BowenBoys Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 I really wish I knew Twinny. You're right, Glasgow has many better places than Firhill for meetings/conferences/drinking and the pitch won't support ground sharing. I love Firhill but it is in poor condition and isn't going to improve any time soon. I would hate to have a new Lego set ground for a home and, again, there would still be better facilities around. Like many here I can outline the problems, as the board are no doubt fully aware. Nobody seems to have any answers. Anybody else hear distant alarm bells? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawlty Towers Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Saw this and it got me wondering about the gulf between Scotland and England in terms of the money in football: http://www.bbc.co.uk...otball/32018669 Were would that sort of wage put you in the hierarchy of Scottish football? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillresigned Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Think this idea is definitely worth following up. Some years ago the Citizens' Theatre introduced the Gorbals Card. Once registered, with proof of address, cardholders were able to get a generous discount on tickets. The Citz is proud of its unfashionable location and has a long history of community inclusion. PTFC claim to be a community football club.This might be a good time to prove it. Such a scheme could be widened to offer benefits from other local amenities/businesses. It would be good to see the club leading on this. Offering discounts to those on your own email database is ok but reaching out to potential new local fans could be much more beneficial. I have always been fond of the Gnome idea as a means of creating publicity for the club but in terms of raising the profile of PTFC nationally and possibly internationally, the sort of work being done by Forest Green Rovers of the English Conference would be hard to beat. http://www.forestgre...ing-up-football Good topic Sinistar. Would love there to be a silver bullet which would do away with all our problems at one stroke, if there is I'm not aware of one I think a combination of most of these ideas should be tried, particularly the infrastructure and environmental ones, they should be happening as a matter of course. I also like this idea of trying seriously to involve the local community. Of course as the media are always saying (and they MUST be correct) its a results driven business and nothing will attract crowds like success. Except that in realistic terms where we are now IS success for Thistle, particularly when one thinks of where we've been at times over the last 20/30 years. Scottish football suffers from having the wealthiest league in the world continually set up as a totally unfair comparison. In a similar vein, our wonderful Scottish media or certain sections of it are never done talking about how our game is at deaths door due to not having a certain team in the top flight, which is hardly consistent with attracting sponsors etc. No doubt when and if they get back in, we'll be back to the same old rubbish about the Old Firm being too big for Scottish football! Sorry about the wee rant, but as I was saying if we want to attract new fans to Firhill it will take a concerted effort in all the areas I've mentioned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillresigned Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Saw this and it got me wondering about the gulf between Scotland and England in terms of the money in football: http://www.bbc.co.uk...otball/32018669 Were would that sort of wage put you in the hierarchy of Scottish football? Think that would be upper Championship level, excluding Sevco and Hibs and Hearts as that's likely to be a one(or maybe two, if there really is a God) phenomenon. I'd guess its only a few hundred less than what some of the squad at Firhill are on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) Would love there to be a silver bullet which would do away with all our problems at one stroke, if there is I'm not aware of one I think a combination of most of these ideas should be tried, particularly the infrastructure and environmental ones, they should be happening as a matter of course. I also like this idea of trying seriously to involve the local community. Of course as the media are always saying (and they MUST be correct) its a results driven business and nothing will attract crowds like success. Except that in realistic terms where we are now IS success for Thistle, particularly when one thinks of where we've been at times over the last 20/30 years. Scottish football suffers from having the wealthiest league in the world continually set up as a totally unfair comparison. In a similar vein, our wonderful Scottish media or certain sections of it are never done talking about how our game is at deaths door due to not having a certain team in the top flight, which is hardly consistent with attracting sponsors etc. No doubt when and if they get back in, we'll be back to the same old rubbish about the Old Firm being too big for Scottish football! Sorry about the wee rant, but as I was saying if we want to attract new fans to Firhill it will take a concerted effort in all the areas I've mentioned I agree totally that on field success, although a huge influence and of obvious importance, is clearly overvalued in generating a solid, sustained fanbase. Big matches, like we experienced in our promotion year do attract people, but it is clear that clubs are happy to capitalise on these and chase this simple solution when in reality these games are a novelty. Start of season in a new league, end of season with something at stake, big cup ties are not the norm. Of course winning matches is the name of the game and will attract attention and benefit income. But there are clear examples of this not being the only factor which supporters value. Man city, leeds united, Nottingham forest all managed to maintain large followings when they fell through the leagues. Those examples have historical success, but there are others who maintain decent loyal fanbases without a glittering past, Milwall, Brighton, Bradford, Birmingham, Watford... And others for whom success does not bring huge gates, Wimbledon, Monaco.... Hamilton... However, I agree too, that comparisons with England are a little unfair as circumstances are very different. Although this is not helped by "the blazers" constantly plagerising their ideas and persisting with Heath Robinson structures, we too have our clubs that are better supported despite their performance and history. I've often thought, an NFL system would work best for a proffessional football league in Scotland, where funds are pulled and the naturally smaller "franchises" share an equal part of the pot. It's hard to imagine this ever happening but it would be nice to think those in charge of our game might look further afield for inspiration and competition than the b45t4rding English. In our league where old firm p.f.c have generally had the monopoly on success we, as an independent club, should really be taking more seriously other parts of our operation in order to establish ourselves as a prominent sporting institution. We have a history and should be investing in and selling that much more. We are survivors with exciting potential and worth your buck!!! We are a club who have achieved a decent level of sporting success in our country and we should be proud of that. But we should be equally proud of the fact that we have survived many a harsh financial winter. We're not merely the cuddly toy of scottish football, we are the Great Glasgow alternative and more significantly and impressively, Glasgow's oldest proffessional football team. 139 years and still competing. How many Third lanark or Rangers fans would bite your hand off for that? I'm sure there are those at the club who know this and are doing their best, but it is up to us all to emphasise the point. It's great to be a JAG! Edited March 26, 2015 by ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_mac Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 140 years next year. The club should be looking to mark this in a big way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) So, how can the club maximise the use of the ground? We had the warriors but that's not an option considering the state of the pitch without them, nevermind that they're happy where they are. Artificial turf seems the only way, or concerts in the summer. The bar and 'conference' facilities... Well if I was planning a meeting or conference in Glasgow Firhill would be bottom of my list. If the bar was licensed for daily use, would anyone actually go? Reckon the bar would be good for a wake though... Astro turf seems a bit of a no brainer to me so long as a reasonable business plan comes with it and it's no just laid and expected to start growing cash instead of grass. I'd hate to see the grass go, but the excues about player injuries are wearing thin, how many osbournes can't be replaced? Din't the team train at the firhill compex for a few years? It's not "just a home advantage", and players don't loose feel for grass, Hamilton, Killie, Queen of the south, Falkirk, Airdire, Clyde ... It doesn't mean that when we've made buckets of cash from it and are feeling flush we cant return to real turf Firhill, despite the tremendous efforts of many a groundsman has never lasted a full season in pristine condition We're too skint to be snobbish about what we play on If Elton john is willing to play Falkirk we'd be the perfect fit for Kool & the gang. I guess the only stickler is start up costs. But, A couple of tidy but temporary porta-cabin type changing rooms on the bing and entry through the old terrace turnstyles for a sidey and we could soon claw it back surely? ... "Best floodlights in Europe" when we bought 'em... I think "use" is the key word here too. I mean, if we really can't generate an income from our property maybe, even if only in the short to medium term, we should start looking at ways to get it used in a not for profit stylee and enhance our community club standing. I'm blue-sky thinking here, i know, but is the top floor office over the changing rooms still used? Would be a cracking place to invite the Jagscast boys to run Thistle FM radio from, or ..... maybe ... it'd make a good studio space for the artist who did the south drive mural.... or .... would make a good (out of office hours) rehearsal room for some budding band? ... Could we give it 6 month or a years free rent to a struggling local business or jags fan entrepreneur or young start up? ....Anything that would liven up and bring people to Firhill more regularly has gotta be good, right? If we can make money do it. If it won't lose us money or get us trouble, how can we help? Edited March 27, 2015 by ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglas clark Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 I think the idea of giving locals a substantial discount, as the Citz does, is a good way of embedding the team in the community. So +1 for that idea. Winning on the park would be good too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 I think the idea of giving locals a substantial discount, as the Citz does, is a good way of embedding the team in the community. So +1 for that idea. Winning on the park would be good too! Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, it's open to serious abuse. Proof of being local? A utility bill or something? Easy to pass one on to a friend or relative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinny Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, it's open to serious abuse. Proof of being local? A utility bill or something? Easy to pass one on to a friend or relative. This is why we need national ID cards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpool Jags Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Security being over officious and refusing admission to some fans who are no more than mildly tipsy isn't conducive to getting more bums on seats. Particularly when their mates turn away with them and, presumably, head back to the pub to watch Soccer Saturday over a pint. It's been said many times before, and it's still true: finding other things to do on Saturday afternoons and missing games is an easy habit to develop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowenBoys Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, it's open to serious abuse. Proof of being local? A utility bill or something? Easy to pass one on to a friend or relative. If the club were to think about this I hope that they would find out how the Citz operate their scheme before dismissing the idea as unworkable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 I think the idea of giving locals a substantial discount, as the Citz does, is a good way of embedding the team in the community. So +1 for that idea. Winning on the park would be good too! I'm not so sure about this one. I mean, yes we want to re-establish ourselves with our immediate neighbours but we have to recognise that the Thistle community is broader than North west Glasgow. For years "ex-pats" have been following the Jags home and away, even running supporters busses, from far flung places like Cumbernauld and East kilbride. Those furthest adventurers of the Thistle diaspora already pay more travelling to games, should their effort to keep their connection be further tested at our gates with a surcharge for displacement from the promised land? I'm also of the thought that a UB40 gate maybe a bit of a "riddy" for some and open to abuse from others. While I don't wish to attach any stigma onto the unemployed I could understand one's pride preventing one from accepting the offer. I think there are differences between how people want to, and are able to watch the game, what sort of ambience they might appreciate. I think it's best to give a selection and let them choose their own fit. Create a variety that is open to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrD Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 It's hard to get inspired by supporting a football team in a league where there is no chance of winning anything.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted March 28, 2015 Report Share Posted March 28, 2015 It's hard to get inspired by supporting a football team in a league where there is no chance of winning anything.. True. But what's rangers got to do with this thread? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Rubble Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Has the cost of a ticket Vs weekly wage really jumped that much as a % in the last 20 years or are folk spending their money differently? 20 years ago - 1 house phone, Now several mobiles and a house phone and Internet 20 years ago - 1 TV license, Now sky package and tv license Life has changed and what were luxuries are now classed as necessaries. We never had kids for free, sometimes you got a squeeze up with 2 kids getting 1 click Found some old ticket stubs from the 90's recently. 91-92 Home LC tie against the club formerly trading as Rangers was £6. 97-98 Entrance to league games at Firhill was £10. In the 5 years in between we were in the top division for 4 of them. Safe to assume the going rate during those years was £8-£10. As Norge points out, things like mobile phones and broadband are now utilities rather than luxuries. As such people have a greater range of fixed costs to cover than they did 20 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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