassed for their opinions over the past few months.

    It was also put to the Players and to the shareholders at the A.G.M. and all the views are being taken into consideration. At this stage the favoured option is the red, blue with black inserts and we are awaiting sample strips from ERREA to see what they look like.

    YOUTH/COMMUNITY

    In the community section we are moving forward a pace with hundreds of youngsters turning up to our various age group training and coaching sessions which is an excellent position and we are looking forward to announcing some additions to Danny's backroom staff in the very near future as we continue our push forward.

    A few weeks ago you may have seen a cheque being handed over by Danny at the one of the home games to the Inverness Boxing Club this was the sum of £1000 which was a result of the very successful boxing night held in the Ramada Jarvis.

    It is with functions like these that we aim to get across to the public of Inverness that because the ICTFC name is in itself a draw we can assist and help other minority Sports and Clubs in the area and that it is not all take, take, in football as is often the case.

    In next months B.B. we will get a full update on both the Youth and Reserves for you from Danny And John Docherty/John Beaton.

    Merry Christmas

    Finally on behalf of the Directors, Management, Players and all the Staff at the Stadium we would like to wish all our fans and their families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year




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