Inverness CT v Dundee

[CityDave94]

1 hour ago, SweeperDee said:

I mean, how can a city the size of Inverness support a football team anyway? They have more successful neighbours in County anyhow (baffling considering Dingwall is even smaller, and a bigger shitehole).

Majority of football fans in Inverness by quite some distance support one of the two arse cheeks.

 

[SweeperDee]

Majority of football fans in Inverness by quite some distance support one of the two arse cheeks.
 

I know this first hand. Majority of folk I knew in Dingwall when I lived there were Rangers fans; weirdos.

[sophia]

2 hours ago, SweeperDee said:

I know this first hand. Majority of folk I knew in Dingwall when I lived there were Rangers fans; weirdos.

There's something quite worrying going on there and it deserves some light.

Whereas extreme poverty, poor or no education and paucity of choice were obvious drivers in attracting many towards The Seaforth Highlanders infantry (that'll be canon fodder to you and I), one would've thought that the staunch thing would be consigned to the past.

There's obviously money in it though but I'm at a loss to think why.

Do any Dundee fans have more of an insight as to this sense of belonging?

 

 

 

 

 

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Our owners have a hard on for the military as well - but that's because they are Yanks not staunch.

[bdu98196]

21 hours ago, SweeperDee said:

I mean, how can a city the size of Inverness support a football team anyway?

It easily could, but essentially by starting a 'new' club it broke for some the legacy of following automatically. Couple that with the advent of Sky and more football accessibility on TV and media platforms, it means young fans easily are enticed by the glory hunting element of just following a 'big team' or what their family do. Economically there are probably many more avenues to spend money on for entertainment now than ever before, therefore the idea of a couple of pint, a pie and a match are antiquated and the public (excluding die-hard football fanatics) want and expect more. Over the years successive Caley regimes have filed to tap into markets within the city and market the product..........when you consider now the chasm between club and fans it creates unrest and combine that with costs/quality of entertainment product yields ever reducing footfall.

We have 50-60% of the stadia every game empty - now is the time to strategise long term. Initiatives like free tickets for kids (which they did before) but open it extensively and improve community engagement so youngsters can access the players and feel like they are involved. Hook them when young (break this OF obsession) and once they get financially independent perhaps they will want to continue the experience and pay for it. Improve the whole matchday experience (from arrival, to food, half time etc) - FFS, the WC is on and we don't event have the main stand concourse tele on showing the games pre-match. Its a dire soul-less experience most games and that's before the tepid Dodds ball is considered.

Apologies, a bit OT for the thread, but as a club we are crap and fall way behind others in building relationships

[CityDave94]

5 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

It easily could, but essentially by starting a 'new' club it broke for some the legacy of following automatically. Couple that with the advent of Sky and more football accessibility on TV and media platforms, it means young fans easily are enticed by the glory hunting element of just following a 'big team' or what their family do. Economically there are probably many more avenues to spend money on for entertainment now than ever before, therefore the idea of a couple of pint, a pie and a match are antiquated and the public (excluding die-hard football fanatics) want and expect more. Over the years successive Caley regimes have filed to tap into markets within the city and market the product..........when you consider now the chasm between club and fans it creates unrest and combine that with costs/quality of entertainment product yields ever reducing footfall.

We have 50-60% of the stadia every game empty - now is the time to strategise long term. Initiatives like free tickets for kids (which they did before) but open it extensively and improve community engagement so youngsters can access the players and feel like they are involved. Hook them when young (break this OF obsession) and once they get financially independent perhaps they will want to continue the experience and pay for it. Improve the whole matchday experience (from arrival, to food, half time etc) - FFS, the WC is on and we don't event have the main stand concourse tele on showing the games pre-match. Its a dire soul-less experience most games and that's before the tepid Dodds ball is considered.

Apologies, a bit OT for the thread, but as a club we are crap and fall way behind others in building relationships

Good post.

I used to go and watch Caley and I knew a few of the supporters, many had 'big teams' along with a local team to support. Thistle and Caledonian tended to draw folks from areas close to their grounds rather than the whole of Inverness.

It was well known that a good chunk of Caley fans also supported Rangers and for Thistle fans it was Celtic. Those Celtic fans would not support a team in blue and a club that had members who greeted each other with a funny handshake and a rolled up trouser leg. So when after the merger happened those supporters weren't lost to football they simply continued supporting their big team. 'Its a shame that many of them went to less and less games and ony showed up in numbers to protest when they realised the merger was serious.*

I would often go to midweek games league or cup and if they were against the likes of Rothes or Deveronvale you'd be lucky to get over 200 for those games and they weren't alone, Highland League attendences started to drop off during the 90's. Clubs that had never been in financial trouble suddenly started struggling. I believe Thistle were doomed anyway and would not have survived to see the new millenium.

 

edit: * the part about attendances at Telford Street isn't a criticism as more and more people during the 80's and 90's moved away from the trad' 5 day working week to working Saturdays. I would say that would be a valid contributing factor to declining attendances not just in Inverness.

Edited December 8, 2022 by approximately dave