Battery Project - Chairman's Statement

[Charles Bannerman]

17 minutes ago, johnnykipper said:

Why does the battery farm affect accounts that ended in May 2023 (9 months ago)?

I can’t see that it would directly do so but (and this is only a guess on my part) if planning permission were to be granted on March 14th, then might that positively influence any “Going Concern” statement within any accounts issued after that date?

Perhaps, as an Edit, I should add that the club’s “Going Concern” status has been a significant issue at at least one recent AGM.

Edited February 29 by Charles Bannerman

[BobbyDazzler]

If the clubs financial situation is this bad and the survival off the club purely relies on the battery project getting the green light then the club surely needs to be transparent with everyone and ask for help from the fans and the community. 

[Robert]

57 minutes ago, johnnykipper said:

Why does the battery farm affect accounts that ended in May 2023 (9 months ago)?

Because the club is loss making and needs to show the Auditors that it is not insolvent and can be a going concern. It needs a guaranteed cash injection (rather than one that is hoped for) for the Auditors to sign the accounts off. 

[Jack Waddington]

54 minutes ago, BobbyDazzler said:

If the clubs financial situation is this bad and the survival off the club purely relies on the battery project getting the green light then the club surely needs to be transparent with everyone and ask for help from the fans and the community. 

The club? Communication? WITH FANS!?

Don't be daft

[dougiedanger]

2 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

I have tried for years to be optimistic as I can about the financial future and, while several factors have been operating, I think there is one huge and probably unavoidable fundamental - the Inner Moray Firth plus some hinterland is an insufficient base for two “sizeable” football clubs. It was fine at the start in the Third Division with an added novelty factor, but as Caley Thistle and Ross County both grew and moved up the leagues, that progress was only made possible by £5M from Tullochs and some very good club and football management in the case of ICT and repeated subsidy of Ross County by Roy MacGregor. In County’s case, their latest loss of £579K has been announced today and that has been written off, as it tends to be annually, by their “holding company”. And even that level of ongoing subsidy is JUST keeping the club in the Premiership.

In the case of ICT, the factors I mentioned there worked through the system some years ago and since about 2018 the club has been substantially loss making and dependent on ad hoc emergency handouts as it now clings to second tier status. There have also been other factors and members of the business community tell me that Inverness Caledonian Thistle is not flavour of the month in many quarters - especially since the collapse of the Concert Company where the club netted a large stadium rent before the company went bankrupt, leaving local traders out of pocket.

The bottom line (personal view) is that the local area is unable to sustain these two clubs ant current levels and, should Roy MacGregor’s support of County end, the deficit would be even greater. However, in a football environment there is NO way out of a situation where two companies are fundamentally loss making in the same marketplace, unless one shrinks massively.

It would appear that the battery farm might well be another short term fix, and a big one, but here there is a dilemma. Much as we would love to see this latest income source realised, the Councillors who will be making the decision are obliged to do so solely on the merits/demerits, practicability, safety, environmental implications etc. That the football club has a substantial financial interest cannot be a consideration in a completely isolated planning situation.

Of course a decent-sized place with a long and proud football history like Inverness can and should be able to support a competitive, full-time senior football club.

The reasons for the ongoing financial failure of the club are of course deep-rooted and well-known.

[+DoofersDad]

27 minutes ago, Robert said:

Because the club is loss making and needs to show the Auditors that it is not insolvent and can be a going concern. It needs a guaranteed cash injection (rather than one that is hoped for) for the Auditors to sign the accounts off. 

If that is the case (and I would imagine it probably is) then it illustrates what a serious financial position the club is now in.  

Yngwie makes some fair points about applauding the club for trying to find innovative ways of trying to keep the club at a level above what income from tickets sales etc could possibly support.  That's fine, but the problem is the club has gone about these issues in an arrogant and often incompetent way. It takes the fans for granted in so many ways and simply ignores the contribution they can make.  As a result, it has alienated many of the very people who would otherwise be contributing significantly to the long term future of the club.

Regardless of the outcome of the Battery project, the club will continue to struggle as long as those people responsible for this alienation remain in charge.  Even if they do make genuine efforts to change their ways, nobody is going to trust them.  We need new leadership and we need it soon.  We need leadership that embraces the supporters as part of the fabric of the club, perhaps even looking to move towards a fan owned model, but certainly having a supporters' representative on the Board.

I don't care if we go part time for a while, or it we drop to Division 1 or even Division 2 if that is what it takes to reset and develop a sustainable business model going forward.  I used to feel really proud of our Club, but at times now I almost feel embarrassed to tell people I support ICT.  I want to feel the pride again, but that is not going to happen whilst the current regime are in charge.

[STFU]

11 hours ago, Yngwie said:

If you are saying we should live within our means then you are effectively saying we should have gone part time years ago after getting relegated and we would likely have been relegated again by now. Can you confirm that if we had, you’d be applauding the board for their financial prudence?! 

Instead, they tried to get us back to the top flight by maintaining a very competitive (expensive) squad and our impressive youth set up, and got close to promotion a couple of times. In doing so the club racked up huge losses every season and some generous individuals dug deep into their own pockets to keep us going.

They have said for years this business model doesn’t work and needs supplemented by non-football income so they pursued concerts and, very innovatively, the battery farm.

It’s easy to criticise, especially when we are in such a poor position both financially and in the league, and mistakes have been made, but what specifically should have been done different that would make a 7 figure difference to us now?

Should’ve slashed the wage bill, giving up on Premiership aspirations? Go part time, and end up as a League 1 side?

Should’ve shut down the youth set up?

Should not have loaned us their own money to keep us going?

Should not have sought non-football income sources?

Those are the only realistic options I can think of. Rather than criticise all the time I just try putting myself in their position and wonder what in terms of the business model I would have done differently over the years. It’s not easy.

Of course the club should be expected to live within it's means.  There's also nothing to say that those willing and able to do so shouldn't be allowed to make substantial contributions (within financial fair play rules) which can be included within that.  It's happened since day 1 with ICTFC, and at many other clubs.

The problem here is that we have clearly gone way beyond that and are generating losses beyond that which they are willing/able to cover, and which the club cannot afford to repay.

Should we have cut the wage bill?  Definitely, and started with the CEOs.

Youth setup?  It's unclear how much the club actually pay towards this, but if we can't afford it, it should go...sadly.  But congratulations on feeding into the "won't someone think of the children rhetoric"

Financial loans?  Should not be made if they are putting the club.in a financially precarious position, certainly not secured loans on club assets.

Non-football income sources?  Of course they should pursue these, but the current CEO/Chair have shown themselves to be incapable of coming up with anything that's actually doing this and have damaged the clubs reputation, and are threatening it's existence, in their many failed ventures.

Recent tactics to delay the release of the y/e 2023 accounts would indicate that the club is no longer considered a going concern by the auditors, and it blows my mind that you are trying to defend the people, and their actions, which are responsible for that.

Would you rather no club, than a club that operates within it's means at a lower level?

[wilsywilsy]

Since relegation in May 2017 and up to year ending May 2022 the club had lost about £3M. The club is now another 2 years into the same hole. Despite some transfer cash (£200K Dan Mackay?), sell on clause boosts from Christie?, and reaching the Scottish cup final, I would not be surprised to see total losses from May 2017 to May 2024 > £4M.

The chairman joined the club in 2018 and Gardiner in 2019. This creeping financial situation has unfolded on their watch. Instead of facing down the bread and butter basics of cloth cutting and improving the football business, they have made a sh1t or bust bet on a bizarre and controversial left-field project (I shudder when I see folk describe it as innovative).

[+DoofersDad]

3 hours ago, wilsywilsy said:

Since relegation in May 2017 and up to year ending May 2022 the club had lost about £3M. The club is now another 2 years into the same hole. Despite some transfer cash (£200K Dan Mackay?), sell on clause boosts from Christie?, and reaching the Scottish cup final, I would not be surprised to see total losses from May 2017 to May 2024 > £4M.

The chairman joined the club in 2018 and Gardiner in 2019. This creeping financial situation has unfolded on their watch. Instead of facing down the bread and butter basics of cloth cutting and improving the football business, they have made a sh1t or bust bet on a bizarre and controversial left-field project (I shudder when I see folk describe it as innovative).

To be fair, the rot set in before Morrison and Gardiner were in charge.  Our high point came with the cup win and coming 3rd in the league in 2015.  This was achieved with a bit of help from bigger clubs who had managed to self-destruct, but was also the culmination of a history of good management leading to our best squad ever being pulled together by Terry Butcher.  He left us for Hibs, and Hughes capitalised on his inheritance by leading the club to success in the following season.  Sadly, it has mostly been downhill since then.  

Not only was Hughes unable to recruit the quality of players Butcher had, his style of play was, at times, mind numbingly boring.  Rather than building on the success of the 2014/5 season, fans started to drift away and the team started to struggle.  What Hughes was good at was persuading the Board to give him money to pay players higher wages on longer contracts.  Hughes then left at the end of the 2015/6 season and the Board, under Kenny Cameron, made the bizarre decision to appoint Richie Foran as manager on a 4 year contract.  Foran did not have the experience or the resources to halt the slide and inevitably, we got relegated.

Cameron resigned as chairman with Willy Finlayson taking over on a temporary basis.  Foran left within days but apparently with 3 years of his contract still to pay off.  John Robertson was appointed manager again and hopes were high that his appointment would see us return to the top flight, but with the financial shackles created by the mismanagement of the previous couple of seasons, it was not to be.

Graham Rae took over as Chairman and he appointed Yvonne Crook as CEO.  Crook might have had business experience but she knew little about football.  She lasted less than a year before being replaced by Gardiner in April 2019.  Morrison took over as Chairman soon after that.  So, to be fair, the current management team inherited a difficult situation where the club had financial commitments for payments which were producing no benefit to the club.  They were also hampered in their efforts by the Covid pandemic.

But whilst they inherited a mess and have faced obstacles not of their making, the way they have gone about trying to reinvigorate the club have undoubtedly done more harm than good and have antagonised a lot of people on the way.  It's time for a new approach.

[dougal]

13 hours ago, dougiedanger said:

Of course a decent-sized place with a long and proud football history like Inverness can and should be able to support a competitive, full-time senior football club.

The reasons for the ongoing financial failure of the club are of course deep-rooted and well-known.

Well said Danger

You know and I know there are large areas of Inverness who hate us profoundly I.e the communities of Dalneigh and Merkinch being two examples but sadly there are plenty more,  they want us to fail and are delighted how much we are in free fall. 

ICT are a business catastrophe when you compare us to our neighbours 14 miles north. 
Look at the advertising for example around both pitches they have massive multi national companies pumping money into them while we have one man bands and local yokels etc 

Our advertising is more suited to a highland league outfit.

Many business want nothing to do with ICT especially after the concert debacle but being honest the problem was there long before that. 

You are 100% right a city of 75k should be able to support a competitive full time senior football team easily. 

Would dropping down to part time status be such a bad think and regrouping it certainly would be better than administration or worse still liquidation.

It happened to the orcs so it could happen to us. 

Dougal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Jhesus I agree with the Magic Roundabout mongrel

[wilsywilsy]

1 hour ago, DoofersDad said:

But whilst they inherited a mess and have faced obstacles not of their making, the way they have gone about trying to reinvigorate the club have undoubtedly done more harm than good and have antagonised a lot of people on the way.  It's time for a new approach.

Valid and fair points @DoofersDad and I can't fault your historic look back over the pre Morrison era.

Perhaps they did not inherit the best hand. But Morrison has had about 6 years on the board and Gardiner has been employed as CEO for 5 years. On and off the pitch no progress has been made in that time - there is plenty evidence to underline how affairs are actually in reverse.

As you say: the club seems as alienated as ever from the majority of the city population and its businesses.  If they can't stabilise the finances and build a vibrant and growing community of supporters engaged and behind the club, they will always be bobbing from last minute loans to financial crisis to harebrained get-rich-quick schemes. 

[buckett]

18 hours ago, dougiedanger said:

Of course a decent-sized place with a long and proud football history like Inverness can and should be able to support a competitive, full-time senior football club.

And it does - the club is called Ross County!

[+snorbens_caleyman]

4 hours ago, dougal said:

You are 100% right a city of 75k should be able to support a competitive full time senior football team easily.

Yes, but the problem, as CB states, is that there are two such clubs. Very close to each other - Bing maps says it's 13.7 miles between the postcodes of the two grounds.  And the roads are half-decent.  Long gone are the days of my childhood when it was a slow trek round by Beauly and Muir-of-Ord.

In terms of pulling power, ignoring those of us who have history before 1994 - and who are inevitably becoming a smaller proportion of the support - then I don't think it's unreasonable for someone, especially an incomer, to choose which of these local teams to support.  In which case County, at the moment, will win out.  And Dougal has already pointed out the differences in the companies that support the two clubs.

Even there we see that Uncle Roy is keeping them going to the tune of more than £500K a year.  I suspect that when he pulls out - he's 71 now, so who knows what his plans are - then if there are no similar sugar daddies for either club, then a merger/takeover will follow soon after.

And that's before we look at the problems of attracting the best players and coaching staff to the north, where, unlike the Central Belt, there are no other top clubs within 100 miles.

I wish it were otherwise, but it's difficult to argue with geography!

[Yngwie]

20 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Even there we see that Uncle Roy is keeping them going to the tune of more than £500K a year.  I suspect that when he pulls out - he's 71 now, so who knows what his plans are - then if there are no similar sugar daddies for either club, then a merger/takeover will follow soon after.

I was wondering how long it would be til someone suggested the M word!

I’d be open to a merger but my terms would be ICT’s name, colours, stadium and history, merging with Roy’s money.

[+DoofersDad]

16 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

I was wondering how long it would be til someone suggested the M word!

I’d be open to a merger but my terms would be ICT’s name, colours, stadium and history, merging with Roy’s money.

Sounds fair enough, but personally I would go for County's stadium - far more atmosphere.  I appreciate that parking can be an issue in Dingwall, but we could raze our current stadium and its "temporary" stands to the ground, develop a large car park and operate a park and ride to Dingwall.  In that way, one of Gardiner's grand ideas might finally come to fruition.

[Jack Waddington]

1 hour ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Even there we see that Uncle Roy is keeping them going to the tune of more than £500K a year.  I suspect that when he pulls out - he's 71 now, so who knows what his plans are - then if there are no similar sugar daddies for either club, then a merger/takeover will follow soon after.

There's no chance of a merger, ever. Both clubs have too much history in the Scottish Leagues to even have it being considered a possibility. It'd be like Aberdeen and Cove Rangers merging, ones got a ton of history under their belt and the other made a quick rise through the leagues.

Neither set of fans would allow it to happen in fear of losing their own club's history, which can draw comparisons to our own merger, but that was to get into the leagues rather than for the survival of a big name team in the Highlands. Once Uncle Roy either kicks the bucket or withdraws support, and nobody moves in, then I can only see both sides being in the same situation as Dunfermline or Falkirk, floating between League One and the Championship.

[Charles Bannerman]

1 hour ago, Yngwie said:

I was wondering how long it would be til someone suggested the M word!

I’d be open to a merger but my terms would be ICT’s name, colours, stadium and history, merging with Roy’s money.

Don’t even mention it! Last spring, when I was still writing a column for the Courier, I did one on what I’ve been saying here - that I don’t think the immediate local area can support two sizeable clubs and, that in a normal business scenario, a merger would make sense BUT (very large but) football is NOT normal business so the idea was inconceivable.

However they published this online with a headline claiming I was calling for a merger and, with most people unable to go behind the paywall, I got serially slaughtered for something I didn’t say… and even rejected.

In a football environment, it’s a total non-starter.

[CaleyTennis]

9 hours ago, dougal said:

Well said Danger

You know and I know there are large areas of Inverness who hate us profoundly I.e the communities of Dalneigh and Merkinch being two examples but sadly there are plenty more,  they want us to fail and are delighted how much we are in free fall. 

ICT are a business catastrophe when you compare us to our neighbours 14 miles north. 
Look at the advertising for example around both pitches they have massive multi national companies pumping money into them while we have one man bands and local yokels etc 

Our advertising is more suited to a highland league outfit.

Many business want nothing to do with ICT especially after the concert debacle but being honest the problem was there long before that. 

You are 100% right a city of 75k should be able to support a competitive full time senior football team easily. 

Would dropping down to part time status be such a bad think and regrouping it certainly would be better than administration or worse still liquidation.

It happened to the orcs so it could happen to us. 

Dougal

Regarding the bit in bold, FFS sir have a word with yourself! Relegation would be the WORSE thing that could happen and in no way will we regroup unless there is a complete clear out of CEO and management (I would expect DF would resign rather than being axed though) and we replaced both with people that are more competent than their predecessors and then you have the rebuild in terms of playing squad which again won't be as easy if we're in the THIRD TIER of Scottish football so it's imperative that we stay up!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dougal]

13 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

Don’t even mention it! Last spring, when I was still writing a column for the Courier, I did one on what I’ve been saying here - that I don’t think the immediate local area can support two sizeable clubs and, that in a normal business scenario, a merger would make sense BUT (very large but) football is NOT normal business so the idea was inconceivable.

However they published this online with a headline claiming I was calling for a merger and, with most people unable to go behind the paywall, I got serially slaughtered for something I didn’t say… and even rejected.

In a football environment, it’s a total non-starter.

You were serially slaughtered and rightly so. All very well back tracking now after it all went pear shaped for you. Typical Journo.
Let’s be honest here Chrome Dome you wouldn’t know a football environment if it jumped up and slapped you in the coupon.

10 hours ago, CaleyTennis said:

 

I’m amazed some so called fans are still that blinkered regarding the financial difficulties ICT are currently in. 
We are at a crossroads here where part time football may well be forced upon us it might not be an option Einstein.
Relegation is a stark possibility this year we are now in March and the future is bleak. 
Appointing DF has put up a temporary smokescreen and kept the unrest at arms length at present but that will quickly change the longer the current form persists. 
Going part time would rid the club of the deadwood throughout from top to bottom and it would give us the opportunity to effectively start again.
You were the same country bumpkin from memory albeit in a different guise that told me Brora Rangers would never win the highland league and I was proved right then. 
Be careful what you wish for.

Dougal

 

 

 

[IBM]

Club Statement.

The Chairman of the club Ross Morrison and the Board of Directors would like to invite Caley Thistle fans, shareholders and sponsors to an open meeting regarding the club's Battery Farm application on this coming Wednesday 6^th March 2024 at 7pm in the Highlander Lounge at the Caledonian Stadium.

 

The Chairman said in advance of the meeting, “Having spoken on numerous occasions in the past re the critical importance of this project to our entire future, including most recently in person at the last ICTST open meeting, and following the bewildering behaviour of certain Highland Councillors in seeking to overturn a democratically lawful decision to award the club with planning permission for the ICT Battery Farm, I feel we must enlighten our fans re just what has been going on in relation to this most crucial matter and I will answer all and any questions relating to the Battery Farm after we give our presentation and I hope as many folk as possible can attend”.

 

The meeting will be lead by Ross with the club's full board and CEO also in attendance.

 

The meeting will consist of a full presentation from the Chairman giving the latest on the club's Battery Farm application with an open question and answer session following the presentation for those in attendance. 

[Jack Waddington]

Really hoping there'll be minutes on this. Been unable to attend the Open Meetings at the Innes and Caley Bars, but this is far more important than those.

[ictbob]

Doesn't sound like it'll be good news. Begging bowls will be getting dusted down. 

[CaleyCiuin]

7 minutes ago, ictbob said:

Doesn't sound like it'll be good news. Begging bowls will be getting dusted down. 

Most likely to manage fans expectations on potential cut backs if the vote does not go in the Club,s favour. Also to keep the issue alive in the press in the run up to the now contentious meeting. 

[+DoofersDad]

I guess it's good that the club is communicating with shareholders and the wider fan base, but I am not clear what the meeting is meant to achieve this late on in the process.  If my understanding is correct, the application will be discussed by the full Council on 14th March, so presumably this meeting will be seeking to encourage folk to lobby their local councillors.  

I am sure the club has already lobbied all councillors.  Frankly, I rather doubt that anything I might say to any councillor is going to make them change their mind now.  I also doubt that there will be anything in the presentation which couldn't be made available in a posted statement and which couldn't have been communicated well before now.  

The matter is in the hands of the Council, so there is little point in discussion within the club.  What the club should be doing is explaining to its shareholders and supporters why it has delayed submitting its annual financial statement and telling us when the AGM is to be held.  There are questions that need to be asked of the Board well beyond the narrow confines of "questions related to the battery Farm".