CaleyD

It wasn't very good....they had to pixel out some ugly middle aged guy with a goatie from the middle of it for legal reasons!!!

In the Trusts last financial year (to end of August) we distributed over ?12,000 of funds to various projects. Whilst some of that money went to the club it was not directly....we do not simply hand them wads of cash. We purchased a defibrillator for them and provided the ball boys with new jackets. We also purchased some season tickets which we make available for use by kids/youth groups. The majority of the money went to Youth Football, both those connected with ICT (Everything from U17's down is a separate company which operates as a charity and, as I understand it, gets no financial assistance from the club) and the Inverness Street League who we provide with strips and various training kit. The Trust is not a bottomless pit of money, but we're always open to suggestions and ideas for where we can be giving assistance (and ideas and help with raising money in the first place). I sometimes think the Trust should be shouting more about what we do, and given that some people have this perception that we feed funds raised direct into the club I may be right.

Someone might be able to clarify this, but during recent meetings about the Dalneigh Community Centre and them trying to obtain funding, they were told that how "deprived" an area is is based on the number of kids who qualify for and take up free school meals.

We already have a Supporters Club and a Supporters Trust....whilst I can't speak for the Supporters Club, I can say that the Trust would almost certainly be willing to assist with the kind of things you mention (within reason). One of the drummers mentioned on here before about drum skins being needed and I asked for details on size/type and was going to sort them out with replacements, but they never ever got back to me. I also know that their was some discussion over a large flag/banner in the past, but issues raised by the club put pay to any ideas of anything more substantial than what exists among the fans at present. Not trying to put a damper on the ideas...quite the opposite. I just don't see any need to create another fans group, with another set of administration and operational costs/efforts when we have groups already in place that could assist and contribute.

I know he's in the squad, but don't know if he'll be in the line-up for the game.

I remember when being an ICT fan was someting you could be really proud of, something that allowed you to hold your head high during any conversation on football anywhere in the world as people would want to talk about how well we'd done in our climb through the leagues, the big scalps we'd taken in our cup exploits, how tough we were to beat at home and the fact that nobody relished the thought of coming up against us, and how we'd done it all whilst running a financially stable and viable outfit. Nowadays I dread conversations about ICT as the generally centre around how we seem to rumble from one disaster/pr nightmare to another....Boardroom bust-ups, jobs for the boys, the Brewster fiasco, trying to screw Marius out of the money he's due, our relegation, the fact we're on the verge of financial oblivion etc etc. It's getting to the stage where it's almost shameful being associated with ICT...when people are throwing the negatives about in conversation I have to sit there and agree with them, there's nothing I can offer to counter the claims they aim at the club. I can take the ribbing about poor performance on the pitch or a bad result...it's par for the course in being a football fan, but I just want to bury my head when they start on about all the rest. And what gets under my skin even more is that those who have caused and continue to cause the problem hide in the boardroom trying (badly) to spin the stories and pointing the finger of blame at everyone else. I think it's about time that someone reminded George Fraser of the statement he made when he was appointed Chairman, something along the lines of...."If fans are still talking about the Boardroom in 6 months time, then I've not done my job". Well, I suggest you've not done your job Mr Fraser because the Boardroom at ICT is still very much the #1 topic of discussion, and it's not for any of the right reasons.

Its possible but there couldn't be an interchange of players between the two teams. I believe, a number of years ago, it was looked into but the costs of running two teams was greater than the likely benifits. When you consider the costs given for running a HL club by Mr Bannerman earlier, then it's no more than we're haemorrhaging on our highest earning squad member.

As a new topic I hope.This thread is about the possible demise of an old club, not the support of new ones. You don't want to get in trouble from the site administrator now, do you? No, as it relates to the situation Clach (and many other teams) find themselves in. What I think is happening with football in this country is that from top to bottom many fans are finding themselves becoming disillusioned with the teams they follow. The specific reasons will differ at different levels of the game and at different clubs, some of it will be things which can/should be changed and some of the things emanate from the wider issues with the game in this country. The reasons aren't really important to this point of the discussion. So, fans get disillusioned with the team they follow for whatever reason. Some of them will find other things to do on a Saturday, some will seek a football fix elsewhere. Loyalty for the team onced followed does not totally die, so a disillusioned ICT fan is not likely to follow C*unty, and if they were a Caley or Thistle fan pre-merger then they're not likely to be in a hurry to go stand at Grant St and follow Clach. The only other option open to them is to follow one of the new and "upcoming" teams who are, and never were, a rival team. If you're a disillusioned Clach fan then ICT (a combination of past rivals) is never going to be a stepping stone for your Saturday football fix, so you start looking elsewhere and you come across teams like Strathspey Thingymawhatsits and Inverness City who you can follow and support without the feeling of switching sides. The only way to stop the rot, IMO, is for a total change in mindset to the way clubs are run in the country. Ownership, or the feeling of ownership of clubs by fans has been lost, and until it's brought back then clubs (of all sizes) will continue to lose fans. I fear that it's too late for Clach. Despite having no affiliation to them whatsoever, I do think Inverness should have a team in the Highland League and I think that teams should be better supported....not just by numbers through the gate on matchday, but in the support provided by the city. However, can the City justify pissing money away on a club/activity/organisation which serves such a small percentage of the population? Depending what mood I'm in I come up with different answers to that. Some days I feel like "feck em, they're not my team, if they can't keep their head above water on their own then let them sink".....and on other days I'm more of the opinion that as one of only two remaining founder members then they should perhaps get a little more assistance then they perhaps do. I'm also very conscious of our (ICT) own situation and the fact that we could easily find ourselves out with the begging bowls at some point down the line and I'm reminded of the old adage....Do Unto Others etc etc.

Many a true word said in jest.

Far more football fans throughout the country are being lost than will ever be replaced by those who follow new and "upcoming" teams. Discuss.....I'll add more on my line of thought later as I don't have time just now.

Got the picture...but took me a while to get the tune :D

It was Caledonian Thistle Properties Ltd (50% owned by the club) that purchased the land Charles. Inverness Caledonian Thistle Properties Ltd and Inverness Caledonian Thistle Properties (2004) Ltd are entirely different companies and have no connection to ICT other than them being the names of companies owned by Sutherland used to hold the assets he's "acquired" from the club.

Unless you've plastered it all over a public forum and dropped yourself in it!!!!

Let's keep the rumours to the Rumour Mill.....thanks.

It's the Latvian version....obviously!!!

I'll second it......Donview's a blind auld ****!!!! Happy now?

It's definitely possible and I have approached the club about it a few times but always seem to run into a brick wall when it comes to getting someone to make a decision about whether we can crack on and get it up and running.

Jingle Bells, County Smells Dundee spread the clap Partick stinks, it's full of minks and Morton fans smoke crack.

Don't think "effort and desire" have been an issue and would like to ask one question of those who were at the game. Did you get the impression that we relied a little less on a rigid game plan and more on cutting the players loose a little and letting them just go out there and get on with doing the job?

I introduced the Jaffa Cake at a Supporter/Club night out about 3 or 4 years ago......do keep up.

caley100 - i think you definitely have the better idea, a North Sea/Atlantic Zone that would include as you say Iceland, Norway and the Fareo Islands. Could also extend it to Greenland. I still reckon we would struggle given our record against the Fareos. If ICT played the NZ national team it would be a close run thing, so that gives you an idea of the standards down here. Greenland aren't a FIFA member, and are not eligible to play in the World Cup. This is, in large part, due to the fact that they do not have any pitches which meet the required standards for playing qualifying matches (or any other FIFA sanctioned competitions).

It's not all bad if I'm only being blamed for two

I think you'll all find that some of the worlds biggest and most successful clubs are, in fact, Member Owned/Run. If you start with Germany, then ALL Football Clubs are at least 51% member owned. Moving on, you can then add Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao to the list....I'm sure there's many more. At the Supporters Direct Conference earlier this year a couple of people from the Hamburg Supporters Club gave a presentation on ownership, organisation and regulation....obviously centring discussion around how they do things. What they told us was so far removed from how things happen here that it's on the verge of being unbelievable....things like a Supporters Club that is part of the business and has direct input into the running of the club. I asked if they had an office at the Stadium and was told "No...we have a whole floor, employ a good few staff and have literally dozens of volunteers". Fans are encouraged to get involved in the day to day running of EVERYTHING and the club/supporters club will even fund apprenticeship type training so if you're unemployed, you can go help there and they will assist you in gaining qualifications which allow you to go out and find other (paid) work. These people will generally volunteer in future with the running of the club and helping people in the same situation they once were. They are a community/member owned club in every sense of the word....and a pretty successful one at that. In other words.....this whole myth about needing wealthy owners/shareholders in order to be successful is, to be frank, BS.

The world isn't that big a place these days (in terms of ease of travel)....surely it wouldn't be all that much of a hassle to just shove all teams in a hat and draw groups without the need to do it geographically? If we can travel to Japan for a friendly, then why not for a qualifying game? If it was like that then it could be done in such a way that we wouldn't have any need for play-offs.....32 qualifying groups of 6 (made up from the top 192 ranked teams) with the winner of each going through to the finals.

Knowing how the jungle drums work around these parts you're more likely to get a sniff of it on here first