East Kent Jag II

As I've said before we're between a rock and a hard place. Whatever option we take will be hard. I believe that it would be extremely difficult to pay for a whole new squad after mothballing. I am surprised that League 2 clubs want to play this season, but they , on last Friday's indicative vote, do also want to play. I think that the SPFL have put a lot of pressure on clubs to go ahead, and clubs do not want to be left behind. Although slim, there is a possibility that a little funding may come from English lower league clubs getting UK government support. (Via Barnett formula.)

I don't agree at all. Championship clubs will play. Full time clubs in League 1 will want to play. Mothballing would be a disaster on many fronts. We would lose all of our players, and need to start in a competitive market next year with other clubs doing the same. Clubs who play will have their playing staff intact, and have a definite advantage. Sponsorship money and some season ticket cash would need to be refunded. No prize money, with clubs that play seeking it all. The UK government want EFL premiership clubs to fund lower league clubs. (No £1.5billion donation, unlike the arts.) If they agree to this, the quid quo pro is fans in grounds sooner rather than later. Mothballing would be the nemesis of our club, and clubs will play, if for no other reason than to prevent rivals gaining the above advantages.

Teams in all three lower divisions, Championship League 1 and to me somewhat surprisingly League 2 all initially elected to play at the Zoom meetings last Friday. They have until this Friday to confirm this. SPFL threatened to relegate a team who decide to mothball, although what happens if a number do, the mind boggles. It seems that if they mothball, no SPFL payments this season.

Another issue is that the Highland League clubs can't afford to play without fans. The way things are going, even 28 November might be optimistic for that. Macclesfield Town ejected from the National League, with £500,000 debts. Another very old club fallen.

Article in Edinburgh Evening News states the game will be "in Glasgow". But no start time. Hearts were due to play Queens Park, but this fell through. Can't find any other info on the game anywhere else!

Had a look at the Archive today. One of the games listed is from 28 Sep 1889. A friendly against Albion Rovers. It starts "Because both clubs were "overthrown" in the Scottish Cup....." I took it that overthrown meant beaten. So I went to the "Matches" section, and looked up the fixtures for September 1889. Yes there it was. On 7 Sept 1889 3rd L.R.V. 3 Thistle 2 at Cathkin Park. In the match info, wonderful photos of most of the players. I took it that "3rd L.R.V." was what I know to be Third Lanark. So a Google search confirmed that "Third Lanark A.C." was an offshoot of the "3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers", and 3rd L.R.V. was a founder member club of the SFA. I didn't know the origin of Third Lanark, and its a shame that a club with such an illustrious origin and history had to fold. I think there is still a Third Lanark club in amateur football. A lovely journey in the "Thistle Archive" all because of the term "overthrown". Its not that I don't have other things to do, but I'm glad that I made this journey into history.

We got beaten 2-0, DD. We did have some good play, by the commentary. They beat Falkirk 3-0 earlier in the week, so it was always going to be a difficult game. We have Ayr at Firhill on Wednesday at 2:00 pm, I think. Not sure if it is being live streamed. Anyone know who the trialist who came on for Banzo was?

I fully agree that our wages bill will be prohibitive in the short term. It does seem that other clubs in our league (the majority part time) want to proceed with the shortened League campaign. Will the SPFL actually relegate a team not taking part? As the League 2 teams don't want to play, it seems to me that there cannot be any relegation from League 1. We are debt free, and if our board do want to proceed, it seems to me that they will do so within a set affordable budget. You are right in that it would be folly to risk the club by being reckless. But as I said earlier to lose the season and squad , with the need to start from scratch does also present a considerable risk. We are between a rock and a hard place.

Our players are full-time. We would need to release what looks potentially to be a good squad, with not all of the players getting a new club. Those that do will be competing for clubs in a glut of relaesed players. The Championship clubs will finish their season, have prize money for doing so, and have good squads. We will need to start the 21/22season looking for a completely new squad of players. All because Doncaster shafted us on Black Friday. He might as well have put the black cap on top of his wig there and then.

It also gives till next Friday for League 1 clubs to change their minds. Thistle, Falkirk , Cove Rangers and probably East Fife will likely want to go ahead. I can see Clyde and Peterhead wanting to mothball. Peterhead have already expressed concerns about financial viability without fans.

The advantage of a balaclava at Firhill over the past three seasons is that you can wear it back to front. You would need to wrap your scarf round your eyes with one of those Thistle flat caps on

It looks like Championship and League 1 clubs want to proceed with league games. SPFL want to fine teams that subsequently pull out of their commitments. League 2 and below want to mothball. 7 days to decide. I had the concern that League clubs would not want to go ahead, but they now have another 6 days to change their minds. (Dailly Mail linked article from Today's Gossip column in BBC Scottish football section.)

As PTD correctly says, I don't get to Firhill too often . Next time I'm attending a game I'd be very happy to meet you all. I'd like to do that this year, but suspect sometime in 2021 is more likely. Hopefully we will have had lots of League 1 victories by then

Thanks AJ. I also trust that you and your good wife are well! We're all fine here, even with the local universities returning. For now! PTD obviously has a clear advantage over me on this one. Think I'll have to concede! I hope your balaclava gets a run out later this year, but maybe thats not for this thread!!

Announcement on the club website. There is no live video link for the Hearts game. No agreement reached with Hearts. But audio link will be on JagZone. The audio link from elevenone also looks good.

Was Auld Jag's headgear not one of those black flat caps with the thin red & yellow stripes? I'm sure he'll let us know!

You mean "bonnet ". In the words of the old song "If you want to go to heaven when you die You must wear a Thistle scarf & Thistle tie You must wear a Thistle bonnet With feck the (Sellik/Sevco) on it If you want to go to Heaven when you die." (Trad . Modern interpretation. )

Nigel Huddlestone, UK sports minister has stated in the House of Commons that UK sports Premier clubs are "on their own" and are expected to get their own way out of the Covid crisis. The FA were looking for £500 million to get them through. Lower league clubs may be given financial help. No doubt some similar message will be given to the SPFL, if any funding is given in Scotland. I have my doubts that any cash will be forthcoming. The future of quite a few Scottish clubs is now very bleak.

I Did the Chancellor not say the Gov will cover two thirds of salary, with employers covering one third? Still financially difficult for clubs, even if streaming is taken up by many fans. Correction Laukat is correct. Gov will only pay one third. Doesn't really help football clubs .

I'm pleased to see that he's got his head together, but I wish he'd stop gloating when he scores against us. His joy after last seasons 5-1 defeat was painful to see and thats not just as a Jags fan. Schadenfreude I understand, but to be a true professional, he needs to put this dislike behind him. What he hasn't developed is wisdom. To be a successful overweight footballer you either need inate ability, supreme confidence, or (a la Gazza) no brains! I'm sure his coaches at Firhill told him to lose weight. He chose not to, & the club didn't owe him a living.

Why do I get a certain sense of deja vu? Merthyr Town are unusual in playing their football in a different jurisdiction to where they are. (England and Wales). Different rules. They (and as far as I can see) Guernsey have been given dispensation by their league to mothball and not be punished. They have crowds of 150 - 520, so I presume their players are part time. They have released all of their players, but retained their manager. Its a bit different in Scotland. The SPFL imposed a penalty of relegation for mothballed clubs (although it will be interesting to see how they choose where a number of clubs decide to go into suspended animation). As mentioned previously, I believe that this was a result of our court action, but that has now gone. But we still do have the horrible SPFL voting structure, so lets use that to our advantage. When the siren calls come out from Cumbernauld, Coatbridge and Cowdenbeath, lets ensure that the clubs in League 1 & 2 with most to lose, the full time clubs, vote down any request to mothball. We have ourselves, Falkirk, Cove and Queens Park who will hopefully all vote yes. Hopefully East Fife will be on board. Part time clubs don't have so much to lose, as their players usually have another source of income. Full time players don't, so I hope that the players union will speak out more forcibly this time, at players and other club staff losing their sole means of living. But use the voting system against the glorified social clubs, and let play commence. Although Sturgeon is talking about a "Zoom Christmas", I will be disappointed if complete sanctions last that long. As Norgethistle mentioned, second peaks across other countries has not been as serious as the first, presumably because lessons have been learned, and better clinical practices are in place. The USA and Brazil have been notable exceptions, but then there is poor leadership in those countries. The problem here is in having a "world beating" track and trace system, but "world beatingly" poor, and mixed messages diluting the need to beat the virus first. Clubs like Thistle can have crowds back in reasonable numbers safely, and the way Thistle has maximised sponsor income is excellent. We do have a reputation for being a well run club, but please do not take that as any support for current incumbents! The job losses if a careful return of fans doesn't happen is depressing, and both the UK and Scottish governments will not want the death of football on their hands, and in view of an impending election, I think that perhaps applies more so to the Scottish government. I'm not forgetting the need for peoples lives first, but I for one, won't forget. It will take me up to four more years to exercise my democratic right, but I do have a good memory. I also wonder why it is football players are on a "yellow card" for breaching Covid regs, but nothing is done or much said about rugby players doing a similar thing? Dual standards. If we have learned from the first peak, hopefully my deja vu won't become a Groundhog Day...

Like everybody else, I was disappointed with the streaming of the game. I get the impression that the tracking system might do better with a slow international tippy tappy type of game, but we will face packed defences, with the hoof up the park for the opposition's Speedy Gonzales to chase. We'll miss quite a bit of the action on yesterdays streaming performance! An opportunity missed by the club. When I was watching, there were 790 odd tuned in. Some of those watching would have been with others, so a lot of disappointed people. Gerry Britton said that staff members were being trained to use the system. What was their role? is it possible to have a manual override to zoom in, deal with the shade and ghosting issues, etc It would pay to rethink streaming, but I suspect we've signed up to this for the season, so there must be improvements if people (apart from the season ticket holders who have already paid to view) will watch. The subs bench yesterday had some established players listed, but if or when the league starts, good substitutions will be needed to get the win over the line, and get the points we need.

£55,000 of the £60,000 target now reached

meybe 2 or 300 of those Alloa analysts that they keep sending to opposition games. They may think that they will be playing BSC sometime soon.