mgow

Fair play to at least one person behind the goal (It used to be a family stand but always assumed it was 99%+ full of home fans) who claps both our goals. They were belters!

That is young, although he was still born in the 20th century. The 21st century started in 2001. ;-)

It was never going to be easy to distribute that quantity of free anything, so I think the club did ok. Like a few on here, I did wonder if putting them inside the ground might have been better, but there may have been concerns over how crowded that area can get. Also, before the game is highly preferable to after IMHO. For those who haven't seen it up close, it appears to be a fairly solid "leather" ball rather than a plastic fly-away type. There are a couple of things printed on it that appear typically Thistle to me: the instruction to "USE" the ball and the positive message about "stitched by adults" (rather than children).

I am in for £10.

To be fair, everyone knew Dodds was more or less past it when he came on board then. However, his on field contribution in that second spell was significant. Trailing 1-2 late in a Scottish Cup tie to higher league Inverness, he got himself the right side of a defender when a cross came in before said defender pushed him over for a penalty. Mark Roberts converted, we got the cash from a live TV replay (which we won) and then a money spinning tie at Tynecaste (which may also have been in live TV). As I recall, that extra income kept the team full time for the following season. An small but significant contribution. If anything, it was his first spell with us that was overrated. His stats being skewed by 4 goals in one game.

There seemed to be one away fan at the North end of the Main Stand who was "found out" when the 2nd goal went in. While I agree the scale of the intrusion into the home area was minimal for this game, it was an early season one with nothing major at stake. The previous game was the one where they could clinch the title and should those circumstances ever present themselves again then I would expect that we will be surrounded again. When I first start going, segregation was not that commonplace and OF fans simply stood everywhere at Firhill. Even slightly later, despite making a big song and dance about only selling Home end tickets to Thistle fans, the 1989 Scottish Cup game saw what is now the Bing crudely cordoned off to allow away fans in the Home end.

In fact, if both cheeks are in the top league, it will most likely be 3 homes games pre split, and possibly 4 depending on which side of the split we all end up. That 3 or 4 games is out of a total of 18 to 20 home league games (depending on how much the fixture computer likes us!).

The story at the time was that Pittman received the equivalent of THREE red cards, the exchange being something along the lines of: Pittman: Ref, you were an f***ing disgrace today. McGilvary: I am reporting you for foul & abusive language [equivalent of a red card for player not on the pitch]. Pittman: You can't do that you f***ing idiot, I am not even playing. McGilvary: Yes I can, and I am reporting you a second time Pittman: You are a f***ing joke [before being dragged away]. I was always led to believe that McGilvary was also the linesman when Paddy Connelly's goal was not given by Les Mottram. While Motram was rightly criticised, I was always surprised how little was said about the linesman in that incident, given that seeing if the ball goes over the line is a key part of their role at corners.

Agreed: we are the oldest professional football team still in continuous existence in Glasgow; Queens Park are older but amateur. However, it is the second oldest professional ftsiceiG that will do your printing, not QP.

For the last couple of seasons, all the main sports shops have been running down their set of SPFL numbers & letters, partly as they expected the font / style to change. Regrettably, the only place I could find that would do them is any of the shops belonging to Glasgow's 2nd oldest professional football team still in continuous existence - one in Argyle St for example. Think a number of 1 or 2 digits plus a name was £12. SPFL badges are a further £5 each. You had to tell them what colour of letters you needed and how far up the back to put them, especially with kid's sizes on last year's strip. The only amusing side to this is they make you sign a form that says "not bought at this shop" when you take your Thistle strip in. Given Joma do printing and someone does it for the club, you wouldn't think it was hard for them to do the right version. A possible saving grace is that this season the SPFL finally changed their font, so perhaps main sports shops will restock them. They tended to be more expensive than £12 though.

Got the following email from the club about the match on 8th August. Looks like the Main Stand is unallocated seating but North Stand is fixed seating. Dear season ticket holder, With the Celtic game scheduled for August 8th already on the horizon we are getting in touch now to explain how the seat move will work in order to give you the best choice possible ahead of the match. We know that this is far from an ideal situation and appreciate your patience during the process but hope to make the move as easy for you as possible. For this game both the Main and North Stands will be allocated for home support but all Jackie Husband Stand season tickets will be invalid for the match. As a season ticket holder you will be guaranteed a ticket in the Main Stand which will be unreserved seating for this game, meaning you can choose any available seat in the stand on the day. If this is your preferred option then you do not have to do anything else and a ticket will automatically be sent to you in advance of the game. Alternatively, if you would prefer to sit in the North Stand for this match please contact the club over the phone (0141 579 1971), by replying to this email or by popping into the office and we will arrange for you to be allocated a North Stand ticket instead. The North Stand will be allocated seating, so if you have any requests such as an aisle seat or not to be behind the goals please let us know and we will do our very best to accommodate you. We know that most people don’t come to Firhill alone and, if you regularly sit with a group of friends or family and would all like to be allocated seats together in the North Stand, all we ask is that one of your group contacts the club with the names for your entire group. Once you have done that we will endeavour to get you the required tickets together in the North Stand. In order that we can do our best to accommodate your preferences, and to make sure you receive your ticket in plenty of time, anybody wishing to receive a North Stand seat or be allocated group seating should contact the club before Friday July 24th. Please note, any season ticket holders with a North Stand season ticket will be unaffected and should just use their season card at the turnstile as normal. For this match the entire North Stand will be strictly allocated seating. If you have any problems or questions please don’t hesitate to contact the cub directly either by phone (0141 579 1971), by replying to this email or by popping into the office. We thank you once again for your patience and apologise for any inconvenience you may experience during this period.

Sad to see him go. Don't follow the logic of releasing him just because he has something else lined up. Isn't he under 24, so we would be due something? The conclusion must be he wasn't in the plans for next year and releasing him now is just to make it easier for him to get something fixed up sooner.

Each to his own. Point being though that the Kids Zone keeps moving. There are two kids plus me and a grandad so that means more hassle finding suitable seats. That quickly negates one of the emotive benefits of a Season Ticket - having the same seat and getting to know those who sit around you. One of the main reasons given for the £25 charge was around issues with blocked seats, especially for all ticket games. Now that we have the JH Purge for OF games,I am struggling to understand the rationale behind it. You get 2 or 3 games for "free" on an adult season ticket, these are effectively a buffer for games you might miss. The 2 x £25 for the kids reservation wipes out most of that. Buying an ST is never just about the financials. This season, I only made 12 games. I paid it last year as the older of my two kids would probably want to go to the game against the OF team and I didn't want the hassle of having to buy him a ticket. In 2015/16, I will easily by able to walk into the JH and find seats more or less in the same place.

Season tickets appear to be on sale: http://ptfc.co.uk/season_tickets/ Given the move out the JH for OF games, continuing with the £25 charge to allocate a seat for kids may be the final straw for me. Also appears they have moved the Kids Zone (where you are allocated a kids seat for free) for perhaps the third year in a row.

I hope it is at least 9th, but I don't think it is guaranteed yet? Three 0-5 defeats for us and two 5-0 wins for Killie and wouldn't they catch us. ;-) Sorry, paranoid.

Found this stat here: http://stv.tv/sport/football/319298-celtics-premiership-win-by-numbers-a-statistical-look-at-the-champions/ Thistle goals conceded in last 5 mins: 8 Thistle goals scored in last 5 mins: 9 Seems that numerically at least, we are ahead on late goals (expect ours conceded were more costly in terms of points "lost"). In fact, we are 6th best in both categories.

45 mins summed up in 2 lines.

So far, it looks like we are going for a very un-Thistle like way to see this out. Still a little bit to do, but 3 more points guarantees it (theoretically 2 but I am a worrier even with our massive GD advantage). In fact, just matching Motherwell's result next week is enough.

Motherwell dropping points tonight is a huge boost to extending our stay in the top flight. Absolute worse case (4 Thistle defeats & 3 Motherwell wins) still leaves it in our own hands to stay up with a win on the last day of the season. Now can we try and find an easier way please.....

Alex Rae, Dundee player / manager. He is about to pick up a 2nd yellow after scoring Dundee's goal. Think that one finished 1-1?

Few things that may be over looked after an excellent performance: - our fifth goal was a great team move with a smashing strikers finish at end - how did we only get 56 seconds of added time in a game with 5 subs in 2nd half.

This continues to be an excellent thread. Sort of thing that deserves to be in the match programme? Apologies for being behind the times, but have been trying to recall Collins' goal. Perhaps this brief description may help others with better memories. Goal was at the "away" end at Palmerston (Left Hand goal from where we still sit). It was from a corner or cross from far right side. Gerry met it with his head and a chunk of nose from close in. I seem to remember him ending up on his backside in the mud. Hope that helps. It may of course be my addled mind that has made it all up.

Biased and il informed coverage from the Scottish football media? It has always been so. I recall the coverage of Scot Symon's funeral and, as noted above, the (longer) Thistle connection was air brushed out. A certain Maurice Johnston attended, who was with C*lt*c at the time. Reported as OF showing solidarity and missing the point that Symon would have been in and around Firhill for Mo's entire time at Thistle.

I genuinely have no idea who Alan supports, nor care. However, I wondered if you were referring to the time he got interviewed on TV after training wearing a tammy with "R*ng*ers" on it. That caused much consternation, including from me. The reality was almost funny. It was a Kilwinning R tammy as we had a young player on loan there (can't recall who but Willie Howie springs to mind). Bright spark Dinnie had just folded the brim to cover part of the name.

Agreed!