A Premiership return would see Caley Thistle fill an £800k hole in their budget just from visiting fans, chief executive Scot Gardiner says.
Inverness face a must-win, final-night home clash with promotion rivals Ayr United in the Championship on Friday.
The Highlanders – who recorded a loss before tax of £835,751 for the year ending on 31 May 2022 – stand to reportedly land more than £1 million after reaching the June 3 Scottish Cup cup final against treble-hunting Celtic following their clinical 3-0 semi success against Falkirk at the weekend.
But the focus this week has been fixed fully on Friday.
Beat Ayr and ICT will be in the promotion play-offs, which start next Tuesday. Make it and they could face Championship leaders Dundee, Queen’s Park, Partick Thistle, Ayr or Morton in the promotion play-offs, depending on what happens in final round of regular league fixtures.
On a Friday night where there is still so much to be decided, ICT could finish anywhere between second and sixth.
Inverness know they must defeat Ayr, or they will fail to make it into the play-offs one year after they reached the final before being denied promotion by St Johnstone.
Away support dropped in second tier
Gardiner, who described reaching the Scottish Cup final for the second time in eight years as “remarkable”, detailed how stepping back to the top-flight for the first time since 2017 is the financial shot in the arm the club really needs.
He said: “Reaching the final gives everyone a lift and it does give a lift to our finances, because we know how difficult the Championship is.
“Dundee is the biggest support we’ve had up all season with just over 1,200 fans, while we’ve had as little as 23 in the away end.
“At the semi-final, it was still great to see the numbers of fans (Falkirk 8,000 and ICT just over 4,000), because what we miss in the Championship is travelling fans and good crowds. That’s such a big thing in terms of finances.
“You have a hole in your budget in any given season of between £600,000-£800,000, in terms of just away fans, compared to our last season in the Premiership.
“That doesn’t include home fans. All you need to do is look at the losses and that alone would cancel out your losses every year. Just the away fans. That’s the challenge for us.”
Thank you for your unbelievable support on Saturday. We asked you not to stop from the first whistle to the last and you didn't disappoint.
Our thoughts turn to the Championship again now with a monumental game on Friday night. News to follow.#ICTFC #S94 https://t.co/I75SLlqODa
— Section 94 (@section_94) May 2, 2023
Caley Thistle contract talks on ice under after final whistle
ICT, decimated by vast and key injuries for much of this season, have given themselves what previously looked an unlikely shot at the play-offs thanks to six successive wins and a draw in their last seven league outings.
Head coach Billy Dodds and the vast majority of the playing squad are out of contract this summer.
However, Gardiner explained there was universal agreement at the club new deal talks will only kick off once they have played their final Championship game and they know what lies ahead.
He said: “In terms of contracts, we said we’d get to the last game of the league season, which is this Friday.
“We explained that to the players and to Billy and everyone was fine with that and understood that.
“Once we got into this winning zone in terms of the league games, we agreed that would be the case and we then focused on the (cup) semi-final.
“We wanted everyone to focus. We want to create history here.
“Let’s get the win on Friday, then very quickly we will iron things out. That was always our aim.
“Billy was asked about this at last week’s AGM and he said he was relaxed, and we have a plan. The plan was to win on Saturday against Falkirk and win against Ayr and then we will sit down.
“Billy and John (Robertson, sporting director) have been sitting down to talk about targets, no matter what happens.
“I’m really pleased we’ve been able to do that, because sometimes that’s not easy. Everyone has bought into it, and we want to go and get the job done then we’ll sort it out.
“There was no room for error – it had to be win, win, win, including the semi-final, and the focus has been tremendous from everyone.
“Whether we’re in the play-offs or not, we will start (discussions) immediately on that front.”
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