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It is with great regret and deep sadness that I post this note to pay tribute to Ken Thomson, former director of Inverness Caledonian Thistle who passed away earlier today (Friday). Personally I am happy and privileged to have been able to call Ken a friend as well as someone who always tried to do his best at Caley Thistle, sometimes under very challenging circumstances. A man who also liaised with us here at CTO to foster the excellent collaborative relationship we had with the club in recent years. Many people will have known him not only from the football world where he came to the club around 1999/2000 but also from the shinty world where he was president of the Camanachd Association in the early 90s. He was elected president in 1990 but served his time in that association well before coming president. He was on the executive committee in 1978 at the age of 24, and was also a former president of the Camanachd Referees' Association, a former secretary of the North of Scotland Shinty Association, and an organiser of the Aviemore Indoor Sixes. He was goalkeeper for Aberdeen University in the 1973 Sutherland Cup-winning team before turning to refereeing, and also sponsored Strathglass, the club from his home village of Cannich. Ken was an extremely important part of our relationship with the club. I would go as far as to say that he was the primary architect of the bond we forged over nearly 20 years. In the same season where Super Caley went ballistic, Ken reached out to me and we met a few times to discuss how the fledgling (5 year old) CaleyThistleOnline site could help the club communicate with fans and act as a two-way conduit directly with, and to, the board as the internet became a more and more important communication tool. He recognised the significance of the internet before many others did and was open minded enough to embrace it and ourselves and not worry too much about keeping things as insular as they had been for the first few years the club existed. He may have been more AOL than iOS when it came to operating the technology but he understood the importance. In modern day terms he was a supporters liaison officer (SLO) before anyone had ever coined the phrase or even thought supporters were that important ! He was instrumental in helping setup "Boardroom Banter" both times we ran it. He was the man responsible for the live chat sessions we had with the likes of Graeme Bennett and others and he helped us facilitate a number of events where club officials and fans mingled in social settings in the Caley Inn, Caley Club, Innes Bar and even on away trips at times. Over the years he dragged along the chairman, other directors, chief execs and other folk to these get togethers and I believe his input helped forge a bond with many supporters that can never be broken. There are not too many clubs that were as open as Caley Thistle during his time on the board and he is to be applauded and lauded for that. Goodnight my friend, you will be missed, but you will never be forgotten.

That's OFW officially gone to Hamilton Accies. He has barely played for us since 2016/17 he played like 3 games in 2017/18 while Mark Ridgers was going through a really bad period in form. His only appearances in 2018/19 was on the bench while Mark Ridgers was injured in the later stages of the season. Cammy Mackay didn't have a ridiculous appearance fee so he got put in between the sticks ahead of OFW. He wasn't the best keeper we had & certainly wasn't the worst. Pulled of some outrageous saves but then he would have horrendous blunders like that one against Dembele when we got thrashed 4-0 at home by Celtic. No one is to blame for the contract apart from the management that was in charge at the time. Anyone would have done the same if they got offered a luxury contract like that. Anyone who says otherwise is talking bollocks. It's not his fault that the situation turned into an farce GK department is a position we have a lot of depth in (Ridgers Mackay Hoban MacKinnon) I would imagine OFW's departure has given us a lot more room in the wages department. I wish him all the best for the future he seems like a pleasant guy. I'm glad he's finally found a club & has got himself out of this mess.

Both OFW and ICT are now out of this mess. Best all round for both parties.

See County made a late move for OFW unlike smoking joe tho he knocked back Roy's dollars! Hope he does well at Hamilton class keeper

I've heard so many versions of what the contractual arrangements were and why he wasn't playing that I am certainly not going to take any sides on this. What I do know is that he performed well for us when he did play, but after a shaky start, Mark Ridgers has been outstanding and has been 1st choice keeper on merit. It is also reasonable to assume that given Owain has turned down various offers in the past, the salary he was on here was better than he was being offered elsewhere, whether he was playing or not. It is difficult to attract decent offers if you are not actually playing and putting yourself in the shop window, and therefore I would suspect that he was getting quite a bit more than he was being offered elsewhere. I don't think there is any point conjecturing about his honesty or integrity. What is important is that the club learns from the mistakes of the past and we are not burdened with the consequences of contracts offered as a result of unrealistic expectations of future success. There is a difference between taking a calculated risk and being foolhardy.

One of the finest directors our club has ever been privileged to have and, although I didn't know him, I know those who did, and have never heard a bad or negative word said about him. Sincere condolences to his family and friends. Another member of the ICT family gone too soon.

I just hope the current board have learned from the previous mistakes and will keep working within our means which might involve some more of our youngsters being used in the first team.

There is merit in taking risks in any walk of life. Our big mistake was taking too many risks and making too many unrealistic assumptions in a very short period of time. After winning the Scottish Cup we should have been looking to consolidate rather than spending beyond our means in an attempt to reach even greater heights.

We have been fortunate, over the years to have had some excellent 'keepers including Jimmy Calder, Mark Brown, Dean Brill, OFW and Mark Ridgers. Even better, as DD points out above, we have three more home grown players with real potential to carry on that fine tradition once Mark Ridgers either moves on or hangs up the gloves. Credit also due to Ryan Esson both for what he's done on the pitch, including playing a very full part in our Scottish Cup triumph but, more particularly in recent years for his experience and skill in coaching and developing our other 'keepers.

He is but we have one equally good goalkeeper staying and a couple of promising youngsters. Hopefully, at least some of the money freed up can be invested where it's needed more.

A brief survey of Welsh international players to have played for ICT has led me to the conclusion that all Welshmen are called Owen or or a variation thereof.

I think Roy's holding onto his dollars a bit more these days...unless it's paying off a management team or mid season transfer window shopping - the wallet is a not as generous as it used to be.