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This is so comprehensively absurd that I’ve only sufficiently recovered from the shock to comment on one aspect. One of the biggest contributors to the mess the club has got itself into is its failure to relate to and inspire the local community. In fact it’s far worse than that because a multitude of issues - not the least the Concert Company collapsing leaving local traders out of pocket while the club trousered a generous ground rent - have resulted in public perception hitting rock bottom (or at least so I thought until this emerged). There are also strong messages that the local business community has become greatly disenchanted with Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Then consider that supporter morale has never in 30 years been as low as now and and that there is unprecedented dissatisfaction with certain individuals in the club’s employ. All of this makes for a clear, urgent and overwhelming need for the club to rebuild bridges with all layers of the local community adds also to restore internal morale. So what do they do? They suddenly unplug the first team playing squad and management team from Inverness and send it 140 miles down the road to share facilities with a rival League One club - a direct competitor whose own promotion challenge will be greatly strengthened by the considerable rent…. from an arrangement that Inverness Caledonian Thistle tell us they are “delighted” (I did read that three times just to check) to announce. In other words they have selected one of the club’s big weak points… and taken the single course of action that’s guaranteed to make it even worse.

Thats parochial and insular bullshit. We have signed plenty of players from outwith the HL and local area who have done loads in the community because they have embedded themselves in the community. Carl Tremarco is a great example that jumps to mind but there are a load of others I could come up with depending on what you class as being "embedded in the community". Carl went on to stay in the local area long after his ICT days were over and them being over was a decision made for him not by him. You can represent the city and be present and active in the community even if you come from somewhere else, and even if you go somewhere else after your ICT career is over. Where you come from is irrelevant. Wanting to play for ICT, who are based in Inverness, Scotland, is the minimum requirement. I would agree however that the club has become less "community" focused over the last 5 years. Prior to COVID it was all about #TogetherNESS and working together to try and make sure the club could function properly. Fast forward 5 years, and after one commercial disaster after another and dragging the club name through the mud with the battery farm, we get a statement 3 days after relegation asking for "UNITY" then another statement today that completes rips out any semblance of COMM-UNITY from our club. There is no unity without comm-unity. Moving training to Fife because it will make recruitment of players - who do not want to move to Inverness - will, in my opinion, have a far greater long-term impact on us than relegation. I actually just 'liked' a tweet by "Jailender" calling County the only team in the Highlands. I liked it, not because I will change loyalties, but because, right now, he is correct. We cant let this happen. Central to our success over the years has always been community and a sense of team spirit fostered by our distance from the central belt, which even led to the use of a bunch of hashtags a few years ago like #TogetherNESS . The current regime seem to be trying to reverse all that progress at an astonishingly rapid pace and for many fans, any move outside of Inverness, even for training, will be seen as the final straw.

Over the last couple of weeks, my favourite expletive seems to have become the word 'Horsesh*t" and this falls into the biggest pile of it I have seen. ever. How do we get enough people or voting percentage together to force an EGM? This cannot be allowed to happen. It will kill the club completely. Supporters Trust? I thought Gardiner could not top his previous debacles .. Pixellot, the Concert, alienating staff, players and supporters, not to mention relegation but f*ck me, I underestimated the man. This puts a cherry on top of the whole fu*king lot, a really huge feckin' cherry! Funny how, for the most part, the players that end up staying in the area after their careers wind down came up not from Scotland, but from England. The central-belters, for the most part head back down the A9 to Glasgow/Edinburgh or some commuter belt outside of those cities. We are only 1 hour from London or Manchester by air and I bet there are plenty of hungry players down there who would not whine about the A9 as much (other than on match days). Hop on EasyJet and its all sorted. Happy to have another David Raven, Carl Tremarco, or Gary Warren out of that kind of scenario. To me its all about the sell-job. We may be a career club for some players (Tokely for example), but for others, who clearly won't make this their long-term club, we have previously used it, and should continue to use it, as an opportunity to sell the player on getting a career back on track or putting themselves in the shop window to get a move. Even if that move is (currently) to a higher league team across the Black Isle where they would not even need to move again. If they don't want to come here, then they don't want to come here, its that simple. Geography is simply an excuse. Look all over the rest of the world and a 140-mile relocation in some countries or for some clubs is called a commute! As for accommodation costs ... why are we paying these? My employer doesn't pay my mortgage, not directly at least, but they do pay me enough so I can afford it. Its my responsibility to get a house in a location I can afford that allows me to get to work to earn my wage. Back in the days when we were in the third tier before, players like Bobby Mann came to the club and literally stayed in B&Bs whose owners had an affiliation to the club and no doubt gave them a deal for a long-term rental. That may be an avenue to explore again. The bigger problem is that we are no longer in the Premiership or even the league below, we are now back down in the doldrums so attracting any player, regardless of where we train will be exponentially more difficult. Don't forget there will also be added costs. Presumably all the first team players (including young players in the squad) who currently live in Inverness and have houses will need to be brought down to Fife and either stay for the week for training or travel back on a daily basis? The first will cost money, the second is unsustainable. What about the youth players? How do they fare in this. Will they be brought to Fife or will they - as suspected in some circles - be abandoned and put an end to our youth system. How will players travel to Inverness for home games? In their own cars and claiming travel expenses and maybe a night in a hotel the night before? or will we hire a bus at considerable cost to get to our home-away game thereby doubling our transportation costs for the year. I could probably rant on for pages but I will stop here. This has got me more raging than the relegation so well done Gardiner. Now Get the F*ck out out of our club and take your cronies with you !!! Utter Horseshit!!! This cannot be allowed to happen. As others have said ... how can we be a community club when we are not even in the community on a day-to-day basis?

I'm actually in a state of shock over this. It's screams of a desperate CEO trying to save his job! If a player doesn't want to commit to Inverness, then I don't want that player at the club anyway! I've had enough this season of players who aren't committed to the club and who didn't give a f##k about being relegated. All this will do is entice half-arsed players, who can't get signed elsewhere, to turn out for Inverness and steal a wage because training at Kelty is convenient for them!! TBH I think that's me decided - I'll not be renewing my ticket for next season! They've killed the club!

7 pages of comments in only 9 hours and not a match in sight! That sums up the strength of feeling over this ill thought out, insane decision. A club has to be in its community, otherwise there can be no engagement and support will wither (or whatever support is left after recent diabolical decisions and performances). I’m struggling with how this benefits the finances. Surely we’d be better to capitalise on the products of our Academy along with experienced players who are happy to be in the area? We might not bounce back right away but the passion would be restored and the fans would get behind local youngsters. This is a decision made by people who don’t understand the area we are in, and who have totally misread the mood of fans, and it is a total disgrace that everyone involved should be ashamed of. To me, this is much worse than relegation and I’d rather have seen us go to a Cove model of hybrid full and part time than this. A very sad day.

Feel far far sadder this evening than after relegation. If this plan comes to fruition then the club I supported is gone. All dreams and hopes have vanished. Will not support a random bunch of journeymen who could be playing on a football field anywhere with no connection whatsoever to Inverness and the Highlands.

There are so many knock on effects/unanswered questions/unintended consequences What player looks at this scenario and thinks, "That's the club for me" (and reliance on loan players is what caused this mess, so no benefit there). Sends the message of being inferior. What happens when there is adverse weather in Inverness for a 'home' game, and a ground inspection in the morning? Will there be a desire from the 'home' side to travel? Every game will be an away game, for the players and coaching staff In cup games, the players will be crossing fingers for an 'away' tie (hardly the mindset) and eventually come to resent the trips to Inverness Kelty will be able to know everything about the club, the players, the tactics What happens if Kelty have more injuries, or their manager suddenly doubles training sessions - will ICT be sidelined? What happens when there are postponements, call offs, replays, bad weather, etc - who gets priority for the best facilities when there's clashes? Any goodwill for the 'battery farm' idea is finished - the argument is lost in terms of "community". All the coaches, physios, and other auxiliary staff related to players will (likely) need to be based in central belt - will there be any need for full-time staff at the stadium (or will they share Kelty's staff?) Given the planning 'issues', how well thought through is the contractual agreement- what happens if Kelty terminate the agreement? And how long is it for? Will players sign contracts that commit to moving to Inverness if needed? But the main one is that County will now have complete legitimacy to be seen as the only destination for all up and coming youth in the Highlands and Islands. And Inverness's image and identity as a Highland club is just thrown away literally overnight, "delightedly".

Forget astro turfs. Forget attracting players. Forget commute times. What this move from the board says loud and clear is 'Inverness isn't a good place to live.' This message is damning to our supporters who put in more miles than any other in the championship last season. More financial commitment and more time commitment. We deserve to be treated as a COMMUNITY. More so than any other team. I'm aware of the troubles managers have had in the past, as we had around the turn of the century the last time.we were in this division, except with a lot more optimism for being in it. Success for a football team in scotland isn't judged on how many trophies you win. That is reserved for only two teams. Success for a football team in scotland looks like this; 1 - A strong, vibrant fan base who feel a part of the club, who ARE the club, involved in the care taking of that club. moving the club forward hand in hand with positive momentum. 2 - The potential for European football to get excited about, and boost the clubs coffers. This move signals a complete lack of care of what it means to be a community football club, for the basic reason is that it is no longer a community football club. There is no hand in hand positive momentum, I can't be the only one who feels so much bad towards the current regime that I'd like to see us, almost, on the brink of judgement Day. just so it would see Messrs Morrison, Ferguson and firstly Gardiner forcibly removed from this club and dropped off on the hard shoulder on the A9 down to Kelty. The ONLY way I can see through this, is if we stick together. BACK THE TRUST. And fight through this. Remembering that we were here before These clowns in charge, and we will be here long after, when they are a conversation piece about the darkest days of our proud clubs history, and how we overcame them as a united front.

Wouldn't be surprised. Young players were already told to train on their own, away from first team, by Ferguson. They were therefore becoming very disillusioned. As for this ridiculous proposal, well I'm afraid that's me done with the club. I was at the first league game in 1994 and a season ticket holder for over 20 years. I cannot realistically renew my season ticket after this.

Good to see some former players slagging off the club.

I remember players coming to my school when I was younger and it being really exciting for everyone. And even seeing a player strolling round town was an exciting experience. These sorts of micro experiences that increase the connection between a club and its city over time are important, especially for a relatively young club, and will be lost here.

I have - it's identity. You clearly don't agree that that's a consideration when supporting a team. I don't support Hibs because they have nothing to do with Inverness. I could ask, why are you so accepting of this bizarre arrangement? You might toe the line and say it's about attracting better players who can't be bothered committing to the area. Great if you can get behind a team full of such players - guys who don't want the inconvenience of travelling to Inverness, which the club would be part of in name only. On that basis, I would be as well to support Partick - it's got "Thistle" in it.

This could be the final nail in the coffin. 20 years season ticket can’t see myself and my son renewing now. This stinks of a Gardiner move. We started in division 3 all the way up to premier league and for the last 30 years have managed. This isn’t about anything other than the fact the useless shower who have been in charge have dragged us down to this. If we managed before we should be able to manage now. I feel totally deflated coming home from work and reading all this

In his very belated statement to fans regarding our relegation, the Chairman said "Your commitment to the Club is an inspiration and one of the foundations that will support us going forward." If there was even a scrap of sincerity in that statement, he would have sounded out how fans would react to such an idea. The incompetence of the leadership in this club is truly breathtaking.

Their reason is bollocks and only serves to further deteriorate the relationship / connection between the club and the city of Inverness as well as further alienating supporters at a crucial time with season tickets up for renewal. As i said we managed for years without having to do this. Why now?

I have to doff my cap to the board in their ability to deliver a situation so utterly tone deaf and absurd that I find myself in violent agreement with Mr Bannerman for the first time in 30 years. Quite an achievement.

This cannot be allowed to happen. Time to empty the club of these clowns and start again. If that means part-time in the Highland League then so be it. Sack the board.

If we move the entire club to Glasgow we might not get relegated ever again. Doesn't mean we should do it. Some things should simply be off the table. The literal point of a football club is to provide a focus for the community it resides in.

Reasons for Caley Thistle's current difficulties: Housing prices Not enough houses being built Too many tourists Inverness is too nice a place to live Definitely not reasons for Caley Thistle's current difficulties: The board being an absolute bunch of lunatics

If our directors are all going for this then every single director needs to ship out . What an embarrassment you are all creating for Inverness . There is that much money in the bank between the lot of you .But no Too interested in yourselves than all getting together and making it a successful club . I’d say bin the lot of you your all a disgrace to the city . This should have been a statement saying that Evil Scot Gardiner was been relieved of his duties and brought a bit of harmony but No its all about Morrison and Gardiner . Get out of our city your a disgrace .

The winner for this season voted for by you is our very own local player Cameron Harper. Will that ever happen again I wonder? Cameron has had a steady season picking up points throughout only winning it by a large amount of votes in May right down to the last game. He had 43 appearances this season scoring 3 goals against Arbroath, Queens Park and Morton picking up two yellow cards in the season, a good all round player. Where will he be next season we don't know? I would like him to sign on again but think he will move on and deserves a chance to prove himself at a higher level. Player of the Year Winner with 69 points is Cameron Harper Second with 68 points Alex Samuel Third with 58 points Cameron Kerr Fourth with 53 points Billy Mckay Fifth with 51 points Max Anderson Sixth with 50 points Nathan Shaw Monthly Winners July Nathan Shaw August Keith Bray September Morgan Boyes October Nikola Ujdur November David Wotherspoon December Billy Mckay January Alex Samuel February Alex Samuel March Cameron Kerr April Alex Samuel May Cameron Harper Well done Cameron and all the best for the future where ever you are playing football. Thank you again for all your votes throughout the season View full article

There was some discussion several posts earlier about sizes of shareholdings. I couldn’t find my original breakdown so I’ve done it again, but relative influence is complicated by the 900,000 shares held by Thistle and Caley (who controls them?) which come with votes only for election of directors, and also the Supporters’ Trust has an automatic 10% - but relative to what? Including or excluding these Thistle and Caley blocks? I’m going to assume that this relates to an election of directors so the voting shares number 4,902,300 + 544,700 for the ST, giving a total of 5,447,000 votes. I’ve revisited the latest Companies House Confirmation Statement, logged every shareholding of 50,000 and above and grouped them into the natural combinations with which many of us are familiar. Some of the percentages may be a bit lower than I guessed earlier since the ST is now included, but this all breaks down to:- Muirfield Mills (9 individuals as far as I can establish) - 820,450 shares (14.9%) ICT Charitable Trust (donated by Tullochs) - 729,500 (13.4%) Supporters’ Trust N/A (10.0% by definition) Mcgilvray family - 487233 (8.9%) Alan Savage/Orion - 467,006 (8.6%) Sutherland family - 300,250 (5.5%) David Cameron - 175,000 (3.2%) Roddy Ross - 170,000 (3.1%) George Fraser - 51,000 (0.9%) There are several other five figure holdings below 50,000 among a total of 549 holdings and they go right down to the most common holding which is the £250 that many people, including myself, bought in the original 1996 issue. I’m not 100% certain I've got the voting arrangements with respect to the Thistle and Caley block right, but all the same, this breakdown does give us a pretty good indication of the relative power blocks within the club - and also shows us that even the four biggest holdings still don’t come to 50%.

When I first read the statement my immediate reaction was 'kinda makes sense and not make sense'. Now the dust has settled a little I can safely say I think I've witnessed the death of our club today. We are a shambles and no longer 'Pride of the Highlands', more a laughing stock. The club is nothing without supporters. Dropping down to League 1 was bad enough but this puts the cherry on the icing of the cake. The club needs a clear out, an 'Uncle Roy' and a miracle.

Logistically and financially this can't add up. Whatever players are left after all the other central belt teams have had their first pick, are they honestly gonna be improve on what we have had over the last 5 years or so. We need to develop our own players and to say this is proving difficult is bullshit. It was only a couple of seasons ago that we had 4 called up for the Scotland U21s. The talent is up here if the management could be arsed to develop it and not take the lazy route of 9 loanees on the pitch at any one time.

My thoughts exactly. The fact they've clearly been planning this for a while and gave no mention to it at previous fan meetings stinks. No doubt it wasn't mentioned because they knew there'd be a negative reaction, which only emphasises how little they care.

It affects me. What am I being asked to support now? Just a collection of lads who turn up to play 90 minutes in Inverness every other week, never to be seen otherwise? That's not a football club. A football club should be embedded in the community. It should represent the city. If players aren't even based here, what's the point? I wonder if the Courier and P&J will give up on player interviews, etc? Leave it the Dunfermline Herald or something...

If they wont move to Inverness, then they should not play for Inverness. I don't care where they are from, local, Scotland, England, anywhere else, but the minimum requirement to play for Inverness is a commitment to live and/or work in the local community. Sounds more like the wording of our CEO not our chairman.

What an utter disgrace. How many years were spent trying to get a team from Inverness into the League? Then these morons come along and with one signature take football in the highlands back to the Stone Ages. Embarrassed is an under statement.

Agreed, and at the same time we need some sort of organised campaign along the lines of withdrawing ST renewals, to reverse the Kelty thing. I hope that anybody who was sceptical about the Supporters' Trust will swallow their pride and stump up their fiver. On P&B we have traditionally got stick from supporters of other clubs previously in trouble, for being too passive and letting it get to this stage. We were well warned about Gardiner as he has been a toxic presence at his other clubs. The concert fiasco, in any other employment situation, would be a sacking offence.

That's me done with this sh1tshow. 30 years following this club home and away and we end up a franchise club with zero link to Inverness. Get this in the fcking sea. Sack the board.

Well deserved to be honest. Really coming into his own now. Not only that, he had to conquer all the loan players. He will only get better and has a bright future ahead.

Thanks for doing this all season and a well deserved winner. It is such a shame that the club did not do awards this season as I suspect Cammy would have been the fans’ choice so he’s been deprived of that glory.

Given the increasing volume of concerns voiced by fans following today's statement about the club's training facilities being moved to Kelty, coming on top of relegation and other events within the club, the Supporters Trust has brought forward the date of the Fans Meeting, and it will now take place at 7pm on Tuesday 28 May at the Caley Club. All fans are welcome to attend the meeting, where members of the Supporters Trust Board will lead a discussion on the serious issues facing the club, update on recent activity by the Trust and hear your views on steps the Trust can take at this time. An image will be added below, which will contain details of the meeting, including QR codes where you can register to attend the meeting (we had a lot of interest in the original date, so it will be very helpful if you can register your interest if you plan to attend), join the Supporters Trust, or make a donation to our Stronger Together initiative. You can also use this link to join the Trust, and anyone joining now will have their membership apply until the end of July 2025: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us You can use this link to make a subscription or donation to Stronger Together, and we would highlight again that the Trust Board will only use this to purchase shares in the club when it is has sought and received commitments from the club Board: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/stronger-together We hope to see as many of you as possible at the meeting at 7pm on Tuesday 28 May.

Coincidentally I was reading this article earlier today https://www.ambaile.org.uk/asset/53128/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0lxtizFuIMnKVxwiFyQDOGlfzTNV3IBxvfo3KqKY9PkmfJrQz6t25CbbQ_aem_AUnk5-1u-UFHr_6xhvNtVuwTCPauw9ACkJKIezMku577dU2zkf1GlphRcv6YC1VWRUoIdSETKhyeEF0yw5_fZrid 50 years ago Thistle were wrongly refused entry to the Scottish league, with the reason given that Inverness was too far to travel for visiting clubs! The position given to Ferranti instead, a club thst didn't even meet the entry requirements! Today our own board have taken the club back 50 years! Inverness is officially too far to travel to again! Beggars belief.

That's me done with this joke of a Club just when i thought they could not shock me anymore i agree with previous post of Gardiner & Ferguson both finished in football after this and Ross Morrison you are a weak ,pathetic little man trusting that pair. The club are not getting a penny out of me while this lot are still at the club .

It will be some laugh if we draw County in Inverness in the Scottish Cup in January and the game is postponed because the home team can't travel 130 miles up the snowbound A9

The reaction on Facebook, Twitter, and across UK media (Sun, Independent, BBC) and Tom English’s incredulity goes to show this board decision has brought the club into disrepute. It also is a direct and objective counter to the obvious paranoia and disdain held by the board towards the support, which they may have felt would insulate them from looking at the fallout. It is universally being rejected, by those who know football and who are better judges than Gardiner and Morrison et al. What is also now possible is that to save face (at least in front of the national media), their egos do an about turn and call it off - and in doing so needlessly sink a significant amount of much needed cash flow to break the contract with Kelty. Either way, ICT has been made a laughing stock and source of ridicule by the board; their decision making ability and ‘fit and proper status’ is now completely undermined and someone, somewhere in the ownership structure has to do the honorable thing and step up, be accountable, or else be as associated with the mess as much as the CEO and Chairman.

Another point about all this is that if we end up with lots of fans failing to renew, we could end up losing them forever. Once people lose the habit of attending matches they often don't get it back. Worth noting that the Board of directors includes Graham Bennet and Alex Chisholm, who were assured would help reconnect the club to the local community and local businesses.

I am in utter shock at this statement. What has gone wrong with this club ?. This used to be a club that I was proud of. I think we as fans need to force a change at the helm of this football club. There is no logic or common sense coming from the clueless clowns that are running this club. Maybe the Board should be sent to Kelty for training and not the players.

Surely the main issue is betrayal as this "plan" was going to go ahead, irrespective of whether we stayed up or not ? No wonder they had shackled the communication links. This may have been able to swallow if there was a consultation period and the reasoning explained and any contingency plans on how to incorporate the Academy and locally based players into the plan. And was the plan to include jettisoning central belt based players like Carson, Welsh and co. Is this in knowledge that Ridgers was leaving and to give Billy a swan song season. Was this the reason for not playing Roddy and loaning out youngsters to Highland League clubs ? Is this another reason for falling out with local businesses. I have heard a rumour that we may become a feeder club for Everton and Rangers - another reason to be based in the central belt. Next season we will probably have a much improved squad and we may well get automatic promotion BUT it will be with a squad of loanees and probably 2-3 central belt journeyman. I suspect that the ploy of the Evil pair is to let all this become public one by one and slowly. The bottom line is that Inverness should be based in Inverness and the fan base should be an integral part of any forward planning. I never thought that Caley would die before I did !! At least when we go to heaven we can shelter in the Howden End, the Shed or the North Stand.

I still can't believe what I have just read from the chairman. Is he living in different world from the rest of us? I have been a season ticket holder for many years but if this farcical situation is allowed to go ahead then I will definitely not be renewing

A thirty minute drive along a motorway compared to a two and a half hour drive down the A9.

Weird how all those years we spent working our way up the leagues, into the SPL, winning the Scottish Cup and finishing third we weren't affected by house prices in Inverness or geography. Yet now we need to do something you'd see in the NFL and move the team hundreds of miles away from their origin. Utterly laughable.

We cannot be a community club if we are not in the community. What happens to all the school visits etc that players do? If they're not in Inverness all of that work will cease driving yet another wedge between the club and city.

This is unbelievable. What a shocking decision. What about the players and coaches that are already based up here. I assume Nicholson, MacGregor, McKay, Devine and others live in this area. Do they have to uproot their families and move to Fife. Absolutely disgusted with this.

Checked the date and it's not the 1st of April.......

nothing short of a absolute disgrace

A community club indeed........ in another community

Probably Kristine.

Went to a few matches towards the end of the season : No apparent urgency considering our increasingly perilous position. Clueless going forward : no idea what to do from 30 yards in. No fight. A glaring example was Hamilton's second goal in the first leg : there were four or 5 ICT defenders around the 6 yard box and none of them jumped or made any effort to attack the ball, watching the Hamilton player as he scored with no challenge. No shape / plan / leader. Team made up of individuals and it showed horribly. Truly truly awful : we need people in charge who have a passion for the club as we did in our first 20 years.