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You miss the point of the statement. What is comparable is fans with an interest in the game and potential customers for the club to make money from. The climate may not be the same but we have areas around the stadium we can use - get a large covered area or marquee at the front (doesn't even need heated) just a suitable space that's dry with some seating for fans - have some big screens up to watch games (instead of a single 30in TV down in the foyer of the Main stand), pre-match build up, some music etc - something to build up an atmosphere. Have snack bars/drinks in them and encourage fans to come early and hang around for the build up rather than at bars in town. Nobody is suggesting Prawn Cocktail - pies and tea/bovril still have a place but really is he pricing reflective for the quality of goods on offer good value? The quality can be improved by offering external catering the opportunity to rent a stall outside the ground - plenty of small companies doing great quality foods for comparable prices - just visit game fairs/food events to see that. Helps the provide better local community ties & links to business. With games on at 3pm, having catering and facilities that can get folks out there at 12 or 1 - taps into a lunch market not just game time snacks - but people need to want to be there and entertained in that time. You dismiss all this yet there are clubs in England with areas doing this so why cant we?

One sure fire way to ensure it never changes is to take the attitude that it will never change.

Bad enough when Hearts used to do this for league matches, but it was their money to lose. However given that this is a cup game for which we are due a split of the gate, then ICTFC should not be allowing it.

In the years I've been supporting Palace and then Inverness Caley Thistle, I've got used to the cycle of football with travails and despair often following triumph and elation, it's often the rebirth that happens after, say, relegation that I find the most exciting, as new faces come in, often young and in-experienced, new ways of playing, new managers, new owners (sometimes), improvements to the ground , even those new playing strips that seem more dynamic or trendy than the previous season. Being a 'glass-half-full' type of guy, I can take solace from a good passage of play, or a goal, or just seeing someone have a good game, even if the overall result may not be what is wanted. I love it when a player or the club starts to get recognised for doing something good. I have obviously come into the ICT fold fairly recently, but relegations under Butcher and Foran haven't disheartened me (actually it was my sadness when ICT went down under Butcher that I realised a spark had been kindled). Having supported Palace for nigh on 45 years I have seen many false dawns and have become disillusioned a couple of times, I once stopped going and gave up my season ticket, so I guess ever body is tested. (actually if everyone who told me they once supported Palace still turned up our crowds would be 50k not 25k). Sometimes you just need a break, however as long as you still love football, and you still look out for the club you support, or live local to them, the chances are that the spark will come back. For me coming up to see Inverness is always an adventure, which I have enjoyed, even losing to Aberdeen in the League Cup final....whereas I can't honestly say I've enjoyed every moment of Palace's latest incursion into the EPL COYC

It's a bit ironic that someone who has, on several occasions, marched half the length of Scotland between games, should be put off attending matches by a 30-second detour to the ticket window.

19 years ago I had to put a consoling arm around the shoulders of that young fella after we lost a last minute goal at Somerset to deny us our first point ever in div 1 after 4 games ? A lot of water under the bridge since then - fill yer boots

I believe he also picked up his first booking of the season .... surprise surprise!

I remember Don (Keir) driving the CaleyInn bus to Dumfries ... that was quite an away day. or the game in Dundee against Rangers where a few members of the bus mooned Gazza as he was driven away from the ground with Jimmy 5 bellies. I remember our 4-3 game against livingston being described eloquently by Bill Leckie as all that was good about the game just a day after Hugh Dallas had been hit by a coin at an old firm game. I remember the Gringos picture in the paper after that Livi game. I remember 28 minutes in Kilmarnock and the Killie Hippo and I remember countless wonderful experiences at the TCS and in various away grounds. all good times and all part of the rollercoaster experience of supporting a club outside of the big two. I always glance at the fixture list when planning trips home and try to maximise the opportunity to see (home) games. However, when I do come the atmosphere is flat. The enjoyment and experience has been legislated out of the game. We were never the most vociferous support but we could get a bit loud and rowdy. Not any more. if anyone has the temerity to do so it seems they could be in trouble from the authorities ... I have not lost the spark, but I hope that the club and Scottish football in general takes a look at things and looks at ways to improve the matchday experience. Not talking about American razzmatazz as some might suggest (or have in the past), just basic stuff like being treated with respect, having decent food options, reasonably clean toilets, stewards that are present to help make the day better and resolve issues rather than inflame them or cause confrontations. Alcohol is always involved in football, so you will get the odd bell-end but just deal with them as they deserve and dont take the default position that everyone is a bell-end !!! The club does some things right and some things wrong and that has been true regardless of who sits in the boardroom. Having them listen is a good start ... then making small changes that dont have to cost the earth (or in some cases dont cost anything) is the next step ... lets hope CJT - once back on track - can be the conduit it was supposed to be for that kind of thing.

That rental income has been written off/set against other things*....and they have continued to invest in the club (by far the largest investor in the past 2 years, even)....so it's not accurate to suggest they have had any finacial benefit. Tullochs even went to the extent of donating all their shares to the football trust (not Supporters Trust). *It's only just over a year since they wrote off £300k in rent arrears as a good will gesture to coincide with the stadium gift...which the current board are yet to accept, despite telling us it's "close to happening" for the best part of a year! Not to say they didn't make mistakes, they most certainly did! But they have, and continue to, prove that it was 100% with the clubs best interests in mind.