avie-man Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 (edited) Players and parents turned up to training during the week to find the teams have been cut with immediate effect. This is the club who told the fans they didn't need their money. All done on the hush as usual again, with nothing from the club as of yet. More transparency from the KGB than Firhill these days. Edited October 23, 2022 by avie-man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambies Lost Doo Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 ??? How can that just happen? Who runs this? Kids will be gutted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlsarmy Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 1 hour ago, avie-man said: Players and parents turned up to training during the week to find the teams have been cut with immediate effect. This is the club who told the fans they didn't need their money. All done on the hush as usual again, with nothing from the club as of yet. More transparency from the KGB than Firhill these days. Good to see Jaqui Lowe is protecting the legacy of her friend Colin Weir Total shitfest at Firhill just now , no direction, no template for our future, not good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Dastardly Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 What a horrible club we have become. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarciaBlaine Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 Jesus. I hope at least someone in the media picks up on this even if the club are keeping it quiet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarciaBlaine Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 Reading up on this a bit and it seems the club/Weirs never really funded the grassroots teams. I’m not sure why, but apparently they’ve always had to fundraise to stay afloat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiltshire Jag Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 Perhaps something TJF could support through their fundraising? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laukat Posted October 23, 2022 Report Share Posted October 23, 2022 47 minutes ago, Wiltshire Jag said: Perhaps something TJF could support through their fundraising? Not sure what the costs would be or if TJF can cover it but that is an excellent idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elevenone Posted October 24, 2022 Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 Club spin on it here. https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-news/partick-thistle-update-re-thistle-weir-youth-academys-grassroots-programme/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted October 24, 2022 Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 One for TJF. As I understand it just about every practical fan ownership model precludes fan involvement in the day to day running of the Club, setting budgets etc. From the EGM if I heard right the Hearts/St Mirren Supporter groups retain membership control over certain issues. These crown jewels being matters like change of team/club colours, moving stadium. I take that to also include issues that would have a serious irreversible impact on the Club. So my question is, if/when we are properly established as a fan owned club would closure or major wholesale changes to the Youth Academy be considered a crown jewel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted October 24, 2022 Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 5 hours ago, lady-isobel-barnett said: One for TJF. As I understand it just about every practical fan ownership model precludes fan involvement in the day to day running of the Club, setting budgets etc. From the EGM if I heard right the Hearts/St Mirren Supporter groups retain membership control over certain issues. These crown jewels being matters like change of team/club colours, moving stadium. I take that to also include issues that would have a serious irreversible impact on the Club. So my question is, if/when we are properly established as a fan owned club would closure or major wholesale changes to the Youth Academy be considered a crown jewel? The chair categorically stated they did not need our funding. I’m sure this could have been an outlay we could have helped in if asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted October 24, 2022 Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 22 minutes ago, Norgethistle said: The chair categorically stated they did not need our funding. I’m sure this could have been an outlay we could have helped in if asked. Not exactly answering my hypothetical question, Norge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawlty Towers Posted October 24, 2022 Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 Thistle Weir Youth Academy Limited is a separate entity to Partick Thistle Football Club Limited. It has always annoyed me that over recent years we have become so bitty for want of a better word. The football club separate to the youth academy, PropCo lurking in the background, The Jags Trust and the PTFC Trust, etc. My hope was that when TJF became the majority shareholder we could start to get eveything under one roof but now that does not seem to be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted October 24, 2022 Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 31 minutes ago, lady-isobel-barnett said: Not exactly answering my hypothetical question, Norge. Hypothetically a true fan ownership model, that raises funds would fund the things it’s membership deems right, obviously the Fan Ownership board would make recommendations based on input from the fans and the wider community, the grassroots I would say would fall in this category. The problem is, the fan ownership vehicle chosen, has no income and does not communicate with its beneficiaries. So even if it had money it wouldn’t know what fans wanted it allocated to, and the opposite scenario is also true even if it had communicated with the beneficiaries it has no bank account or funds to fulfill their wishes. Things could have been so much different if the real fan ownership model was chosen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avie-man Posted October 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 Several parents appear to be picking apart the club's statement. I'm stunned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted October 24, 2022 Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 1 hour ago, avie-man said: Several parents appear to be picking apart the club's statement. I'm stunned. And a coach is also weighing in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garscube Road End 2 Posted October 24, 2022 Report Share Posted October 24, 2022 We are an utter embarrassment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milhouse Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) The evidence that Thistle Weir Academy teams are a good use of money doesn't stack up. Stuart Bannigan has obviously made lots of appearances for the first team, but actually signed for the club several years before Thistle Weir was ever started. Other than him, there are no Academy players who have made a substantial impact. Players like Liam Lindsay and Kevin Nisbet left and made the club little money. Colin Weir should have spent his money on first team signings which would have kept us in the Premier League. It's a nice idea but in an organisation which has to be as financially lean as possible, the Academy doesn't justify the investment. It doesn't work to benefit the men's first team of PTFC, which should always be the major focus. Edited October 25, 2022 by milhouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Dastardly Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 A very narrow minded view. Just for starters it doesn’t take into account the creation of the next generation of Thistle fans and their parents who could be bringing revenue for years to come. What about potential sponsors brought in due to child/relative playing for a junior side ? The combination of Nesbit, Lindsey and Hendry brought significant income, almost certainly more than the cost of running the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 51 minutes ago, milhouse said: The evidence that Thistle Weir Academy teams are a good use of money doesn't stack up. Stuart Bannigan has obviously made lots of appearances for the first team, but actually signed for the club several years before Thistle Weir was ever started. Other than him, there are no Academy players who have made a substantial impact. Players like Liam Lindsay and Kevin Nisbet left and made the club little money. Colin Weir should have spent his money on first team signings which would have kept us in the Premier League. It's a nice idea but in an organisation which has to be as financially lean as possible, the Academy doesn't justify the investment. It doesn't work to benefit the men's first team of PTFC, which should always be the major focus. I think it is difficult to define the success or failure of any academy on the amount that the parent club makes from selling players on. It seems to me that most players move on at the end of their contracts and there is no money involved - maybe some development fee for younger players. There will be other players that have slipped the mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milhouse Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said: A very narrow minded view. Just for starters it doesn’t take into account the creation of the next generation of Thistle fans and their parents who could be bringing revenue for years to come. What about potential sponsors brought in due to child/relative playing for a junior side ? The combination of Nesbit, Lindsey and Hendry brought significant income, almost certainly more than the cost of running the program. I don't think PTFC ever received any sort of transfer fee for Kevin Nisbet but I'm happy to be corrected on this. Most parents and children will be Old Firm fans, I think the "next generation of fans" is a negligible effect. I think we'd be more likely to be successful signing first team players released from elsewhere who are a bit disgruntled and want to prove themselves. To me the success and failure of the academy is solely based on whether it benefits the men's first team of PTFC, whether with good players directly from the Academy, or with money from sale of players put directly back to the playing budget. There is little evidence of success of Thistle Weir on this basis. It's nice having wee kids in red and yellow tops running around on the pitch at Firhill at half time etc., but there's no evidence that it's going to get PTFC in the top flight of Scottish football and help to keep us there. Academies are a luxury not applicable to PTFC. Edited October 25, 2022 by milhouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Gekantawa Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 1 hour ago, Dick Dastardly said: The combination of Nesbit, Lindsey and Hendry brought significant income, almost certainly more than the cost of running the program. I would also add Aiden Fitzpatrick and Penrice (the latter was a technically a swap for Tiffoney, but this is as good as a fee considering we really wanted tiff and would have had to pay a fee otherwise) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watties wallies Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 maybe if the management team would give some of these younger promising lads a bit more game time just a thought 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, milhouse said: The evidence that Thistle Weir Academy teams are a good use of money doesn't stack up. Stuart Bannigan has obviously made lots of appearances for the first team, but actually signed for the club several years before Thistle Weir was ever started. Other than him, there are no Academy players who have made a substantial impact. Players like Liam Lindsay and Kevin Nisbet left and made the club little money. Colin Weir should have spent his money on first team signings which would have kept us in the Premier League. It's a nice idea but in an organisation which has to be as financially lean as possible, the Academy doesn't justify the investment. It doesn't work to benefit the men's first team of PTFC, which should always be the major focus. I think Colin Weir was probably more motivated to support community projects via the club than to simply throw money at the first team. It's rather too simple to declare how Mr Weir "should have spent his money." Edited October 25, 2022 by Jaggernaut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Dastardly Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 I’d much rather have an organised youth structure and a manager willing to give the players a chance than to have a sugar daddy chucking cash at the first team. If I win Euro Millions tonight, the first thing I’ll do is recreate the academy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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