Can swift promotion make Inverness' Fife plan worthwhile?

Manager Duncan Ferguson could not keep Inverness in the Championship

"I haven't spoken to one person who thinks this is a good thing."

When former player and coach Barry Wilson first heard about Inverness Caledonian Thistle's plan to train in Fife, he thought it might be a joke.

"It's a strange one," he told the BBC Scottish Football Podcast. "I was checking the date wasn't 1 April."

Caley Thistle's partnership with Kelty Hearts to use the facilities at New Central Park Stadium, 135 miles away from their home stadium, has generated more headlines than the club's relegation to League One.

The club say it will save money and help with player recruitment but fans are outraged.

The supporters' trust say the move "rips the soul of the club out of the community" and Wilson believes it is "a blow to the pride of the people".

"It's like an admission that we can't do this or we can't keep doing it," said the 52-year-old, who spent nine seasons as a Caley Thistle player over two spells.

However, Wilson believes the controversial plan can work - if it is a short-term solution.

"There's pros and cons for it," he said. "But whether the pros outweigh the cons, I'm not so sure.

"From the club's connection to the city, it's definitely alienated them. A lot of people won't be renewing season tickets. They feel that strongly about it.

"I'm trying to see both sides of it. Can they get a better team on the park and get out of League One in one season and then look at it again, with a better chance of attracting players at Championship level? If it gets them straight back up, then it's maybe been worthwhile."

'Attracting players to Inverness is difficult'

Caley Thistle, who won the Scottish Cup and finished third in the top flight in 2015, are dropping into the third tier for the first time since 1999.

The club was founded in 1994, merging two of the city's then Highland League clubs.

Ten years later, they reached the Scottish Premier League and stayed there for five seasons, returning in 2010 for a further seven campaigns.

"For the first 10, 20 years, it was all progress," said Wilson. "Through the leagues, cup runs, winning the cup.

"But things started slipping away and it was hard to get going forward again in a positive way. Two years ago, we were 45 minutes from promotion and there was the Scottish Cup final last year, but it has been getting harder.

"Attracting players is difficult. More times than not, you've got to target young boys that have been released, that don't have family, because generally people won't move family up."

Wilson will be attending a class of '94 reunion this weekend and explained that his old team-mates have been discussing the great bond that promoted side had.

"Everyone moving in, living around the corner, a really happy environment," he said.

"You would hear managers making comments about the long trip up the A9 and think, 'OK, great. You're not looking forward to it, so we'll hit you early on'.

"That team spirit was always there and it will be hard to recreate that with a hub in the middle of Fife."