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Shadows The game was reduced to just that at half time as the gudgies looked like they had defaulted on their Hydro bill with the Global No Energy Stadium being left in darkness. Oh dear, it's not like anyone noticed! BT Sport were showing the game live and as if their advert was not bad enough, the stadium was plunged into darkness to leave the referee with no option but to pull the plug (no pun intended) on the game as the lights failed for the third time of asking. What a fiasco. As to the action itself, Nick Ross will not get a better chance to score but he scuffed an effort from close range as Inverness got to grips with the game. It was a game of few opportunities and Luckassen turned and smashed a shot high and wide in a rare County foray. Inverness almost snatched the lead on the stroke of half time as the previously booked Garry Warren looped a header to the top corner of Broonies goal, but the keeper tips it acrobatically over. One other event of note before the blackout, and I have to include this in it's entirety, but thanks to BBC sport for this one, it made me chortle loudly:- Inverness have the ball in the net as Ross rifles the ball home after Shinnie's free kick is flicked on but they're disappointed by a flag for offside. That looked a marginal decision; tighter than Obelix's trousers after a hearty meal of wild boar... Anyway, result is game abandoned at half time due to floodlight failure/or unpaid bills. Date: 25.10.2013 Venue: Global Energy Stadium, Dingwall Attendance: ???? Referee: John Beaton Ross County: 0 Lineup: Brown, Kovacevic, Gordon, Kettlewell, Boyd, Sproule, Quinn, De Leeuw, Luckassen, McLean, Carey Subs (not used): Fraser, Micic, Brittain, Mustafi, Maatsen, Ross, Saunders Scorers: none Booked: De Leeuw (42), Kovacevic (42), Luckassen (45) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Brill, Shinnie, Warren, Meekings, Mckay, Draper, Foran, Doran, Ross, Watkins, Tremarco Subs (not used): Esson, Devine, Greenhalgh, Williams, Polworth, Pepper, Agdestein Scorers: none Booked: Warren (5), Draper (42) Sent Off: none

Bizarre Inverness were denied at least a share of the points by unheralded incompetency from the match officials, and in full view of a watching TV audience. Take nothing away from a dogged Partick Thistle side who battled hard to stem the flow, but with the referee and the far side linesman unable to understand the rules of the game and a Dean Brill fumble, Inverness lost their first game at home this season thanks to a Kris Doolan double being enough to outdo a Garry Warren header just after half time. A misty morning saw the sides take to the park for the 12:45 kick off with a sizeable travelling support hoping for the Harry Wragg's to pull off a shock result, and they would not be disappointed, but the controversy surrounding the game will rumble on for a while methinks. The injured James Vincent was replaced in the starting eleven by Ben Greenhalgh who had made a decent contribution in our last home game against Hibernian. The home side started brightly enough and soon had Partick on the back foot and conceding free kicks around their box, however free kicks are something we need to do a bit of work on and Doran curled one or two high and wide and not very handsome. Aaron Muirhead was yellow carded as early as the second minute for one of his many indiscretions. Ross Draper was putting himself about a bit and won another free kick which we promptly wasted but in the eighth minute we almost took the lead when Greenhalgh latched onto a ball in the box but his angled drive cannoned to safety off the base of the post. Partick were rarely seen in an attacking sense in the early part of the game but they took the lead against the run of play when Kris Doolan did well after some neat play down the Partick left saw him get a touch ahead of Meekings in the box and he turned and sent a low drive behind Brill from the angle of the six yard box. For all Inverness' possession, they were finding it difficult to trouble Fox in the Partick goal although he had to look lively to tip a rasping shot from Draper over the bar after a good lay off on the edge of the box. Inverness were beginning to pressure the visitors and this led to a high corner count throughout the game, but corners don't win matches. Ben Greenhalgh was as ineffective as Doran with another free kick that was blasted high and wide as the half wore on. Just when you thought you had seen it all, along comes something new to keep you on your toes, and this one takes the biscuit! Inverness won a corner on the far side and Ross Draper conjured up a bit of skullduggery. He thought he had taken the corner and confirmed this with the referee's assistant, who apparently OK'd the move. Aaron Doran was let in on the secret and he then dribbled the ball to the box and crossed to Billy McKay whose shot was knocked off the line and fell to Doran who rifled a low shot through a ruck of bodies and into the net. Joy for Inverness, or so we thought. At this point it was noticed that Stuart Stevenson had raised his flag, and when Euan Norris spoke to him, the goal was chalked off. Bizarre for a number of reasons, but mostly for the time lag before the flag went up. That brought the half to a chaotic close and the Inverness fans and players were not happy, and justifiably so. Half Time 0-1 The home side were obviously still raging by the injustice and within a minute of the restart they drew level. Ross Draper forced his way through a couple of tackles before hitting the deck and from the resultant free kick, Warren rose highest to direct a header down and across the keeper and into the net. That should have spurred Inverness on to greater things, but there followed a period of inactivity as Partick tried to regain composure and Inverness appeared to be relieved to be back on level terms, despite the officials. However, Norris would come to Partick's rescue once more disallowing what looked like a perfectly legitimate Foran headed goal. McKay was penalised as Fox crumpled to the ground on his line, despite the keeper seemingly trying to claw the face off the aforementioned Billy. Another contentious decision, but more would follow, Polworth being given a free kick as he burst towards the visitors box about to unleash a shot. The free kick once more wasted by Inverness. The introduction of Marley Watkins with twenty minutes left was one of the bright spots in an otherwise grey day for refereeing and Inverness Caley Thistle. He certainly looks to have pace to burn and will be worth another look at in the near future. In reality it was too little too late as Inverness tried to gain the advantage, but it was game over from an unlikely source after 83 minutes. A cross from the Partick left was smothered, but as the ball jumped up and into Brill's safe hands, he took his eye off it and it dropped onto the waiting Doolan's foot for him to turn the ball into the net. Disaster for Brill, joy for the 340 visiting fans. A very late flurry of activity ensued around the visitors net but some stout defending and sheer misfortune denied Inverness a share of the points, the result being confirmed after Warren nodded another loose ball in the Partick box just over from close range. Full Time 1-2 A game that from this moment onwards will be known as the cornergate affair. The officials got this so wrong it's almost laughable, but it's not funny, and I'm no laughing. They should be held accountable for their actions and in all honesty should be made to sit their certificates again after reading the rule book. MotM must go to Stuart Stevenson, who is the only person who knows the truth and was Partick's match winner in a game that Inverness never looked like losing. Player nominations for me were Josh Meekings, Garry Warren and the duracell bunny that is Richie Foran. Marley Watkins did himself no harm with a pacey cameo and will be in contention for a start at Dingwall surely. Date: 20.10.2013 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3154 Referee: Euan Norris Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Brill, Raven, Shinnie, Warren, Meekings, Mckay (Agdestein 90), Draper, Foran, Doran, Ross (Polworth 69), Greenhalgh (Watkins 71) Subs (not used): Esson, Devine, Tremarco, Williams Scorers: Warren (47) Booked: Foran (44), Warren (63) Sent Off: none Partick Th: 2 Lineup: Fox, O'Donnell, Taylor-Sinclair, Welsh, Muirhead, Balatoni, Craigen (Elliot 72), Bannigan, Doolan, Osbourne, Higginbotham (Lawless 82) Subs (not used): Gallagher, Forbes, Piccolo, Baird, Fraser Scorers: Doolan (19, 83) Booked: Muirhead (2), Osbourne (13), Welsh (41), Higginbotham (43), Bannigan (90) Sent Off: none

THE second part of The Inverness Courier’s Ask The Board feature, run in conjunction with fans website CaleyThistleOnline and supporters group Caley Jags Together, has Inverness followers putting forward questions regarding season ticket sale figures, strip design, policing of games and a query regarding the now defunct Kingsmills club. Q: Why do the club not release the figures on season ticket sales? — DALNEIGHCALEY, via CaleyThistleOnline A: We do not release actual numbers of season tickets as this does not relate to actual income as there are numerous deals in place and the likes of free under 12 tickets could easily skew the numbers.What the club are interested in is the actual income from the ticket sales and this season it is very slightly down on previous years. As a board, we are very grateful for the support we do get in what are still financially trying times for everyone. Our early season walk ups for our first home games this season (home fans only) have surpassed our expectations, showing us that the fans are still coming through the gate even though they may not have purchased a season ticket.We hope this trend continues as we know how much a good and vociferous home support means to the team on a match day. Q: I know it has been done to death, but will the club ever go for a set design in regards to strips? Almost every club have a shirt design that is recognisable to them, while ICT seem to change very regularly from blue shirts with a red trim, to blue and red stripes. Will the club ever follow suite in regards to having a set design? The general consensus seems to be, in my experience, that the majority would prefer having striped jerseys all the time, as this is a more attractive design, gives a more balanced recognition to Caledonian and Inverness Thistle and most importantly, is a unique design in Scottish football, which would thus give the club a bit more identity. Will the club ever make the stripes (or any other design) a permanent feature? — Renegade, via CaleyThistleOnline A: Again we have no hard and fast rules on strip design. We have engaged with the fans previously on the design of our home strip and two seasons ago it was taken from the fans website. We do always try and keep the designs fresh and up to date, while incorporating our colours as set out and agreed many years ago. By way of information, the last two home and away strips have sold more (this season’s home and away being most popular) than any other shirts in previous years apart from the commemorative black strip, which had the fans names incorporated in the design. We are currently looking at designs for a 20th birthday strip for next season and would welcome any designs from fans. We note that a has been opened for contributions/discussion. If the club choose to utilise one of the designs from the website, we will ensure that the winning design is given a special prize, perhaps a trip to Parma to see the strips being made.We have done this previously for competition winners and they had a wonderful time and were looked after exceptionally well by our friends at Errea, even taking in a football game in Parma.Your designs are very welcome, but as stated we are currently in discussions with Errea, so the sooner we get some ideas the better. Q: Would the board consider taking back the Kingsmills club? The general consensus at the time (when we were in the First Division) was that it was a very successful venture. — Derek MacLeod, via e-mail A: This question is brought up on a regular basis and while the facility was well utilised on a regular basis, unfortunately when the financials were looked at, it was quickly proven to be a non-viable service. The original concept during our spell in the First Division was good, but when you work out what we provided for £10, we are sure you will understand that it was not viable and why we reverted back to the full hospitality-style service when we returned to the then SPL. We review our hospitality provision on a regular basis and try and mix and match the packages provided to meet all budgets, while maintaining a high standard of service. We would like to have some ‘Fans Days’ and are always open to suggestions, but it has to be economically viable. However, we now have the family Sports Bar at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, which is always open on a match day — a facility which was not available when we had the Kingsmills Club and provides similar service. Q: Why are there so many Police officers inside the ground during home games, where fans are segregated, when compared to the minimal Police presence outside the ground after the game, where both sets of fans mingle freely? I was at the Scotland versus Estonia game at Pittodrie in February where there was a zero Police presence and no reported incidents. Should this not be the way forward for a team like Caley Thistle and the reputation we, as supporters, enjoy? — John Evans, via e-mail A: We are currently in discussion with the Police and have had a couple of very informative and productive meetings with them. Policing and stewarding costs at any stadium, not just ours, account for a fair part of our match day outlay and as you rightly point out the behaviour of our fans and the majority of away fans travelling to our ground has been exemplary over the years. There is a definite belief between all parties that a reduction in Police presence at our games (not all games as some will still be classed as Category A) is not that far away and we look forward to what would be termed a “police-free game” in the not to distant future. The Police have been very co-operative with the club and were supportive of us introducing away fans (again for selected games) to our family Sports Bar, which has proven very successful at our last few home games with a marked increase in revenues. We have had discussions with our fans group Caley Jags Together and are looking to introduce “fans ambassadors” as a further step to self policing. Obviously these things do need the co-operation of our fans and we are sure that this will be forthcoming as any reduction in cost for the club will go back to the football department. What the club will not do is compromise the safety of our staff and patrons just to save money. This will never be an option for us. So there you have it - The second part of the Q&A with the club. For more info pick up a copy of the Inverness Courier or head over to the official ICT site for details of the offers talked about in this and the previous article LINKS Inverness Courier ICT Website ICT Ticket Offers Ask the Board Forum

THE board at Caley Thistle have sifted through the many questions received by The Inverness Courier, from here at CaleyThistleOnline, and also via supporters group Caley Jags Together, and given their answers to the issues raised below in our new Ask The Board feature. Q: Why expect the city to engage with the club when the club makes very little effort to engage with the city? They have no visible ‘presence’ in the city, no outlet to purchase tickets or merchandise, no magazine in the shops etc (no open top bus parade when we won the First Division championship). Add in the oddly designed Main Stand (which has the weird effect of almost dividing the support into two separate sections which rarely gel to create an exciting atmosphere), the deterioration in choice and quality of food (a dried-up pie at £2.40 is totally unacceptable), the withdrawal of the use of the facilities from patrons in the North Stand (necessitating queuing up to use the outside toilets meant for the disabled) and it becomes apparent that it is loyalty to Terry and the players that keeps us coming. — Helen Bowyer, via e-mail A: We trust some of answers to the questions we have received will show that we do engage with the city and make every effort to do so with the limited resources we have at the club. We have had outlets in the city previously, none of which were entirely successful. We are currently in discussions regarding a city centre location where tickets will be available. Unfortunately there is little we can do about the oddly-shaped stand unless sometime in the future we were to move from our current location As you will know the catering on match days is not carried out in-house, but by an external supplier. However, the point is noted and has been passed to our suppliers for comment/action. Regarding the use of the Main Stand facilities being withdrawn, this was done to alleviate the congestion in the Main Stand serveries and toilet areas. Q: I would love to have renewed my season ticket this season, but due to working shifts (I have two weekends off in five) it was not possible to do so. Is it possible the club can issue a five or 10-game season book that could be used at lesser category games (all games with exception of Celtic and Ross County)? I realise there would be an issue with seat reservations, but given the stadium is not filled to capacity for these games, a seat could be issued for each game on presentation of the book. I am sure there are others like me, who would be keen to give the club some cash upfront and benefit from getting to go along and cheer the team when available to do so. — Broonerz, via CaleyThistleOnline A: Having read this question, we contacted various clubs who do run this type of season book and were told that they have not been overly successful. But given the interest in this, please see the article on the official site regarding the introduction of various schemes over the coming weeks. The club will monitor the success of these and if they prove to be worthwhile in terms of uptake, they will continue. We are extremely grateful for all our fans that contribute to the club in terms of season ticket sales as this gives us a confirmed revenue basis ahead of our season, thus giving the board the ability to confirm the likes of player budgets for the coming season. Q: What is the club is planning to do to attract back (and engage with) the wider football public and help reverse the trend of lower attendances? — B. Wares, via e-mail A: The clubs ticketing strategy is very much in line with all other clubs playing in the top division of Scottish Football. You will note that we were the “best value” day out for football in the Scottish Premiership in a recent survey carried out by the BBC. That said we would never get complacent and think our pricing of match day tickets will match the budgets of all supporters, but we do try and assist where possible. Unfortunately as all clubs do, we have a set cost base at the club, which must be covered by our income. We watch, with interest, the ongoing debate on our fans forum regarding reducing the ticket prices and doubling the gate. Having tried many deals for our season ticket holders and fans over the past couple of years where we have made various offers (kids for a quid, friends for £5 etc) we are always willing to look at and investigate new and innovative ways of reducing the match day costs for our fans. Our current prices per game, if you have taken advantage of our season ticket deals, are as follows: The club are very grateful for the core 3000 that we get for most games and looking over the stats for last season, our home crowds held up reasonably well in comparison to previous years, although there was a noticeable drop off in away fans making the journey to Inverness. Again we appreciate and understand the reasons for this given the high cost of travel for supporters throughout Scotland. The fact we can still take a healthy core support in percentage terms to all our away games is to be congratulated and admired, and our thanks go to Caley Jags Together who run the buses to all our away games. These buses are run and monitored by volunteers and much appreciated by the directors, players and management on our away day trips. For the past two years, we have been running a scheme with Highland schools, sports clubs, the Scouts, Inverness Street League etc where the community coaches and players visit the organisations on a regular basis and also give out free tickets to children. This initiative has seen over 3500 children visit the stadium on match days last season. This is something we are very happy to do and will hopefully encourage the next generation of ICT fans. Regarding what the club are planning in terms of engaging with the wider football public, we are currently very active with our community department and players who engage, on a weekly basis, with youngsters and various other groups throughout the Highlands. If you visit the community area of the club website you will see some of the excellent work being carried out by our community team. We are fully aware that these initiatives take time to generate additional fans, but are very hopeful, given the increased number of youngsters that now attend our games, that this longer-term strategy will pay dividends in the future. If we could add a further 500 fans to our home gates, it would make a huge difference in terms of what we can afford to give the manager regarding his budget for players. We will continue to strive to increase our fanbase as we move forward, but as stated above we are very grateful for the fans that do turn up week in, week out. We are introducing some new ticket packages that will give us a better understanding of the current market place and whether or not these incentives are well utilised. Q: I believe that the club have good relations with various pubs throughout the city. Are there any that provide buses to the ground or perhaps would be interested in doing so, or anyone else for that matter. If, for instance, a bus was to run from Kinmylies or Balloch, Culloden, Smithton area, it would make it easier to attend a game. — 12th Man, via CaleyThistleOnline A: There are various pubs/clubs within the city that currently run buses to our home games. In addition, the club runs a bus from the city centre on match days and The Caley Club run buses to matches also. Any pub, club or group of fans wishing to run a bus from a local hostelry will be most welcome and if they contact the club we would look at what assistance could be given. The club cannot afford to run buses from all areas of Inverness on match days, but will look at any fan-driven initiatives as they would be much appreciated. If we can get 30 to 40 fans interested in running a bus from the Culloden/Balloch area, we would certainly speak to our local bus supplier, who I am sure would be very willing to assist in terms of getting best value for money for this service. Q: I have wondered over the years, why do we not have a new song every season for when we score a goal? A lot of teams last season had a specific song to play, one that springs to mind was Hearts (Avicii — Levels) when we played them in the League Cup semi-final. I think it would be good if we had a certain pop/dance/traditional song to play. — HeScoresWhenHeWants, via CaleyThistleOnline A: The club has no hard and fast rules regarding celebration songs or when the players enter the field of play. We are open to suggestions and, as I think was pointed out by a contributor online, we have a new announcer this season and I am sure he will be open to any suggestions from the fans regarding anything they wish to hear pre, during and post match. So there you have it - Answers to a few of the questions posed by fans. For more info pick up a copy of the Inverness Courier or head over to the official ICT site for details of the offers talked about in this article LINKS Inverness Courier ICT Website ICT Ticket Offers Ask the Board Forum