Charlie Christie has made a passionate plea for the city of Inverness to come together to ensure Caley Thistle survives beyond the summer.
The former player and manager is now the interim chief executive and he is fearful the club he’s served for its 30 years could go into liquidation.
Monday saw the League One side’s joint administrators confirm that there were no offers put in to buy the club before their deadline on Thursday, March 6, adding ICT are now “at significant risk”.
Administrators BDO cited three unsurmountable hurdles which put off interested parties.
One was the high level of loans owed to former directors/current shareholders, a “disparate shareholding” meaning any new owner could not gain overall control, plus ongoing concerns over the land ownership around the Caledonian Stadium.
Consultant and former chairman Alan Savage also held a media conference where he said key shareholders will be urged to meet to discuss possibly writing off loans, as he claims was previously agreed.
Savage, who has put in close to £1million already to Caley Thistle since last summer, can’t offer more than 25% of the funding requirements for the next two seasons after this year as the club seeks to remain in League One.
If funding cannot be secured before the summer, liquidation looms for the Highlanders.
‘Unthinkable’ for ICTFC to fold
An emotional Christie is not giving up hope that an 11th hour deal can be reached.
He said: “I’m still confident there is a way out of this if people would get their heads together.
“People don’t have to be best pals. I have been with guys in changing rooms and they were not my pals, but we won together and had great results. You won for the greater good.
“Alan Savage has put in £1million and I have questioned him on this and he said he could not keep doing this. He needs support. It’s not a bottomless pit that he’s got.
“Alan, as others have, has done his bit for the club. He has allowed us to keep going, otherwise we could have been in liquidation before now.
“It would be absolutely devastating if the club goes to the wall. It is unthinkable.
“Relegation from the Premiership made it difficult (from 2017) and you can see the losses since then.
“It is really difficult for any club in Scotland, including those with bigger fan bases than us, to run a full-time club. It’s hard enough in the Premiership.
‘We can’t let this club go’
“Relegation to League One was hard and you can see the travelling support is non-existent as is league money.
“The bottom line is, we can’t let the club go.
“I would love Highland Council to get more involved with the football club.
“I have seen first-hand what the council in (Inverness’ twin town) Augsburg did in the Bundesliga. They worked in tandem with FC Augsburg for the benefit of the area, not for the football club.
“Alan Savage has been in touch with Highland Council and had meetings with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), which is promising, but both parties need the club to come out of administration first then try to support us further down the line.
“I try not to think about the club not being here because I’d become emotional.”
‘We need people with an affinity for this area’ – Christie
Christie also believes the best blueprint for the Caley Jags would be secure the minds and money of people who can lay the foundations for a solid future.
When asked whether Monday’s announcements was to prompt a response from individuals who can help, he said: “There is no bluff and I know that for a fact. It’s D-Day now and we need people to step up to the mark.
“I’ve loved the idea of seven or eight individuals with an affinity for this area, who have perhaps been involved in the club in the past, to work together.
“They don’t need to be here. We will do the best in our efforts to run the club. You can see how quickly we have changed the feelgood factor here.
“The players have been better and I think we should be even better than what we’ve done so far in certain games. We have a chance to avoid relegation.
“The plans are to then restructure. We need cooperation from major shareholders and an influx of money.
“People are capable of doing that. I wish I was able to help as this club means so much to me.
“Taking individuals out of it, as an area, Inverness Caledonian Thistle should be an integral part of this community. If it is not, then the whole area has made a bad mistake.
‘We need the city of Inverness’ – CEO
“The crux of the matter is if people don’t step up to the plate now, there will be no football club. Alan Savage has done his bit.
“We really need the city of Inverness to come on board if we want a football club. We’ve had 20,000 people at Hampden twice to back this club. They have enjoyed some of their best days out in their sporting lives.
“We also need cooperation from individuals. BDO made it plain what the stumbling blocks are to a sale. It didn’t surprise me.
“I always thought the issues behind the scenes here at Caley Thistle were convoluted and complicated. Nothing ever seems to be easy here. It has been like that for a long time.
“When you try to sell something, that doesn’t help as the joint administrators have said quite openly.”
Plea to save club from liquidation
George Moodie, the chairman of the ICTFC Supporters’ Trust, is also calling on major shareholders to follow others in handing their shares back to Caley Thistle to save the club.
A meeting is being lined with some of the key off-field players and the joint administrators to discuss whether their shares could be returned to the club.
The club’s disparate shareholdings were one of the factors highlighted as putting off potential buyers, along with concerns over the amount of creditors’ loans (£3.5million) and uncertainty over land ownership around the Caledonian Stadium.
Moodie said: “It’s really disappointing to hear that the long-term future of the club remains at risk.
“We’d hoped, given the levels of interest in the club, we could have found a sustainable solution for the club going forward.
“Equally, I understand why investors would be put off getting involved at this stage given some of the outstanding loans, where creditors have not done what they said they would do and write off their debts.
“Debts accumulated when they were mostly directors of the club. We would urge them now to deliver on that agreement so that the club can progress with the CVA (company voluntary arrangement) and move forward.
“The same with regards to the land ownership issues as well. I believe there have been some large shareholders who have already gifted their shareholdings back to the club. I would hope other shareholders can do the same.”
‘Never a dull moment’ as ICTFC fans
Caley Thistle have spent 12 of their 30 years playing in the Scottish Premiership, but from 2017 until last summer, were in the Championship.
The 2015 Scottish Cup winners, who qualified for the Europa League that year, were relegated to League One in 2023-24 and are battling for survival on and off the park.
The Highlanders have been big players in Scottish football and Moodie wants more memorable stories to play out for decades to come.
He added: “At 30 years, the club is still young in its history. One thing is for sure, when you follow Caley Thistle, there is never a dull moment.
“That is part of the fun of supporting this football club. We want to continue creating memories.
“This season, manager Scott Kellacher and (assistant boss) Billy Mckay have taken the club and the team on a fantastic journey to effectively eliminate the 15-point deduction with still a number of games to come.
“Kell has got us into a really strong position and the supporters have really backed him, and got right behind him, home and away.
“Our away support in a lot of matches this season has far surpassed some of the home support of the teams we’re visiting.
“The fans are getting behind the club, and I think that just shows there is hope for the future.
“There are a lot of people behind it, we now just need those who can have an influence off the pitch to do that.”
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