Charlie's Comments

[Guest 1MORESEASONBLACK]

Charlie made some interesting comments on the radio tonight regarding Inverness ( as a city) not having a hardcore fanbase. I have to disagree - we may not be seeing it at TCS but theres a hardcore base from Inverness that go to ibrox parkhead and pittodrie every other week. The potential for attracting more fans was highlighted at the scotland future international at TCS which attract more fans than a similar fixture in the central ish belt - rugby park. it is now up to management and the marketeers at TCS to deflect those fans and future fans from following the so called bigger teams and it is up to the diehard fans to take the atmosphere at tcs to another dimension and make it aplace where the support and players are given a lift.

[Harry Chibber]

have to agree

there is definetley a massive potential fanbase ICT just need to make sure we don't miss the boat

[clacher_holiday2]

jesus not this again.  charlie christie moaning about the lack of a fanbase in inverness.... the guys a celtic fan!  :015:

[Guest 1MORESEASONBLACK]

Let the Revolution begin..... the TCS soon to be a cauldron .. striking fear into the hearts of opponents ....bring on the Scottish version of the Ali Sami Yen stadium " Welcome to Highland ****"!!!!!

[Harry Chibber]

That's the problem with having a relatively young football club, back in the day it was either follow highland football or pick a team from the media friendly SPL.  We've had to start a fanbase from almost scratch, after the merger half the supporters of either Caley or Thistle didn't want to follow ICT and still don't.  Everyone else interested in football had picked an SPL team to follow i.e the OF and would come along to watch ICT as their "small club", then we started to get better and when it showed we had potential to go somewhere more and more fans started to come along to show support.  Now that we've hit the SPL we have a massive chance to advertise ICT to a whole new generation of fans but instead of making it easy to support the club we're making it harder by not having cheaper ticket prices for consessions and having a poor selection of merchandise in the shop.  If the ticket prices were cheaper then more kids could afford to come to more games and even if we did take a hit to our finances we would eventually make more money the next season and the season after that etc.  It all just seems very short sited and even with the new strips... we could have been taking pre orders weeks before they were officially released but nothing.

I have hardly had a go about this before because we were rushed into the SPL and it was inevitable that it would take time to come up to scratch with the other SPL teams but that's 2 years now

rant over

[RiG]

jesus not this again.  charlie christie moaning about the lack of a fanbase in inverness.... the guys a celtic fan!  :015:

Charlie Christie moaning about Inverness fans again  :006:

[caley100]

'after the merger half the supporters of either Caley or Thistle didn't want to follow ICT and still don't.'

Have to dispute that one big time Harry.

I was a Caley fan since the early/mid seventies, so i got to know the faces that went to Telford Street, you go into the Caley social club now and ask who amongst them wont go to TCS for football, you will find that the bitter ones are few in number nowadays, probably due to time and the success of Caledonian Thistle, and ICT.

[Dmacca]

The club seems to have a good fan base at moment ok crowds could be bigger but what clubs supporters do'nt say that, what ICT needs to do as much as possible is promote itself as part of the area, encourage as much as possible local people and families to be part(more importantly feel part) of the club. Hold open days through the season, get the players in town(come meet the players) use the matches against the smaller clubs to have a £1.00 a kid game(quid a kid) if accompanied by an adult or £5.00 a kid with program and drink thrown in, players could be made availiable after match to sign these programs, meet the kids. How about have a few games through the season where everyone is asked to wear blue & red with some sort of activety before after or at half time put on(say penalty shoot out for kids/or dads etc.

These sort of proactive things go along way to building up a bond. Posters could be put up in local shops promoting these events and announced on local radio again getting the ICT name in the public domain as much as possible which would generate interest.

Also it would help to make the club shop bigger, one family in there like mine(5 of us) and theres very little room for anyone else, this makes it uncomfortable to try on shirts etc or for the kids to pick up and rummage through what is for sale.

[Guest 1MORESEASONBLACK]

I agree that the anti merger faction is not as bitter as it once was however it is still having a indirect negative effect on the crowds at TCS. I still know plenty of people who would not step one foot in TCS, it is not only the adults its their children and immediate family. The offspring off these people are brought up  to  following the big two. I was one of those against the merger but come our inaugural season I was there to see CT take on the might of Arbroath. However a faction of us did stop following the club when we were told in the Stenhousemuir social club that our behaviour wasnt something the club could tolerate. Now we were only singing and dancing and full of Scottish Cup gleeeeee. In the highland league Scottish Cup away days was what we lived for and to be told that singing in support of your team was not wanted  was disheartening. In fact that game was probaly the first day some caley diehards and thistle diehards joined and became one - and i also think it was the day that caley and thistle were sung in the same songs without been derogatory - however some members involved in the club did not see it that way and to some effect ruined the chance of the inception of a truly diehard caley thistle fan base. I then brought my children to support Rangers. Something I regret when my youngest child at the time started asking me to take him to see ICT in the first division - since then i have been trying to reverse my earlier decision - I think I have turned the corner with them but they still like Rangers but when the are older surely they'll have more sense.

[tm4tj]

Well done 1more, I too have removed Hearts from my wardrobe as it became more and more difficult to put my hand on my heart and say they were the team I was supporting. When my sons grew a bit older they made their own decisions, one being to stop taking him to see Ross County playing, the second to buy him ICT tops instead of Hearts tops.

You get a 'feel' for the club the longer you stand on the touchlines watching them plough their way through the divisions and put teams from the south to the sword, even in blizzards and howling gales. Yes it does take time to find your true identity, but once you do find it, there is only one team to focus on, and that is when over the years the fanbase will become stronger.

Therefore, lets back the club and whoever is at the helm, they are doing the best with limited resources.

[Guest 1MORESEASONBLACK]

On Sunday I am taking two of the wifes mates kids to the Celtic game . They have been brought up to be predominantly Celtic fans. When warned they cannot wear Celtic colours or cheer for Celtic I was met by the response - thats okay anyway we probably like caley a wee bit more. I can see two more converts on the horizon - I've offered to take them to other games this season. Maybe I could persuade their parents to but them half  season tickets at christmas.

Let the revolution begin.

[Charles Bannerman]

Once again I find myself obliged to expose the myth that Caley Thistle crowds are still suffering from the aftershocks of the merger.

For a start, the number of "refuseniks" when CT started out in 1994 was quite a small proportion of the 600 or so, which was the average combined home gate of Caley and Thistle in their latter spell in the Highland League. Even in these early days of CT, this was no more than a minor disadvantage and a small price to pay for what was created.

In the 12 intervening years, a lot of these refuseniks have started coming to games and indeed others will have either left the area or even died off. As a result there are now very few people in and around Inverness who were Caley and Thistle attenders but who still do not come to ICT games on principle.

Meanwhile in these 12 years, average HOME support has risen to something in the region of 3000, so really the refuseniks who are still around now represent no more than a drop in the ocean.

This never was a major issue at any time and hasn't been one at all for some years.

[Guest sophia]

That would be the Stenhousemuir game that was lit up by Brian Thomson's drive and the news on the radio as we headed north that our 1st really big game was coming up.

Unfortunately the game is also remembered for a bus being vandalised and over fuelled youths being ejected from the ground.

Our club is growing as it should.

Footballing history tells us that those that grow fastest seldom have the roots to maintain their height. Swansea and Livingston spring to mind.

The club awaits the next generation of supporters who will not have to wrestle with the split personality older supporters will be familiar with.

The challenge for Christie and others is to keep the club in at least the position they find themselves in now.

If they manage to do so then when these younger fans have money to spend our club will benefit and kick on.

[Harry Chibber]

Once again I find myself obliged to expose the myth that Caley Thistle crowds are still suffering from the aftershocks of the merger.

For a start, the number of "refuseniks" when CT started out in 1994 was quite a small proportion of the 600 or so, which was the average combined home gate of Caley and Thistle in their latter spell in the Highland League. Even in these early days of CT, this was no more than a minor disadvantage and a small price to pay for what was created.

In the 12 intervening years, a lot of these refuseniks have started coming to games and indeed others will have either left the area or even died off. As a result there are now very few people in and around Inverness who were Caley and Thistle attenders but who still do not come to ICT games on principle.

Meanwhile in these 12 years, average HOME support has risen to something in the region of 3000, so really the refuseniks who are still around now represent no more than a drop in the ocean.

This never was a major issue at any time and hasn't been one at all for some years.

Charles I'd love to agree with you but i know plenty of old ba5tards that are just not willing to set foot in ICT, as stubborn as it sounds they'd rather watch clach!!

[Kind of Blue]

Charlie B and Sophia, good posts - I agree.

I was at the Stenhousemuir game and will never forget Thomson's fantastic strike.  I was also in the Stenhousemuir Social Club when the Rangers tie was announced much to everybody's delight.  I don't remember our fans causing any hassle.

[CaleyD]

Regardless of how many people who supported Thistle or Caley pre-merger choose not to attend TCS you still have to look at the fact we now attract 5 or 6 times what these teams used too, these people are therefor insignificant in the grand scheme of things and have had no impact on the growth of ICT crowds.  If all the "Stay Aways" were to come back tomorrow, the increased crowd figures would hardly be noticed.  The only people suffering are they themselves.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I still follow Caley and hate Jeggies. If I can do it anyone can. Just dont sing any stoopid songs like O2B or anything that has the word Thistle in it.

[Johnboy]

This is one of the most interesting threads that has come out of this site... For me, an adopted sneckie of some 3 years standing, it is fascinating to hear how others arrived here. Originally from the Glesca area I was a bluenose until aged around 22 I settled in Dunfermline Toun... Initially I only went to East End park if the Gers were there, but gradually I started to empathise with the pars quest to stay in the premier league. The last couple of years spent watching the pars made me aware of one Craig Brewster, and his contribution at East End Park was immense... I used to go there just to watch him.... A year after I moved up here Brewster followed, and I was delighted to get the chance to see him in action again....

It didn't take me very long for me to fall for this club - hook, line & sinker.... and how that as$hole Brewster could walk out on all this, beggars belief.....!! I've got some real heros now...Brown, Tokely, Wilson, Black, Dargo and dare I say it.... Darren Dods..... I'm also convinced our future is in the best possible hands in CC....

I say irrespective of how we all arrived here, whether from Caley or Thistle, and there are thousands that have moved to this area in recent years,now is the time to consolidate, and for us all to get right behind this emerging new force in Scottish Football.... I'm quite sure within the next year or so Caley will be more or less a fixture in the SPL's top six.... and they thoroughly deserve it.....

[Alistair]

Once again I find myself obliged to expose the myth that Caley Thistle crowds are still suffering from the aftershocks of the merger.

For a start, the number of "refuseniks" when CT started out in 1994 was quite a small proportion of the 600 or so, which was the average combined home gate of Caley and Thistle in their latter spell in the Highland League. Even in these early days of CT, this was no more than a minor disadvantage and a small price to pay for what was created.

In the 12 intervening years, a lot of these refuseniks have started coming to games and indeed others will have either left the area or even died off. As a result there are now very few people in and around Inverness who were Caley and Thistle attenders but who still do not come to ICT games on principle.

Meanwhile in these 12 years, average HOME support has risen to something in the region of 3000, so really the refuseniks who are still around now represent no more than a drop in the ocean.

This never was a major issue at any time and hasn't been one at all for some years.

Charles I'd love to agree with you but i know plenty of old ba5tards that are just not willing to set foot in ICT, as stubborn as it sounds they'd rather watch clach!!

I also agree with you on this Harry. My cousin and uncle will only go when Rangers are in town. Even when my brother was playing for ICT. he also played for Caley, Thistle and Clach.

[Scarlet Pimple]

I can hardly imagine that a true fan can still be so bitter after the merger that they stay away--i.e. this is simply cutting off your nose to spite your face. Had the merger not taken place how could either team have had a serious future with a "combined attendance total of about 600"?

Club promotion is the answer because it is positive. Dwelling on the past and saying that "change should not be allowed" is bizarre since there is change in everything every minute of the day.

:006:

[beachcomber]

I love the idea that there are still rebels hiding out in Dalneigh who refuse to admit that ICT exists.  :015:

On a more serious note I was in JJB's Chav supermarket the other day and the massive Rangers display and complete absence of ICT merhandise really fecked me off - that's what ICT are up against in Inverness - we walked out and went elsewhere for the bairn's trainers.

I won't be spending any more of my hard-earned in there and I'd advocate all other ICT supportrers to boycott the place as well, it is a depressing disgrace.

My day was only cheered up when I saw a depressed looking Donald Finlay walking past the defunct Rangers shop - it was one of those 'wish I had my camera' moments.

[Row S]

There were quite a few unfamiliar faces in the KBFE of the North Stand today and at first I feared that they were Tattie Munchers in diguise.  However, when ICT got their act a bit more together in the second half these new folk certainly got behind them ICT.  Hopefully they saw enough to make them come back and support us again when the OF aren't playing.

On a disappointing note though, when we got on the No.3 Culloden to City Centre bus at lunch time today there were about 6 or 7 folk in Sellick tops on it  :008:and not one with ICT colours until we got on at Raigmore.  Takes us back to the early posts on this thread about the large number of OF fans living here.   

[CaleyD]

On a disappointing note though, when we got on the No.3 Culloden to City Centre bus at lunch time today there were about 6 or 7 folk in Sellick tops on it  :008:and not one with ICT colours until we got on at Raigmore.  Takes us back to the early posts on this thread about the large number of OF fans living here.   

Wouldn't happen on my feckin bus, I'd have driven past the cnuts  :015:

[RiG]

Keith was utterly disgusting for that Row S. I think one ICT fan got on but about 15 Celtic fans got on!  :015:

Is there are SC there or something?

[Guest 1MORESEASONBLACK]

Well we have two less Celtic fans in Inverness tonight. I had taken along a friends two 12 year old sons who were Celtic fans and have managed to convince them that ICT are the team. When dropped of they pleaded with their celtic fans parents to go to other games - and also buy them a half season ticket for Christmas. One small step but the revolution is under way.

Tullochs get ready to built phase 3 of the TCS.

DARGO DARGO!!