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  • Scotty
    Scotty

    Ask the Club - The Answers

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    THE board at Caley Thistle have sifted through the many questions received by The Inverness Courier, from here at CaleyThistleOnline, and also via supporters group Caley Jags Together, and given their answers to the issues raised below in our new Ask The Board feature.


    Q: Why expect the city to engage with the club when the club makes very little effort to engage with the city? They have no visible ‘presence’ in the city, no outlet to purchase tickets or merchandise, no magazine in the shops etc (no open top bus parade when we won the First Division championship). Add in the oddly designed Main Stand (which has the weird effect of almost dividing the support into two separate sections which rarely gel to create an exciting atmosphere), the deterioration in choice and quality of food (a dried-up pie at £2.40 is totally unacceptable), the withdrawal of the use of the facilities from patrons in the North Stand (necessitating queuing up to use the outside toilets meant for the disabled) and it becomes apparent that it is loyalty to Terry and the players that keeps us coming.

    — Helen Bowyer, via e-mail

    A: We trust some of answers to the questions we have received will show that we do engage with the city and make every effort to do so with the limited resources we have at the club. We have had outlets in the city previously, none of which were entirely successful. We are currently in discussions regarding a city centre location where tickets will be available.

     

    Unfortunately there is little we can do about the oddly-shaped stand unless sometime in the future we were to move from our current location As you will know the catering on match days is not carried out in-house, but by an external supplier. However, the point is noted and has been passed to our suppliers for comment/action. Regarding the use of the Main Stand facilities being withdrawn, this was done to alleviate the congestion in the Main Stand serveries and toilet areas.

     


    Q: I would love to have renewed my season ticket this season, but due to working shifts (I have two weekends off in five) it was not possible to do so. Is it possible the club can issue a five or 10-game season book that could be used at lesser category games (all games with exception of Celtic and Ross County)? I realise there would be an issue with seat reservations, but given the stadium is not filled to capacity for these games, a seat could be issued for each game on presentation of the book. I am sure there are others like me, who would be keen to give the club some cash upfront and benefit from getting to go along and cheer the team when available to do so.

    — Broonerz, via CaleyThistleOnline

    A: Having read this question, we contacted various clubs who do run this type of season book and were told that they have not been overly successful. But given the interest in this, please see the article on the official site regarding the introduction of various schemes over the coming weeks. The club will monitor the success of these and if they prove to be worthwhile in terms of uptake, they will continue. We are extremely grateful for all our fans that contribute to the club in terms of season ticket sales as this gives us a confirmed revenue basis ahead of our season, thus giving the board the ability to confirm the likes of player budgets for the coming season.

     


    Q: What is the club is planning to do to attract back (and engage with) the wider football public and help reverse the trend of lower attendances?

    — B. Wares, via e-mail

    A: The clubs ticketing strategy is very much in line with all other clubs playing in the top division of Scottish Football. You will note that we were the “best value” day out for football in the Scottish Premiership in a recent survey carried out by the BBC. That said we would never get complacent and think our pricing of match day tickets will match the budgets of all supporters, but we do try and assist where possible. Unfortunately as all clubs do, we have a set cost base at the club, which must be covered by our income.

     

    We watch, with interest, the ongoing debate on our fans forum regarding reducing the ticket prices and doubling the gate. Having tried many deals for our season ticket holders and fans over the past couple of years where we have made various offers (kids for a quid, friends for £5 etc) we are always willing to look at and investigate new and  innovative ways of reducing the match day costs for our fans. Our current prices per game, if you have taken advantage of our season ticket deals, are as follows:

    tickets.png

    The club are very grateful for the core 3000 that we get for most games and looking over the stats for last season, our home crowds held up reasonably well in comparison to previous years, although there was a noticeable drop off in away fans making the journey to Inverness.

     

    Again we appreciate and understand the reasons for this given the high cost of travel for supporters throughout Scotland. The fact we can still take a healthy core support in percentage terms to all our away games is to be congratulated and admired, and our thanks go to Caley Jags Together who run the buses to all our away games.  These buses are run and monitored by volunteers and much appreciated by the directors, players and management on our away day trips.

    For the past two years, we have been running a scheme with Highland schools, sports clubs, the Scouts, Inverness Street League etc where the community coaches and players visit the organisations on a regular basis and also give out free tickets to children. This initiative has seen over 3500 children visit the stadium on match days last season. This is something we are very happy to do and will hopefully encourage the next generation of ICT fans.

     

    Regarding what the club are planning in terms of engaging with the wider football public, we are currently very active with our community department and players who engage, on a weekly basis, with youngsters and various other groups throughout the Highlands. If you visit the community area of the club website you will see some of the excellent work being carried out by our community team.

    We are fully aware that these initiatives take time to generate additional fans, but are very hopeful, given the increased number of youngsters that now attend our games, that this longer-term strategy will pay dividends in the future. If we could add a further 500 fans to our home gates, it would make a huge difference in terms of what we can afford to give the manager regarding his budget for players. We will continue to strive to increase our fanbase as we move forward, but as stated above we are very grateful for the fans that do turn up week in, week out.

     

    We are introducing some new ticket packages that will give us a better understanding of the current market place and whether or not these incentives are well utilised.

     


    Q: I believe that the club have good relations with various pubs throughout the city. Are there any that provide buses to the ground or perhaps would be interested in doing so, or anyone else for that matter. If, for instance, a bus was to run from Kinmylies or Balloch, Culloden, Smithton area, it would make it easier to attend a game.

    — 12th Man, via CaleyThistleOnline

    A: There are various pubs/clubs within the city that currently run buses to our home games. In addition, the club runs a bus from the city centre on match days and The Caley Club run buses to matches also. Any pub, club or group of fans wishing to run a bus from a local hostelry will be most welcome and if they contact the club we would look at what assistance could be given.

    The club cannot afford to run buses from all areas of Inverness on match days, but will look at any fan-driven initiatives as they would be much appreciated. If we can get 30 to 40 fans interested in running a bus from the Culloden/Balloch area, we would certainly speak to our local bus supplier, who I am sure would be very willing to assist in terms of getting best value for money for this service.

     


    Q: I have wondered over the years, why do we not have a new song every season for when we score a goal? A lot of teams last season had a specific song to play, one that springs to mind was Hearts (Avicii — Levels) when we played them in the League Cup semi-final. I think it would be good if we had a certain pop/dance/traditional song to play.

    — HeScoresWhenHeWants, via CaleyThistleOnline

    A: The club has no hard and fast rules regarding celebration songs or when the players enter the field of play. We are open to suggestions and, as I think was pointed out by a contributor online, we have a new announcer this season and I am sure he will be open to any suggestions from the fans regarding anything they wish to hear pre, during and post match.


     

    So there you have it - Answers to a few of the questions posed by fans. For more info pick up a copy of the Inverness Courier or head over to the official ICT site for details of the offers talked about in this article

     

    LINKS

    Inverness Courier

    ICT Website

    ICT Ticket Offers

    Ask the Board Forum




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