The State of Firhill

[Jaggernaut]

"State" as in condition, not as in nation (though a Republic of Firhill might be nice!).

The new board has a lot to do to get us out of the mess we are currently in, in terms of financial losses, and supporting the manager for mounting another great promotion challenge (hopefully successful, this time). These issues can rightly be seen as being priorities, but I hope the board is also duly concerned about the rapidly deteriorating state of the stadium, in particular the main stand. Look at the picture of the flaking, crumbling and water ingress-stained facade, which has clearly been totally neglected for some considerable time. I'm not sure when the picture was taken, but I think I've seen a more recent one that is even worse, with weeds and other vegetation (saplings?) now growing in cracks in the wall. Frankly, this does not give a good impression about the club to anybody, and if I were a potential sponsor I think I might have second thoughts about putting money or equipment into an organization that appears to show such little regard about the appearance of its headquarters and place of business. That is unless I was in the building/repairs trade (!), in which case my sponsorship might be in the form of damage limitation to prevent the problem becoming critical.

Is the 3/- entry price still visible above the city terracing- bing-end turnstiles? 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Jaggernaut

[Garscube Road End 2]

Firhill always has been a shabby ground. Maybe that's why we love the old girl!

Edited June 17, 2023 by Garscube Road End 2

[a f kincaid]

Three shillings?  That's outrageous. Ah'm no goin' back!

I think the state of the floodlights should be added to the log list of "things to do". IMO they used to be excellent but games on TV are exposing the fact that much of the centre of the park is increasingly darker than the two 18 yard boxes. I wonder how many bulbs are actually working. Are they all working but poorly positioned? Our away televised matches have shown some clubs have lights that are far brighter - and evenly so.

Related to wider issues about energy costs, why is it not possible to start games in all but the deepest midwinter at 2.00 pm? Most of them could finish without the need for the lights to be used at all (or at least only for the second half). This would need to be with the agreement of the visiting club of course. Anyone remember the season we used to dim the lights at half time?

This just emphasises the size of the task facing whoever is running the club. All about priorities I suppose.

 

[lady-isobel-barnett]

I've said before but I wouldn't be surprised if in recent years creative use of depreciation was in play to make our finances look rosier than they were.

However to be completely fair I'm led to believe the Old Board had ringfenced the entire funds received from Chris Erskine's move to Livingston, and stuck the money in the stadium maintenance pot.

[Anniesland Jag]

8 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

"State" as in condition, not as in nation (though a Republic of Firhill might be nice!).

The new board has a lot to do to get us out of the mess we are currently in, in terms of financial losses, and supporting the manager for mounting another great promotion challenge (hopefully successful, this time). These issues can rightly be seen as being priorities, but I hope the board is also duly concerned about the rapidly deteriorating state of the stadium, in particular the main stand. Look at the picture of the flaking, crumbling and water ingress-stained facade, which has clearly been totally neglected for some considerable time. I'm not sure when the picture was taken, but I think I've seen a more recent one that is even worse, with weeds and other vegetation (saplings?) now growing in cracks in the wall. Frankly, this does not give a good impression about the club to anybody, and if I were a potential sponsor I think I might have second thoughts about putting money or equipment into an organization that appears to show such little regard about the appearance of its headquarters and place of business. That is unless I was in the building/repairs trade (!), in which case my sponsorship might be in the form of damage limitation to prevent the problem becoming critical.

Is the 3/- entry price still visible above the city terracing- bing-end turnstiles? 

There’s a small but dedicated  band of non match day volunteers who have been doing a lot of tidying up /painting /fixing in and around the ground including the old Main stand facade .Old pricing still visible above recently painted Bing turnstiles .It’s an understatement to say the old Stand needs attention, hopefully with the new sense of purpose associated with the club things may changing for the better .

[Dick Dastardly]

3 hours ago, a f kincaid said:

Related to wider issues about energy costs, why is it not possible to start games in all but the deepest midwinter at 2.00 pm? Most of them could finish without the need for the lights to be used at all (or at least only for the second half). This would need to be with the agreement of the visiting club of course. Anyone remember the season we used to dim the lights at half time?

It would clash with a televised game somewhere in the UK, so the broadcasters would veto it.

[Lambies Lost Doo]

Money on team or money on aged infrastructure?  Tough choices for our custodians.

[Jaggernaut]

10 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

It would clash with a televised game somewhere in the UK, so the broadcasters would veto it.

If broadcasters can veto a small, non-televised football game far afield and even in a different league because it happens to overlap with the time of their televised game, then society is in a real mess.

And if the football authorities responsible for that small game simply acquiesce in this, then things are even worse. (Maybe they worry about not getting their complimentary tickets etc.)

Edited June 17, 2023 by Jaggernaut

[Jaggernaut]

12 hours ago, Anniesland Jag said:

There’s a small but dedicated  band of non match day volunteers who have been doing a lot of tidying up /painting /fixing in and around the ground including the old Main stand facade .Old pricing still visible above recently painted Bing turnstiles .It’s an understatement to say the old Stand needs attention, hopefully with the new sense of purpose associated with the club things may changing for the better .

I have nothing but 100% respect for those volunteers, and would even consider joining the ranks if I could. They do work which most people are probably unaware of but which helps attendees' overall matchday experience. But I'm afraid the main stand now looks like it needs rather more than tidying up/painting/fixing. Brickwork, ledges and harling (or whatever its accurate term) are now actually rotting and crumbling away.

[Anniesland Jag]

7 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

I have nothing but 100% respect for those volunteers, and would even consider joining the ranks if I could. They do work which most people are probably unaware of but which helps attendees' overall matchday experience. But I'm afraid the main stand now looks like it needs rather more than tidying up/painting/fixing. Brickwork, ledges and harling (or whatever its accurate term) are now actually rotting and crumbling away.

There was talk of an Old Stand refurb,however,not sure if this was contingent on promotion and ensuing funds being made available.

[Fawlty Towers]

The condition of the stadium was discussed at TJF's AGM on Thursday. Everyone knows the stadium needs plenty of work, the new board have identified what needs to be done to keep us in position to get the safety certificate we require but the rest is going to be a long term project. Basically we can keep the car passing its MOT and on the road but the tinted windows will have to wait.

[Anniesland Jag]

9 minutes ago, Fawlty Towers said:

The condition of the stadium was discussed at TJF's AGM on Thursday. Everyone knows the stadium needs plenty of work, the new board have identified what needs to be done to keep us in position to get the safety certificate we require but the rest is going to be a long term project. Basically we can keep the car passing its MOT and on the road but the tinted windows will have to wait.

What about the Fuzzy Dice ? .

[Fawlty Towers]

2 hours ago, Anniesland Jag said:

What about the Fuzzy Dice ? .

Can't afford them - or the strips across the top of the windscreen that people used to get their names put on!

[sandy]

Could we declare ourselves as The State of Firhill and operate as a tax-free haven?

Edited June 18, 2023 by sandy

[Garscube Road End 2]

5 hours ago, Fawlty Towers said:

Can't afford them - or the strips across the top of the windscreen that people used to get their names put on!

Can we afford a Partick Thistle window sticker?

[The Legend Blows]

What we need is 6250 individual inspections done of the seats in the JH. There are rows with seat after seat that do not sit level. Must be someone out there with the knowhow and the solution to get a seat level. Loads of seat backs aswell that ain't attached to their frame. Basic stuff but never been addressed in the last 5 to 10 years from what I can see. 

If the answer is not to fix them then we should remove them altogether. 

Edited June 18, 2023 by The Legend Blows

[lady-isobel-barnett]

17 hours ago, sandy said:

Could we declare ourselves as The State of Firhill and operate as a tax-free haven?

Ideally with a Schengen relationship with Munns & The Woody.

[avie-man]

Whole stadium is a problem. JH, seats, as outlined, the roof has holes all over. Main stand just see above. Bing is an embarrassment. Main stand is the saddest as its a tremendous piece of architecture especially the exterior thats been awfully neglected.

Needs to be a masterplan for Firhill and our facilities. Ayr United are building a new stand, Raith Rovers, renovating two. It seems like for a while now we've been ambling slowly towards the decay and disrepair of it with absolutely no plan until we hit a crisis, nor do we seem bothered. 

 

[JeanieD]

For me - and this is only a personal observation and possibly a statement of the bleedin' obvious - the problem with Firhill is the JH stand being quite so big and probably taking up most of the maintenance expenditure with the inevitable result that the rest of the ground has become a bit squalid (for want of a better term). The JL is adequate in a basic 90 mins a fortnight  type of way but the Bing and the Main Stand are - as been said on here already - a bit of an embarrassment. 

Hindsight is 20-20 but the development of the ground in the past 30 or so years was dictated by prejudiced SPL rules at the time (which subsequently were ignored and led to impoverishment and relegation). 

Not sure of a viable solution but a new ground might work - or even a total rebuild on the same site with a couple of years ground sharing? Problem with any solution is that it is absolutely beyond the financial means of the club both now and in the short, medium and even long term so we are effectively tied into the existing situation and will probably just have to make the most of it. 

[Jaggernaut]

A new ground? A rebuild on the existing Firhill? What might that look like? A total capacity of 4,000? One stand, or two ? Six, 8, or 10,000? Two stands a-la Hamilton? Or maybe three, like at Falkirk and ICT? (And currently Firhill?) Or why not go the whole hog and have only one stand (Dumbarton, Methil....)

Suffice it to say that all of current Premiership teams have 4-sided seating in their stadiums, and how things played out at the play-off 2nd leg ensured that that would continue. Like us, several others clubs , with their lopsided embarrassments (Accies, Falkirk, Raith, ICT) have been allowed a taste of life in the top tier, but no more. Wouldn't be surprised to see even Dunfermline being allowed to make it back (even through a play-off) before us. Why? Well, just because, their stadium looks like the real deal, compared to a decrepit and deteriorating place like, well, Firhill.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Jaggernaut

[JAGSMAN1968]

How about sharing with Warriors at Scotstoun??

[avie-man]

More chance of the Warriors coming back here. We're skint and the athletics groups and local residents have basically blocked any further expansion of Scotstoun.

Edited June 22, 2023 by avie-man

[laukat]

I don't think a new stadium is anywhere near the top of our to do list. 

However I have always wondered why we don't approach West of Scotland Rugby and Glasgow Warriors to see if we could jointly redevelop Firhill and share it?

It would mean an astro pitch but I think that's inevitable no matter what and personally I think the astro has improved to such an extent that the difference compared to grass is not as big a concern.

The land West of Scotland currently use would, I assume, be worth a fair bit more than the land Firhill is located on. Warriors would probably relish a proper purpose built stadium rather than temporary stands at Scotstoun. 

Having 3 teams share  would also spread the cost of upkeep. I think the last 20/30 years shows that sport teams in Scotland  (outside of the top 4 football clubs) can't on their own generate enough income to keep a stadium up to date.

[AirdrieJag]

On 6/17/2023 at 11:45 PM, Jaggernaut said:

I have nothing but 100% respect for those volunteers, and would even consider joining the ranks if I could. They do work which most people are probably unaware of but which helps attendees' overall matchday experience. But I'm afraid the main stand now looks like it needs rather more than tidying up/painting/fixing. Brickwork, ledges and harling (or whatever its accurate term) are now actually rotting and crumbling away.

Believe me, we'd be delighted to have your help.   There's a load of work to do on an ongoing basis to keep the stadium functioning, and the volunteers are key to that.   The more of us there are, the broader the skillset is.  Let me know if you're able to devote any time and I'll link you in with the team.  

[AirdrieJag]

On 6/18/2023 at 11:47 PM, The Legend Blows said:

What we need is 6250 individual inspections done of the seats in the JH. There are rows with seat after seat that do not sit level. Must be someone out there with the knowhow and the solution to get a seat level. Loads of seat backs aswell that ain't attached to their frame. Basic stuff but never been addressed in the last 5 to 10 years from what I can see. 

If the answer is not to fix them then we should remove them altogether. 

We did an audit a few months ago so we know how many seats need attention.  As with many of the issues in the stadium, it's a question of money and priorities.