Should Thistle Start A Campaign

[yoda-jag]

Big banner with enough please go please we are fed up with your bigotry give us our country our football and our dignity back we are proud to be scottish good bye old firm dont come back.

 

Thats not a big banner.

 

Thats the length of the JHS and excellent Main Stand.

 

 

 

 

You could always utilise the top advertising boarding that runs length of Main Stand at high level.

 

 

Get you paintbrush and stepladders out macjag

Edited May 14, 2011 by yoda-jag

[Guy Incognito]

Any moves to have yourselves seen as a 'progressive' club are instantly shot to shreds when it becomes known that Neil Lennon and Dr John Reid are prominent individuals within your organisation - enough to make even the hardiest of souls reach for the nearest bucket to boak into. Even if there were tens of thousands of well-meaning Ultras, the job's f*cked by having those two at the helm imo.

Exactly. The notion of Celtic having some sort of affinity with St.Pauli is frankly laughable and I suspect the German club have exploited the tims' delusions and narcissism for their own ends, i.e they have found a big, conglomerate football club that they can piggyback on to in order to promote their own "product".

 

I like supporting thistle cause lots of gd characters.Salt of the earth people from maryhill summerston whiteinch possil yoker clydebank thornwood drhumchapel partick scotstoun springburn ect the people are proper there not intrested in thistle becoming european style ultras or some self styled team of the progressive left.Who wants a bunch of middle class university lefties/luvvies supporting us.Firhill is rubbish now and it's partly cause firhill is so full of these people.

That's a pretty snobbish post mate. Why is a student, who probably works f*cking hard both at university and doing some shitey part-time job in order to support themselves, less deserving of following Thistle than your "salt of the earth" types from those working-class areas you have mentioned? The fact of the matter is that there are three universities in close proximity to Firhill, with a lot of students living nearby. We are, or should be, a community club and these people are part of our community. We would be daft not to make them feel welcome at our club. Would you rather they went off and watched the OF instead, like the vast majority of football watchers in Glasgow?

[Guy Incognito]

thistle v millwall would be amazing...

 

thistle v any team down south would be far better than thistle v livingston.

I think it would be quite good to forge allegiances with some "alternative" teams from down south, like AFC Wimbledon or FC United of Manchester. We could maybe get one of them up here for a friendly.

 

Big banner with enough please go please we are fed up with your bigotry give us our country our football and our dignity back we are proud to be scottish good bye old firm dont come back.

 

At last, we may finally have found a practical use for the bing, if we ever get to play either side of the OF again!

[Phoenix]

Instead of worrying about the politics etc of the fans why not just make coming to Firhill simply about the football?

Generate an atmosphere by either having an entertaining team or a successful team (maybe even both at the same time).

Leave the political crap for those teams that we love to hate. We could end up losing more fans than we would gain from such an exercise.

[macjag]

Thats not a big banner.

 

Thats the length of the JHS and excellent Main Stand.

 

 

 

 

You could always utilise the top advertising boarding that runs length of Main Stand at high level.

 

 

Get you paintbrush and stepladders out macjag

Cheers but after followiing the jags since the seventies i am so pisssed of at the old firm lumping us in with them met two chilean jags fans in the tennents bar kid you not they came here 30 years ago and chose to follow the jags

[B.C.G. JAG]

Instead of worrying about the politics etc of the fans why not just make coming to Firhill simply about the football?

I spot flaw in your plan there.

 

I'm guessing here but I imagine a reasonable percentage of our support, of which I include myself, comes from people who are massively turned off by the politics of the OF. That doesn't mean I hate politics - quite the opposite. I hate bigotry and that makes me political. I support Thistle BECAUSE I'm anti-bigotry, anti racist, anti-prejudice. As a previous poster said, if we say we support people of all convictions then that's a nice sentiment until you realise it includes those elements you despise for their own politics of exclusion. Thistle should be about excluding bigots. In a city like ours, it's impossible not to have a stance. Disliking the politics of the OF is a stance in itself. We can keep turning the other cheek, but it isn't bringing the crowds. If we aren't relevant, then we're just irrelevant.

[mrD]

 

That's a pretty snobbish post mate. Why is a student, who probably works f*cking hard both at university and doing some shitey part-time job in order to support themselves, less deserving of following Thistle than your "salt of the earth" types from those working-class areas you have mentioned? The fact of the matter is that there are three universities in close proximity to Firhill, with a lot of students living nearby. We are, or should be, a community club and these people are part of our community. We would be daft not to make them feel welcome at our club. Would you rather they went off and watched the OF instead, like the vast majority of football watchers in Glasgow?

 

the current concessions policies takes into consideration students financial hardships whilst excluding other factors of low income such as low paid work (necessitating top ups from govt in the form of tax credits), benefits etc. Therefore, students are very much included within the thistle community.

 

Firhill is closer in situ to areas of multiple deprivations such as possil, maryhill, ruchill etc, than to byres road. Indeed, throughout glasgow itself 31% of the population belong to workless households (households in receipt of benefits beyond just JSA). We are in a recession at the moment where more and more people are getting a taste of that bitter reality.

 

We do, compared to most clubs have a good concessions policy, a notable example being letting kids go free. But how many kids are going to go if their parents cannot afford to go? Thus this policy in terms of being a significant input into our long term sustainability of our fanbase is deficient.

 

Morton operate a 'UB40' gate. i cant see why we cant. Our concessions policy in its current state smacks of classism and perpetuating victorian notions of deserving and undeserving poor. This, im sure, is not the intention and represents an oversight, but if we really want to do have some credibility in the notion that we are an inclusive, community club in comparison to others then it is an oversight that needs remedied. yesterday.

Edited May 15, 2011 by mrD

[mrD]

I think it would be quite good to forge allegiances with some "alternative" teams from down south, like AFC Wimbledon or FC United of Manchester. We could maybe get one of them up here for a friendly.

 

 

FCUM people are very friendly and would probably be amienable towards doing something like that - and being a bit of a fan about what they do and what they stand for id love to see them up here.

 

However, if we think we can somehow get some kind of social proof by association with clubs like that when we do not actually represent the ideals of what clubs like that are all about then its just gonna look crap.

[cjptfc]

 

I'm guessing here but I imagine a reasonable percentage of our support, of which I include myself, comes from people who are massively turned off by the politics of the OF. That doesn't mean I hate politics - quite the opposite. I hate bigotry and that makes me political. I support Thistle BECAUSE I'm anti-bigotry, anti racist, anti-prejudice.

 

I'm glad my allegiance to Thistle was formed long before I was old enough to realise that I was 'anti-bigotry', 'anti-racist' or 'anti-prejudice'. I support Thistle because I was brought to Firhill by my dad at an early age, my feeling for the club was developed over time. They became my team for football and social reasons I suppose. I am very glad my support for Thistle is not for the reasons detailed above. Maybe supporting Thistle has developed these characteristics in me to an extent, but certainly not vice-versa.

[phoenix1876]

ive noticed alot of people state that thistle have got nothing to do with politics, i think this is wrong i think based on the fact we reside in glasgow and share it with the 2 main clubs who are the main suspects of sectarianism and bigotry we are just as much within politics as much as the old firm. Do you want people to think of glasgow and think celtic rangers hate bigotry sectarian fighting etc.. of course not

 

I believe thistle are just as much within politics as the old firm, and i dont think with just them alone they can stop bigotry and sectarianism in scotland.

Why is it hard to believe that we can be a voice in glasgow, Just because were a smaller club, we deserve to be in glasgow just as much as the other 2.

If were not about politics, why were people saying that thistle took swift and proper action on the player that got booted 2 weeks ago for this very same topic.

 

I think we can actually be the Great Glasgow Alternative.

 

but we have to voice who we are.

 

We are Thistle!!!

[cjptfc]

Just because were a smaller club, we deserve to be in glasgow just as much as the other 2.

 

Nobody is saying we don't. Why to we need to voice political opinions to emphasise this?

 

If were not about politics, why were people saying that thistle took swift and proper action on the player that got booted 2 weeks ago for this very same topic.

 

The action they took 2 weeks ago was not a political statement, it was dealing with a representative of the Club who threatened to drag the name of the Club down.

 

We are Thistle!!!

 

Exactly, not a political party, organisation or movement. Quite frankly, it will be a sad day when Jags fans are pushing their own political views down the throats of other Jags fans. Its not what we are about. In fact, its f*ck all to do with football.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

I'm glad my allegiance to Thistle was formed long before I was old enough to realise that I was 'anti-bigotry', 'anti-racist' or 'anti-prejudice'. I support Thistle because I was brought to Firhill by my dad at an early age, my feeling for the club was developed over time. They became my team for football and social reasons I suppose. I am very glad my support for Thistle is not for the reasons detailed above. Maybe supporting Thistle has developed these characteristics in me to an extent, but certainly not vice-versa.

Could it not be that your Dad brought you to Firhill for those reasons?

 

My Dad wasn't a Glaswegian tho' by the time he took me to Firhill he'd lived in the city for about 25 years. He still supported his home town team but steered me away from the ugly sisters, who he detested in equal measures, by introducing me to Firhill.

Later that first season neighbours took me to the Rangers v St Mirren cup final. I can still remember clearly enough being put off that evil lot even tho' they won the game and that was supposed to be them happy. Celtic fans had rioted like spoiled kids at Ibrox in the semi when St Mirren beat them so I was already turned off that ugly lot as well.

 

Think the point I'm making is that if it wasn't for the bigotry etc that goes hand in hand with following either of the OF I, and I suspect a lot of others, would not necessarily be supporting Thistle. That's different from stating you support the Jags because they're anti-bigotry etc.

[Jaggernaut]

I think that there are probably a lots of Thistle fans who support Thistle just because that's their team, rather than it being any particular stance against religious bigotry. And while there's also a fair number who consciously wanted to avoid siding with one or other of the OF, I suspect it's a (sizable) minority.

 

I follow Thistle because my uncles took me to Firhill and I loved it, end of story. Nothing to do with an explicit rejection of what the OF stood for. Sure, I'm as anti hunnery and timmery as you can get, but that is not the reason for me supporting Thistle.

[cjptfc]

I think that there are probably a lots of Thistle fans who support Thistle just because that's their team, rather than it being any particular stance against religious bigotry. And while there's also a fair number who consciously wanted to avoid siding with one or other of the OF, I suspect it's a (sizable) minority.

 

I follow Thistle because my uncles took me to Firhill and I loved it, end of story. Nothing to do with an explicit rejection of what the OF stood for. Sure, I'm as anti hunnery and timmery as you can get, but that is not the reason for me supporting Thistle.

 

Well said.

[Steven H]

Like others, my love for Thistle was deeply ingrained in me long before I even understood what bigotry was. I support Thistle because that's the way I was born but I distinctly remember my dad comin in from the pub one night a bit worse for wear and he got me out my bed for a chat. I was 8 and earlier that day my cousins and I had been playing football against another groups of boys in our area, the opposing teams were all wearing Celtic tops and my cousins were all Rangers fans and wore their teams tops. They got a spare Rangers top for me to wear so we all wore the same strips. I viewed this as nothing more than a practical thing but my uncles (the dads of the cousins I was playing with) watched the game and took the piss out my old man in the pub coz I wore a Rangers top.

 

Cutting a long story short, my dad gave me the lowdown on bigorty and the Rangers and Celtic association with it, he also said I was free to choose which team I wanted to support and if the team wasn't Thistle then he'd be ok with that. Throughout his wee sermon I had one of those looks that says 'WTF are you on about?' on my face and when he asked the question I said "Dad Im a Thistle fan, will always be a Thistle fan and nothing or noone will change that".

 

Now, 25 years later, I am the one who follows Thistle everywhere while he seems to have drifted away and I have no doubt if Rangers win the SPL today he will be a very happy man (although he still loves Thistle, he is more Rangers than Celtic). Me, I hate both sides in equal measures. I have learned about bigotry as I have grown and I preach to any OF fan who is prepared to sit long enough to listen about the reason their Clubs are sooo big. To call on the Good Lady's example earlier, if it wasn't for the bigotry associated wi the ugly sister there probably would be a number of us who wouldn't be Thistle fans today (although I would). However, if it wasn't for the old firms association with religion and subsequent bigotry I doubt there would be as many old firm fans as there are today...and that would have seen the thousands of Thistle fans who have become extinct over the last 135 years remain through passing the baton onto the following generations of their families.

 

Should we take a political stance against bigotry? Damn right, and the Great Glasgow Alternative slogan fits really well with it. Can we do it on our own? No chance. We can't sort out our own clubs politics never mind sorting out Scotlands Shame...but we can take a lead role in it if/when it becomes a Scotland wide initiative. Maybe the start of that Scotland wide initiative should take place in Maryhill but I can't see how we can do that without being seen as trying to take advantage.

[B.C.G. JAG]

I'm glad my allegiance to Thistle was formed long before I was old enough to realise that I was 'anti-bigotry', 'anti-racist' or 'anti-prejudice'. I support Thistle because I was brought to Firhill by my dad at an early age, my feeling for the club was developed over time. They became my team for football and social reasons I suppose. I am very glad my support for Thistle is not for the reasons detailed above. Maybe supporting Thistle has developed these characteristics in me to an extent, but certainly not vice-versa.

Thistle's core support is pretty small, and despite the concessions, I can see why kids might be lured away to support one of the city's more popular teams. When we share the city with the two biggest teams in the country, then we have to ask, why would anyone support Thistle if not for hereditary reasons? For the quality of football? For the beautiful stadium? For the atmosphere?

 

Most of the folk that come to Thistle for any other reason than family connection will come as a reaction against the OF. We are the alternative, but it seems we are the alternative because that's the assumed position from not having a stance on the politics of our city. Is remaining silent always going to be the right course of action? Is it enough to just not say anything? Maybe.

 

But. We should be at least pushing our strengths as much as we can, and that doesn't mean exploiting the current tensions. Firhill is a place where you can take your kids, and we should be making that message as loud as possible to mop up the disaffected from elsewhere. But we also need to rearrange the JHS so that it doesn't just become about families. We need to generate an atmosphere again. (I've said it before, but I wish they would just make the Main Stand a family zone and look at training up volunteers as stewards). Let's face it, if you didn't have an emotional connection with Firhill already then you'd find it a pretty hard place to learn to love. Having a banner across the bing with 'The Great Glasgow Alternative' would, as others have said, remind people that we are the alternative and instill some sense of pride without having to get dragged into the debate. My worry is though, if things continue to get worse rather than better in Scottish Football, then silence will just make us irrelevant.

[stillresigned]

I think the problem is too deep rooted in Scottish society to expect that any statement by any club, in particular a small club like ours to have any effect. I have noticed some posts on this forum implying that Neil Lennon is somehow to blame for the bigotry, when the truth is that Scotland had sectarianism long before Neil Lennon was even a tadpole. The truth, which hurts, is that deep rooted changes in attitudes need frankly generations to embed themselves. All we can do as supporters and as individuals can do is refuse to buy into any of the whole sectarian issue and condemn it where it raises its ugly head. This does not mean getting sidetracked on deciding what is or what is not a sectarian son, Christ any ten year old who has grown up in Glasgow or its environs , would, unfortunately be able to do what Strathclyde Police are apparently unable or more likely unwilling to do and identify a sectarian song and/or behaviour. If I sound a tad dispirited, its because I am sick and fed up of hearing the same cr*p, and excuses for bigotry year in year out, with nothing ever happening in reality. It says a lot about Scottish football that someone like Dr. John Reid can occupy the moral highground, but unfortunately he seems to do in the alternate reality that is Scottish football.

[Guy Incognito]

the current concessions policies takes into consideration students financial hardships whilst excluding other factors of low income such as low paid work (necessitating top ups from govt in the form of tax credits), benefits etc. Therefore, students are very much included within the thistle community.

 

Firhill is closer in situ to areas of multiple deprivations such as possil, maryhill, ruchill etc, than to byres road. Indeed, throughout glasgow itself 31% of the population belong to workless households (households in receipt of benefits beyond just JSA). We are in a recession at the moment where more and more people are getting a taste of that bitter reality.

 

We do, compared to most clubs have a good concessions policy, a notable example being letting kids go free. But how many kids are going to go if their parents cannot afford to go? Thus this policy in terms of being a significant input into our long term sustainability of our fanbase is deficient.

 

Morton operate a 'UB40' gate. i cant see why we cant. Our concessions policy in its current state smacks of classism and perpetuating victorian notions of deserving and undeserving poor. This, im sure, is not the intention and represents an oversight, but if we really want to do have some credibility in the notion that we are an inclusive, community club in comparison to others then it is an oversight that needs remedied. yesterday.

That is a very good post and you are right, there should be some sort of concession policy for those on JSA, especially in times like these. £17 a ticket is a hell of lot for someone who is unemployed. Come to think of it, it is a lot even for someone who is employed!

 

I think what made me bristle was the suggestion that students are somehow worth less to the club because they chose to study and also that they automatically come from well-off backgrounds, which often isn't the case. Maybe I misinterpreted Bermondsey Boy's post though.

 

FCUM people are very friendly and would probably be amienable towards doing something like that - and being a bit of a fan about what they do and what they stand for id love to see them up here.

 

However, if we think we can somehow get some kind of social proof by association with clubs like that when we do not actually represent the ideals of what clubs like that are all about then its just gonna look crap.

Aye, FCUM started in very different circumstances from Thistle and I really respect their stance too. I just thought that both clubs could benefit from a mutual association, because we are similar in the sense that we are both 'alternative' clubs, even if the similarity ends there.

[BermondseyBoy]

I'm all for Jags fans continuing to show their opposition to bigotry and racism through songs and possibly flags and banners

 

 

Could be one for gus and the briggs boys...

i am sure a couple 100 white blokes in there 40's singing this on a cold winters day in Arbroath and forfar could change sectairnism/racism in scotland..infact i am shocked we hadn't thought of it before Edited May 15, 2011 by BermondseyBoy

[B.C.G. JAG]

Unbelievably I've seen an Orange Walk in the west end today, a day when the Police were already voicing concerns about the OF's title deciding games today and whilst sectarian militancy is on the rise - and yet somehow the Council can't find any reasonable objection to holding a march today of all days. Glasgow City Council are a total joke and completely complicit in the hateful culture we have in this city.

[TimeConsumer]

That is a very good post and you are right, there should be some sort of concession policy for those on JSA, especially in times like these. £17 a ticket is a hell of lot for someone who is unemployed. Come to think of it, it is a lot even for someone who is employed!

 

I think what made me bristle was the suggestion that students are somehow worth less to the club because they chose to study and also that they automatically come from well-off backgrounds, which often isn't the case. Maybe I misinterpreted Bermondsey Boy's post though.

 

£17 is a shambles price for tickets but Thistle aren't alone. I heard St Mirren vs St Johnstone was £20 yesterday?!

 

Don't think your did misinterpret that post to be honest, seemed pretty anti-student to me as well.

 

Could be one for gus and the briggs boys...

i am sure a couple 100 white blokes in there 40's singing this on a cold winters day in Arbroath and forfar could change sectairnism/racism in scotland..infact i am shocked we hadn't thought of it before

 

Constructive...

[Hot Shot]

PTFC , football for football's sake

[Hot Shot]

Unbelievably I've seen an Orange Walk in the west end today, a day when the Police were already voicing concerns about the OF's title deciding games today and whilst sectarian militancy is on the rise - and yet somehow the Council can't find any reasonable objection to holding a march today of all days. Glasgow City Council are a total joke and completely complicit in the hateful culture we have in this city.

 

Not that I doubt your integrity, just find it highly unlikely, you sure it wasn't a church parade? very common on a sunday and very hard to distinguish from an orange parade at a glance.

[B.C.G. JAG]

Not that I doubt your integrity, just find it highly unlikely, you sure it wasn't a church parade? very common on a sunday and very hard to distinguish from an orange parade at a glance.

I didn't hang around to study it but there was marching flute bands with lots of union jacks.

[TimeConsumer]

Not that I doubt your integrity, just find it highly unlikely, you sure it wasn't a church parade? very common on a sunday and very hard to distinguish from an orange parade at a glance.

 

Probably this one, used to live on part of that route, was depressing.

 

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/Ceo_Processions/allProcessions.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fen%2fResidents%2fYourCommunity%2fPublicProcessions%2fFutureProcessions%2f%3fwbc_purpose%3dBasicCommInfoUpdate%2ehtmindex%2ehtmindex%2ehtmindex%2ehtmindex%2ehtm&NRNODEGUID={E70EB581-5449-4A8C-BF2D-13C9E11FC19F}&NRCACHEHINT=Guest

 

Way too many of these things in Glasgow. Woken up by a Republican march going by my flat a few months back, equally frustrating.