macdangerous

That's some memory Wof63 - I went to school with Donnie 50 years ago. You could be right!

Big Jimmy Davidson in a real Thistle shirt.

Sandy Brown, Willie Cunningham, George Niven. Frank Beattie for kilmarnock?

Well done that man indeed. I'm 64 so saw quite a few of these guys playing, but not Andy Kerr who my old man thought was one of the most talented players ever to play for the Jags - always said he could play in any position..

Cheers for that : )

Could somebody put me out of my misery here?

Seriously folks, many thanks. Email on its way to you TMAC.

Been trying to locate a particular badge for an ex-pat Jags fan. It's based on the Glasgow coat of arms with a Let Thistle Flourish slogan. Been looknig everywhere with no success, but it would mean a lot if I could track one down. Anyone know what I'm talking about or where I could buy one?

A very kind guy on the old forum sent me scans of the programme and cup-final tickets. Sadly (like an idiot) I didn't back them up anywhere and lost them when my old 'puter died. BUT....it wouldn't be all that difficult to put them up on this site if anyone has a copy, would it?

We'd be looking for a place in Europe with that team now

Pretty much in agreement with Alan Heron above, although I take the view that a NO vote changes nothing - there will still be all to argue for with regard to a better arrangement than FPTP. One thing is certain - if the YES vote wins, there will be no chance of a better system being adopted in my lifetime. Kind of finishes the argument for me - if the NO vote wins, there's still something to fight for.

I'm enthusiastic about PR - I really do believe it produces a far more representative result which takes account of minority views, crucial to any genuinely democratic system IMHO. So I'm no supporter of FPTP. My real concern about the referendum/AV is that if it's adopted, we'll never get the chance to bring in a fairer system. AV just seems to be playing about at the edges. I'll be voting NO in the hope that it will lead to a more balanced discussion about a fairer voting system.

Very sad. But very true

Heard Les Grey on radio this morning suggesting that the OF games shouldn't be broadcast and it seemed a pretty sensible suggestion. The cops can handle the mob in one location, be it Ibrox or Parkhead, but they can't possibly deal with the morons who gather in pubs or each other houses to get tanked-up and then go mental. Of course it would have to mean no broadcasts at all to avoid internet loopholes etc, but the only people it would hurt would be the Ugly Sisters themselves. Let's face it, they're both commercial concerns and I can't imagine that any other business that resulted in the regular mayhem that these games cause would be allowed to trade for any length of time.

A very astute summary I'd say. If straightforward answers were given to the obvious questions posed by DU's post, it would go a long way to restoring some kind of confidence (or at least credibility)in the BoD. Not holding my breath right enough.......

Disappointed to hear that mate. I suspect you were in the minority.

I'd reckon the comments directed at Airdrie's John Martin every time he visited Firhill were fairly politically motivated.....

It used to be quite a big thing at Firhill to see what you could find in Thistle colours - I remember having a red and yellow Roy of The Rovers scarf and hat I was quite proud of, and a lot of my mates had similar stuff. Remember trying to get a West rugby shirt as well but they weren't available in those days. Football was fun then...........

Charging to get in isn't where the money comes from - I don't think Dundee charged anything, it was a gala day. The money gets raised by people getting sponsored to do it, usually a minimum of £100 (ie ten mates sponsoring you for a tenner)- it's a bit of a dare-devil thing, lots of fancy dress etc. During the summer we do a lot of them across the Clyde at the Finnieston Crane, anything up to a couple of hundred people per day. I'm not the boss (far from it...) so not absolutely sure of the costs, but less than two grand I think for the crane hire, equipment, insurance, wages etc. Easy enough to find out, though it would need a site inspection to get a definite price. We did maintenance on the floodlights a while ago, so I guess the boss has a reasonable idea of the set-up for a back of an envelope calculation.

Just noticed that the last posting here was 27 Dec (well, it has been Christmas etc, so fair enough). There are some cracking ideas here - would be nice to have some kind of reaction (or even encouragement) from the club though. Has anybody heard anything? For what it's worth, I'm part of a team that runs big outdoor events for charities throughout the UK (abseils, ziplines, bungee jumps). The average take for these events is around £20k, often much more. We organised one at Dundee a few years ago, running a 200' high zipline across the length of the park, landing behind the goals and loads of supporters took part. They opened up one of the stands to let friends and families watch it all happen. Dead easy to do......

Nice job Stu. I've never heard of the 'Explosion at Firhill' before - surprising really, since my Gran and my next door neighbour both worked full-time at Firhill throughout the 50s and 60s and I grew up with daily stories about the happenings there. My old mother's well into her eighties now, but I'll be asking her if she remembers it tomorrow.

Godd times at the Tenant's Sixes afterwards too - although Motram took the 'comments' from Jags fans well. I remember him laughing his way through one of the games.

As a wee boy in the early sixties, I used to get the run of Firhill during the summer holidays (my Granny worked there and made the tea for all the players). I was introduced to Mr Aitken a couple of times. I've no doubt Tom Hosie is right in saying he was a gentleman, but he was a very imposing figure to a wee boy like me. Unlike Jackie Husband, who used to let me play snooker on the players' table and spent hours drawing cartoons for me. Happy days...

Cab see a lot of people agreeing with that Dr D. 17 quid for 1st Division football? I can go and see Juventus for half of that.........