Inverness Caley Thistle Supporters’ Trust pledge to ‘get their club back’ after fans air frustrations at open meeting in Highland capital
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Supporters’ Trust spokesman George Moodie told the club’s faithful “we will get our club back” at their open meeting earlier tonight.
Passionate Caley Jags fans turned out in their hundreds to discuss the recent statements released by club chairman Ross Morrison, as well as attempt to formulate some sort of plan going forward.
It was easier said than done finding a consensus on practical solutions, but every attendee in the room were united by their anger and frustration at, particularly, the decision to move ICT first team training 135 miles away to Kelty.
The Supporters’ Trust has benefitted from that outrage, with membership increasing by over 200 per cent in recent weeks.
That saw more than 200 people attempt to squeeze into the Caley Thistle Social Club, which provided an overwhelming level of support for some form of action.
Arguably the most impactful takeaway from the evening was that so many of the club’s fans would prefer to see ICT be placed into administration rather than go through with moving their footballing base to Fife, but that in itself was no surprise to Moodie.
“I have to thank every supporter that came tonight and put their views across, and shared their thoughts,” he said.
“As the Supporters’ Trust, we are there to support the fans. We don’t necessarily have all the answers, and we need the supporters to help with that and share their views, and we will act on that.
“Moving to Kelty is such a wrong idea, it is such a ripping of the club away from Inverness that the response didn’t surprise me.
“It changes the club’s identity. The worrying thing for me is that the club are just looking at this through a financial lens, and not through a supporters’ lens or even consulting supporters to see if this idea would work when it was floated.
“That in itself is worrying, because that really brings to the front the financial situation within the club at the moment.
“The bit that is fundamentally wrong from the chairman’s interview is blaming the fans, if the club go under, for not purchasing season tickets or merchandise.
“The club’s issues have not been caused by supporters’ not buying season tickets for next season, they have been caused over a number of years. Wrong decisions have been made, they have spent money they didn’t have, and got embroiled in financial schemes that have not delivered.
“To come out and even suggest that the club could go under if supporters don’t buy season tickets is quite frankly insulting to the supporters of Inverness.”
As Moodie alluded to, another of the common themes of discussion was a boycott of season tickets for next season.
Club chairman Ross Morrison has claimed that such an act would see Caley Thistle go bust.
While the Supporters’ Trust as an entity cannot endorse any boycott, Moodie does feel that Morrison’s comments were misguided.
We can only encourage people to make their own decision on it.
“You will see from the show of hands that went up in the room how many supporters are seriously considering not purchasing season tickets, and that extends out of the room as well.
“We have had quite literally hundreds of messages it feels like over the last couple of days, where supporters are saying their way of protest will be to not put any more money into the club until there is a change in the leadership.
“The Supporters’ Trust can’t endorse that, but we have asked fans to let us know if they are not going to put money into the club this season, so that we can let the club know how much money they are losing by ignoring the views of the fans and ripping the first team away from Inverness.
“They have misread the room on this, and if they have any credibility, and are serious about engaging with the fans and bringing the unity that Ross Morrison talked about in his original statement, they have to unwind this deal.”
While plenty of suggestions were thrown into the mix by supporters in attendance at the Caley Thistle Social Club, there was not a definitive plan of attack agreed upon when the meeting ended.
It will be the task of the Supporters’ Trust in the coming days to formulate more of a concrete plan going forward, but they have no intention of slinking away into the shadows.
“There was a lot of emotion in the room, and a lot of suggestions – some are achievable, some are not achievable,” Moodie added.
“We will rally around, get our heads together, and figure out our next steps. We know we have to act soon.
“We are calling on the major shareholders of the club to get together and provide input along with the Supporters’ Trust on the way forward.
“We ask them to take the call, and put any reservations to one side, and think about the supporters and the club.
“We will keep going and keep making noise. We will keep pushing, and we are not going to keep quiet. This is a critical moment in time for our club.
“I have a funny feeling it will get a little bit worse before it gets better, but we will get our club back.”
