Leaderboard

The Supporters Trust Board has been encouraged and heartened by the many supportive messages received, both at Saturday's Fans Meeting and subsequently. To pick up on some of the questions raised in this thread (many of which were covered in the presentation on Saturday, in the brochure about Stronger Together or in the Q&A at the meeting), the objective is to raise funds which will be used to allow the Supporters Trust to invest in the club through the purchase of shares. The Supporters Trust will look to purchase shares when it feels the time is right, and only if it is satisfied by commitments given by the club. A long standing aim of the Supporters Trust is to have a fans' representative on the Board of the club. Any scale of shareholding in itself does not guarantee this as, for example, the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Trust Limited (the single biggest shareholder) does not have a representative on the Board. By having fans representation on the Board, we can look to ensure that decisions are taken with the fans' interests taken in to account, and that the club does things that are important to fans. In the Fans Meeting, the Chairman was receptive to an approach, and the Trust Board will consider the timing of this at its next meeting, taking in to account the restructuring that was indicated would be taking place for 1 June. The club Chairman and SLO were briefed on Stronger Together in advance of Saturday's launch. Both responded positively by e-mail and were supportive at the meeting. We also discussed the plan with other major shareholders and were encouraged to proceed. We are seeking to raise funds through Stronger Together. However, if anyone wishes to transfer their existing shareholding to the Trust, please contact us, and we will explore this with the club's Company Secretary. The club is clearly facing some of the most challenging times it has faced in its 30 year history. The Supporters Trust wishes to assist in ensuring that we have a sustainable club that can move forward, hence the launch of Stronger Together. We recognise that this initiative alone will not turn around the club's financial problems, but we have been arguing for some time that the club should be looking after the pennies as well as chasing the pounds. We believe that this message has landed with the club, as evidenced by a Man of the Match sponsor being in place at Saturday's game for the first time in a long time. For those not at the Fans Meetings or who have not joined the Supporters Trust, the Trust has made significant progress with the club this season. This started with the Matchday Experience Survey, and then the strength of feeling shown at the initial Fans Meetings. The club has clearly recognised that there have been issues and has started to engage positively with the Trust and to address some of the issues raised by us. We highlighted the need for an effective SLO, and welcome the appointment of Scott Young to this position. Scott clearly wants to maintain a positive working relationship with the Trust, to engage with fans, and to make a difference. Scott has been joined at our last three meetings by Ross Morrison, the Chairman, and both have engaged openly and honestly with the issues raised with them. Until the Matchday Experience Survey and the Fans Meetings, the Trust was struggling to have any meaningful dialogue with the club. That has changed during the course of this season. The club has recognised that their communication with fans has been very poor. There is still work to do on this, but we are now better informed than we have been for many years. The club has recognised that the way some complaints were dealt with was very poor and, through Scott Young, are now showing a willingness to ensure that issues are resolved promptly and professionally. The Trust has highlighted concerns about the Matchday Experience for fans with disabilities, and established a group to work with the club on this. The initial meeting is later this week. The club has recognised our feedback that fans are priced out of hospitality, and we got confirmation on Saturday that new offerings will be available next season, with a mix of corporate and affordable offerings. On our theme of looking after the pennies, the club has recognised that they have missed out on many sponsorship opportunities, in terms of sponsorship of players, matches, man of the match and match ball. This is starting to change, with a Man of the Match sponsor in place at Saturday's game. We will continue to push for the reintroduction of a meaningful player sponsorship scheme next season. This is a simple but effective way of increasing fan engagement, and we have even offered to administer it for the club. These are just examples of what has been achieved, but we recognise that there is more work to be done, and we will continue to work on your behalf. The Trust Board is made up of volunteers who are passionate about the club and happy to devote their own time to helping to take things forward. Finally, thank you again to our many recently joined members for signing up, to all our members for their continued support, to everyone who has attended the Fans Meetings, and for all the supportive messages about the work we are carrying out.

I think what is maybe missing here is a clear understanding of where we are in terms of supporter influence on club decisions and where we aspire to be. It seems to me that the recent Trust announcement is more about how we get from where we are to where we want to be. If there is a lack of clarity on where points A & B are, then clearly there is going to be a bit of confusion about merits of a scheme to get us from A to B. So, where exactly are we? This is the easy bit. Despite the best efforts of the Supporters Trust over many years, engagement between Club and Trust has been poor to non-existent. There are now encouraging signs that the Club is more willing to engage. Whilst it is really inappropriate for a Club Director to be assigned as SLO, Scott Young does seem keen to engage constructively. It is also very encouraging that the Club Chairman has attended the Trust's open meetings. Where we want to get to with supporter influence in the running of the club is not so easy. It is a long term goal of the Trust to have an elected fans' representative on the Club Board. I support that and would hope the vast majority of fans would too. Some might want to go further and say the best option for the long term security of the club would be for it to be primarily fan owned. On the other hand, if we had a Club Board and CEO that routinely involved fans' representatives on a range of working groups on a wide range of issues and which delivered on the issues that were important to fans, then people might not feel the need for Board representation at all. To a large extent therefore, where we might want to be in terms of supporter involvement in the running of the Club, will be dependent on how the Club Board manages affairs over the years. That being the case, I think what the Trust Board is proposing makes absolute sense. I've not spoken to any of the Trust Board about this, but the way I see it is that building up a fund with which it can buy shares whenever it sees fit, provides a dual purpose. Firstly, it allows the Trust to increase its shareholding and therefore increase (albeit not by much) its voting power. Secondly, and much more importantly to my mind, It can buy those shares on condition that the money is put towards specific projects important to fans. I see this as part of the ongoing journey of improved collaboration between Club and supporters. Supporters will know they can donate money to the Club via the Trust in the knowledge it won't be spent on a new drinks cabinet in the Boardroom. The Club will know that money will come from the fans provided they engage properly with the Supporter's Trust. There is therefore a clear incentive on both sides to work together. In the longer term, the route to a fan's representative on the Club Board is most likely to come as a result of a recognition by the Board that a fan's representative would help the work of the Board. If that didn't happen, then getting a representative on the Board via a shareholders meeting would be an appropriate route. But even then, persuading other shareholders of the case would be more important than the voting power of the Trust. Realistically, we are not going to raise enough to ever have anything close to a voting majority. There is therefore absolutely no point in setting any targets about how much should be raised or how many shares the Trust should have. The scheme will have its own momentum influenced by a range of factors. One of these is the amount people donate and another is the extent to which the Club start to work with the Trust. Another important aspect is how the fans engage in helping with the work the Trust. A handful of willing volunteers on the Trust Board can't be expected to do everything. We're all in this together and, as the title says, we're stronger together.

Thanks for providing such a solid and honest response, really appreciated. There’s clearly been a lot of hard work gone into the trust over the last couple of years to get it to this point and kudos to all involved for that.

Even by your standards, that's a cracker. Well played Lazarus So the "minefield" that kept Falkirk out in 2003, and on 2 previous occasions, was actually "designed" for ICT Elderly men and big spotty teenager prejudices. Remarkable.

The Supporters Trust Board has been encouraged and heartened by the many supportive messages received, both at Saturday's Fans Meeting and subsequently. To pick up on some of the questions raised since Saturday (many of which were covered in the presentation on Saturday, in the brochure about Stronger Together or in the Q&A at the meeting), the objective is to raise funds which will be used to allow the Supporters Trust to invest in the club through the purchase of shares. The Supporters Trust will look to purchase shares when it feels the time is right, and only if it is satisfied by commitments given by the club. A long standing aim of the Supporters Trust is to have a fans' representative on the Board of the club. Any scale of shareholding in itself does not guarantee this as, for example, the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Trust Limited (the single biggest shareholder) does not have a representative on the Board. By having fans representation on the Board, we can look to ensure that decisions are taken with the fans' interests taken in to account, and that the club does things that are important to fans. In the Fans Meeting, the Chairman was receptive to an approach, and the Trust Board will consider the timing of this at its next meeting, taking in to account the restructuring that was indicated would be taking place for 1 June. The club Chairman and SLO were briefed on Stronger Together in advance of Saturday's launch. Both responded positively by e-mail and were supportive at the meeting. We also discussed the plan with other major shareholders and were encouraged to proceed. We are seeking to raise funds through Stronger Together. However, if anyone wishes to transfer their existing shareholding to the Trust, please contact us, and we will explore this with the club's Company Secretary. The club is clearly facing some of the most challenging times it has faced in its 30 year history. The Supporters Trust wishes to assist in ensuring that we have a sustainable club that can move forward, hence the launch of Stronger Together. We recognise that this initiative alone will not turn around the club's financial problems, but we have been arguing for some time that the club should be looking after the pennies as well as chasing the pounds. We believe that this message has landed with the club, as evidenced by a Man of the Match sponsor being in place at Saturday's game for the first time in a long time. For those not at the Fans Meetings or who have not joined the Supporters Trust, the Trust has made significant progress with the club this season. This started with the Matchday Experience Survey, and then the strength of feeling shown at the initial Fans Meetings. The club has clearly recognised that there have been issues and has started to engage positively with the Trust and to address some of the issues raised by us. We highlighted the need for an effective SLO, and welcome the appointment of Scott Young to this position. Scott clearly wants to maintain a positive working relationship with the Trust, to engage with fans, and to make a difference. Scott has been joined at our last three meetings by Ross Morrison, the Chairman, and both have engaged openly and honestly with the issues raised with them. Until the Matchday Experience Survey and the Fans Meetings, the Trust was struggling to have any meaningful dialogue with the club. That has changed during the course of this season. The club has recognised that their communication with fans has been very poor. There is still work to do on this, but we are now better informed than we have been for many years. The club has recognised that the way some complaints were dealt with was very poor and, through Scott Young, are now showing a willingness to ensure that issues are resolved promptly and professionally. The Trust has highlighted concerns about the Matchday Experience for fans with disabilities, and established a group to work with the club on this. The initial meeting is later this week. The club has recognised our feedback that fans are priced out of hospitality, and we got confirmation on Saturday that new offerings will be available next season, with a mix of corporate and affordable offerings. On our theme of looking after the pennies, the club has recognised that they have missed out on many sponsorship opportunities, in terms of sponsorship of players, matches, man of the match and match ball. This is starting to change, with a Man of the Match sponsor in place at Saturday's game. We will continue to push for the reintroduction of a meaningful player sponsorship scheme next season. This is a simple but effective way of increasing fan engagement, and we have even offered to administer it for the club. These are just examples of what has been achieved, but we recognise that there is more work to be done, and we will continue to work on your behalf. The Trust Board is made up of volunteers who are passionate about the club and happy to devote their own time to helping to take things forward. Finally, thank you again to our many recently joined members for signing up, to all our members for their continued support, to everyone who has attended the Fans Meetings, and for all the supportive messages about the work we are carrying out.

'Converged Communication Solutions And ICTFC Announce Cybersecurity Workshop For Local Businesses' Hopefully this (ironic) partnership proves fruitful! On a more serious note it's good to see the club taking steps to improve communication with the fans (including Ross Morrison and Scott Young attending the recent supporters meetings). Well done to the Trust for the progress made in this regard so far.

I think you need to get off the fence re Ferguson Mr Riley

Some context to both the above. The comment about being a property business was in relation to the club not being able to generate enough income from footballing activities to sustain a full time team, along with other current activities such as the Academy. By using its assets to generate income it can do so. I’m sure the Chairman said previously the club now owned the ground, opening up opportunities like Red John. On the Battery Farm, the intended purchaser has walked away due to the delays. The Chairman said that a replacement will not be hard to find, but there may be a reduction in value due to changes in the market. However it remains very sellable as it has a grid connection which can be used next year, with most schemes apparently 2027 or later.

I’ve now read the Courier’s report on this meeting and I see the Chairman quoted as saying “We bought the ground around us. We didn’t own the ground until last year.” This raises one or two questions for me. Precisely which “ground” is being referred to here? The stadium site - initially 9.03 acres but soon extended to 12.88 - was leased for 99 years in 1994 from the Inverness Common Good Fund who owned the land. This comprised the area of the stadium itself and the surrounding car parks. So is it all or part of this area that the Chairman is saying has been purchased from the CGF by the club? Or is it further land beyond the perimeter? And of particular interest here at this time of financial crisis is - where did the money come from? I imagine that another quote from the Chairman may also attract attention - “Caley Thistle should be a commercial property company with a football club hanging off it.” Thoughts, anyone?

If shareholding is so important to having a voice, then why do most of the current board members have little or no shares? Was talking about this with a couple of friends last night and when we had a look it seems that the current chairman doesn't even hold any shares. Is that right?

A good start to March with an away win at Morton then a home draw with Ardrie and home loss to Ayr United followed by two away games gaining one point against Dundee United and nothing against Partick. The winner for March is Cameron Kerr with Alex Samuel and Samson Lawel close behind. The PotY standings are now Nathan Shaw and Alex Samuel joint leaders, Billy Mckay, Nikolay Ujdur, Max Anderson and Cameron Harper still in the running. Nathan Shaw is out for the remainder of the season so will slip down. A good start to April with our first home win since November and four games left to play unless we end up in the dreaded playoffs. Lets hope we can start by beating Queens Park next week. Please keep voting.

I like the podcast initiative/slogan for “Back the team, Sack the Board”. We all know politicians like three-word-slogans so how about; Back the team Sack the Board Crack the problem Ladies and gentleman, I give you Back-Sack-Crack

New podcast out featuring an interview with Ross Draper which is nice

We simply have to beat them on Saturday. Failing to do so would still have Queens Park in the driving seat for safety even if we beat them the following week. Queens also still have Arbroath to play. We need 6 points from our next 2 games or the only way we will avoid the play offs will be by finishing bottom.

Hope it doesn’t happen but doesn’t seem to have done raith rovers, airdrie, Queen’s Park, partick, Dunfermline any harm dropping down, resetting and coming back up to the championship. And probably Falkirk next season.