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Kay - Thank You for sharing Dave with us and for joining the Caley Thistle family all those years ago when travelling down from Ardgay. We are all your friends and family now, and we are here to support you as well as ICT in your time of need. I hope you enjoy the game today; you will no doubt feel a lot of support from those around you at the tunnel, but I know it will be both emotional and hard as you sat there with Dave for all those years. Like all the others we have sadly lost over the years, his physical body may be gone but he lives on in us all as we recall pleasant memories, anecdotes and have little chuckles when thinking of all the little silly stuff ... (and there is a lot of silly stuff from our group ... so much that it took both you and 'Mary Doll' to keep us all in line!)

Much livelier second half, especially when Sole and Alonge came on. Sole has been the most exciting player I have seen up here for a loooong time. He has plenty tricks in his bag and almost scored a sensational goal after beating abput nine players before his strike was deflected just wide. Strength was what got Perth their goal, nothing else. Excited for the season ahead with Sole ready to rip up League1. Alonge looks quality as well.

St Johnstone League Cup This will be a tough test for our new look squad against relegated St Johnstone who will be looking to bounce back to the Premiership after finishing bottom of the table last season and will fancy their chances of progressing out of the group stages in this League Cup encounter at the Caledonian Stadium. They had to battle hard to overcome East Kilbride in their opening Group F tie eventually sealing a 1-3 win over the new League2 side. Our opening fixture was in midweek where we edged out Elgin City with a hard fought but ultimately deserved 2-0 win over the Borough Briggs side. Early days yet with most teams still building up to the bigger challenges ahead with the League campaign getting underway in early August and teams looking to hit the ground running. Especially us as we start League1 at minus 5 points. Meh! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Info Official Preview 🚍Bus & Bar94 Info below ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The League Cup has not been a happy place for the Caley Jags in recent seasons but we got off to a winning start over Elgin City in midweek with Billy Mckay and Luis Longstaff the difference between the sides. Had Elgin not smacked the junction of post and bar it might have been different, but them's the breaks. Scott Kellacher was happy enough with the win and a clean sheet and more minutes in the legs. No listen! Really pleased with the first half. Looking forward to a hard game this weekend against St Johnstone, it will be a difficult test. Supporters Trust: St Johnstone: 1500 on Saturday 19 July: 🚍 & ⚽ & 🚍 Bar 94 will open at 1200, with last orders at 1430 (the bar must be fully vacated by 1445). The bar reopens at full time. Buses will leave the Bus Station for the Stadium at 1245 and 1415. Buses return from the Stadium to the Bus Station 10 minutes after the full time whistle and at 1800. The bus fare is £2.70 single (contactless payments or cash accepted), and Over 60 / Disabled and Under 22 Concession passes are valid, giving free travel on the service to passholders. Here's our team that we had out in our first competitive game of the season after an indifferent pre-season. This will be fairly close to our strongest line-up available at present with players still to get up to speed and adjusting to pastures new. Ross Munro appears to be our number 1 keeper and seems decent. the back four of Millen, Devine, Savage and Strachan have those positions ring fenced. We have an abundance of midfielders and that is where selections will be easily rotated on a horses for courses basis. Allan, MacLeod, Chalmers and Wotherspoon are all accomplished players with new signings Alfie Stewart, Jordan Alonge and Liam Sole able and willing to step in seamlessly. Robbie Thompson is also still here and will be pushing for a start. Calum MacLeod looks likely to be the big breakthrough player this season. The experience and guile of David Wotherspoon as an attacking midfielder will be invaluable in assisting Billy Mckay and Luis Longstaff up front. Kell's has made no secret of the fact that he want Alfie Bavidge back here as well. What an asset that would be as goal scorers are in short supply at the Caledonian Stadium just now. In saying that, Mckay and Longstaff got the first half goals against Elgin that eased us to the three points. 🛍️ Club Shop open from 10am until KO 🍺 Bar 94 open from 12pm 🎟️ Tickets available from eticketing.co.uk/ictfc This was the Super J's side that came from behind to run out 1-3 winners over East Kilbride in their opening League Cup fixture. A superb John Robertson free kick had given EK an early 7th minute lead which the new League2 side held until Jamie Gullan replied with a great free kick of his own seven minutes after the break. Adama Sidibeh added a second on the hour following a quick break forward with Mackenzie Kirk completing the scoring ten minutes before the end, Saints had to work hard for the three points but their persistence paid off in the end against stubborn opponents who look like they will be a great asset to League2. Simo Valakari was delighted with the win and acknowledged how difficult it was at this venue as he praised his opponents, at the same time as accepting that St Johnstone are nowhere near where he wants them to be. I'll take that as a word of warning... St Johnstone have an extensive list of players in & out (BBC Sport) In: Louis Lloyd, forward (Caernarfon Town); Sam Stanton, midfielder (Raith Rovers); Jamie Gullan, forward (Raith Rovers); Morgan Boyes, defender (Morton); Jack Baird, defender (Morton); Cheick Diabate, defender (Exeter City); Reghan Tumilty, defender (Hamilton Accies); Matty Foulds, defender (Harrogate Town). Stephen Mallan has since joined on a 1 year deal and former Caley Jag Reece McAlear has also signed on at Perth on a 2 year deal. Loan in: Toby Steward, goalkeeper (Portsmouth). Out: Andre Raymond, defender; Josh Rae, GK (Raith Rovers, loan to permanent); Drey Wright, midfielder (Dundee); Graham Carey, midfielder (Livingston); Stevie May, forward (Livingston, loan to permanent); Callan Hamill, defender (Arsenal); Matthew Smith, midfielder (Newport County); Alex Ferguson, midfielder (Kelty Hearts); Liam Parker, defender (Cove Rangers, loan to permanent); Benjamin Kimpioka, forward; Barry Douglas, defender; Nicky Clark, forward (Ross County); Cammy MacPherson, midfielder; Max Kucheriavyi, midfielder; Adam McMillan, forward; Arran Cocks, forward; Bayley Klimionek, defender; Ben McCrystal, midfielder; Dominic Shiels, defender; Kyle Thomson, goalkeeper. Loan ended: Andy Fisher, GK (Swansea City); Sam Curtis, defender (Sheffield United); Zach Mitchell, defender (Charlton Athletic); Elliot Watt, midfielder (Burton Albion); Stephen Duke-McKenna, midfielder (Harrogate Town). New Dates for the Diary League Cup (4 matches)15.07.2025@19:45 2-0 Elgin City (H) ✔️ 19.07.2025@15:00 - St. Johnstone (H) 22.07.2025@19:45 - East Kilbride (A) 26.07.2025@15:00 - Raith Rovers (A) Challenge Cup (6 matches)12.08.2025@19:45 - Elgin City (A) 26.08.2025@19:45 - Aberdeen B (H) 06.09.2025@15:00 - Stirling Albion (H) 23.09.2025@19:45 - Dundee B (H) 11.10.2025@15:00 - Forfar Athletic (A) 06.11.2025@19:45 - Dundee Utd B (H) North Cup (1)06.08.2025@19:30 - Lossiemouth (A)

The way to avoid that is to get promoted to the Championship and enter the competition at the last 32 stage and avoid the ridiculous league stage.

They made the Challenge Cup semi finals last year when still in the Lowland League, beating Ayr, Airdrie and Cove along the way, so we must be ready for a tough match.

In general, I think we played pretty well today. Judging by the numbers of supporters who were standing in the main stand to applaud the team off the pitch at the end of the game, I would say most would agree with me. Both Sole and Alonge showed promise when they came on, but both tend to overplay it and miss opportunities for a shot or a more effective pass. Hopefully that will come when they feel more confident as integral parts of the team. Munro looks like a solid keeper for the season. It will interesting to see more of Corner, as what we did see when he came on as a very late sub was a very effective long throw-in which could be a really effective weapon in the coming season. For me, the standout players were Paul Allan and Alfie Stewart. There was a terrific work rate from both, they both read the game well, won good balls and always looked to more the ball forward quickly. The next two games will be tricky and will tell us a bit more about the strengths and weaknesses of the squad, but from what I've seen in the games this week, I think we should look forward to the coming league season with genuine optimism.

A bit harsh on Billy. I'm sure he wouldn't be playing if we had an alternative, which we don't. Personally, I'd start the two guys who came on against East Kilbride next week with Billy and Weatherspoon as subs. Weatherspoon was equally disappointing today. As for the game, we were good in parts and probably deserved a draw. Still tend to overplay too much around the box though, plaes just shoot if the opportunity presents its self. Today was also a good workout in terms of fitness.

It's a format that will likely result in clubs with small squads sustaining more injuries which will adversely affect them in competitions which actually matter. Consequently, I suspect most clubs will simply rest several key players and use it as an opportunity to give game time to fringe players and youngsters. That, in itself is no bad thing, but it detracts from the competition having any real meaning and consequently crowds will likely be very low.

Thank you so much to everyone for your kind thoughts and memories of David. It has meant so much to me at this difficult time. Some of the stories I hadn't heard before and they made me smile. I will be at the game tomorrow and hope to see some of you there K

A farce! I’d have been more enthusiastic if Highland and Lowland League teams were involved.

You can’t complain too much losing 1-0 to a team of their calibre. That’s a really poor goal to lose though, Danny has got to be annoyed with himself after that. East Kilbride will be a real test on Tuesday night and they will absolutely fancy themselves to take the 3 points. They have big aspirations to step up the leagues in the coming years.

Don't understand why Mckay keeps getting a free pass. He is in effect an empty shirt and the early miss should have been put away. Offered nothing after this and we saw how much things improved after he left the pitch. Otherwise thought there were a lot of positives and some good performances and interchanges.

Difficult watch to be honest. Unable to hold onto the ball long enough to create anything of note apart from an early effort when we were about a yard offside. The keeper saved anyway. St J have been wasteful with their superior possession. Still, level at the break with Munro having to make one superb save so far. Lot of misplaced passes out of defence creating a lack of entertainment for the hosts. Stewart replacing Millen at RB. Otherwise as you would expect. Sole and Alonge on the bench.

There's him on CaleyJags.com Unit!

It’s only available for EK season ticket holders currently

What a shambles of a tournament. Relegated to nothing more than a B Team training competition. A post on P & B sums it up well: “The amount of changes lower league clubs have to make to our cup competition, league structure and loan system all to suit big teams who simply don't want to play their own players is insane”.