ICT Supporters Trust

A summary of Saturday's meeting is now available on the Trust website and has been e-mailed to members. You can read it here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/ictst-summary-of-meeting-191024 It will hopefully be beneficial to those who were unable to attend. We would again like to record our sincere thanks to Scott Young and Charlie Christie for attending, updating those present and answering questions. We would also thank everyone who attended. It is good to see the positive feedback about Bar 94, and we must recognise all the hard work put in by our volunteers which has made this possible, both in devoting time and skills, and by working behind the bar itself. If you are not already a member of the Trust, joining is easy (and only £5, or £1 for Under 16s): https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us

A big thank you to everyone who came along to the Fans' Meeting earlier in Bar 94. We took notes of the key issues, and will publish a summary of the meeting on our website in a few days, and will share a link to it here. We are grateful to Charlie Christie and Scott Young for joining us for the majority of the meeting, and for their openness in both their comments and their responses to questions. To highlight one of the key issues, as has been mentioned in the Administration Thread Scott Young confirmed that the formal process for entering administration has started. Unless a formal offer is received before the administration papers are accepted by the Court (expected to be around 1000 on Monday) then the Administrator will be brought in, triggering the 15 point penalty. A Press Conference is likely to be held by the Administrator on Wednesday. Today, we also welcomed Inverness-based brewery Dog Falls to Bar 94. The bar is now selling their draught products, Konventional Wisdom Lager and Inverness Black Nitro Stout. Both were very well received, and the partnership with Dog Falls will be formally launched at the next home game on 2 November. Bar 94 also opened after the match, and it was great to see so many people using it then, with Danny Devine being presented with the Dog Falls Player of the Match Award. As mentioned above, we will publish a summary of the meeting her in a few days, and add a link here, but our sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to attend the meeting today.

To highlight one part of tomorrow's matchday information, Bar 94 will be open after tomorrow's game until 6 pm, thanks to some of our volunteers. During this time, a presentation will be made to the Man of the Match. We hope that several players will pop in, and that many fans will take advantage of the bar remaining open. If it proves popular, we will look to make it a permanent feature.

When you make your plans for Saturday, remember that the Fans' Meeting is taking place at 1200 in Bar 94. As mentioned in our earlier post, Scott Young, the Interim Chairman and Supporters Liaison Officer, will be attending at least part of the meeting. We are pleased to confirm that Charlie Christie, Interim CEO, also hopes to attend part of the meeting. The format will be similar to the meetings last season, although the events that continue to evolve this week will inevitably have a significant bearing on the topics that will be discussed. The meeting is open to all fans, and provides an opportunity to discuss the club's situation with the Interim Chairman / SLO and with members of the Supporters Trust Board. Full details are in the image below or on our website: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/ictfc-fans-open-meeting-191024 If you are not already a member of the Trust, joining is easy (and only £5 or £1 for Under 16s): https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us We hope to see many of you at the meeting on Saturday. If you have not seen the improvements our volunteers have carried out at the bar, it is also an ideal opportunity to do so.

A reminder that the Fans' Meeting is taking place at 1200 on Saturday in Bar 94. Scott Young, the Interim Chairman and Supporters Liaison Officer, will be attending at least part of the meeting. The format will be similar to the meetings last season, although events this week will potentially have a significant bearing on the topics that will be discussed. The meeting is open to all fans, and provides an opportunity to discuss issues with the Interim Chairman / SLO and with members of the Supporters Trust Board. Full details are in the image below or on our website: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/ictfc-fans-open-meeting-191024 Trust members should have received details of our AGM and the process for nominating Board members last night. If you are a member and did not receive it, please contact us at [email protected]. If you are not already a member of the Trust, joining is easy (and only £5 or £1 for Under 16s): https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us We hope to see many of you at the meeting on Saturday. If you have not seen the improvements our volunteers have carried out at the bar, it is also an ideal opportunity to do so.

The Supporters Trust is holding a Fans' Meeting at 1200 on Saturday 19 October in Bar 94. All fans are welcome, and full details are available in the image below or on our website: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/ictfc-fans-open-meeting-191024 George Moodie from the Trust participated in the Scottish Football Podcast yesterday with Jonathan Sutherland and Craig Telfer. You can listen to it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0jwt8xz?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile If you are not already a member of the Trust, joining is easy (and only £5 or £1 for Under 16s): https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us We hope to see many of you at the meeting on 19 October. If you have not seen the improvements our volunteers have carried out at the bar, it is also an ideal opportunity to do so.

We have received additional questions which have been sent on to the SLO. The link in the post has been updated to include these additional questions.

Thank you to everyone who took time to submit advance questions for the meeting on Monday night. These have been forwarded to the club in the hopes that at least some of them might be able to be answered in advance. They have been added to our website and this will be updated with answers as we receive them. https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/supporters-questions Regarding the meeting I do know that the club are actively working to remove some of the new accounts to make more tickets available for our own supprt who do actually want to attend the meeting. Now let's see if we can score some goals and take 3 points up the road tonight

To answer of couple of points in threads relating to Monday’s meeting, several of the Trust Board members will be at the meeting. We have also contacted the club about fans of another club possibly getting tickets. The SLO has confirmed that the rogue tickets can be identified and made available again.

The questions will be shared before the meeting, and hopefully there will be answers provided before the meeting, but the Trust cannot control that. We will share them when we have them. The SLO is the correct recipient of the questions, and it is for him to gather the necessary information for the responses. With recent changes to the Board, it is likely that the SLO (as current Vice Chair) will be chairing the meeting on Monday. The Board has called the meeting and has not indicated what role, if any, Alan Savage will play in it or in responding to questions. Sorry we do not have all the answers to your points, but hopefully by picking up on the suggestion that we collate questions we are providing a mechanism where fans’ issues can be raised. Thanks to those who have sent in questions so far. Please keep them coming to: [email protected].

To clarify any confusion about our position, the Supporters Trust definitely does want the difficult "backward looking" questions to be asked and answered, whether they relate to the stewardship of the club, Board members (individually or collectively), former directors or any other relevant matter. That is exactly why we have highlighted that we know many questions will be of that nature, and that it is our intention to submit these to the SLO in advance of the meeting. We will share the questions submitted and the answers subsequently received. As many questions may be similar, we will group questions together to avoid duplication. However, given the seriousness of the situation, we want the meeting itself to be as constructive as possible, which is why we intend to table "forward looking" questions at the meeting. There are some very good questions being mooted in this and other threads. What we would ask, so we do not inadvertently miss any, is that anyone with questions sends us them by e-mail to: [email protected].

Following today's letter to shareholders from the Interim Chairman, the Supporters Trust has issued this statement: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/the-threat-of-administration We have also seen the suggestion that the Trust compiles a list of questions to be put to the Board, and we are happy to do this. We are conscious that many questions will inevitably relate to how the club got into the current situation rather than to how we can get out of it and avoid going in to administration. As a result, it is our intention to submit "backward looking" questions to the SLO in advance of the meeting and endeavour to raise "forward looking" questions at the meeting itself. To aid us in compiling the list of questions, it will be helpful if they can all be sent to us by e-mail: [email protected].

At tomorrow's game, the Sports Bar will again be staffed by volunteers from the Supporters Trust. Please pop in and have a chat with them before the game. Full details are in the Matchday Information, copied here: SPORTS BAR OPEN The ICT Sports Bar will now open tomorrow from 1pm ahead of the match again Queen of the South Home and Away fans welcome Last Orders/Entry at 2.30pm with the bar fully closed at 2.45pm and then the concourse becomes available for all Main Stand supporters for catering/toilets. Thank You to the ICT Supporters Trust for helping get volunteers to make it possible.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the 'Johndo Away' day out to Kelty on Saturday. Thank you to D&E for looking after us, to everyone who travelled (including the virtual travellers) and the fans in the social club at Kelty who all played a part. We are delighted to confirm a donation of £500 in his memory. Memories are something we will all have plenty of and he will indeed forever be the Immortal Howdenender. ❤️

We still have some seats available for the coach on Saturday. The coach hire cost has been covered, so any more seats sold will increase the donation to the British Heart Foundation. Details of how to book your seat are in the post above. We hope to see you there!

The Supporters Trust, along with some others, are dedicating the Kelty away game on Saturday as a 'Johndo Awayday'. We are delighted that once again his daughter Isla will be joining us as we pay tribute. We have a Johndo special bus running with proceeds being donated to the British Heart Foundation in his memory. Bus leaves the Stadium at 9.30am and will cost £20 per head. There will be some fundraising activities en route. We can also accept cash donations at the game but if you prefer you can donate using the following link: https://johnmackenzie.muchloved.com Please also gift aid if appropriate. Drop us a message on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ICTSupportersTrust) to book or e-mail us at [email protected]

The Supporters Trust Board fully endorses the statement above, and it is disappointing to hear about the behaviour of a minority fans yesterday. We do not have access to any CCTV from the ground, so we suggest that anyone who witnessed and was upset by the events contacts the club by e-mail, with the option also of contacting the SLO through the dedicated e-mail address. These are the contact details on the club website: https://ictfc.com/contacts/

Thank you to everyone who has completed the survey and volunteered to assist the club. We will be in touch in the near future. The appeal remains open, and we would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to read about it and complete the survey: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/ictst-appeal-for-club-volunteers No matter how much or how little time you can spare, your involvement will be greatly appreciated and help to make a difference. The more volunteers we have, the more we will be able to achieve. The Supporters Bar being open today is, we hope, the first of many ways in which the Trust, its members and the wider fan base can assist the club in these difficult times.

Scott Young approached Laura Grant, one of our Board members, this afternoon to see if the Supporters Trust could provide volunteers to allow the Sports Bar to be open tomorrow. Laura was delighted to assist and has found volunteers which means that the Sports Bar will now be open from 1 pm tomorrow, with last orders at 2.30 pm and the bar fully closed at 2.45 pm. This is an early example of how beneficial volunteer fans can be to the club, and we hope that many fans attending the game tomorrow will now be able to enjoy a pre-match drink (or two) in the Sports Bar, providing the club with additional income. A number of the Trust Board members will be there, both behind the bar and as customers, so please say hello to them.

In our Press Statement on Wednesday, we mentioned that we would be seeking volunteers to assist the club. Our Volunteer Appeal is now live. Please follow the link below to find out more, along with a link to the simple survey itself: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/ictst-appeal-for-club-volunteers Please feel free to share this widely with anyone you feel may be interested. If anyone has any questions, or issues with completing the survey, please contact us at [email protected].

We are happy to, and to provide some comments that may assist non members in particular. The Supporters Trust Board currently comprises eight members, who all voluntarily give their time and effort due to a shared passion for the club and for ensuring that fans' voices are heard by those running the club. The Board covers a wide range of ages, skills and experience. For example, the youngest member is 19, whilst others have significant business experience. One Board member leads on media activity, but all Board members have the opportunity to comment on draft Press Statements, and they are only issued once the Board agrees them. We make no apologies for the content of yesterday's statement, and we are grateful for the significant positive feedback on it from members. We had seen the club's announcement on Tuesday, and knew that the media would be speaking to Alan Savage. We therefore wanted to have a different emphasis and put our message across from the perspective of fans, linking back to key outputs from the Fans Meeting in May: Walking away from the Kelty plan. Securing the future of the Academy. Having a change in the leadership of the club, particularly the departure of the CEO. We wanted to recognise the significant role of all fans in these outputs being achieved. Our release had to be founded on facts, rather than rumour, speculation or opinions. That is why we did not explicitly refer to Seventy7 Ventures, but it was implicit in our welcoming of Alan Savage. There have been comments that the Trust was in some way endorsing the Seventy7 Ventures attempt to take control of the club. That is simply not the case. We did welcome the announcement that new investment had been found but we were clear that we needed to understand their vision, motives and plan. We were promised a meeting, but we received none of the details that we had sought. The fireworks were intended to bring some welcome light relief, and reflect the joy and relief fans are feeling with the confirmed departure of the former CEO, and the relief that Alan Savage has become involved. Now the former CEO has departed, it is time to move on, and that is what the Trust Board has been doing since his resignation was originally announced. Board members have been having significant engagement and dialogue with other key stakeholders, including Alan Savage. We recognise that there is a long road ahead, and there will be many challenges and twists along the way, but we are ready to play our part in that. As mentioned in our Press Statement, we are about to issue a survey to allow fans to show how they can play their part and join the Trust in working more closely with the club. This has been ready to be issued for some time, just waiting for confirmation of the departure of the former CEO, but we did not want to bombard members yesterday. We know that many fans are ready and willing to give their support. We also intend to continue with Fans Meetings this season, and details will be provided once the first date is set.

We issued a statement this morning following yesterday's announcement by the club. Our members should already have received a copy, but if you have not for any reason, please contact us at [email protected]. A copy of the statement is here: enjoy the fireworks over the stadium! https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/ict-supporters-trust-statement-on-ceo-departure Like our previous releases, this has had good coverage in the local media, and a Trust Board Member has featured on TV today. The Trust Board is grateful for the continued support of members, and for all the positive messages received during the last few troubled months. As well as supporting the efforts being made to stabilise the position at the club, we will continue to work on behalf of our members and the wider fan base and, if you are not currently a member, joining is easy using this link (and only £5, or £1 for Under 16s): https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us

Sorry for the late response. Website comments haven't been turned off but rather a function we never turned on in the first place. I think we are very visible here and on social media for fans to comment so I don't believe not being able to comment on the website would in any way silence the fans opion. In fact that is exactly the opposite of what we are trying to achieve. I believe it would just dilute the messages further but if you think there is value in it we can explore opening this up. If there is anything you feel you haven't been able to express, please drop us an email [email protected], drop a note on here or social media.

Following today's announcement by the club, the Supporters Trust has issued this statement, which is also being e-mailed to members: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/ict-supporters-trust-statement-on-ictfc-new-investor The Trust Board is grateful for the continued support of members. We will continue to work on behalf of our members and the wider fan base and, if you are not currently a member, joining is easy using this link (and only £5, or £1 for Under 16s): https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us

We are conscious that we have not issued any statements or updates to members or the wider fan base in the last couple of weeks. That is simply because we have not had anything tangible or meaningful to update our members on. We share the concerns voiced on here about the rumours that are circulating at present, and we are seeking clarity from the club. The Trust Board has continued to meet regularly to discuss the ongoing situation, and we have been able to have some dialogue with the club and further talks are planned but, as mentioned above, to date they have not resulted in anything tangible. The club will need to hold an AGM soon, and we will highlight the fact that it is overdue. As a result, there is no reason to call for an EGM at this time. In addition, we cannot call an EGM relating to the CEO as he is not a Director or on the Board, but merely an employee of the club. Once we have news confirmed that a new investor has confirmed their investment, we hope that things will move quickly regarding changes to the leadership of the club. We have previously sought fan representation on the Board but now is not the time for that to happen, as the state of the club's finances brings with it personal risks for Directors, and it would be wrong of us to place a member of our Board or any fan in that position. However, new investment may materially change that position, in which case we will renew our efforts to get a fans' representative on the Board. However, the ongoing investor discussions need not stop the club Board engaging with us, and that is what we continue to seek on a regular basis, and we will also seek early discussions with any new investor when their investment is confirmed. In the meantime, we will continue to update our members when we have anything to share, and we will continue to share those updates here. We would also like to thank our members for their continued support. Going off topic, can we also point you to this post on the Supporters Trust Forum in case you have not seen it. Stewart does an amazing power of work for the Trust, which we are very grateful for, and if you feel minded to show your support to this crowd funder he will greatly appreciate it, as will the Trust Board: https://caleythistleonline.com/topic/36314-crowdfunding-appeal-to-raise-funds-for-stoke-mandeville-spinal-unit-and-the-ict-supporters-trust-at-stewarts-request/