'Incredible maroon army' - What John Robertson had to say in letter to Hearts fans

Hearts legends pairsed fans of Hearts, Inverness CT and others for their support of the Highland club. Picture: SNS

Supporters have broken the 7,753 record set against Rangers.

More than 9,000 virtual tickets have been sold for the match which is being shown live on BBC Scotland.

Each fan who has bought a brief has been receiving an hand-signed letter from ICT boss John Robertson, who won’t be in the dugout for the match having been given compassionate leave.

Some supporters have even had a cheeky sign-off with the No.27 – the number of goals scored by Robertson against Hibs for Hearts.

He wrote: “Firstly, sincere thanks to you for supporting this venture, the idea of which was originally mooted to Caley Thistle by the Federation of Hearts Supporters’ Clubs when they realised that they’d be unable to make the journey north to watch the game.

“At Caley Thistle, we’ve been running a #TogetherNess campaign since the first lockdown of March 2020. It was designed to support our local community in Inverness and the Highlands and I’m personally touched by the ‘TogetherNess’ shown by the extended football family to get behind this game. Of course, the fact that the fixture is between Inverness, where I have spent most of my management career, and Hearts where I spent the majority of my playing days gives the match special significance to me.

“Back in August 2013 when Hearts were struggling financially, a number of clubs showed a ‘TogetherNess’ attitude and none more so than Inverness Caley Thistle who donated a % of gate receipts when Hearts visited the Caledonian Stadium, based on the number of Jambos who came to the game.

“It’s genuinely humbling to see our own fantastic fans, the fans of many other clubs and in particular the incredible maroon army get behind this initiative and so much so that records have tumbled in the process.

“So, whether you support Caley Thistle, Heart of Midlothian, or anyone else for that matter – on behalf of all of us at ICTFC, thanks for your support. Enjoy the game when it comes and thank you most sincerely from everyone connected to ICTFC. You have been part of quite incredible effort in what has been a very difficult time for us all.”