JesusTejero Posted May 27, 2016 Report Share Posted May 27, 2016 I have not suggested the Weirs are on an "ego trip" . I provided a quote from them, and offered opinion suggesting quite the opposite. My criticism is of the club offering by way of thanks, a gesture which inherently and demonstrably puts the Weirs in the public eye. My criticism has not been of the Weirs', (whom I described as "good people") acceptance of it which I suggest could possibly be a little awkward not to do. The conflict of interest is that while Partick Thistle quite reasonably might want to be seen as a grateful club, the Weirs have said very reasonably stated intent that, "We are not celebrities, nor politicians, nor public figures.". There is a conflict for anybody representing on one side public promotion and on the other discretion. I am not suggesting any sort of conspiracy. Nor am I suggesting any evil intent or unlawful intention or practice. Possible oversight... yes. Poor judgement... that is of course a matter of opinion. Cool story bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jukebox Rebel Posted May 27, 2016 Report Share Posted May 27, 2016 would be nice in some way if the club could commemorate George Easton. Though the great mans long gone I'm sure he will have relations somewhere at the very least George deserves inducted in the hall of fame Seconded TL I understand there is a need to keep the event sellable ticket-wise with modern-era entrants but I don't see why they can't simply add on another entrant or two on top. Frankly, without Willie Paul, George Easton and Jimmy McGowan, the thing is lacking in historical credibility as it stands. These men should have been at the very top of the entry list. On a commercial level maybe they should give Stevie Pittman a place. Think of the bar takings with McWilliams and all the Pumpherston mob on the ran-dan. Ker-ching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_mac Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Our generous benefactors are on record as saying - "On winning the lottery almost three years ago, we made a decision not to speak publicly about any aspect of our lives. We are not celebrities, nor politicians, nor public figures. We try to live quiet, decent lives just as we did before." Perhaps the club will show greater empathy with the Weirs' sentiments, avoid putting them in awkward positions and not proceed with any further ostentatious acts of gratitude to draw these good people into the public eye. I also have reservations with the club for the misappropriation of the word "patron" and asserting it as a special title or elevated position. While the Weirs can be addressed as "patrons" and their contributions, for which I am sure we are all supremely grateful, maybe exceptional in their size and significant in what they facilitate, the lesser contributions of many fans may be no less a sacrifice to them and should entitle them to similar respect and gratitude. I have little doubt that Mr. Weir himself would be more comfortable known as a "fan" rather than "patron", and one who like many others have given and paid considerable portions of their own personal "fortunes" to the jags cause. Furthermore, I suspect, despite the phenomenal proportion of his gift, he may feel some embarrassment at the suggestion he is the "first ever" to have generously donated to, or for that matter, been a customer of the club. No jealousy of those who can afford a season ticket, just a word of warning not to disrespect the PATG punters. And of course the elephant in the room .... the Weirs' well known political persuasion, the SNP and Scottish independence. Not a problem to us... come on in, what ye drinking? You buying? triffic!! I'll have a pint, thanks. Make yersel at home, I'll grab ye a cushion and you put yer feet up. Put on yer jags scarf, relax and watch the game..... Sign the guest book.... ,muckin in and helping with the clear up is grand.... just not so sure if carving your name in the table is a good idea even if the current boss told you to do it (he's having a rerr terr on your tab and might be a bit pissed). We've a got a reputation to keep..... Here, have ye met ma pal, he's a disgruntled unionist, but he's been comin to Firhill for about 30 year, ....mon i'll introduce yeez.... :fan: :fan: You've got to be the most irritating contributor to this forum these days. Why do you take 7 paragraphs to make a point that could be made in one sentence? You seem to think that if you post more often than anyone else it makes you correct all the time, but it doesn't work that way. I am in no way shape or form a supporter of the SNP. But I don't see how the Weirs political allegiance has anything to do with their support of PTFC. For you to use their generosity as a political points scoring exercise is crass in the extreme. I sure hope they don't read this forum. Talk about knocking a gift horse in the mouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaila Street Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 You've got to be the most irritating contributor to this forum these days. Why do you take 7 paragraphs to make a point that could be made in one sentence? You seem to think that if you post more often than anyone else it makes you correct all the time, but it doesn't work that way. I am in no way shape or form a supporter of the SNP. But I don't see how the Weirs political allegiance has anything to do with their support of PTFC. For you to use their generosity as a political points scoring exercise is crass in the extreme. I sure hope they don't read this forum. Talk about knocking a gift horse in the mouth. Another 500k proffered today - hopefully it was cleared with the disgruntled unionist before being accepted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Another 500k proffered today - hopefully it was cleared with the disgruntled unionist before being accepted. Does anyone know if the 500K is paid in sterling, euros or auld Scottish groats? Great news and I take from that an endorsement from our benefactors that the original funding has and is being invested wisely an in accordance with their wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garscube Road End Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Personally. Wilstead I'm delighted for the financial input to the club by the Weirs we shouldn't expect them to finance bigger deals , bigger pool of players etc. How long would that last? For a club the size of Thistle it is unsustainable. The youth academy is a wonderful gift which we are reaping and will reap benefits from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armand2 Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Fantastic gesture from the Weirs to contribute another £500k to the youth academy. I'm interested to know whether it is sustainable without their continued contributions though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Kenny Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Fantastic gesture once again. I guess the long term future of the academy will hopefully be self sustainable once/if Thistle can start to produce and sell on players for a large sum i.e. McCarthy and McCarthur at Hamilton, Gauld and Armstrong at United etc. This kind of backing will hopefully go a long way to helping that. The backing wouldn't be worth anything though if it hadn't been put to great use, Gerry Britton and the Academy team deserve great credit for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancipital Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Echo the above. Great gesture, but £250k a year does seem a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Fantastic gesture from the Weirs to contribute another £500k to the youth academy. I'm interested to know whether it is sustainable without their continued contributions though. That depends on what success is made of the academy while they are supporting it. If it starts to produce a decent number of good youngsters each year who can become part of the squad and if every 2-3 years we can sell a player for a £100k or so then it will be self-sustaining. I think what is also maybe required is for a youngster to be sold for a good price sometime soon and do well with the team he's transferred to. Then you will see clubs (English league clubs most likely) start to check out ur youth players regularly. It's what I think happened with Hamilton who after a couple fo good sales seem to find it easy to sell on their young players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 I'm interested to know whether it is sustainable without their continued contributions though. Good point but just a couple youngsters going on to better things could correct any imbalance. We'll just have to wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 You've got to be the most irritating contributor to this forum these days. Why do you take 7 paragraphs to make a point that could be made in one sentence? You seem to think that if you post more often than anyone else it makes you correct all the time, but it doesn't work that way. I am in no way shape or form a supporter of the SNP. But I don't see how the Weirs political allegiance has anything to do with their support of PTFC. For you to use their generosity as a political points scoring exercise is crass in the extreme. I sure hope they don't read this forum. Talk about knocking a gift horse in the mouth. If everything is so easily explained, why does it take you 3 paragraphs to call me a "pr*ck"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Great news and that will be £1.25m they have invested in our youth set up over six years plus their contribution to the debt free arrangement ... What's to complain about ? And they support the snp all good ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Great news and that will be £1.25m they have invested in our youth set up over six years plus their contribution to the debt free arrangement ... What's to complain about ? Exactly, the fact that some people are still having doubts about the Weirs is frankly mind boggling. The club has never been in a better position in its 140 year existence, yet some people are still not happy. They are one of the best things to have ever happened to our great club! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Good news, but my only fear is we become sole reliant on the Weirs money, this latest move and the previous (if used right) should free the club from financial shackles that stopped us making money for us but paid the bank, we need to turn this into a proffitable self sustaining club now 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Exactly, the fact that some people are still having doubts about the Weirs is frankly mind boggling. The club has never been in a better position in its 140 year existence, yet some people are still not happy. They are one of the best things to have ever happened to our great club! Unless i've picked it up wrong, i don't think anyone is having doubts about the Weirs. Some have questioned why Colin has had a stand named after him, when he's been made a patron and had the youth set up take the family name. I can understand that. Fans have an affinity to a stand or an area of the ground as its where their memories stem from. Maybe its just me, but if i was a lottery winner with my 30 years of following Thistle and it was suggested a stand take my name? I couldnt accept that in a month of Sundays. Id request that someone more fitting give their name to the stand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Tbh if I invested a lot of money in thistle and they wanted to name something after me I world say fine.....I mean your not getting your money back ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Like maybe a few others, my concern is only how ThistleWeir becomes able to financially support itself in the long run. What's happened to date makes total sense - Weirs finance for an initial few years and agree to extend their investment based on the progress made - but at some point it has to become self-sustaining, right? Would be interesting to know what the plan is for that to happen. Don't want to have to rely on the Weirs to fund the academy into perpetuity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Like maybe a few others, my concern is only how ThistleWeir becomes able to financially support itself in the long run. What's happened to date makes total sense - Weirs finance for an initial few years and agree to extend their investment based on the progress made - but at some point it has to become self-sustaining, right? Would be interesting to know what the plan is for that to happen. Don't want to have to rely on the Weirs to fund the academy into perpetuity. I see the investment in two parts. There's a community aspect that cannot by its nature fund itself. Then there's the academy with its structured youth development, which in time should be self funding. Every time one of our own lads forces his way into the first team its one less player we've to source from elsewhere. Thus no signing on fee and/or transfer money involved. And of course more importantly the possibility of the occasional selling on. We've no guarantee that we'll produce enough quality to self fund but everything I see and hear convinces me that we're certainly doing all the right things and that has to increase the percentages. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Tbh if I invested a lot of money in thistle and they wanted to name something after me I world say fine.....I mean your not getting your money back ! And after that. Once theyd named the youth academy you finance after you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted May 31, 2016 Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 We've no guarantee that we'll produce enough quality to self fund but everything I see and hear convinces me that we're certainly doing all the right things and that has to increase the percentages. This is the part that worries me. Look at most any club with a top-flight academy and it's a very small number of players that break through to the first team. I certainly can't suggest a better way of doing things - this is the best possible use of the Weirs' generosity. But how exactly will our top-flight academy outperform other academies' "hit rate"? Is it simply that we don't have to find the next world-beating superstar and can settle on building a competitive first team, for which the odds are much higher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted May 31, 2016 Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 For it to succeed long term we need to produce at least one excellent prospect every season or two and sell them on, very much like Hamilton have done over the last 10 years or so. At the moment the signs are very promising with the likes of Penrice and Nisbet. Another important factor will be staying in a more competitive top league, with the money flying about with the likes of Celtic (unveiling a top flight manager) Sevco (unfortunately) Hearts and Aberdeen all likely to bring huge crowds to Firhill next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G13 jag Posted May 31, 2016 Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 I see the investment in two parts. There's a community aspect that cannot by its nature fund itself. Then there's the academy with its structured youth development, which in time should be self funding. Every time one of our own lads forces his way into the first team its one less player we've to source from elsewhere. Thus no signing on fee and/or transfer money involved. And of course more importantly the possibility of the occasional selling on. We've no guarantee that we'll produce enough quality to self fund but everything I see and hear convinces me that we're certainly doing all the right things and that has to increase the percentages. Falkirk were one of the first clubs to set up a community arm to the club. This involved kids from 3 playing football, being part of the club and paying their way. The very talented players would be promoted to their youth academy. Again the talented would be promoted to the first team. But this was more than a youth development project. It was community based, it helped find new talent, but this was profitable for the club. I think we will see something similar with Weir Thistle in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted May 31, 2016 Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 I find it hard to see how the youth academy can become sustainable. Even if it does produce quality players each season, I struggle to see how it saves the club money or generates new income. Good players coming through the system will make the managers job easier in finding new players for the team. But we will still need to pay them a competitive wage. We may save transfer fees but when was the last time or how often do we pay one. If we pay signing on fees, we would probably still have to do that to persuade the academy player to sign for Thistle. If he is good enough other clubs will be trying to sign them too. As far as selling a player on after a few years - again how often has this happened. The Bosman rule pretty much put paid to this idea in all but the elite leagues in Europe and there is no compensation due once a player reaches 23. The only way for the academy to be self sustaining is for the team to be successful achieving higher league placing or cup success and the club paying for the running of the academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz Posted May 31, 2016 Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 I read the investment deal lifting the club out of debt included investment from Billy Allan and the Weirs. Raising Allan's share holding to 3% and the Weirs stake got them just shy of 30%, of which they keep 10% (5% to Christine 5 to Colin) and have gifted 19+% to the new trust. Is this accurate and has there been any further explanation about where that leaves the Jags Trust who presumably still own 1,000,000(?) shares regardless of membership size? What's their % stake in the club now? Was the new trust a condition set down by the bank or the Weirs or the club or .... ? And ... What's the deal with "Firhill developments LTD" ... is that all done and dusted? .... Was Billy Allan an investor in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.