VOLUNTEERS are raising a glass to its bar which they say is closing in on raising £100,000 of turnover for Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Bar 94 has become a popular meeting point for supporters before they go to watch their team in action at the Sarens PSG Stadium.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Supporters Trust took over the reins of the bar as the club emerged from administration which it fell into two years ago.

Its members have volunteered to run the bar on home match days with every penny raised going back into supporting the Championship outfit.

They have helped transform the club’s bar which they said was barely used to a must meet place before kick off.

Supporters Trust chairman George Moodie, who is also a director at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, said it is great to see how well Bar 94 is being used to provide vital income for the football club.

He said: “This season we will go through the £100,000 mark of income generated for the club, which is set to happen within the next few home games.

“Bar 94 is all run by volunteers and every penny generated here goes into the football club.

“The club asked us to get involved to see if we could get the bar open two years ago and we just took it from there.

“We thought there was potential as a kind of destination venue for supporters before the game to enjoy a pint, and over the last couple of years we've added to it.

“By having volunteers at Bar 94, that allows the football club to use its staff and resources in other ways in other parts of the stadium.

“Any improvements come out of volunteer fundraising, not from the revenue made from the bar.

“For me, it's phenomenal to see volunteers helping this football club get back on its feet after administration.”

Caley Thistle chairman Alan Savage has also supported the bar by providing investment to help create improvements at the venue.

Among the new additions at Bar 94 include an outdoor seating area which has proven to be popular with customers.

In addition, they have subscribed to TNT Sports to allow customers to watch English Premiership football before heading into the stadium to watch Caley Thistle.

With Stagecoach introducing bus services between the city centre and the stadium, Moodie says fans are turning up to Bar 94 hours before kick-off.

He said: "With TNT Sports now available at the bar, fans can come and have a pint while watching the whole game here.

“We’ve now got an outside terrace, where in the previous game there was standing room only, there was no room in the seating.

“We will look about bringing in some additional seating and maybe extend it as it has been really popular as well.

“What was a big step for us this summer was that Alan paid for the improvements such as brand new flooring with new tables and doing up the bar.”

The bar is also keen to help support charities who are invited to the bar to help raise money for their respective causes.

Mikeysline was at Bar 94 before the match between Caley Thistle and Stenhousemuir on Saturday where they received donations from customers.

Stagecoach also donated all its revenue raised from its services between the city centre and the stadium.

Moodie says the success of Bar 94 is another example of how the club are emerging from the shadow of almost going out of business two years ago.

He says volunteers have come together to make it a success and is confident it will prove to be a winner with club and fans in the future.

He said: “When you go into administration the next stop is liquidation, when that happens there's only one place you can go backwards and you end up with your football club gone.

“That is a scary prospect, so here we are standing today, we're sitting mid-table in the championship, which is phenomenal with all the points deductions the team had.

“You see home and away fans mixing in here and watching the supporters using the bar is great to see.”