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It's all part of the exciting new innovative model for running a football club. It's called Fan Free Soccer - or FFS for short.

Here it is: EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Caley Thistle chief concerned over ‘desperate’ Ketan Makwana takeover – and says ‘fans will go crazy’ if Scot Gardiner stays Former Inverness chairman Alan Savage "can't see how Seventy7 and the club could have done full due diligence on this deal." By Paul Chalk July 30 2024, 7:00 pm Share0comment Alan Savage, the former Inverness CT chairman. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson. Former Caley Thistle chairman Alan Savage hopes the club’s new major shareholder can quickly banish concerns over the surprise deal. On Friday, the now-League One outfit confirmed an investment offer from Seventy7 Ventures, a UK-based sports, entertainment and leisure group, had been accepted. Despite reported firm interest from American-based suitors for the sum of £2million, the surprise announcement from ICT was Ketan Makwana, the executive chairman of Seventy7 Ventures, had clinched the deal. Ketan Makwana, executive chairman of Seventy7 Ventures, who are becoming the majority shareholders at Caley Thistle. Makwana is the sole director and only employee of the Windsor-based firm and their latest accounts show net liabilities of £15,898. He admitted on social media he had failed in six previous attempts to buy football clubs. Makwana, and ICT, have pledged they will be giving more information beyond their initial statement, with supporters keen to find out more about who is taking over their club. But former player and assistant manager Duncan Shearer asked in his Tuesday P&J column: “Who are his backers? How does he intend on tackling the debt at the club? Will there be funding available to take the club forward?” Shearer also questioned what the future holds for Caley Thistle chief executive Scot Gardiner, who tendered his resignation in June, but was credited by Makwana for helping secure the shareholding. Savage was Highlanders chairman from 2006 to 2008 when the club were in the top-flight of Scottish football. ‘To leave the deal until one minute to 12… Have they just accepted it?’ The chief executive of Inverness-based Orion Group said the financial situation at the embattled Caley Jags must be dire for the board to have handed over the keys to someone who had failed to buy clubs so many times previously. Savage claimed: “I believe certain groups of shareholders have given their shares to Seventy7 to get its shareholding over 50%, as they are only buying 20% of the club. “Why would they give shares to someone they don’t know? What’s in it for them? “Maybe they will respond to this article. “A shareholders’ meeting would have been in order. “He’s had six goes at buying football clubs and been rejected six times. “It’s not a train set – it’s a proud member of the SPFL. “I just can’t see how Seventy7 and the club could have done full due diligence on this deal. “Listen, I really hope this works out. Let’s hope so. “It just seems like a desperate, but I suppose an essential move to avoid administration. “Had I been on the (club) board six months ago, I’d have been asking (now former director) David Cameron and Allan Munro whether they were going to continue funding the club, and, if not, would have started trying to find a buyer then. “There are lots of benefits of being the owner of a football club – business people and film stars are buying clubs in France, Holland, Wales, all over the place. Buyers can fly there, play golf and watch the football. “The club here is an attractive proposition, but to leave the deal until one minute to midnight… Have they just accepted it?” The Caledonian Stadium, home of now-League One club Caley Thistle. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson. Has (or will) new owner Ketan Makwana provide cash up front? Like Savage, many fans have voiced their opposition to ICT CEO Gardiner remaining in place, saying they won’t buy merchandise of go and see the team while he remains at the club. Savage wonders whether the agreement with Makwana and Seventy7 Ventures could include Gardiner staying for some time yet. He said: “I read Duncan Shearer’s column, and I fall in line with what he’s saying – there are many questions to be answered. “The club has obviously got cash flow problems. They need cash immediately to get them through the next few weeks, so will Ketan put money up front before he signs the deal? “Let’s hope so, as not many businessmen in the world would do that. This would really show the fans he is the real deal with genuine long-term ambitions for the club. “Amid it all, you still have Scot Gardiner there, who appears to have done the negotiations on behalf of the club. “Most entrepreneurial people who buy and sell businesses for a living like to decide matters themselves. “But will he keep Scot Gardiner on, because he’s not appointed a CEO, has he? “Fans will understandably go crazy if that happens.” Orion commitment remains to ICT’s youth academy ICT head of youth Charlie Christie. Images: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson. In May, Savage who told the Press and Journal he and his son Paul will pitch in with an Orion-driven initiative of up to £100k if needed to support the ICT youth academy. He said at the time: “I am prepared to cover any shortfalls with sponsorships of various types. “I can put this together and make sure the youth system is protected. “We want to improve it and take it to a higher level, with more one-on-one mentoring. “I have heard of shortfalls of anything from £50,000-£100,000. “The caveats for me is no dealings with Scot Gardiner, and that any money given stays to run that department, independent of the football club.” Speaking to The Press and Journal on Tuesday, he confirmed: “I stand by my commitment that, through Orion, I will protect the youth development, both boys and girls. “I want to put sufficient money in to realise Charlie Christie’s ambition of continuing to mentor players, such as he did with his son Ryan. “Whatever happens and whichever direction the club takes Orion is committed to do that.”

A good post. What I notice is that, for about three months, he was claiming *to be* the owner of Hayes and Yeading, not that it was somehow a potential. His posts strongly allude to him deciding to sack the manager and replace him, and to bring about huge improvements to the ground - and then suddenly nothing happens. The obvious parallel is that he's claiming to be the owner of ICT now with no actual evidence of it - and that also could last for months unless the club is crystal clear on what the situation is. To make things even more opaque, he told me yesterday he is "currently working with the club to get this takeover completed" while sharing news links that say he is already the 'new owner'. It can't be both.

Hi all, I run a twice-weekly newsletter focusing on off-field issues affecting Scottish fans. You can find it here: Scottish Football: For The Fans | Dale Haslam | Substack It's been interesting researching the 'new investors' in recent days and it's nice to see many on this forum have done similar research. I've asked Makwana for an interview and will be posting a few updates about the club in the next week or so. I truly hope things work out and the future is bright for the club. Healthy scepticism is vital.

About 4 weeks ago I emailed an enquiry to the ticket office asking how, if I decided to purchase a ST I could also secure a seat for an 8 year old next to me ( as there is no option). I received no reply. I also notice there is no option this week to purchase a single ticket for the Dumbarton game so presume these will be available later in the week ? For a club in dire need of revenue they are not offering much in the way of information.

It's that time of the year again where we get excited for the start of the league season, only for excitement to be extinguished by reality On the other hand it does mean I get to cut and paste to bring you the NAPs. Head over to the Betting Forum for the new seasons opening week. l will post them tomorrow evening. (Mods, I'll unpin/unfeature this post in a week or two)

Let's hope he can find the stadium.

Last of the Fords for now - a Ford Coupe from 1935 or 1936, and then a 1937 Ford Cabriolet.

Must get new specs. I read that as "Buckie up"!

Easy if you live in town and have access to a car. But I think the point was that this is no way to treat the fans who are your bread and butter.

Good of you to think of me Mantis I think the rover would likely be needing a lot of welding as well as the doors. The Velox was a big beast although I preferred the later PA model. As a young boy I remember seeing a Consul Capri coming into the car park at Fort Augustus and made up my mind that was the car I wanted although never knew anyone that owned one. I got my Capri later in life although a different model a 1600XL and later a 1600L hatchback.

Taken from Facebook. My dads funeral is going to be on Thursday the 15th of august at 1.30pm at Charnock Richard crematorium, please come dressed how you feel my dad would want to see you and we are asking for no flowers just donations to British Heart Foundation There will be no official wake but we are currently looking into somewhere to raise a toast to my dad , details to be confirmed.

This is the sanest I've got for what's going on

I'm not sure I can believe that the board are that far removed from reality that they would trust a ceo working his notice to be deciding the clubs future. However that clashes with the idea that the whole resignation thing is/was a hoax and he was always staying and that's equally far removed from reality. Bonus points for anyone who can come up with a sane explanation for what's going on.

I wouldn't want to be sitting next to him when he gets phygital

You might expect Makwana to be in attendance on Saturday if the deal is as far advanced as they would have you believe. You would also expect under normal circumstances for him to be chaperoned by his new BFF. These however, are far from normal circumstances.

This bit in the interview with Savage is very significant and, if true, the only new news we have had on this deal in the last few days. Savage claimed: “I believe certain groups of shareholders have given their shares to Seventy7 to get its shareholding over 50%, as they are only buying 20% of the club. Why would they give shares to someone they don’t know? What’s in it for them?” Good question. If Savage is correct, it would have to be a number of our largest shareholders, well known names and big ICT fans, who decided to give their shares to the new investor. And to be clear, that would have been their decision, not SG’s or the Board’s.

Get in line

behind a paywall for me unfortunately.

Thanks C100 .. I just find it convenient for procrastination on t'interweb

Just phone 01463 222880 the girls are very helpful

Simples. Save email hassle for you and the club, head to the shop when in town. Pay and piick your seats for the season, no need to secure anything. The people at the shop are excellent, a pleasure to deal with.

Cant wait for this thread to cover the usual territory of no hopers and tedious ICT connections..........be easier to just add a link to previous threads If Dunc goes given our financial positions its likely your new manager is already at the club in Bollan - whether anyone likes it or not

Looks like that desperate one is already here . Clueless but knows he won’t get a job anywhere else, same as his mate Gardiner now totally un employable in football .

There is probably not a club in Scotland with less credibility than this one--anyone even considering taking on the manager's job in the current circumstances would need one criterion: to be completely desperate for a job.

What I see

Well done Jack and Co - I salute your stance on this.

What the fans see .... What the board see (Warren Buffet in case you are wondering)

In part, definitely, but remember too that we incur thousands of pounds a week in paying geographical premiums and/or accommodation costs and/or relocation costs, that central belt clubs aren’t faced with. We happily paid all that when we were living beyond our means and racking up huge losses season after season in the Championship, then reality kicked in and we had to cut costs.

On the pitch we would be no worse off if Dodds were still here but, off the pitch we would be in a better position (or less bad might be more accurate). Dodds was paid off and Ferguson was appointed on the basis of loans. The club assumed they were going to receive money which never materialised.

I remember saying at the time that whilst Ferguson had a good reputation in coaching and it was an intriguing appointment, there was no evidence that he was a good manager. One year later, there is still no evidence that he is a good manager and indeed there is mounting evidence that he is absolutely terrible.

A read through the new manager thread from last year would suggest that very few fans wanted Ferguson in. He appeared from almost nowhere to take the job with the majority of the support sceptical and worried about his appointment. Equally it would seem most of the fans wanted Dodds gone as we were absolutely honking under him for the first few months of the campaign before he was binned. I would say there wasn't much evidence to suggest he could have steered us away from relegation given how things were going under his leadership. Given what has been said about Fergusons pay packet any concerns about the clubs finances didn't appear to apply to him and certainly don't appear to have been a factor in the recruitment process.

Just for the sake of discussion If we think back a year, there were plenty of fans, who were gunning for Billy Dodds, because of his annoying knack of going on long runs without winning, and I suspect an annoying interview manner. A Cup Final appearance v a failed league campaign was not the season we wanted. I went to Airdrie away late August and he got plenty of abuse. Yet he was capable of galvanising a team to recover and go on winning runs [usually when he had enough fit players] and but for injuries might have won the play-offs [?] in 2022. Not sure the playing style delighted too many fans ... but in my time probably only Butcher, Hughes [albeit briefly, before tiki-taki] and even briefer, Neil McCann [the best Manager we never had?] have come close to playing the football that kept fans happy. So in the end fans got what they wanted. Dodds out Ferguson in, and the briefest of honeymoon's, before it all went t#ts up Now we know the true, parlous state of the clubs finances, which must have been a factor in recruitment, I wonder if given the option fans would turn back the clock a year and decide to back Dodds? A tricky call given the run he was on when he got sacked

I keep reading about "they" in relation to the ST. The ST is in effected us all as supporters and for £5 pa anyone can get involved and influence direction. Don't see how sitting outwith and criticising helps supporters have a meaningful voice and just gives oxygen to our inept CE.

Ha ha! Now Scot can't do anything about an old duvet on display in the layby cos it doesn't break his rules!

Not being paid. Allegedly

Utterly brilliant takedown, but really just saying what we are all saying. Can we co-opt Zealand onto the board of the Supporters Trust? My wife tell me that to set up an equity fund, Makwana has to obtain a licence. He needs to pass exams to show that he has the knowledge to run such a fund. And he presumably also has to show a past record of financial success and probity - which might be a bit difficult!

So I am going to pull the pin out of the grenade and metaphorically lob it....was the Kelty Hearts plan [on a financial/retention level] not a bad idea... albeit in an ideal world we would need a dual training base option for the youngsters and the day before any match, and in an even more ideal world, a hotel at one end of the ground with a floor dedicated to playing staff, [run by someone like Premier Inn, not the club!] which might address short accommodation issues, obviously would help with that suggestion if I had £10m in my back pocket...but as a long term solution ?

If I re-write that bit "So in the end fans got what they wanted. Dodds out....with Ferguson being appointed" as I would agree that people weren't clamouring for Big Dunc, just anyone else! That probably a more accurate reflection. I'd also love to understand how the likes of Greenock Morton and Queens Park with ave attendances lower that ICT can actively recruit some of our better players, when it looks like we couldn't afford it in the Championship...is it a case of a management team taking large lumps of cash out of the club as salaries?

They ignored the majority view of fans at the last meeting and took an opposing stance. Troubles me to say it but they've shown as much willingness to listen to fans as the club and also only seem interested in membership fees and donations to the fund they're running.