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Club say administration is most likely outcome at Inverness Caledonian Thistle





Scott Young speaking at the meeting. Picture: James Mackenzie
Scott Young speaking at the meeting. Picture: James Mackenzie

Interim chairman Scott Young says administration is the most likely outcome at Inverness Caledonian Thistle next week.

However, he says there is still a chance of interested buyers agreeing a deal to takeover the club by next Wednesday.

He was speaking as Inverness Caledonian Thistle held an open meeting to talk about the perilous financial situation it is facing.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle say they need to raise £200,000 by Wednesday, October 16 or the club will be forced to go into administration and become insolvent.

Inverness also need to find between £1.4 and £1.6 million so they can continue until the end of the season.

Earlier today, it was reported that Inverness Caledonian Thistle have received foreign interest about investing into the club with it hoped meetings will take place in the coming days.

It was reported that there has been expressions of interest from Denmark, United Arab Emirates and United States about investing in the club.

Young says for any deal to save the club from administration, it must happen by Wednesday, October 16.

But he says at present, administration at Inverness Caledonian Thistle is the most likely course of action.

He said: “I think at the minute it is probably the most likely route that we will have to go down.

“But I am a glass half full, rather than a glass half empty and I still remain optimistic that we might be able to get something over the line before then.

“We may not, in which case, I and the board can hold our hands up that we tried and looked at every option that was available to us.

“If we go down the administration route, we will embrace that and we will look to come out of it even stronger.

“But there are communications with several interested parties.”

Members of the public at the meeting. Picture: James Mackenzie
Members of the public at the meeting. Picture: James Mackenzie

Around 200 people turned out to the open meeting on Monday night at the Caledonian Stadium where they had the opportunity to ask the board questions.

Along with Young, also taking questions were directors Graeme Bennett and Gordon Fyfe, chief executive officer Charlie Christie, honorary president Roddy Ross and financial consultant Alan Savage.

Young was pleased with the turnout at the meeting, saying it showed fans cared for the future of the club.

“I am a fan first and foremost before being a director. We were as honest as we could be to questions and I think fans appreciated that. They might not have agreed with everything we said or we have done. But they realise the situation that we are in. They will go away more understanding than they were before the meeting tonight.”

He added: “All going well I see us having a future, I don’t know what kind of future at the minute, but hopefully a future where we can learn a lot of things.”

Alan Savage. Picture: James Mackenzie
Alan Savage. Picture: James Mackenzie

Alan Savage, who was appointed as a financial consultant for Inverness Caledonian Thistle believes that administration is the best way forward for the club.

He believes that it is the club’s best chance of survival, even if it means a 15 point deduction in League One and having to fight a battle against relegation this season.

Savage said: “The club has the best chance of survival if it goes through administration. If it falls into liquidation, it has no chance. It is the better of two evils.

“If we are insolvent then something has to be done.”

Savage, who is the owner at recruitment company Orion Group, also admitted that administration would result in staff at the club losing jobs, including players leaving the club.

But he said they would do their best to look after them and also ensure the club has a future to look forward to.

He said: ”There will be some players who will move on which we would try to mitigate at Orion and we would try to find people jobs.

“We will try and look after some of the suppliers who may suffer.

“We are a community club at heart, we want to do the right things.

“We are in a mess due to five years of neglect and we have to face up to that.

“If we can go into administration in control, which we will be, that will benefit the club. We will have the ball and we will run it.”

Inverness Caledonian Thistle have reached over £67,000 in its bid to reach a £200,000 target to avoid administration next week.

As of Tuesday morning, The Save ICT Fund is currently standing at over £70,000 with 1500 donations so far.


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