An Inverness united call in bid to battle financial loss

Caley Jags: New vice-chairman Morrison in appeal to wider community

Caley Thistle’s new vice-chairman Ross Morrison has urged the city of Inverness to rally in its support of the club.

Lifelong Inverness supporter Morrison, who has a background in finance and property development, was initially appointed to the club’s board of directors last summer but has now been promoted to succeed Allan Mackenzie, who stepped down as vice-chairman last month.

With Caley Jags having faced further financial losses in their second season in the Championship, Morrison is seeking the help of the community in a bid to help the club’s fortunes.

“Since joining the board I have been working with my fellow directors looking at every avenue and option available at restructuring the club,” he said.

“We can’t do it by ourselves – we need help from everyone out there.”

He went on: “It’s no big secret that the club has been losing money for the majority of the years it has been in existence.

“Life outwith the Premiership has made it even tougher as we have faced significantly reduced opportunities for generating income.

“We are rebranding the club and working hard to reach out to our supporters, shareholders, the community and local businesses, who share our vision for the future. To achieve our goals, we need our fans to really get behind John Robertson and the team by coming to games and helping out in whatever way they can.”

Morrison, who previously worked in Caley Thistle’s community development team, says youth and community initiatives will be at the forefront of his attention.

He added: “We are in the process of forming a new community foundation and launching a crowdfunding campaign while continuing to give priority to developing young local football talent, via our youth academy.

“We take pride in the commitment we’ve made to our youth and community programmes, despite the substantially reduced income generated.

“We must try and keep these programmes going forward for the club – playing great football, nurturing our own young talent and serving the people of Inverness and surrounding areas, but we do need help to allow this to continue.”

Chairman Graham Rae said: “I am delighted to have such a fervent supporter of the club as my new vice-chairman. He has made a really telling contribution since joining the board and his expertise in commercial management and property development will be great assets for the board as we create a business that is more sustainable and community-focused.”

Morrison is among five directors, along with Rae, Alan McPhee, Gordon Fyfe and Liam Dalgarno.

“We can’t do it by ourselves – we need help from everyone out there”

WORK CUT OUT: Ross Morrison has been looking at all avenues of restructuring