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I've been on the board of CJT/Trust in the past and was delighted to be part of it during some of our most successful seasons. However, I've not been involved for some years, stepping back mostly due to work and growing family commitments. That's unchanged. I've no idea about STFU or anyone else and everyone is entitled to their opinions regarding the club or The Trust but I do agree it's very easy to go online be it here, P&B, Twitter, Facebook etc and complain. It's much more difficult to give up some time and come up with constructive and realistic solutions to the issues. The Club don't seem to want to make it easy either much of the time as they appear to have a select group of folk they listen to. They shouldn't be picking and choosing whose views are worthy and whose aren't. Hopefully that's changing. For the record I am a born and bred Invernessian 😂

There is no reason why Board members need to be born and bred Invernessians. In my opinion, what matters is that those involved have the desire to contribute to the Board, to make a positive difference and to work with the club to enhance it, both on and off the pitch. They are giving their time voluntarily for no financial or other gain, so should get our collective support. Having a varied Board with different backgrounds is important for it to work well. I consider myself a local, but only moved to the Highlands when I was 4, spent my school days in Fort William, then ended up in the central belt and I only lived in Inverness (first time round) in 1992. Work then took me away for a number of years before returning 8 years ago. That in no way detracts from my passion for the club.

4-1 FT, great result. I was somewhat concerned about the lack of defenders when I saw the team sheet and would have been delighted with any sort of win today, but to win so comfortably is impressive.

Like Fraz I too have been on the trust board and was chair for a while a few years ago. It can be a thankless job with people quick to criticise but not so quick to help improve things! The Trust has been stagnant for a few years now due to many things including lack of active members and not having a great relationship with the club. Covid didn't help neither! I really welcome the statement from the football club now showing a willingness to work with the trust and I hope that our supporters will get on board and join the trust to make it a strong voice for the fans. At the end of the day with around a 12% shareholding the trust should have a much stronger voice within the club. The only one concern that I do have is that the current football club directors and CEO have a better understanding of what a trust can do and how it can benefit the football club and not expect the trust to be a cash cow for the football clubs running costs. There is a lot of work to do and this is only the start of re launching the supporters trust. So get behind them, join the trust and have a voice to make things better. And finally yes I'm also born and bread Invernessian too (not that this should really matter).

I joined the Trust last year but am not on the Board, so other than bolstering the membership I’ve not had the opportunity to make a positive contribution, largely due to other commitments. However, and just a thought, with your clear passion for the club, if you are going to Saturday’s game, why not go along to the Caley Club or the Sports Bar before the game and discuss your thoughts and concerns with Board members. Why not join up and look to join the Board at the next opportunity, allowing you to influence the direction of the Trust and the relationship with the club?

Good to see the club supporting the Trust by encouraging new members: https://ictfc.com/supporters-trust-recruitment-drive Hopefully it gets a positive response.

This is not intended as an opinion on what the trust should or should not do. I post this purely for information and because Peter has stated that he stands willing to be corrected. This snippet is from the clubs articles of association. As at the last return, there are 4,902,379 ordinary shares issued. Supporters Trust have 13,658 shares, of which 108 have enhanced rights....leaving 13,550 "ordinary" rights. The enhanced shares are, in todays terms, equal to 490,237 shares....and we then add the 13,550....total 503,787 As per the company articles 900,003 of the ordinary shares carry no voting right, so issued shares with voting powers total 4,002,376 and this gives the trust a voting right of approx 12.6% in real terms This is the second largest single entity voting right which exists within the club right now and far surpasses the total voting right of all current directors combined. The largest shareholding/voting right sits with the ICT Trust (a different entity to the supporters trust). The company articles state no need for club directors to stand down and/or be reelected by rotation. They have the power to appoint new directors and are, at present, entirely self appointed with no elected members on the board. A shareholder resolution can be raised by giving sufficient notice ahead of any general meeting for the election of a board member. The Supporters Trust could do that now if they so desired. The current board do not hold anything like sufficient shares between them to stop that resolution and would need support from others to do so...if they so wished.

Don't read it then

Well, that was the worst performance from ICT for some time. We had no energy, no quality to our play and as usual no plan B from Dodds. Take nothing away from Partick, they were good all over the park, but we didn't help ourselves with the tactics and terrible passing. As soon as I saw Hyde was playing, and was up against Tiffony, I thought we were in trouble. For Dodds to give him that task was a disaster waiting to happen for the young player. We needed to win the midfield and if that meant sacrificing a forward player, so be it. It was the wrong formation, the wrong lineup and the wrong tactics. I really hope Dodds learns something from this, or it's going to be a long hard season.

I was nervous when I saw the line up with seven players missing (Duffy, Carson, Devine, Ram, Welsh, Walsh and Sutherland) and only three defenders in the team, all left sided. We came out fast and Samuels’ well finished early goal set us up for as good a 45 as I’ve seen in a long time. I thought Mackay’s shot was goal bound but Doran made sure for the second. We could have had more, with the Cove ‘keeper making several good saves. Our most nervous moment came when Delaney (I think) tried to head the ball wide but instead forced Ridgers to make a great save to avoid an own goal. Cove started the second half with Vigurs on, and scored in their first attack. Ridgers could only parry a shot towards a Cove player who scored. We were then unable to keep the ball and were looking poor for the next 20 minutes or so, with Cove looking the more likely to score, but we gradually grew back in to the game. Mckay set Samuels up for the third, which steadied things and Shaw got the fourth after Samuels came close to a hat trick but the goalie palmed his effort towards Shaw. 4-1 maybe flattered us a bit, but it was in the main a good team performance, with four Academy products starting. Ridgers had a couple of saves, with one down at the post as well as stopping the potential own goal. He was also talking the defence through the game well. Hyde is not a natural full back and it showed at times, but he acquited himself well. Delaney and Samuels both assisted him. I thought Delaney did well, playing on the wrong side of the defensive pairing for a left sided player, whilst Deas steadied everything and got forward a few times, coming close with an overhead kick. Harper has improved from last season, both defensively and with his delivery. Allardice was great in midfield, supported well by MacGregor. Mackay had a couple of decent runs, whilst I thought Doran had a very good game. Mckay was very busy and kept the ball well to bring others into the game. The pick, though, was Samuels, who took his goals well and could have had a third. He had the beating of the defence and made a lot of good runs into space, which seemed to be a deliberate ploy today with players looking for him. What a contrast from his performance against Queens Park. Three subs were used late on with Boyd coming close from a free kick and Shaw being in the right place to get the fourth. All in all, a satisfying afternoon, particularly after the wobble early in the second half. Well done to all, and I hope Douglas Ross “enjoyed” the stick he got.

A great win and three points, with quite a depleted squad, seven players out. We played some nice football first half, but lost our way a bit in the second, until we started short direct passes again. I thought Deas, Delaney Allardice and Samuels were the pick, but, for me, it was our best performance so far this season. When Cove came more into the game, we had to dig deep, because if Cove had equalised, we might have struggled to get the win. If we can play like we did for long spells in this game, we won't be far away from promotion at the end of the season.

A much longer run than goalie’s normally have to do! Good luck to Ryan and I hope he raises a lot for the Hospice: https://ictfc.com/ryan-esson-to-run-loch-ness-marathon

The ICT Under 18s beat Kilmarnock U18s 2-1 this afternoon. Jonathan Bain and Calum MacLeod were the scorers.

You can find a full list of 541 shareholders and their share holding on the Filings page on Companies House website here. It is the latest Confirmation Statement. It lists the Supporters Trust as having 13658 Ordinary shares. That may sound a lot but the nominal price of each share is £1 and the Club accounts identify £4.9million of called up share capital, so the Trust's holding is probably substantially less than 1% of the total. The Trust's shareholding should not be confused with its 10% voting right. This voting right stems from voting rights granted on behalf of supporters which were incorporated into the Memorandum and Articles of Association when the club was formed. I'm not sure what you mean about having a voice. We have a voice at the club, but how loud that voice is and how effective it is, has got little to do with our shareholding or voting right. What matters most is how representative the Trust is. Whilst membership is growing, it is still a small minority of the supporters of the club who are members of the Trust. The simple message is that if you want the Supporters Trust to have a louder voice - join it! If you mean why does the Trust not have a voice on the Club Board, the answer is simply that we have never been invited to have a representative of the fans on the Club Board. Several clubs do, and we believe that having a democratically elected representative of the fans on the Board can only be a good thing. But for that ever to happen, we would need to be seen to be truly representative with a membership in the region of the number of season ticket holders at least. We are a long way from that.

Credibility and accuracy.

I have been trying to update our team contract details and have a few blanks. On the last club statement new contracts were offered to Devine , Duffy, Doran, Hyde and Cameron MacKay but unable to find any more information on deals agreed. Name Surname Squad Number Signed Till Other Information Scott Allardice 18 May-23 Steven Boyd 30 May-23 Keith Bray 36 May-24 Ethan Cairns 32 David Carson 8 May-24 Robbie Deas 5 May-23 Zak Delaney 23 May-24 Daniel Devine 6 Aaron Doran 10 May-23 Wallace Duffy 2 May-23 Cameron Harper 3 May-24 Harry Hennem 31 Lewis Hyde 16 Roddy MacGregor 12 May-24 Calum MacKay 35 May-24 Cameron MacKay 21 Daniel MacKay 17 On loan from Hibs till May 2023 Billy Mckay 9 May-23 Lewis Nicolson 33 May-25 George Oakley 14 May-24 Max Ram 15 May-24 Ali Riddle 27 Mark Ridgers 1 May-24 Austin Samuels 24 May-23 Nathan Shaw 22 May-23 Matthew Strachan 34 May-24 Shane Sutherland 11 May-23 Robbie Thompson 29 On loan to Clach FC till January2023 Tom Walsh 7 May-23 Sean Welsh 4 May-24

Shaw, Boyd and Oakley contributed a lot more than the players they replaced.

Look on the bright side- no one’s going to be looking to sign any of our players this transfer window.

As others have said, young Lewis thrown to the wolves. McCall must have been rubbing his hands when he saw our lineup. By the same token, our midfielders like Allardice, Doran and Roddy have to step up to the plate in a fixture like this. Docherty, Bannigan and McKinnon won’t even need a shower after that. The only players to come out of it with any credit are Samuels, Ridgers and Billy.

We can't just sign every player that becomes available. Of course I'd love to have gotten Scott Allan in but we've got Boyd. MacGregor and Doran in the squad all of whom can play as a 10. Allan is arguably better than any of them but we cannot jettison these guys to make room for him*. If we didn't have Boyd then maybe we could have made a move but hindsight is a wonderful thing. * I know in the past we've gotten rid of someone like Doumbouya to free up space for Mckay returning but that's the exception rather than the rule.

It was a bit nervy for much of the 2nd half but a good striker's goal from the excellent Samuels got us back on track for a well deserved win. With Devine, Duffy, Carson and Welsh all missing, we do look a little vulnerable defensively at times but Harper and Hyde are developing well and Delaney looks to be a useful signing. If we look a little bit vulnerable defensively, we are more than making up for it with our attacking play. At times we displayed some really good short passing moves with excellent movement. At times it came to nothing, but as players get to know each others games better, our cutting edge will only get sharper and we should be a really exciting team to watch. In a good all round performance, Austin Samuels was a clear MOTM. His goals were both well taken, but he was also very effective in receiving the ball a bit deeper, turning his man and finding a team mate ahead of him to get an attack going. Aaron Doran had another excellent game and seems to be playing better than at any time since his lengthy injury. Billy Mckay may not have been on the score sheet but it was another really good performance from him. His work rate, link-up play and movement causes real problems for defences and creates space for his team mates. We somehow seem to expect Billy to score but it is clear that we have several players who are capable of scoring. We may have several players out but there is still real competition for places. Today's performance shows great promise for the season ahead. Well done, lads!

Good 1st half and end to the game. Dodds didn’t react to the change in formation when Vigurs came on at half time and the extra man in the middle exploited the space between the defence and midfield. The 3rd goal steadied things particularly after Cove made further changes which helped both defence and midfield. Many positives but we need to lose the habit of losing control of games including when the opposition makes changes.

STFU, I note you say that was your last post on the matter and therefore I will not prolong this debate further. What I would say, is that we do appreciate thoughtful contributions such as yours. Even when we disagree with the content, it gives us food for thought about what our strategy to build the Trust up should be and how we communicate it. I thank you for your contribution and hope that progress in the coming months may provide initiatives you feel you can support.

Can't read too much into them, but the BBC stats would suggest that coming out of that with a draw was a good result. But we played there three times last season, and are still playing the ball in the air? Beyond belief.

Our unbeaten start to the season continues!

Two milestones today for our club with Mark Ridgers playing 200 games and with a few good saves keeping us in the game a great keeper and David Carson playing 100 games, in right back today but wherever he plays always gives 100%. A great achievement for both players

We are in a play off place. Long way to go though

Funnily enough, being a born and bred Invernessian is not a requirement for being on the Board of the Supporters Trust. What is a requirement is a willingness to work with the Club for the mutual benefit of the Club and its fan base. None of the Board Members are anonymous. There are just the 5 of us. We would dearly like there to be more so that we could do much more for the club and its fans, but nobody else in a position to help has come forward. For supporters who do have a genuine interest in ICTFC and being involved in collaborative working between between the Club and its representative supporters body, nomination papers for election to the Trust Board will be sent out to members early in October prior to the AGM in December. There is therefore time for anyone who is not currently a member of the Trust but who would like to do something constructive to help the Club and our fellow supporters, to join the Trust prior to the issue of nomination papers. Of course the success or otherwise of the Trust is dependent not just on active members but on the size of the membership. Imagine what a powerful voice for the supporters body the Trust would be if its membership was similar in numbers to the number of season ticket holders. You can help make the Trust's voice more effective by joining here.

Hello Cove! We welcome new Championship club Cove Rangers to the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday afternoon for our final group G League Cup group stages encounter. It's a 3:00pm kick-off for this game and we should see some familiar faces in the Cove ranks. Former Inverness players Iain Vigurs, Rory McAllister and Ross Draper are still on the books at Balmoral Stadium. Ex Aberdeen players Shay Logan, Mark Reynolds and Fraser Fyvie are also well established opponents and Mitch Megginson is a danger to any team. Last Time Out Cove surprisingly lost out 3-2 at home to Kelty Hearts. McAllister and Vigurs featured in that game with Fraser Fyvie and Robbie Leitch scoring for them. Shay Logan also started but it was Kelty that took the points, and they even had the luxury of Nathan Austin missing a first half penalty. Leitch's late goal made the score closer, but Cove were well beaten. Other group G results: Cove 1-2 Livi, Albion Rovers 1-2 Cove. Inverness eventually cruised to a 4-0 win over Albion Rovers. An early goal for Billy Mckay and a stunning free kick from Cammy Harper gave us the cushion needed at the interval. Another quickie a minute after the restart from Wallace Duffy impersonating a striker and a steal from Harper with his head ended the scoring to put Inverness in a strong place to qualify from Group G. Three wins for the Caley Jags so far over Kelty, Livi and Albion Rovers. The last time we played Albion Rovers thirteen years ago we also ran out 4-0 winners. Even better, we went on to beat Dundee to the Championship title and got promotion to the Premier League for the second time. Sounds good, let's have another bash at that. Cove Catch-up by Eric A corresponding fixture last season saw Paul Hartley in charge, however after guiding Cove to promotions through the leagues to the Championship he has been lured south of the Border to manage Hartlepool United. Hartley and his assistant left this summer after a fee was negotiated. Incoming manager is Jim McIntyre whose coaching career has included Dunfermline, Bristol City (first team coach), Queen of the South then Ross County September 2014 to September 2017 when he was sacked alongside assistant Billy Dodds. Most recently managing Dundee season 2018/19 but was relieved of duties after only 4 wins in 31 games. Former Inverness players Iain Vigurs, Rory McAllister and Ross Draper are still on the books at Balmoral Stadium. Former Don's Shay Logan Mark Reynolds and Fraser Fyvie are also well established opponents and Mitch Megginson is a danger to any team. Incoming players so far are Evan Towler a 17 year old left back on loan from Aberdeen FC B, and Gerry McDonagh a centre forward once of Nottingham Forest Youth to U23 set up but after being with a number of English clubs has arrived at Cove on a free transfer. Latest Team News Sutherland and Walsh are long term casualties Here's Dodds... View full article

Friday Footie Frills at Firhill It's Friday Footie Frills at Firhill for a TV spectacular as we take on fellow contenders Partick Thistle in the Championship. This game can be seen on BBC Scotland, that's cooncil TV to you and me, or even better get yersel along to Firhill and cheer the lads on. It's a 7:45pm kick off as two of the fancied teams for a play-off place meet head on. We have history of course. We ended Partick's ambitions last season with home and away wins in the play-offs. Early doors yet, but both teams will be looking to keep pace with favourites Dundee at the top of the table. MATCH/TICKET/SUPPORTERS BUS INFO Venue H2H v Partick Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 10 6 7 37 33 +4 Away 22 6 6 10 23 30 -7 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 45 16 12 17 60 63 -3 Home advantage looks to be the deciding factor in these fixtures. We did however get the better of Partick in last seasons play-off games, winning 2-1 at Firhill:- Advantage Inverness: The first leg of the Premiership Play-Offs saw Inverness travel to Glasgow to take on the Maryhill Magyars as a place in the top division beckoned. Neither side were able to dominate on the Firhill tattie field and they went in goalless at the break although Logan Chalmers looked to be impeded as he tried to get a shot away. Crawford opened the scoring when he got onto a reverse ball from Graham to shoot high into the net from inside the box to put Partick in the driving seat. Inverness turned it round in the second half with goals from Shane Sutherland and Austin Samuels and it's back to the Highlands on Friday night to conclude this tie. And that turned out to be a 1-0 home win for the Caley Jags. Here's the goals from that last game at Firhill Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Partick 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (A) 3 - 3 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 1 - 3 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) Saturday fixtures Arbroath v Queen's Park Cove v Ayr Utd Accies v Rovers Morton v Dundee This Season Partick Thistle started the season with a bang. A tremendous away win at Dens Park in a five goal thriller was followed up by a home draw against Hamilton Accies, Brian Graham salvaging a point with a late equaliser in a game that Partick always had the edge but had to battle to get their point. Last week the big Glasgow derby ended in defeat as newly promoted Queens Park stunned the visitors faithful with a 3-2 win. Makes Inverness' opening day draw with Queens feel like a point gained instead of a point lost. Our second game was a predictable no scoring draw at Arbroath and last Saturday brought our first win of the campaign by 4-1 over Cove Rangers. Austin Samuels the one responsible for most of that with a couple of goals along with Aaron Doran and Nathan Shaw who opened his account at the Caledonian Stadium. Latest Team News Alas, Sutherland and Walsh are out long term with Sean Welsh and Max Ram also in recovery mode. Wallace Duffy and David Carson missed out last week which left us a bit lop sided at the back. To compound that, left sided defender Lewis Nicolson has gone on loan to Elgin City until January. Austin Samuels' performance last week earned him a 'place' in the team of the week. Eric's Partick probe Exodus from Firhill: Mason McCready goalkeeper on loan to Dalbeattie Star. The following players had their loans terminated by parent club Rangers FC, Andy Firth goalkeeper, Lewis Mayo centre back and centre forward Juan Alegria. Loan player right winger Kyle McCallister back to St Mirren and forward Alex Jakubiak returned to Dundee FC. Three players have gone on free transfers to Queen of the South, backs Ciaran McKenna and Stephen Hendrie also right-winger Connor Murray Moving on from Firhill on free transfers are Steven Bell centre back to Kelty Hearts, Shea Gordon a midfield player now at Larne FC and forward Ross MacIver to Alloa. Zak Rudden confirmed signed for Dundee after being on loan there for the second half of last season. Another couple of players have left, Ricky Foster is off to Detroit City and midfielder Robbie Crawford has just joined Morton this afternoon. New faces at Firhill that have arrived on a free transfer basis. David Mitchell goalkeeper from Hibernian: Harry Milne left back from Cove Rangers: Jack McMillan right back from Livingston FC Another right back in Aaron Muirhead from Ayr United: Aiden Fitzpatrick from Queen of the South plays on the right of midfield. Steven Lawless right winger previously at Dunfermline Athletic: A couple of centre forwards added to the squad are Danny Mullen from Dundee FC and Anton Dowds ex Falkirk. Loan players in include Lee Hodson a right back from Kilmarnock, and no surprised to find a couple of Loan ins from Rangers FC in Cole McKinnon in midfield and forward player Tony Weston. Thanks Eric, Partick Thistle keeping you on your toes I see View full article

Come on Caley - Get into those Jeggie bestards 🤣

I would have him back in a second, he's the number 10 we could really do with, but I think his wage demands may be outwith our reach. Hibs would have been probably paying a high percentage of his wage when he was on loan to us. I do think that if he wants to put himself in the shop window, and sacrifice big wages for regular football, there's no better club than ICT.

You are right about Delaney I thought he had some good clearances today for a young player who along with Hyde you could say were thrown in at the deep end but managed well apart from the goal that Cove got, I hope they do well for us in the future. A good performance and result today from all the team well done to all I went home very happy And just to add I don't think there are many Tory supporters in the north stand

Enjoyable game that 😃 cove were poor in the first half and we could have finished the game then. It was on the cards that they would have a go second half; lost an early goal to their renewed efforts. However a 2 goal deficit was too much and we created plenty more chances killing the game off with the third. A really positive performance by everyone. Another plus is that Boyds shots are getting closer to goal ; they will soon be flying in 😃

A great team effort, everyone working hard for each other and backing each other up.

Good all round performance by the team.Thought Samuel's was good today and Deas fair steadied the defence Allardyce controlled the game and when he plays well the team does .Thankfully not another draw,but didn't expect to win 4-1,so well done ICT

A child or a Bentley?

Not so many votes for the away games with them not being online but a good number for the home games so far. The winner for July is Billy Mckay Please keep your votes coming in for August.

Or even planet earth???

Arachnophobia Should we fear the Spiders from Hampden as the new Championship season gets underway on Saturday with the visit of Queens Park. It's a 3:00pm kick off and a season of anticipation or maybe trepidation is almost upon us. TICKET PRICING Only form to go on for this season is the League Cup which saw Inverness qualify to face Motherwell in the knock out stages of group G. We ended our League Cup Group G games with a disappointing home draw against Cove Rangers despite Roddy MacGregor heading the opening goal. Megginson pinned us back but we took the bonus point in the ensuing penalty shoot-out. Queens Park failed to progress from their play-off Group H where Dundee and Hamilton Accies progressed. However they did manage a couple of wins thumping Stranraer and Forfar and drawing with Accies. They lost narrowly 1-2 against Dundee. Accies qualified a point ahead of the Spiders virtue of the penalty shoot-out win to pip Queens by a point. Queens Park, a club steeped in history, join us in the Championship this season along with Cove Rangers. They only finished fourth in the table behind Cove, Airdrie and Montrose, but came through the promotion play-offs to get into the Championship having beaten Dunfermline over two legs and then beating Airdrie in extra time to win promotion thanks to a Simon Murray penalty. Mind you, they have won the Scottish Cup ten times, albeit the last time was back in 1893. I remember it well. They have been playing out of Ochilview Park recently as they await Lesser Hampden to be upgraded. Here's one for you: They can boast a record attendance of 95,722 against Rangers in a Scottish Cup first round encounter on January 18th 1930 at their home ground of Hampden Park. That's a world record for an amateur side. They are now a professional outfit as of 2019 and on the up, consecutive promotions will see them ply their trade in this seasons Championship after years in the doldrums. Welcome to the Spiders Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Queens Park 3 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (A) Venue H2h v Queens Park Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 9 4 3 2 14 11 +3 Away 6 5 0 1 13 8 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 15 9 3 3 27 19 +8 League - (Div 3) Saturday, August 20th, 1994, 3:00 PM at Telford Street Park, Inverness Attendance: 1,500: Referee: M Pocock Ian Broadfoot reporting on our first ever competitive meeting against Queens Park. Caley Thistle's mid week efforts against Dundee had taken their toll and they went a goal down in 14 minutes - a McAllister header to McRitchie was short and Garry Orr took advantage with a goal from 15 yards. Four minutes later Maxwell made it two when he bundled in Edgar's corner. In 53 minutes McKenzie had rare chances for the home side but he hit the 'keeper twice. The match was over a few minutes later when a Garry Orr pass set up Graham who beat McRitchie with an angled drive. Two minutes later Maxwell headed a fourth. Full Time: 0-4 Mark McRitchie Dave Brennan Mike Andrew Mike Noble Mark McAllister John Scott Danny MacDonald Graeme Bennett Alan Hercher Paul McKenzie Wilson Robertson First Competitive Meeting Aug 20th, 1994 League ((Div 3)) (H) 0 - 4 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Jul 31st, 2010 League Cup (Rd 1) (H) 3 - 0 League Cup Match: Tuesday, September 2nd, 2003, 7:00 PM at Caledonian Stadium, Inverness Attendance: 968 This report comes from Ian Broadfoot back in 2003, the last time Queens Park beat Inverness in the Highlands. The Spiders gave Caley Thistle a dose of their own medicine when they produced a shock cup win away from home. Barry Wilson played for the first time following his return to the club. Queens belied their third division status with some lively play and they soaked up early pressure - a Steve Hislop drive was turned over the bar and Richie Hart hit the woodwork. It was not all one way as Ross Clark hit the bar at the other end. Caley Thistle scored in 26 minutes when Paul Ritchie turned in a Wilson cross but the lead only lasted two minutes. Bobby Mann brought down Clark and Steve Reilly converted the resultant penalty. Half Time: 1-1 Queens took the lead in 59 minutes when poor defending allowed a Reilly free kick to reach Ally Graham and he shot low past Mark Brown. With four minutes left Queens substitute Derek Carcary should have made it 3-1 but he shot wide with only Brown to beat. The drama was not over as the home side were awarded a penalty in injury time when Reilly handled in the box. Mann's kick came off the post. Full Time: 1-2 There was bitter disappointment in the home camp but no real complaints. Latest Team News Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh are long term casualties. Wallace Duffy came off injured against Cove Rangers. Danny Devine has missed all the League Cup games and pre-season along with Sean Welsh. Eric's Queens Park roundup: Under new manager Owen Coyle, Queens Park have trimmed the Squad with more than 10 departures in the summer. Four players have arrived all on free transfer basis. Jason Naismith a right back signed from Kilmarnock Fc: Dom Thomas midfielder from Dunfermline FC: Pat Jarret an attacking midfield player, from Stoke City where he has gone from Youth teams to the U23 level: Grant Savoury who spent last season at Peterhead FC is a centre forward. Loan in: Josh McPake, forward (Rangers). Out: Jai Quitongo, forward (Greenock Morton); Grant Gillespie, midfielder (Greenock Morton); Michael Doyle, defender (Hamilton Academical); Stuart Morrison, defender (Queen of the South); Willie Muir, goalkeeper (Alloa Athletic); Peter Grant, defender (Clyde); Bob McHugh, forward (East Kilbride); Darren Lyon, midfielder; Will Baynham, forward. Loan ended: Luca Connell, midfielder (Celtic); Luis Longstaff, midfielder (Liverpool); Connor Smith, midfielder (Heart of Midlothian); Connor McBride, midfielder (Blackburn Rovers); Ronan Darcy, midfielder (Bolton Wanderers). Queens main threat will come from the now experienced Simon Murray. The thirty year old striker has previously been at Arbroath, Dundee United and Hibs. Dom Thomas will be an excellent asset and along with Louis Longridge will provide stability in the midfield. View full article

That was a poor performance, particularly in the first half. Queens Park could have been well ahead at the break and we were lucky to get back to 1-1 just before the break. For their goal, the player picked the ball up around the half way line, ran forward with no meaningful challenges and scored. Mckay too his goal well after Boyd won a ball he’d no right to. Boyd was the pick of the first half for me with a few efforts on goal. The second half was better but we never really looked like winning. We lost the battle in the middle of the park with Queens Park looking faster and getting most of the second balls. I think we need to consider playing three in there as teams know how to play us. It will mean sacrificing an attacking player but guys like MacGregor can get up in support. Too many passes were slack and wayward but we can improve on that and there were some very good passages of play. The defence looked better once Devine came on, but he’s carrying an injury so may not get much game time, and we missed Deas, whilst both ‘keepers had a couple of decent saves. The pick for me over the full game was Mckay but I was disappointed in a few of them, particularly Samuels, whilst Mackay is not at his best yet. At least we didn’t lose, as we could easily have done and we possibly deserved to. Arbroath next week will be tough.

Sean Welsh has had to undergo an operation on his knee but he’s not expected to be out for long. Danny Devine was going some routines on the pitch last Saturday before kick off so is hopefully nearly ready. I read in the Courier (I think) that Allardice is a doubt as he got a broken nose in the Cove game. Deas is suspended for the first two league games. I’m looking forward to this one. It is early days and we won’t be able to draw conclusions, but this is a game we need three points in to get us off to a good start.

I did wonder if STFU was Dougal under a new name

I agree, our goal was excellent. Good play by Oakley to put Shaw free and a great cross for MacGregor to score with a rare header. Cove’s equaliser came when we were temporarily down to ten as Duffy took a heavy knock and we seemed disorganised at the back as a result and it was too easy for the Cove player to hit the target. Cove had the best of the early part of the second half but we finished more strongly. I felt we just about shaded it but a draw was probably fair enough. It was good to at least win on penalties. Unfortunately that was not enough and we will be unseeded in the draw. I was disappointed with Cove’s approach. They approached the match in a cynical manner, trying to buy free kicks with play acting. They also tried to run the clock down when even. We have enough teams like that in the Championship already and I had expected more from them. I think our medical staff had to give treatment to players at least four times, generally due to the aggression of Cove. Some of their big names were worst, such as Logan and Fyvie, so justice was done when Fyvie‘s penalty was saved by Ridgers. Shortly after Samuels was harshly booked, a Cove player blatantly dived to try to get him sent off. The ref gave a foul but at least did not produce a red card. Of the new signings, I thought Oakley’s holding up play and distribution was good. Shaw was lively and could develop into an important player for us. Delaney is a calm defender despite playing on the wrong side for a left sided defender. Boyd had a couple of efforts when he came on. At times it felt like a pre-season game again, so hopefully when the league starts next week we get if you a winning start. The squad looks decent but we need to tighten up a bit and ensure we score when on top. Hopefully Devine is nearly ready to be part of the squad. Is there any update on Ram or Welsh?

Good to see Lewis Nicolson extend his contract. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of him and he could become a real asset to us: https://ictfc.com/lewis-nicolson-signs-new-contract

I agree in part. When we were 1-0 up, Albion tested us and created a few chances, with MacKay making a few saves. Had they scored, it would have been interesting to see how we would have responded. The second goal came at the right time and made it a comfortable evening, particularly when we got the two early goals in the second half. We kept possession relentlessly in the second half, trying to engineer an opening, which was good to see. I still think we need a natural right back. Carson is a big player for us, but on occasions it is clear he is playing out of position and the Albion sub who came on and played on the left wing had the beating of him in the latter stages last night. I’m optimistic for the season ahead, but think the Championship is very open this season. A good start is essential, and avoiding anything like “Gardyne-gate” and a bad slump at any time is key. There is still a risk that teams come in for some of our assets, Deas being a prime example, although I think we have planned for that risk by bringing Delaney in. Anyway, I can’t wait for the first league game.

After tonight we are looking good to win the group but we could do with another three points against Cove on Saturday. Providing we get through to the last 16 the club will get £50,000 and if we can progress from there a loosing quarter-finalist will get £80'000 which is a lot of money for our club which we have not had in recent years. Any cup run is welcome as it is more games for our players and more money for the club.

Matchday Two   Last season's nearly men are the hosts on matchday 2 as we visit Gayfield to take on Arbroath. Saturday at 3:00pm is the time to be there with both clubs looking to improve on opening day draws in the cinch championship. Its a tough place to take points away from although we were the only club who managed that last season in the league. Hibs were the only other side to defeat them there, and that was in a Scottish Cup tie. Arbroath had a fantastic season last term and may find it difficult to emulate that this season. Nonetheless, its still a massive challenge to get something from these games with Dick & Dom at the helm. MATCH/TICKET/SUPPORTERS BUS INFO On day one, the Smokies were held to a scoreless draw at Somerset Park. They ended the game a man short when Thomas O'Brien was red carded. He will now miss Saturday's game. We fared little better with a 1-1 draw at home to newbies Queens Park who took an early lead through Jake Davidson before Billy Mckay equalised just before the break. Both teams spurned numerous opportunities and both keepers did well to keep the score level. Venue H2H v Arbroath Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 22 16 3 3 56 18 +38 Away 20 9 5 6 26 22 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 42 25 8 9 82 40 +42 First Competitive Meeting Aug 13th, 1994  League ((Div 3)) (Hercher hat-trick: Legend) (H) 5 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting May 13th, 2022 League (Playoff) (Semi Final 2nd Leg) (A) 0 - 0 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (H) Biggest Victories Jul 30th, 2016 League Cup (Group C) (H) 7 - 0 LATEST TEAM NEWS  Robbie Deas misses out again in his second game for accumulated bookings. Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh are long term injuries. Sean Welsh is recovering after minor surgery and Max Ram is out for a while. Danny Devine is not 100% and needs to be used sparingly at the moment. Apart from that, we are good to go with youngsters, fresh faces and Aaron Doran.    Eric's Smokies catch-up 💻 Departures Calum Antell, reserve keeper off to Berwick Rangers on a free: Backs Liam Henderson now at Falkirk and Chris Hamilton end of loan. In the January window last season Arbroath brought in a number of forward players in their push for the title, they have now left the club. Jack Hamilton end of loan from Livingston. Craig Wighton back at Dunfermline after loan spell. Sam Ford now plying his trade with Hume City FC in Australia, and Michael Bakare centre forward is now with Helsinki FK. A notable departure is Gavin Swankie who has retired at the age of 38 after four spells at Arbroath, his first appearance for the club back in season 2000/2001. New Arrivals Replacement reserve keeper Cammy Gill from Cowdenbeath FC. Mason Hancock a left back on loan from Aberdeen FC B. Keaghan Jacobs central midfielder on a free transfer from Livingston FC. Daniel Fosu a midfield player from an amateur team called Thatcham Town FC which is seemingly in Berkshire. Keiran Shanks from Inverurie Locos, a centre forward once an Aberdeen U18 player. Oh and Bobby Linn is still there after 9 years at the club. (some things never change) View full article

Totally stunned to see Premier Sports picking up both ties involving Rangers and Celtic to show on TV.

This topic has a great deal to do with the Club. My understanding is that the Concert Company was set up as a separate company so that the profit from concerts would be channelled into the Club, but the Club would not be liable for any losses. If the concerts have made a loss, this impacts on the Club in 2 ways. Firstly, the Club would not receive the income boost hoped for. Secondly, unless they have taken out some hefty insurance premium to cover potential losses, the Directors of the Concert Company will be liable for any losses, and given there is overlap between the Directors of the Club and the Concert Company, these Directors would not be in a position to put the amount of money into the Club that they otherwise would. The financial outcome of the concerts is therefore of very considerable relevance to the Football Club. Whether the concerts made a profit or a loss, I don't know. What is clear is that there were a lot of empty seats on both nights and particularly for the Duran Duran concert. I think it safe to say that the concerts will not be providing the level of income the Club Board were hoping for. The Concert Company was set up with the idea of holding concerts on an annual basis. Large concerts with well known performers require long term planning; bear in mind that tickets for the recent Bocelli concert went on sale last June. Whilst the full accounts for the Concert Company won't be available for a long time yet, there will be some real urgency behind the scenes in assessing provisional figures and organisational problems before confirming plans for next year. If the outcome of this assessment is that concerts can take place next year in the expectation of making a profit, then we can reasonably expect an announcement of who will be performing within the next 2 or 3 months. We are also still awaiting a date for the Club AGM when we can expect to hear an update on the situation. Last year the AGM was in September so we should get some indication of how successful the concerts were in a financial sense before too much longer. On a more upbeat topic, it is good to see the announcement of a new sponsorship deal with Footasylum.