Keep The North Stand Red And Yellow

[peagreenboy]

IF the management team really wish to have Thistle fans behind them, move the dugouts to the Jackie Husband stand.

 

The first three rows of seats are no longer used anyway. I cannot imagine it would cost too much to cut a bit out for the two dugouts.

 

F**KING SIMPLE

[potty trained]

We will drape the famous flags over the stand wall and the unused seats in section 8, upgrade the toilet facilities, ensure the maintenance in the stand is monitored and that the area is as you would expect in this regard, we also recently upgraded the PA system in the stand.

 

We will tell our kit manufacturer that they will no longer have access to the best advertising boards in the stadium. you can drape your expensive flags over seats, safe in the knowledge birds will be shitting on them.

 

 

Along with this we are making significant improvements to the Aitken Suite bar including upgrading the décor, installing new furniture and adding Sky TV as well as reviewing the pricing structure and offering in the bar including having food available pre match. We have also made Main Stand season tickets cheaper

 

So, is this only done to appease the shed, Maxi actually stated they would market it as a Shed Bar, at the meeting. I couldn't give two shits what they do to the Aitken Suite, i have loyalty to my pub, becuuase every member of staff knows be my name, knows my girlfriends name, even though she attended one thistle game, i know that i only need to catch their eye and a pint will be poured, because i've been drinking there for 15 years and would never consider giving up my custom, custom the pub needs to survive. They get my loyalty, because they deserve it.

Edited May 13, 2014 by potty trained

[potty trained]

The fans are the most important part of this club and without you the club would not survive.

 

Boycott and the club will die and it will be your fault. so give us your money and do what you're told.

 

 

 

Remember, it’s the fans that make the atmosphere – not where they sit in the stadium.

 

So, talk to me about the atmosphere in the JHS 3 years ago.

[yoda-jag]

I'd rather we got relegated standing by our morals and principles than stayed in the Premiership but shafted our own fans. I have no interest whatsoever in next season anymore.

 

only people shafting us, is the board, not the fans.

the only way we will be shafted by our own fans is if jhs st holders renew enmasse, and it gives tacit approval signal to beattie and co they can do what the hell they like ..... but i would like to believe that jhs st holders will stand firm and united, shoulder to shoulder with all the ns boys (and girls). no season tickets purchased by anyone until we get the ns confirmed to continue as red and yellow for the singers.

rest of the above, i have no disagreement with tho mp.

 

 

This reeks to me of a few wee complaints from fellow SPFL chairman about the facilities and a 'let's just put those fannies in there' scenario. That statement gives no real reason what so ever, shameful.

 

Away games for me, not being taken for granted by these clowns anymore.

 

agree. beattie and co showing the complete disregard and contempt they have for the lifeblood of the club.

your away games only (and mp's no interest in next season) statement is sympomatic of what i fear will be replicated many times over throughout the thistle support.

 

 

The singing section won't be behind the dugout in this move.

 

The North Stand must move to accommodate Rangers and Celtic. I only assume that no season tickets will be granted to the North end of the Jackie Husband stand, as I imagine half of the stand will be given to them on their visits.

 

In other cases will Thistle be wilfully denying extra income by limiting possible large away supports - Hearts and St Mirren sold out the away stand last season - by only giving them the North Stand? Or does it mean the JH will always be split in two now? Which will mean more stewarding and policing costs?

 

"We are in no way looking to split up the signing section" - more brilliant professionalism from the people who told two fans before the last game that "we only won two home games" last season - and no mention of how shitty that communication was.

 

"The fans are the most important part of this club and without you the club would not survive. Remember, it’s the fans that make the atmosphere – not where they sit in the stadium."

 

I'll be supporting my team at away grounds next season, cheers, because this message is the opposite of treating us as the most important thing.

 

many good points and obseravtions in there pgb. you can be sure there will be a number of st holders of the jhs this season finding their seat moved this coming season under this bs plan, and really proves the point that not one thistle fan is safe in the knowledge that where they choose to sit in the future, or may have sat/stood for years or decades, is safe and secured under these jokers of custodians.

and you're another added to the list of away games only from now on.

 

Rangers likely to be back shortly?

 

This decision has been based on £££ not fans :-(

 

shhhh, don't mention the dead club or how beattie actually voted in what league they should be in.

 

 

Especially seen as the fans will be in the north end of the main stand furthest away from home bench

 

precisely, shows how well they have thought this through. what geniuses we have as custodians, they are really showing us how well they think and run the club, thank god we have them.

 

 

Utter garbage. They have just lost the chance of three of us previous ST holders reverting back to becoming ST holders again. Patronising crap. Why no comment about the 2 home victories this season...that has obviously been put plainly and squarely on the shoulders of the fans trying to encourage their team to victory. They have had the emails, seen these pages, seen the outcry and now publish this. Feckin unbelievable!

 

and there goes another 3 st's.

you keeping count ok maxi, lance and beattie?

 

 

 

Shows how desperate they are when they bring Archie in to it.

 

If I were him, I wouldn't be happy about being dragged in to this when his focus should be entirely on identifying new players for next season.

 

The supposed logic behind this is just ridiculous. It looks even more ridiculous written down that it sounded coming out of Maxi's mouth on Saturday.

 

The only thing that has a chance of working is a season ticket boycott.

 

Therefore I am urging everyone I know not to renew their season ticket. I couldn't care less about hurting the club when we are being treated like this. If Archie really is behind this move then I couldn't care less about hurting his budget either.

 

All this nonsense about upgrading the main stand is nothing but a token gesture.

 

No one with half a brain will be convinced by this statement.

 

precisely. with you 100% on this.

 

 

Well there you go, thats the statement many were waiting for... the balls in your court now folks. the club have had 3 days to read emails from unhappy fans, they can see a poll on here that shows 18-20% won't renew season tickets... they can see a thread where every voice is unhappy.... and they can ignore every one of us.

 

Ian and i can only represent you guys as best we can, based on what we believe your stand point would be. I hope that we got it right.

 

Its up to you now, you can renew your season ticket, you can go and stand in the main stand, i won't be there. If i've misrepresented you, i apologise and request that someone else steps up to take my place.

 

I've made it clear the issues we have with the main stand, as the saying goes, you can't polish a turd.

 

dave, you and ian have (and continue to do), no need to doubt yourself, this thread and other threads and social media mediums and actual conversations must be proof of it. you (and majority, if not of all thistle support) are right on this issue, 100%, it's beattie, maxi and rest of directors who are spectacularily wrong. again.

 

 

Need to get Jackie husband regulars to boycott as well. If it's only north stand regulars I can't see enough of a drop to make a difference

 

if any thistle supporter really cares about the future of the club, it's lifeblood and very existence, this is an issue where all should stand together.

yes, withholding st money or only attending away games may hurt the player budget in shortterm, but a greater loss (and longer term and deeper impact) is the loss of 500 or a 1000 or even more thistle supporters over time. destroy the atmosphere, crowds go into constant decline, we'll soon be back in the seaside league with sub 4 figures home support.

or, keep the fans united, maximise our home advantage (keeping the ns red and yellow), see the tremendous atmosphere and backing of last two seasons continue, equals more gate income to squad budget, more success and happy times at firhill.

can't say it enough ..... this needs to be fought by every jhs and ns attendee (and nomads).

 

 

This is about the protests against allowing the celtic fans into the North Stand, nothing more, nothing less. A complete and utter 'toys out the pram' moment at having songs sung and banners flown against that decision.

 

To make out that Archie has had a say in this reeks and to bring Rangers into it and the fact they will be back in the Premiership shortly is astonishing. What if Rangers get promoted next season and we get relegated? Will anyone who is left that has moved to the Main Stand then be shunted back to the North Stand?

 

Anger does not describe how I feel right now. The last two years have been the most enjoyable in decades, mainly due to being part of something special and there being an atmosphere at Firhill again created by all those in the North Stand. Time to call it a day..

 

beattie doesn't like being made to look silly or mocked, especially on live tv, i heard he was apparently central to the instruction given to the stewards to go in and remove the banners (which i believe they had no aftual real or legal jusitifcation or right to do, as they were not offensive or a fire hazard etc).

 

and there goes another fan now lost to the jags. this is going well isn't it david?

 

 

Even if the club HAD to move fans and not sure they need to, they could have done this so much better and even made it a positive thing if thought about properly but all they have done is p@ss people off...I reckon people are more annoyed about the manner in which this has been managed than the action itself, that said I don't think the issue is enough for me not to go watch my team next season at firhill but something does need to be done clearly.

 

no, imo, not at all, is it the annoyance at the manner it's been managed, rather than the move itself. it is the move itself at which imo, people are annoyed at, the communication of it (dumping it on dave and ian, hoping they'd side with their stupid idea, or keep it quiet, then 3 days silence then this bs statement on club website), yes is all wrong and people are annoyed at that, but that anger is only a fraction of peoples anger at the actual decision to eject jags fans from the ns, and how it has shown up how the board treat the whole ptfc support with complete contempt and disdain.

 

everyone has a breaking point, where they say no longer will i be treated like a mug, handing hardearned money over blindly to be treated like smelly dog poo. every thistle supporter wants the best for the club and want to see it succeed, but equally not at the expense of killing the match day experience and atmosphere or the energy and enthusiasm of the clubs most vocal and hardcore support. this proposed move of the ns support (and believe me there will be some in jhs moved too), coupled with the bs statement on club site is the line in the sand and the breaking point for so many more than beattie could ever have feared.

 

 

Well thats it for me !! No re-newal of my season ticket , like a previous poster I will attend away matches in order to watch the Jags since I live in the NE anyway , i'll have Pittodroie, .Dens , Tannadice, Dingwall and Inverness to go to without the same long haul to Glasgow to sit in a drafty old wooden stand which shouldve been pulled down years ago, I will still remain a thistle fan but this decision has seriously dampened my enthusiasm. cheers guys !! Also got Perth !!!that makes it 6 definite away matches, possibly 9., and Ive been a follower of PTFC since about 5 years of age , 58 years ago !! Totally pissed off about this !!

 

....and another one bites the dust david...

 

 

Bullsh1t statement.

 

As said on Saturday you can stick your main stand up your Arse!

 

Wont be renewing! Wont be going to home games as much.

 

ETA: How the heck are we fighting this thing?

 

....and another.

 

Been a fan for over 50 years now and I can't believe I am saying this, but this could be the end for me. God knows how much money my family have pumped into the club over the years with my grandad, dad, me and my son being jags fanatics, but we won't be taken for complete and utter mugs over this. Looks like Gillette Soccer Saturday in the pub for me and my mates come August.

 

....looks like you won't be needing to move any st holders from any stand at firhill david the way this is going.

 

care to reconsider and get that bs statement down off the website before this gets any worse?

[craigthepict]

Well the baseless statement on the website will only galvanise my resolve to take a stance. I don't sit in the NS but I'm 100% behind a stance/boycott (as much as it goes against the grain to say it).

 

"imperative that supporters face as little disruption possible" bullshit, listen to what supporters want and don't fecking try to say this being done in our name.

 

"it is clear that there is really only one option that will give us a sustainable seating plan" bullshit, put way fans in the main stand, there, one other option of several. Even giving up the NS for the Celtic matches (although I disagree with this also) is far more palatable.

 

This whole thing stinks, and is as embarrassing as it is insulting. This senseless decision should be reversed IMMEDIATELY.

 

The key to PTFCs sustainable economic growth is our own fan base, not someone else's. This act is completely counter-intuitive.

 

Keep the North Stand Red and Yellow.

Edited May 13, 2014 by craigthepict

[Woodstock Jag]

Why can't we give the Northern third of the Jackie Husband Stand to away supporters and keep the singing section in the Shed? I've yet to hear a single argument against this.

[allyo]

Reference to Rangers and Celtic is particularly embarrassing. Surely they'd understand that this would only wind up Jags supporters. Putting aside the actual rights and wrongs, this is the most pathetic piece of PR I've ever seen. I said the other day that I didn't believe these people were stupid. Apologies.

[Jaggernaut]

Why can't we give the Northern third of the Jackie Husband Stand to away supporters and keep the singing section in the Shed? I've yet to hear a single argument against this.

 

Because they'd be too close to the prawn sandwich brigade up at the back near there?

[MonehJags]

Theres only one thing left as our emails have been clearly ignored. Boycott of season tickets by all Thistle fans and an organised demonstration at the entrance to firhill with the media in attendance. It will be impossible to ignore. I cant honestly believe its coming to this. The reasons given in the club statement are no where near enough to have come to this conclusion or even to back down from. Its not good enough from the board and they are only harming all the good thats been achieved in recent years

[Woodstock Jag]

Because they'd be too close to the prawn sandwich brigade up at the back near there?

 

... but when Celtic came to town they were also put there anyway!

[Jaggernaut]

... but when Celtic came to town they were also put there anyway!

 

Correct, though most of the "brigade" that day were probably of that ilk in any case.

[ScottyDFA]

I genuinely thought Maxi and Lance would have backed down on this today, but humility seems to be in very short supply. Christ, are they really going to jeopardise the relationship between the fans and the club to save face (which they will lose, inevitably, when things come to a head).

 

Unreal.

[Mr Bunny]

It really comes down to they want to pack as many OF fans into the ground as possible. I know money helps the club but we don't really need the extra that would come in. We got £900,000 for coming 10th this season so we can afford to miss out on a few hundred Celtic fans.

[ColinKelvin]

Not many BoDs in the land (or indeed anywhere) could have managed to turn what this club has achieved in the past two seasons (promotion, staying up, attacking football, great atmosphere, improved finances) into a situation where, a week after securing safety, so many otherwise loyal and enthusiastic fans are seriously (and rightly) talking about a boycott and having no interest in seeing PTFC in the top league again in August. It's quite an achievement.

 

Mismanagement, arrogance and downright stupidity of epic proportions.

 

I am not a ST holder but go to about 2/3rds of home games. Seriously considering simply transferring that attendance to away games next season. In fact, if this omnishambles of club management continues without any change of plan, that's exactly what I will be doing, as the Firhill atmos will be non-existent next season.

[Willjag]

Why can't we give the Northern third of the Jackie Husband Stand to away supporters and keep the singing section in the Shed? I've yet to hear a single argument against this.

To be fair to the Club, that would require more stewarding I'd imagine to ensure the fans don't mix. Those big barriers they used to cordon off the North end of the ground can't have come cheaply. Fair enough for a one off game, but not every game.

[Ruchillnomore]

Sent my email to the club saying I will not be renewing. Really spoiled a great day for me on Saturday in respect of the whole attitude of the Board to the fans. Really stupid decision and cant agree more about a demonstration to show the depth of feeling amongst the support.

 

If we stick together we can change this however it will be the legacy of the original decision by the board that will no doubt have a lasting effect on the support and any good will.

[Jaggernaut]

I was just thinking of other potential forms of protest. We've already seen range of options (and intentions), from chucking it in altogether, through supporting the team away from home only, to refusing to buy a season ticket and reducing the number of games that will be attended at Firhill., etc. All understandable in their own way. A couple of other things to consider (some already have) is to re-think about membership of the CF, sponsoring kit, boycotting any goods from the shop (I've de facto done that anyway, in view of where it is and what's on offer), and to turning up at matches wearing no colours and remaining silent throughout, even when (if) Thistle score.

[Jagtastic]

I was really hoping there might be some actual reason that may have some slither of relevance as to why this move has to happen. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, there isn't. Frankly, I'm done writing emails of complaint every time this lot come up with another way of pissing off their "customers". They won't be getting one this time. I'll send my season ticket renewal form back to Beattie or Maxwell asking them to either get in touch when the decision has been reversed or remove my details from their database. I've been in the same seat in the JH since the stand was opened so the decision doesn't actually affect me directly. I've simply had it with the way this club treats it's supporters and if this is an example of the new level of professionalism that David Beattie wants to bring to the club, he can find someone else to sit in my seat and attach his puppet strings to.

 

We've not had a board Q&A for a while, perhaps Mr Beattie and /or Mr Maxwell should be invited to meet the fans to discuss this in more detail as for me the definition of the word "professional" is being somewhat lost in translation.

 

Why do our custodians feel the need to make it such a f****ing chore to support this club?

[Armand2]

I had reserved comment until I'd heard the club's reasoning but the statement is extremely vague and offers no real justification for moving the North Stand punters other than to stop inconveniencing the office staff which is frankly pathetic. The nonsense about having home fans behind the dugout is utter garbage and is absolutely no reason at all.

 

Never mind a "match-day operations manager", how about hiring a proper office manager with some of the money generated by surviving relegation? Or as others have suggested, sell the season tickets without the Celtic games included and offer a cup game instead?

 

While we're hiring the office manager, a PR manager should also be hired because this is an absolute clusterf*ck.

[Willjag]

I was going to say boycotting the Club shop wouldn't hurt the Club anyway, but then I thought, why not take it further? Why not email the Club's sponsors, Macbee, Joma, etc and tell them you are boycotting their products because they support a Football Club that don't care about their fans?

[ScottyDFA]

 

Why do our custodians feel the need to make it such a f****ing chore to support this club?

 

... this is an absolute clusterf*ck.

 

Come on Maxi..........

 

Seriously big man, just back down on this before it gets any worse... PLEASE.

 

I'm in no doubt that this idea was hatched without malicious intent - without wanting to make people feel badly-treated or patronised. But it isn't a good idea, and it has been badly communicated.

 

You don't have to feel bad about backing down either - everyone on this forum will tell you that they make numerous errors of judgement on a daily basis. We're all human.

 

But digging your heels in on this issue will hurt Partick Thistle, both as a football club (in the proper sense) and as a business. You have a responsibility as manager of the club to ensure that this does not happen.

[simoncordiner]

Rather than move us from the North Stand, can we instead address the root cause of the problem? The only reason Celtic fans are in the North stand is because they can't be trusted with flares. So, the root cause is the possible fire damage to main stand and associated safety concerns. Could be addressed by:

1. Better communications and policing of old firm fans to remove flares
   
2. Fire proof the main stand
   

Moving us to the North stand is just sticking a plaster on the real issue.

[Norgethistle]

Statement of the comical Ali status........ do they think we will buy this? We certainly won't be buying ST's now.

 

Time to go Maxi & Co

[twinny]

Nonsense statement.

 

Why can't Celtic or Rangers fans sit in the Main Stand when Thistle fans can? That's the real issue they should be tackling. And seriously, if they can't be trusted then we should ban them from Firhill.

 

This. As I read through the statement this is all I could think about.

 

This reeks to me of a few wee complaints from fellow SPFL chairman about the facilities and a 'let's just put those fannies in there' scenario. That statement gives no real reason what so ever, shameful.

 

This too.

[Woodstock Jag]

Email just sent:

 

Dear Mr Beattie and Mr Maxwell,

 

As a long-standing season-ticket holder, I am writing to communicate my dismay at the Club's decision to remove the singing-section of the home support from the North Stand from next season.

 

This is a decision which defies all logic and seems to lack any objective justification whatsoever. In the Club's public statement, you claim that this poses as a solution to a problem with moving season-ticket holders to accommodate Old Firm games, which you say will happen up to 4 times a year (in reality it will be 3 most seasons and could be as few as two).

 

When you made the decision earlier in the season to move Thistle fans out of the North Stand for the Celtic games, I could just about understand your decision: you had received advice from the police that they were unhappy with the prospect of Celtic fans being housed in a stand containing wooden structures given their record with pyrotechnics on away days. It was disappointing, and served to undermine the atmosphere The Shed generates (given the acoustics of the Main Stand are substandard by comparison and the matchday experience also worse thanks to the pillars which obstruct the view of spectators) but it at least made sense.

 

The bizarre, thing, however, is that you seem to think that the mild inconvenience of maybe 350 season ticket holders, most of whom probably disregard their allocated seat in a 2000 seater stand and who actually stand and sing all game anyway, having to go in a different stand twice a season is somehow more harmful towards customer satisfaction or to the matchday experience or goodwill of the singing section than permanently moving them to a more cramped, less desirable space, in order to accommodate away supports in what is actually a smaller stand! I can assure you that if you spoke to every single person to have watched a game at Firhill from the North Stand this season you would struggle to find ten that were genuinely angered at watching a game in a different stand twice a season, whereas you will find virtually every single one of them angered at this new proposal, on top of many, like me, who sit in the Jackie Husband Stand.

 

You maintain that there are no plausible alternatives to this arrangement. This is flatly untrue. I can name one for you now. If the Main Stand is not adequate for away supporters, then it is also not adequate for home supporters. Move the away support to the Northern third of the Jackie Husband Stand and segregate them until the Main Stand is suitable for away fans. We already do this when the Old Firm come to town as they bring supports larger than 2000. If there are season ticket holders at that end, you're already inconveniencing them too every time the Old Firm comes to town by insisting Thistle fans move for them, and moving The Shed to the Main Stand won't change this. Plenty other clubs have no problems segregating fans within a stand as large if not bigger than this, and Thistle would often do it with no problems at all in the First Division. If anything, this has the double advantage of solving your fictitious problem of the management team being intimidated by away supporters singing behind them.

 

The handling of this episode aside, which has been shambolic and displayed a total lack of meaningful fan consultation in the decision-making process, your decision is simply moronic and will lead to lasting damage to the carnival atmosphere we have managed to develop at Firhill in the last two seasons. You don't seem to understand that the North Stand being filled with Jags fans actually energises the Jackie Husband Stand too, which was otherwise one of the most morgue-like places in the West of Scotland. You don't seem to remember when teams like Dundee would frequently out-sing our home support from the North Stand, because of the psychological advantage and acoustic benefits it brought. You risk taking a fortress and turning it into a dilapidated Historic Scotland visitors' centre.

 

There are several other, better, alternatives you could have come up with. What about a season-ticket which excludes Old Firm games for North Stand folk, or one which, from the outset, doesn't guarantee the preferred seat for Old Firm games? Part of the grievance of fans earlier in the season was that they hadn't been given prior notice when they purchased their season ticket that they would be ejected from the North Stand to make way for Celtic's away support. Had you just told them this before they bought their ticket, and explained the alternative arrangements, much of that antagonism would have disappeared.

 

No amount of tarting up the Aitken Suite will soften the fans' views on this. The folk who watch games from the North Stand don't even go there. They are loyal to other pubs in the area like the Star and Garter, Munns Vaults and the Woodside Inn. Throwing money away at a commercial Sky subscription for a bar that has to shut at 2:30pm on a Saturday won't make them embrace the changes to their seating arrangements. There may be good reasons for improving the Aitken Suite and the way it is marketed, but that has nothing to do with seating. Nor too will installing sinks in the Main Stand suddenly make North Stand singers enjoy their match experience anything remotely close to as much as they did before. Fans feel betrayed by you and that is the reality you must face.

 

I know of hundreds of fans, North Stand and Jackie Husband Stand, who are seriously reconsidering whether to renew their season tickets. They are doing so because they feel both that you have disrespected the fans in the way you have gone about making this decision and that you have made a decision with no obvious commercial advantage, which diminishes the atmosphere at games for everyone, and which cannot be matched by your alternative. They want a strong team on the park under Archie as much as you do if not more so, but given their antipathy and apathy is ultimately your fault and not theirs, you cannot simply expect to rely upon their financial loyalty with impunity for the way you treat them. This decision will cost the club money and harm Archie and we should be completely clear on whose head that will be. It certainly won't be ours.

 

Relent and do it now.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

WJ