Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Inverness welcomes Romanians ahead of crucial European tie

Provost Helen Carmichael presents a plaque to Dani Coman, Astra's President Executive.
Provost Helen Carmichael presents a plaque to Dani Coman, Astra's President Executive.

Highland Council gave a warm welcome to representatives of FC Astra last night as the Romanian side prepared to take on Inverness’s football stars.

Just hours before Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s debut in the Europa League last night, the local authority held a civic reception.

Provost Helen Carmichael and vice convener Bill Lobban presented civic gifts to FC Astra’s president executive, Dani Coman and director of football, Mihai Matei.

Uefa match delegate, Eduard Kindle, was also present.

Mrs Carmichael said: “Inverness is extremely proud of its football team reaching the Europa League for the first time and we are delighted to welcome FC Astra from Giurgiu in Romania to the capital of the Highlands.”

Mr Lobban said: “Playing in the Europa League is a great achievement for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and we are pleased to be sharing this moment with FC Astra.

“We hope this will be a catalyst for a bigger following with more fans getting behind the team both now and into the future. I wish them well today and on their second match when they play at Guirgiu on July 23.”

Caley Thistle director Ken Thomson said: “We’re extremely pleased to be able to bring European football to the Highlands and welcome Astra to our city. For a 21-year-old club, it is a massive milestone in our amazing journey from the Highland League.

“Highland Council, and the City of Inverness Area Committee in particular, have always been extremely supportive, also giving us excellent recognition when we won the Scottish Cup for the first time, and we look forward to building on that partnership with them in the coming years.

“We know it will be a challenging evening against a more experienced team at this level but the support of the home crowd will spur on Gary Warren and his team mates on what we hope will be a memorable occasion.

“Astra are extremely welcome in Inverness and we look forward to visiting their country and their city in the second leg next week.”