Fort William on cloud nine in Inverness Caledonian Thistle loan deal
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INVERNESS Caledonian Thistle have agreed a deal to loan nine of their young stars to Highland League club Fort William this season.
The deal will see goalkeeper Martin MacKinnon, defenders Donald Morrison, Gabriel Hastings, Ryan Fyffe and Harry Nicolson, midfielders Jack Brown, Kieran Chalmers and Ross Gunn along with striker Roddy Kennedy play at Claggan Park next season.
Fort William haven't won a league game in two years and last season lost 32 of their 34 games.
They finished on minus seven points after having nine points deducted for fielding an ineligible player in three games.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle applied to enter a colts team into the Highland League this season to replace Cove Rangers.
But their application was rejected at the Highland League AGM.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle said on its website: "This is a truly ground breaking initiative and we look forward to seeing the boys develop in the Highland League with Fort William and we see it as a benefit for both clubs and Highland football in general."
Fort William released a statement saying it was pleased to agree the deal.
“It said, it is with great pleasure that Fort William FC announce a groundbreaking initiative with Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC.”
“It has been well documented the difficulties our club has endured both on and off the park over the last two and a half years. We were close to shutting the door last summer but the dedication of a few hardy souls kept the club alive and got a team on the park. There were a few highs and many lows and I salute the resilience of our young team throughout last season.”
“A few weeks ago we were approached by Caley Thistle to discuss the possibility of working together in some way to allow some of their talented young players to continue their development. Our policy has always been about nurturing young talent whilst at the same time improving our team so this was clearly attractive to us.”
“After lengthy discussions an agreement was reached that will see the best of Caley Thistle’s young footballers showcase their talents in the Highland League whilst supporting Fort William’s existing players and help them improve and develop.”
“We understand that some might be concerned that this is some sort of take over from Caley Thistle but this is far from the case. We at Fort William FC have driven this initiative forward and believe it will benefit ourselves, Caley Thistle and Highland football as a whole.”
