Caley Thistle have confirmed three key players – and eight youngsters – have agreed new deals with the League One club.
Assistant boss and record scorer Billy Mckay signed a new contract for next season while captain Danny Devine, and winger Luis Longstaff have agreed two-year deals.
The club are also in discussions over new deals with goalkeeper Musa Dibaga, defender Remi Savage, and midfielders Paul Allan and Charlie Gilmour.
Eight players aged 21 or under have agreed contracts for at least next season as the club seeks to exit administration next Thursday.
Signing one-year contracts are: goalkeeper Szymon Rebilas, 17, defenders Matthew Strachan, 19, Jack Walker, 19, Sam Nixon, 18, midfielders Robbie Thompson, 21, Shae Keogh, 18, and striker Sam Reid, 16. Midfielder Calum MacLeod, 18, has agreed a two-year deal.
Midfielder Adam Mackinnon, 22, is also under contract for 2025-26.
Top trio pledge futures to ICTFC
Mckay, who has scored 117 goals for ICT, has been assistant to Kellacher since Duncan Ferguson was sacked as boss amid administration kicking in last October.
Three goals in the last three games last term helped keep Caley Thistle in League One and he is set to continue to combine coaching and playing roles.
Mckay was relieved to have been part of a side which beat the drop from League One, despite the restrictions of administration and a 15-point deduction with ICT finishing in seventh position.
Including loan stints, Mckay, 36, has played for ICT for eight years and will relish the chance to help the club target promotion back to the Championship in 2026.
Skipper Devine, 32, who has served the club for almost nine years over two periods, signalled his intention to extend his stay towards the end of the season.
Former Liverpool under-21 winger Longstaff, who has loan experience with Queen’s Park and Cove Rangers, is the third senior player to pledge his future to the Highland side for another term.
Hamstring and groin injuries hampered the 24-year-old to 31 appearances last season, but he was a key target for Kellacher to have on board beyond this summer.
In an extensive squad update, ICT confirmed under-18 players James Clark, Ben Gardiner and Sam Thompson have all signed their first professional contracts with the club.
Cairns and loanees leave Caley Jags
The club also confirmed that 20-year-old striker Ethan Cairns will be released upon expiry of his current contract.
Cairns has been with the club since he was nine years-old and signed for the club full-time in 2021.
In total, Cairns made 22 appearances for ICTFC and scored once, but was limited by injuries last term.
A club statement said: “Everyone at ICTFC would like to thank Ethan for his contributions while at the club and wish him the very best in the future.”
The same message was extended to the following loan players, who have returned to the parent clubs: Alfie Stewart and Alfie Bavidge (Aberdeen), Ben Brannan (Kilmarnock), Connall Ewan (Ross County), James Nolan (Manchester United) and Keith Bray (Dunfermline Athletic).
Targets identified for replacements
Caley Thistle will be permitted to make offers to external players once the club is out of administration.
Former chairman Alan Savage is confident his request for all shareholders to transfer their shares to him in order for his £800,000 offer for the club will be agreed before next Thursday’s company voluntary arrangement (CVA) meeting of creditors.
Savage this week told The Press and Journal that 95% of shareholders have do so and he’s confident the “last few” will follow suit.
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