Billy Mckay proud as Caley Thistle's latest 'crazy' chapter ends in League One survival
Inverness came into creation in 1994 and the club has spent 12 of its 31 years in the top-flight over two separate spells.
Last summer saw them relegated from the Championship to League One just a few months before administration and a 15-point deduction kicked in.
Scott Kellacher replaced Duncan Ferguson as head coach in October and he guided the largely young side to safety with Saturday's 3-0 victory over champions Arbroath.
It was a result which finally put Annan Athletic out of reach, as the Galabankies will contest the relegation play-offs next week.
ICT will complete the campaign in sixth position if they defeat Montrose at Links Park on Saturday, overtaking their opponents to do so.
Mckay, who traded captaincy duties for his assistant manager role this term, admits for the 2015 Scottish Cup winners, this was another big milestone.
The club's record scorer said: 'When I joined, I didn't realise how young this club was.
'We had that really successful period when we got to finals and the club won the Scottish Cup.
'What this club has done in 31 years is crazy.
'This season when you think everything is against us, what we've done by staying in League One is brilliant.
'There were times like these that give the club an identity and a bit of history. This club has got that in abundance.
'We want to help take Inverness back to the Premiership eventually. It might take time, but that's when we had the best times at this club.
'The history is there – this is a special club.'
While Inverness can have grand plans to get back to the top table of Scottish football, being the best in League One is the goal from August.
Mckay said: 'We can aim for the Premiership, but it will be one step at a time as we're still a League One club.
'Of course, that's got to be the ultimate goal for the club.
'We've always punched above our weight, but in this division, we should be near the top.
'I know Arbroath had won the league, but they put out their strongest team on Saturday, and we beat them. And we feel we matched them often this season, and not got the results we deserve.
'Next season the aim has got to be for us to be right up there. It has been all about survival and we've done that now.
'Hopefully everything will be sorted out and the club can exit administration, and we can push on as a club.'
As former chairman Alan Savage hopes his £800,oo0 offer for ICT is accepted, Mckay is is in no doubt that the Orion Group chief who has pumped in £1m in less than a year, has been vital in keeping the Caley Jags arrived.
He added: 'Without Alan, we would not be where we are.
'Without him putting in his own money, we'd have had a lot more players go – it would have been an even younger squad.
'There's a lot of potential here, but it would have been so difficult for a lot of them to step up, at this moment.
'This club would be on its knees without Alan Savage.
'If everything goes to plan, and he steps in as the new owner, hopefully the only way for this club is up.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
15 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Ex-Celtic star Matt O'Riley ‘agrees deal to leave Brighton for Italy as huge wage packet revealed'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) FORMER Celtic star Matt O'Riley is reportedly edging closer to the Brighton exit, with a number of clubs in Italy keen on the attacker. It's being reported by Tuttosport that Serie A giants Juventus have been interested in the Denmark international for some time and now want to make a concrete bid for the 24-year-old. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 2 Two former Hoops stars O'Riley and Kuhn Credit: Kenny Ramsay 2 O'Riley in action for Brighton in pre-season Credit: Getty The report says initial approaches have been very positive and it claims that O'Riley would welcome a move to Turin. The Bianconeri are reportedly set to "guarantee him a five-year contract" worth around "£2.6million a year". However, they will need to sell players such as Douglas Luiz, Weston McKennie and Fabio Miretti to raise funds to make the move happen. Brighton are asking for £26m, which is slightly more than the £25m they paid Celtic for him last year. The Hoops made a substantial profit on O'Riley after paying MK Dons just £1.5m for him in January 2022. O'Riley made a huge impact in Scottish football, scoring 27 goals in more than a 100 games for the Hoops. As well as winning the Scottish Premiership three times, he helped the club win a treble in the 2022-2023. He was also Celtic Players' player of the year the following season. Just hours after completing his move from Celtic to Brighton he suffered a serious ankle injury on his debut against Crawley Town. Despite the setback, he would go on to make 23 appearances that season, scoring twice and assisting three goals. But he was left frustrated at being played out of position. Also the 24-year-old isn't getting regular game time and has been attracting attention from other Serie A giants including Napoli and Roma. Awkward Matt O'Riley moment has fans convinced 'he thinks he's still at Celtic' Meanwhile, on Saturday O'Riley revealed he still has a soft spot for Celtic and follows the team's results. He told the Celtic Way: "Even though I don't post that much on social media, I'm still watching every single game and trying to keep tabs on them. "I'm still in contact with people. "It's hard in football to keep contact with everybody because it moves so fast and things change, but I did make some good friends up there, and I'm still in contact with a lot of staff at Celtic, which has been nice." Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Press and Journal
20 minutes ago
- Press and Journal
Invergordon boss on securing Ross County loan link-up, and winning in the Scottish Cup for first time
Ross County's academy graduates can flourish after a loan co-operation agreement with North Caledonian League champions Invergordon was confirmed. That's the verdict of the the East Ross club's manager Gary Campbell after a deal was struck with Scottish Championship side to provide a stage for academy graduates to sample regular competitive action in the NCL. County goalkeeper Jayden Reid, defender Oliver Lamont, defender/midfielder Rio Hastings, attacking midfielder Lewis Mackay and forward Torran Lambie have now joined Invergordon on loan. Last season, prior to the official agreement, midfielder Copeland Thain and attacker Calum Brown had successful loan spells at Invergordon, who won the North Caledonian League, the North Caledonian Cup and the Jock Mackay Cup. Brown was also named as the NCL's young player of the season. He has joined Highland League side Strathspey Thistle for the 2025-26 campaign. Thain, meanwhile, came off the bench and provided an assist in County's 8-0 victory against Edinburgh City in the Premier Sports Cup last month. And tonight (Monday), it was confirmed that 17-year-old Thain has moved to Conor Gethins' Clachnacuddin in the Highland League – on loan until January. Campbell is confident his club will be the ideal base for the next batch of young Staggies to further their development. He said: 'It has been a wee while in the making and we're delighted that it's now happening. 'It's a win-win situation for both clubs. 'They can help us out by making us successful on the park, while we can return that favour and promise to develop their players by offering them crucial game-time in a men's first-team environment. 'Copeland and Calum really flourished with us last year and the five players who have come in so far are looking really positive.' Campbell Money, Ross County's football development director, is hopeful the ties between the two sides can be long-lasting, to the benefit of all parties. He said: 'The pathway becomes clearer for these young players by sending them to Invergordon to gain match experience. 'We hope this can become a well-trodden and fruitful pathway for many of our youngsters.' The news of the County link comes hot on the heels of an historic result for Invergordon. On Saturday, they defeated South of Scotland champions Lochar Thistle 3-1 in the first preliminary round of the Scottish Cup – Invergordon's first victory in Scottish football's top knockout competition. They did previously compete in the Scottish Cup a few years ago, but lost 5-1 against Newtongrange Star from the East of Scotland League Premier Division. Ross County's Lewis Mackay was on the scoresheet at the weekend, as were Ben Bruce and Cameron Mackintosh, after Lochar had taken the lead through Rory Copland. Invergordon will meet East of Scotland League Premier Division Dunipace, also in Dingwall, on Saturday, August 30, in the Scottish Cup's second preliminary round. Campbell said: 'It was a really good day for everyone. 'We started okay, but were a bit nervous. 'We grew into the game and deserved to win.' Matters now turn to the defence of their NCL title, with a derby against Alness United this Wednesday night at the Recreation Grounds, before Invergordon visit Thurso this weekend. Invergordon's Recreation Ground are not compliant for entry to join the Highland League, but plans are in place to have their venue transformed to change that. The boss added: 'We're looking to get a lease on the whole (area of) the Recreation Ground, which would include the training pitch. 'That will be for not just us, but for other local clubs to play on as well.'
Scotsman
44 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Aberdeen's plan for Kusini Yengi after misfiring striker's poor Celtic show as teammates rally
Devlin says Dons have to do more in playing to Australian striker's strengths Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Nicky Devlin has stressed everyone at Aberdeen needs to take responsibility in helping misfiring striker Kusini Yengi settle in Scottish football. Yengi, a summer arrival on a free transfer from Portsmouth, had another difficult game as the Dons lost 2-0 to Celtic on Sunday. After missing several good chances in Aberdeen's opening 2-0 defeat by Hearts, Yengi got little change from Celtic's centre-backs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad His day was summed up when he made a mess of his control on a rare foray into the Celtic box late in the first half after good work from Topi Keskinen, and saw the ball run out for a goal kick. He was substituted early in the second period. Kusini Yengi was replaced after just 55 minutes against Celtic. | SNS Group Yengi, 26, did nto score for Portsmouth last season - although he did net twice for Australia in a World Cup qualifier against Bahrain. And Devlin feels it is up to all the Aberdeen players to help the target man get back on track. Devlin said: 'It's probably important for the rest of us to give him more opportunity. There were times he was having to feed off balls that weren't great quality into him. 'He was fighting against two big centre-halves, which was obviously making it difficult for him. I think we have to probably get the ball in better areas, play more to his strengths. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We have to play more to his strengths' 'It's his first taste of being up here, it's only his second game in the league. It's probably more about other people doing a wee bit more to support him and getting the ball into areas that we know he can be dangerous. 'We've seen it in training already, we've seen it in some of the pre-season games. We have to play more to his strengths at times, get the ball into areas that we know he's going to hurt teams. 'We wanted to start the first home game with picking up points, but ultimately I don't think we've done enough in the game to trouble Celtic. Nicky Devlin shows his angst after Aberdeen's 2-0 defeat by Celtic. | SNS Group 'We had a couple of opportunities on the counter-attack and to be fair to Celtic, I thought they defended them really well and probably limited us to really creating almost next to nothing, to be honest with you. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But it's something we have to obviously improve on, we know that. We have to be much more of a threat, regardless of who we're playing. It doesn't matter if you're playing Celtic or whoever, we have to be much more of a threat when we've got the ball in attacking areas.' Aberdeen sit bottom of the fledgling William Hill Premiership table but they can park the league for three weeks now because of their European duties. The Scottish Cup holders first take on Morton at Cappielow in the Premier Sports Cup second round. 'We're very well aware how difficult it will be,' Devlin said. 'But we've had a good record in cups in recent years. Since I've been here, we've got to the semi-final of every competition. It's something we want to continue. We want to get to the later stages, we want to win trophies again.
