ARu-Strathbungo

Not sure if many of your list of industries actually made money for the UK, but that is a discussion for another day ….. The UK have another problem coming to them at the end of this year, and that is BREXIT. If we go off a cliff I would guess you could take your estimated recovery time and multiply by 2.

A high debt load is manageable if you borrow in your own currency. When the UK came out of WWII the debt to GDP was around 270%, within 30 years is was down to 50%.

Worth a read:- https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/03/why-weren-t-we-ready

The Cheltenham error, plus the Liverpool V Athletico Madrid [keep in mind Spain were about 2 weeks in front of the UK in the Covid-19 spread] plus Rangers V Bayer Leverkusen [Germany were about 3 weeks in front of the UK in the Covid-19 spread?] would not have helped. The away football fans travelling in the 'petri dish' environment of an airplane must surly have increased the cases in both cities. 20:20 hindsight is easy, but it does make you despair to hear the UK government try to defend their policy of battling the virus during February / March. They way they talk you are asked to believe that mitigation followed by suppression was their strategy all along …. liars!

The statistics for the health of the typical West of Scotland male, are scary! [have a read of the Scottish Health Survey 2018 for details] As a demographic, people in WoS, are likely to have the most difficult transition between the relative safety of 'lockdown' to the status of 'herd immunity'. Personally I simply do not see a situation where I will be able to sit in my seat at Firhill [JH - row S] relax to watch a football game while there is a stand full of people behind me shouting words of encouragement or expletives to the team on the field. I just don't see a situation where any of us would feel comfortable barring the widespread introduction of a vaccine. My guess is football crowds, as we know them, will not be seen before the production of a vaccine for the virus and I would suggest that a video of the match made available to ST holders the following day, might be the best option? Don't consider the high end cameras costing 100's of thousands, but a more basic set-up?

not really …. but lying through ones teeth is the default option?

Strange it took so long for the reappointment to appear, I checked the companies house site this morning and the most recent transaction was the termination. Was this just a paperwork delay?

If J.Low is not part of 3BC, and is taking a wage from PTFC, can we ask her to go away from the club ASAP?

A nice article here from a few years ago:- https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/interview-john-freebairn-goalkeeper-and-athlete-1549324

This was put together by Troon FC. It illustrates what we have at the moment . The bottom left hand of the pyramid is the new WoS league which at the moment has almost 70 teams registered to play. I think the plan for the WoS set-up is to have 4 leagues of 18 [ish]

You make a fair point regards anyone in the Junior ranks wanting to be a part of a league structure that is not in itself a shining example of fairness and balance [especially at the 'top end'] but to date 67 Junior or Amateur clubs have expressed a wish to be part of a West of Scotland league in season 2020 / 2021. I think some [most?] of the clubs have also retained a membership of the WRSJFA to ensure they can play in the Scottish Junior Cup competition. Whether season 2020 / 2021 actually happens remains to be seen.

I think we discussed something like this in an earlier post and IMO it is the set-up that makes most sense. If we could also structure the leagues financially to make it so that teams playing young Scottish born players were rewarded, we might just improve the quality of our game? Now that Scottish football is geared towards the senior game we could [will] find in the next 10 to 20 years the likes of Auchinleck, Killwining and Pollok rise up through the pyramid system, this will be a great incentive to those teams who previously played Junior football to raise their game. My guess is that Scotland can support between 20 to 25 full time professional teams? ….. If the leagues were run along the basis of something like 14 'Premier', 14 'Championship' and 14 'League 1 North' and 14 'League 1 South' with the Highland League, Lowland League, East of Scotland League and West of Scotland leagues slotting in below that, I think we would have a healthy football league basis. Mind you …. since it is unlikely there will be football [as we know it] this year, that 25 figure for the full time teams may change.

When we do start to play again, we at PTFC should take special care

I'm not sure the UK government have been clear on this, but I think their long term [6 month > 18 month] aim is to develop 'herd immunity' within the population. Where I think the UK may have a problem is the general health of our population. There will be a few 35 year olds who think the virus wont impact them simply because of their age, but a 35 year old who drinks to excess, smokes and is overweight has 3 'underlying medical issues', and therefore is likely to suffer badly if infected. I agree with what you say regarding crowds, I remember the last game I attended at Firhill [against QOS] I felt uncomfortable simply because of the proximity of folk who were potential virus carriers. I think I would want to have a vaccine that worked before can I attend a game and relax knowing that I wont become infected with Covid-19, and my guess is most football fans would feel the same. For sure the country has to open up, but this testing routine has to be established and shown to be effective before people will be relaxed enough to go back to work , and to work effectively. It would be nice to see schools back, and the construction industry, but I think we will have to wait for haircuts and tattoos!! [re. Georgia] ….. Mass gatherings for music, theatre and sport may have to wait until 2021unfortunately.

Agreed, it's a good summation of what is in the document. I guess the document is a starting point that leads you through the decision making process on how we proceed from here. When I compare it to what's been happening recently in the USA, I feel we have at least got the correct people running / advising the country [esp. Jason Leitch]

You mean you have read it and didn't understand one word? Coronavirus is here until there is a vaccine that works, that will 18 months from now at the earliest. [that is my opinion] Unfortunately it is not the Scottish government or EUFA or the SFA or the SPL who is setting the agenda on when we can return to normal, it is the virus.

The Juniors were pushed into this, I don't think anyone was happy about the outcome [especially AT], but the added complication that the next season they, the Juniors, will now play football in a series of leagues within the pyramid system of a West of Scotland league.

I think this is a good idea, I would also take this a little further in that we could [as a group] finance a pre-match advert in the local newspaper of whatever team we are about to play on any given Saturday. This will just remind the local population that there will a lack of PTFC travelling support, and spell out the reasons why. No idea how effective this could be, but at least it will allow us to 'vent' a little?

Even a closed doors game is hard to put on given the restrictions, and I'm told that the actual number of people [nominally 300] could vary from state to state [I read there are 16 different states in Germany]

I wont ask for a refund, but that is a personal thing, if you are struggling financially and a refund would make a difference then it is simple logic to ask for one. For PTFC away games I will not participate [no big deal as I attended very few anyway] so perhaps I will spend more time watching Pollok FC Knowing that ignorant f*ckwits like the character who started this thread will no longer be buying a ST is a relief to the rest of the support.

I don't think we are 'like' either, but if we are looking to examples of good governance we should not be following the USA's lead on how to run a country. In saying that the present Conservative government got into power by lies and falsehoods ….. pretty much a carbon copy of what happened in America!!

I don't think the kind of leadership coming from America should be used as an example for the rest of the world.

I admire your positive outlook, but I think it is worth considering the German Governments handling of a possible easing of lockdown [discussed by their parliament 16th April]. It now appears that the German rules on social distancing and maximum numbers allowed for a 'gathering', will make it impossible to restart the Bundesliga in August. There is no specific news of coming from the German government to allow any possible decision regarding the reopening of football in Germany simply because football, at this time, is of low priority. As Germany appears to be the country in the European mainland that has dealt with the spread and 'control' of this virus with the most competence. If there is any country that will be able to relax the lockdown [particularly with regards to playing and watching football] Germany is probably going to be the first country to be able to do this. I don't want to be pessimistic, but I see little chance of football [as we know it] happening before the vaccine is created, and tested. And bear in mind, the 18 months figure to create and test a vaccine is a 'fast track' number, it could be much longer. The time taken recently to 'relegate' PTFC may have been completely in vain, as by the time we actually can start playing football there may be considerably fewer clubs to make up the numbers in the leagues.

no sh*t sherlock

Pointless words I'm afraid. Will there be a vaccine that has been tested and approved as safe for use? Will there be a vaccine that can be produced in the massive numbers to inoculate the population of Europe ... of Asia … of the Americas?