Caley Thistle considering scrapping Kelty Hearts training plan

Caley Thistle are considering scrapping their controversial plan to relocate their training base to Fife.

Inverness directors are meeting on Monday night to discuss their next steps, after the club confirmed chairman Ross Morrison is stepping down after nearly five years in the role.

Morrison’s decision follows a fierce backlash from supporters, after the club announced its intention to move their football operations 135 miles away to Kelty Hearts’ New Central Park.

The Highlanders, who were relegated to League One last month, made the decision with the intention of making it easier to attract players.

That proposal is now understood to be up in the air, with Caley Thistle expected to provide an update on Tuesday.

Inverness’ top brass, including Morrison and chief executive Scot Gardiner, have come in for heavy criticism since the club’s relegation, and especially since a deal with fellow third-tier outfit Kelty to use their training facilities was revealed.

At a packed ICTFC Supporters’ Trust meeting at the city’s Caley Thistle social club last week, fans called for the cash-strapped club to consider administration as an alternative option to money-saving training plan.

Last week, Morrison suggested the Fife move was not yet set in stone, and pleaded with angry fans not to go through with a boycott of season tickets and merchandise.

Lifelong Inverness supporter Morrison, who replaced Graham Rae as chairman in September 2019, has now decided to call time on his tenure – revealing he had already planned to step down at the end of this month.

Morrison ‘sticking with beliefs’

In an interview with the Inverness Courier, Morrison said: “I believe it (the move to Fife) is the best way forward and I have to stick with my beliefs.

“This is the reason I’m stepping down now.

“Hearing fans saying they would prefer administration to training the first team in Kelty sent a shiver down my spine.

“Administration is a desperate thing to happen to a club and must, at all costs, not happen to ICTFC.

“A couple of months ago I informed the board that I intended to step down at the end of June, but due to the loud negative opinions from the fans to the idea of moving to Kelty, I feel that bringing this forward might be better timing.

“I honestly believed that this was an innovative move. One that would save considerable amounts of cash, but also would help greatly in attracting players. This was not an idea that a lot of people could accept.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and those opinions were coming in loud and clear. I believe it is the best way forward and I have to stick with my beliefs. This is the reason I’m stepping down now. A month earlier than planned.”