WILL CLARK - What does the future hold for Inverness Caledonian Thistle?

YOU always wanted to believe that it would be alright in the end. But when it wasn’t alright, it was almost disbelief at watching what had just unfolded.

And yet, the warning signs were there all season that Inverness Caledonian Thistle being relegated to League One was an alarming possibility.

Now the club are waking up to the fact that next season they will be playing in the League One, the third tier of Scottish football, for the first time in almost 25 years.

Trips to Annan, Dumfries and Dumbarton await players and supporters next season in a division where the majority of teams they will be playing against have plastic pitches.

What Inverness Caledonian Thistle will look like going into next season is another question altogether. Officials held a board meeting on Monday to discuss how the club will go forward into League One.We are still waiting to hear what the outcome is of that board meeting.

It is well documented that the club has its financial issues. Chairman Ross Morrison already confirmed earlier this year that the club are set to restructure its finances from June 1.They said all aspects of the club will be looked at going forward, most notably its youth academy, which Morrison says they can’t afford to run as it currently it has.

It is looking at possibly finding a sponsor for the academy to secure its future and is calling for fairer share of money from SFA to go towards its youth academy.

There is also the question if Inverness Caledonian Thistle will be able to continue as a full time outfit. At the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Supporters Trust meeting back in April, Morrison says the club did not want to go part time, but also could not rule out the possibility that it would have to. However, he said if they did go part time, they would be a wealthy part time team.

Whether Inverness go full time or part time, how the squad will look will be very interesting. Nine loan players are returning to their clubs Max Anderson (Dundee), Morgan Boyes (Livingston), James Carragher (Wigan Athletic), Jeremiah Chilokoa Mullen (Leeds United), Cammy Kerr (Dundee), Samson Lawal (Livingston), Aribim Pepple (Ross County), Alex Samuel (Ross County), Sean McAllister (Everton)

It is also confirmed that 10 players are out of contract and have yet to be offered new deals at the time of going to press.

Twelve months ago, Inverness Caledonian Thistle were in a Scottish Cup final against Celtic at Hampden Park. Despite failing to make the promotion play-offs that season, there was a sense of optimism that there were better days ahead.

However relegation, along with what the club will look like next season, has plunged the club into the darkest period of its 30 year merger.

The next few days and weeks will be a worrying time for Inverness fans.

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