Leaderboard

Nigel, Many of our fans who live in Inverness are ordinary working class people with families, rent / mortgage and all the other bills to pay. Many of them take loans or payment terms to purchase a season tickets They dont normally have travel costs to get to the game so, if they have the day free, will make it along at little further cost. Others have the cost of taking family etc. This all adds up to a lot of outlay in a season. Should they really be expected to, or seen as less loyal if they dont, travel to away games the shortest of which is a 240 mile round trip. Many of our away support live south of Perth. They are the same working class people as those described above. They may not have season tickets, though I know a few that do, but they will likely have shelled out in other ways to help fund the team. Are they disloyal if they cant make the 240 mile plus round trip to see a home game? I attend whatever I can whenever I can simply because its a hobby for me and I can afford the outlay. Twelve years ago I could only see ICT if they played at Brockville. Anyone with a bit of intelligence would not be questioning the loyalty of supporters whatever games they choose to attend. If you fancy taking some time out to read the many previous threads on this very subject you'll find that nobody, not even a few past managers, are able to explain this one. Personally I dont think it has anything to do with home or away support but more to do with us not being able to use the advantage of our own pitch. Ours is too wide.

Aw come on now, 2.50 for cheese buger and chips, its not exactly expensive. You get what you pay for!!! The caley club is the place to be before matches, and after, especially if we win!!! ?1.41 for a vodka and coke is no bad at all, but this VAT increase might price me out of buying another 1

no. a supporter is a supporter. if you come to a game you deserve nothing but praise in my book. regardless of whether you sing/sit/stand/dance/take your shoes off/sweetie rustle/conga etc etc. we go to games to support our team i care not whether you do it at home or away or both. obviously at home you give your money directly to the club, but some of us just can't get to inverness for games and some of us just can't get out of inverness for games. judgements about how loyal one fan is compared to another are a waste of time in my book. either way, come on the mighty caley, terry and mo will turn this little slump around and we'll be flying again

True loyalty to me is going home and away and following no matter where, why and irrespective of the outcome. Peeple can follow loyaly from all over the Globe - Scotty and Gabby get up at all hours to follow My view in regard to ICT is that I will be as loyal as I can be and follow whenever I can. "If ICT lives to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.?

Former county player David Gunn. He scored 2 goals in 47 games for our feederclub.

Thats cause you are a super n00b!

and get a proper haircut!! I think if they had said ir more advance than a few days that they would be doing cheap tix for a few of the diddy teams like hamilton & st johnstone we might get a better turnout. should be a good crowd for the elgin game but it's about creating awareness aswell as just the gesture. The Elgin game will be below 3,000 comfortably. Will that be an 'official' 3000? dont forget there will be cash gates. Anyway.. wage caps.. forget it, the old firm have more financial clout than all the other teams put together. Midweek games will cost clubs too much money. Dropping ticket prices will not bring in more fans, i've offered free tickets to people over the years to get them interested and its met with indifference, you are either a footie fan or you are not.

I think Ipswich will be aiming a lot higher than Butcher. People linked Terry with Preston, who then appointed Phil Brown, and Burnley, who are trying to get Paul Lambert. That's the calibre of manager he'd be up against if he was interested. There are plenty of managers around with better reputations in England, where both Terry & Mo have a track record of failure. So I don't think we should worry about losing them - on this particular occasion.

As a season ticket holder along with the missus we make all the home games, we went to a gd number of away games when we were in the 1st Div as it was a bit more affordable. I would love to go to away games now that we are back in the SPL. However wee things like our mortgage and saving for the arrival of our wee one in March get in the way. We used to mostly make only away games cos we lived in Weegieland, but now we live back in Sneck things are different. In a nutshell everyone's curcumstances are different and people should not be judged on what games they attend. Conversely I'm sure there are those out there who would love to buy a season ticket but cannot afford it, work on Saturdays etc, so just make some home games, does this make them any 'less' of a supporter? IMO the only supporters that are irratating are those who seem to perversly take great glee in the team playing badly and take every opportunity to criticise or shout abuse at the players/management. NIgel if you would like to leave your bank account detals I (and others I'm sure) would be more than happy to take out a reasonable amount so we could follow ICT on the road. Now stop with the and be happy to follow

Impose a rule on the amount of foreign players in a team as well as focusing money on youth development not on foreign rejects. Scrap the "Win at all costs" mentality of youth coaching and teach how to play the game with a focus on technical ability.

Well said, agree totally. How long till Sky and other broadcasters push for a 10 team English Premiership so they can have Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Man C and Liverpool all playing each other four times a season? Beware the Birminghams, Wigans, West Broms and Blackpools of this world!

Used to think 16 was the best idea but changed my mind to 14 as 16 isn't really workable outside the ideal world scenario. 14 teams have a few different options but I'd like to see the split remain and go 8-6 after 2 rounds then play each other twice again in your group. That would guarantee 40 games for the top 8 and 36 for the bottom 6. By making the top group that bit larger it gives the 4 lucrative Old Firm games as a carrot with the knock on effects on TV money, prize money, etc. for the clubs who make it. For the group in the bottom 6 they are all involved against each other in a very real relegation battle and as we found ourselves, interest and attendances increase when there is something to play for. Automatically 1 up, 1 down with a straight play off between the 12th SPL v 3rd Div 1 and 13th SPL v 2nd Div 1 for 2 other potential relegation/promotion places. They key, for me, is getting as many competitive games which matter as possible. Football is too expensive for people to attend when there is nothing to play for, no matter how many youngsters or homegrown guys are playing that day.

<rant on> Given that the current SPL set-up, mostly, bar the very odd most welcome bookies' aberration if you are inclined to bet on something such as ICT holding one or other of the OF to a draw, is the most mindbendingly boring set up in existence....what makes the SFA think that reducing the number of teams is the way to go....except to increase the take for the ten left....and to hell with every other team in Scottish football? Being cynical, I do wonder if the ten will be chosen on merit at the end of the season according to league placements if Aberdeen ends up 11th or twelfth or if they reserve the right to do picky and choosy depending on the wishes of the Central Belt Shoo-in clubs.. We can do logic and query whether 42 senior teams in four leagues with a few teams in a few of those leagues paying really relatively silly money to players, are sustainable at all in Scotland, even at the self-important level of Rangers and Celtic, with an average possible attendance, if every soul from babes in arms to old women on zimmers were to attend, of 123,000 per team, when you consider that England, without including the population of Wales could, using a whip, "encourage" nearly 560,000 punters of all ages to turn up and pay at the gate. Or we can do realism..and acknowledge that the SPL is run by the OF for the OF...and the SFA does not have the backbone of an amoeba. As a one-time...and long-time...Celtic Supporter, who has, over the years, gradually become more and more hacked off by the influence of the Old Firm on Scottish Football to its detriment, I think that it is well past time Rangers and Celtic were put in their place as one of many and not the be-all and end-all of Scottish football. After all, if the Engish Premiership don't want them, (and they don't appear to want them, despite pleading), what option do they have but play where they are...and in that case, why should they be any more favoured than any other club? How come Dundee went into administration with a lot less debt, while Rangers are still running, but not in official administration attracting penalties....but bank administration just the same. The difference in pure chancer level is what, exactly? The OF may have been giants in football terms at one time...but no longer...and why on earth should the SFA kowtow to their image of themselves as the most important clubs in Scotland when the only reason they are the best is because they, unlike other teams don't have to live in the real world because there is always someone prepared to make allowances for them..and because there is a plethora (and I admit I was once one of them) of punters who do glory rather than football? I always remember the Lisbon Lions of 1967, when every player was born within 30 miles of Glasgow.......and looking at the Ne-erday team of this year, I was struggling very hard to find a Scotsman in the named squad and bench of either team. And, in the end, that is not good for Scottish International football...because I am not convinced that every Scottish kid taken up and then let go by the OF is crap....but there is a tendency for the SFA to assume that if they don't play in the SPL/English Premiership after 19 they are not worth looking at....and it is a laughable situation that those scouts paid (I assume) big bucks by the SFA to find suitable Scotland contenders appear to wait for coaches to point them at kids outside the incestuous Central Belt, rather than turning up at games all over the country and actually doing the job for which they are paid. Scottish Football, a bit like Politics, is a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" set up, and, while I have always hated Quangos with a passion....Scottish football is one place where a Quango of punters, rather than CEOs may just inject an element of realism into the irrationality of Club owners looking to add money to their back pockets by reducing the options so less clubs are getting a share of the available pot. I'd much rather have a Scotland team of Scots doing relatively well in World football than an SPL team, in which you can count the Scots on two or three fingers, taking every European title in the firmament......but then, maybe I'm weird. </rant off>

Ha!! Bawbag.

Got a problem with what I said ? ... take it up with the Paul Chalk, otherwise **** off.

Though long and hard about replying to this statement but thought better of it This thread should be closed as its nothing but speculation One thing i will say though is that all clubs have a minority of imbeciles who spoil it for everyone else, i'm not saying for one minute that this incident happened but Section G have a history of being involved in unsavoury incidents dougal

P.S. Brewster has not QUIT County, get your facts correct Scotty !!

Is it a person or is it a charitable trust?

Ive always seen the club as a gathering place for the "old skool" and ive always been made to feel rather uncomfortable when entering to buy tix for their bus etc...so close it i say!

i enjoy going to home games but also try to goto as many aw2ay games as we can afford yes theres a better atomsphere at away games but doesnt make me or anyone else a better suporter than anyone who pays to go watch ict what a lame post

Increasing the midweek games wouldn't work, UEFA have reserved most midweeks for Champions League and Europa League matches and games aren't allowed to clash or be scheduled for those dates, most of the spare weeks are used up anyway for league games. More midweek games would be less of a benefit to a lot of fans who travel as they potentially wouldn't be able to make it due to work commitments etc. Dropping ticket prices is a must and surely has a bearing when people are thinking about whether to go or not, yes you will always get the fans who go no matter what but some prices are just stupid. I agree that the league shouldn't be dropped to lower than 12 teams, it's been tried before and was scrapped for the 12 that we are currently using, only the tinkering of the SPL in creating a split has caused a change since then, this is another thing that has to go. Whoever thought of this ridiculous rule needs shot, let us never see a split in a league again please!!! The only thing with increasing the league size is that there has to be a minimum number of teams in it, 16 or 18 I think would be needed, to guarantee our teams will be eligible to play in European competition (I am sure I will be corrected if I am wrong) but UEFA rules stipulate a minimum number of games must be played over the season. The main problem comes from the fact that the SPL don't want to include any teams from the SFL in a proposed bigger top league, Doncaster himself said on the radio he didn't want to dilute the quality of the top division, totally unfounded and completely wrong in my opinion. The other problem is that all the SPL teams want 4 games against the Old Firm to guarantee a good revenue on those days so will be opposed to any increase that means each team only meet twice. I would structure a 16 or 18 team top flight, with the same as a Division 1, then I would regionalise the rest of the Scottish game. Have a 2 up 2 down system from top flight to Division 1 along with a play-off also which would give the 3rd placed team in Division 1 a chance of promotion. Open up Division 1 to relegation also so that regional teams have a chance of promotion which could be worked on a play-off system as well at regional level.

Would most people agree that any fan who attends at least a few away (2+ matches) a season is more loyal than a season ticket holder who refuses to attend any away matches ? My wife & I have been to a few home & away & I am unable to persuade (as if we should have to) any of the season ticket holders I have spoken met to come to even one away match. We always have more fun at away matches,have never had any trouble & if finances & work would allow we would attend more.