READER REACTION: Fans divided over suggestion of merging Caley Thistle and Ross County clubs
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Courier columnist Charles Bannerman has sparked controversy with his latest column.
Fans of Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County Football clubs were largely unhappy at the suggestion a merger might secure a better future for them both.
Mr Bannerman explored the issue in his latest column, citing the recent reports of Caley Thistle's financial difficulties.
"Realistically, the club has never been able to match its expenditure with real income," he said.
"Over the years there have been various mistakes, but there’s another absolutely fundamental factor.
"Back in 1993, I upset some people down south by telling a Radio Scotland audience that both Ross County and the still uncertain 'Inverness bid' should fill both upcoming Scottish League vacancies.
"They of course did and rapidly justified this by progressing to the Premiership top six.
"But what wasn’t foreseen was that while the inner Moray Firth could comfortably sustain two bottom division clubs, sourcing larger upper league income streams would be a lot more difficult."
Questioning the sustainability of two "biggish" clubs in the area he posited the idea of a merger.
The response from many fans on both sides when the article appeared on Facebook was immediate.
"If it was April 1st today this would be a good joke," Lisa Irvine said.
And Marina MacIver asked: "Why would Ross County want anything to do with them."
Gary MacDonald said: "This is the one thing I am sure that both RCFC and ICT fans will agree on we don’t want a merger."
Alan MacPherson joked: "Aye! And merging Aldi and Lidl might sort the fruit shortage!"
While David Greenlees was blunt in his assessment: "Stupid idea, never heard anything so stupid since the last merger, absolutely ridiculous suggestion."
Caley Thistle supporter Garry Coull, however, was more open to the idea.
"It's actually not a bad idea and certainly not the first time this has been suggested," he said.
"Population-wise the Highland area is not big enough to sustain two full time Premiership teams and so an amalgamation would be a very sensible idea – call it Highland FC or something similar to avoid offending supporters of either team."
He admitted it would be "very difficult" to sell the idea to supporters and that Caley Thistle would be the main beneficiaries while County would "struggle to see what's in it for them", but added: "But on the other hand, both these teams are the result of historical amalgamations and the supporters have found a way in the past, of transferring their loyalties to what is essentially their own team with a bit added on!
And Robert Mckendrick commented: "All joking aside Charles is mainly correct ! Hard hat required."
Mr Bannerman himself waded into the debate, questioning how many of his critics had read his full article rather than just the headline.
"What I’ve said is that I don’t think the inner Moray Firth is able to support two large clubs without major handouts from the wealthy so in a normal business environment the logical outcome would be a merger," he said.
"HOWEVER football, with its supporters and community rivalries, is not a normal business environment so such a step will never happen."
