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Young fans taking pride in Caley Thistle after open door talks, says ICT chief Scot Gardiner

Caley Thistle fans ahead of their home play-off final against St Johnstone, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Caley Thistle fans ahead of their home play-off final against St Johnstone, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Caley Thistle chief executive Scot Gardiner says youngsters rallying behind the team is a particular high point as the club gears up for a fresh title charge in the Championship next season.

Inverness were pipped for promotion to the Premiership in the final against St Johnstone last week, meaning they are set for a sixth successive year in the second-tier.

However, in the second half of last season in particular, the youngster-driven Section 94 fan section came to the fore.

Former club boss John Robertson, who is ICT’s sporting director, helped forge an excellent working relationship with the group as they turned out in decent numbers and strong voice to roar Billy Dodds’ team towards their promotion push.

Caley Thistle sporting director John Robertson opened talks with Section 94.

Young fans have pride in Caley Jags

Inverness CEO Gardiner feels the link between the youngsters and the club worked well last season, with most prompts about the importance of good behaviour taken on board, therefore adding to the atmosphere at ICT games.

He said: “The hardest thing, especially in the Highlands, is to attract more young fans and I have spoken to (Ross County chairman) Roy MacGregor about this around a year ago.

“Youngsters have so many other things to do. You’re also coming off the back of two years where they couldn’t come along (because of Covid restrictions) and they might have got out of the habit.

“You want to get young supporters to come here and get them to enthusiastically back the club.

Caley Thistle fans celebrate the winner from Austin Samuels away to Partick Thistle.

“One of the biggest pluses for me last season was the rise in youngsters coming to back the team.

“Robbo (sporting director John Robertson) invited Section 94 in, came up with ideas and talked about putting in a temporary roofing over the Kessock Bridge side of the stadium.

“Because of the Andrea Bocelli and Duran concerts here in July, that was going to be problematic. That stage will be over that side of the ground. We’d have to take the roof back down, which would be really costly.

“In the main, the behaviour has been excellent. However, youngsters will be youngsters and sometimes things can get boisterous.

Caley Thistle chief executive officer Scot Gardiner.

“However, the communication has been great. Just before the St Johnstone play-offs, we asked the Section 94 guys to come in and we discussed what we needed from them (in terms of sensible behaviour).

“In the main, they’ve been terrific. The relationship is there. We can phone them and ask them to come in for a discussion. If they want us to help them, they have to come along with us.

“The last thing we need is for things to get out of hand, as we have seen at other clubs. We want to learn from their mistakes.

“One of the biggest and best things last season was the drop in age of supporters coming to see us. You see more kids now walking around with Caley Thistle shirts on rather than Real Madrid, Liverpool or Man City.”

Fans’ group thrilled with link-up

Section 94, in their end-of-season statement, were also thrilled by the club’s efforts to make the partnership work.

It said: “When five of us sat down with John Robertson in November 2021, to hold provisional discussions about a designated singing section in the stadium, we could never have imagined the level of support we’d receive and just how well the group would turn out just a few short months later.

“This kind of atmosphere has been missing from home games for many years now and we are delighted that we have played a part in bringing it back. We look forward to taking our place in the West Stand again next season.”

ICT fans dug deep for play-off push

Gardiner has a lot of pride not only in seeing local fans rally behind their team, but with the way supporters overall dug deep during the play-offs, overcoming national hurdles, such as rail disruptions, to roar on ICT.

He said: “Over 10,000 Caley Thistle supporters paid to see us in the Premiership play-offs across the six games.

“Times are tough, given the cost of living right now and these ties are not included in the price of your season ticket.

Caley Thistle players applaud the fans at full-time
Caley Thistle players applaud the fans at full-time after the 4-0 defeat at St Johnstone.

“We had 2,000 fans in Perth amid the ScotRail debacle on a Monday night, which was unbelievable. Everybody felt something was in the air.”

Beating Arbroath was insane – chief

Gardiner has been involved in many highs and lows in football, having worked at senior level within Rangers, Tottenham, Dundee and Hearts.

He admits losing to St Johnstone at the final hurdle last week was tough, but said winning their semi-final at Arbroath on penalties after two red cards and injuries impacted the team will live with him forever.

He added: “The match at Arbroath was outrageous. To play against them with eight men at one point and still find a way through was outrageous.

“I have been in the game since 1995 and that was a night I’ll never forget. I have had amazing nights at Champions League games and at White Hart Lane, Tynecastle, all sorts of huge matches.

Caley Thistle chief executive Scot Gardiner (right) with chairman Ross Morrison.
Caley Thistle chief executive Scot Gardiner (right) with chairman Ross Morrison.

“You think you have seen everything, then the night at Arbroath comes along. With five minutes to go in extra-time, I turned around to see where the chairman (Ross Morrison) was and his son Bob told me he’d gone to join the fans behind the goal and that’s where he watched the penalty shoot-out.

“I told him afterwards I was just glad he didn’t invade the pitch and slide across in celebration on his knees and in his suit. It was an insane occasion.

“The team’s fitness was unbelievable. We made a big commitment last season to sports science and brought in (head of physical performance) Ross Hughes. What he has added, to come through with such a tight squad, has certainly worked.”

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