Personally I think it's a great idea to allow under 16's in for free. More clubs should be going down this route.

But, is it working so far? Are Partick getting more kids through the doors, or are crowd numbers still pretty much the same?

Home crowds appear to be up, but the fact that some people are more than willing to abuse the system (pointing no elbows at a couple of the more prominent Saintee posters) remains a concern.

However, I can live with that as long as those that make use of the offer in the home end catch the bug and go on to become the paying crowds of the future.

It is indeed poor form when it's not exactly the case that we are ripping off those that are abusing the system, I reckon we are probably the only club in the division that has a set concession price for all those under 21 too, which avoids stupid things like schoolchildren paying adult prices because they aren't students. A tenner for under 21s and £15 for adults is a pretty reasonable standard anyway, notwithstanding the fact any kids you have in tow get in for free.

I think we may start to see more fruition after the schools have been back a couple of weeks providing the team are still playing well and winning. The club are apparently targeting the local schools with posters/flyers and the likes and so I reckon it's started pretty well and definite potential to get better.

To be fair, it wasn't helped by the guy at the turnstile either.

'Are you sure you're under 16 pal?'

'Aye'

Turnstile man then chuckles

'Oan ye go then'

Cracking.

I think the "youth" gate at Thistle is an excellent idea and something all clubs should look to emulate if they don't want to offer a student gate. People who are 16-21 are not always able to afford an adult gate price so well done to Thistle for that. However, I believe that making the under 16 gate free is asking for trouble, especially if the employees on the gate are stupid enough to let people up to the age of 24 through.

Thistle should not rely on the honesty of fans, because nobody wants to pay £15 or £10 when they could feasibly walk through the gate for nothing. It has to be down to the turnstile operators to exercise some common sense. Fans you might've got £30 from last season may well give you no money this season because the people on the gates allow that to happen.

Credit where it's due for the idea but in practice its not great and not something I'd want to see at Saints unless there's some sort of way of strictly regulating it. Which might be more hassle than it's worth, really. Setting a very low childrens price alongside the youth gate would be what I'd like to see at Saints.

Boooooo

If there's an under 12 gate at McDiarmid I'm going for it.

To be fair, so would I.

What is it they say about the guilty parties always returning to the scene of the crime?

Just because you're too old to get away with it.

Of course they can't rely on the honesty of fans, but at the end of the day it's difficult to prove you are under 16, the only form of ID I can think of is the youngscot card or a passport. I wouldn't be adverse to this policy being applied a lot more strictly to away crowds and demand for one of the above would be fun but ultimately it's only going to get us in trouble if we don't do the same in the home end and it's not worth pissing off people that might otherwise come back. I'm not sure how much it's being exploited in the home end, but it's a brave strategy and combined with good winning football on the park, it could be very beneficial indeed.

You don't need a 24 year old to prove that they are under 16. In most cases, it's blatantly obvious that they're not. It will always be exploited to a certain extent but when your turnstile operators can't tell someone mid-twenties apart from a schoolkid, you're going to lose a lot of money.

Ill be trying it at firhill - as will nearly every other fan im guessing.

Don't talk shite.

Or perhaps just the dishonest ones.
If the policy is abused to any great degree I presume the first action will be to start charging kids at the away end again (after all, letting opposition fans in for nothing is of no great benefit to Thistle). If this happens, Dads forking out for their kids at the away end will know that it's all thanks to freeloaders like you.

Like I say it is something I'd like to see us crack down on more in the away end, but at the end of the day the guys on the turnstiles probably just don't think it's worth the hassle, and I can sort of understand that point of view.

Dunfermline offered £1 tickets to our under 18 fans for this week's game against them. All you had to do was collect it from our club shop sometime before this Saturday.

Kudos to Dunfermline for this as it made my Dad more willing to go

just a note for any fans that are planning to get in u-16, ive done it for years when ive been 20 and 21 cos i look young.on saturday i was waiting on my brother getting up to the gates and there were 3 or 4 guys in suits oustide the entrance to the jackie husband(thistle stand), the free under 16's was being abused and it looked quite embarrasing when a group of 6 or 7 guys got turned away( they did look 17 at least. just a note, i dont give a hoot who comes to firhill, jst bring ID with you and you will get in for free!
pathetic st j support on saturday there, almost laughable when folk r sayin they are title contenders, ur lucky if they had 300 fans.prob 200 paying ones,
who gives,jst bring a support to firhill and look forward to sum good entertainment, g harkins and co will come up on the credits after the match!

Why should away fans turn up in the hope of being entertained by the HOME team?

We were comprehensively beaten at home the week before the trip to Firhill. I can't blame the stay away fans... and to be honest, their decision was justified by our team's 'performance'.

Has to be said also, Thistle rarely bring a decent support to Perth either

got in for free (being 18)

was very impressed with this, and i can see major benefits if it is controlled.

if any saints game gets postpned or called off and renfrew juniors are not playing, id jump over. (living in glasgow)

dont worry tho, your not going to convert me, haha.

hahaha

Of course the gate is going to be abused. If it is happening in the JH Stand and kids of 17 or 18 are doing it then its not that big a deal really because ultimately the principle of getting them hooked for free and making them come back for years to come still pays off in the long term.

In the away stand its only natural that younger looking fans into their 20's will give it a bash. What have they got to lose? They get told to beat it and go in the other turnstyle or they save themselves extra beer money. Its not like any of our fans would try and pay the kids rate at away grounds or blag in for a concession now is it?

Aye, it's a decent enough initiative.

However, I'd like to see the club have it right throughout the season, not just for an occasional game. And it should be advertised around the town much better, in the Dunfermline Press, etc etc.

Good to see that Livi fans will be taking advantage of it as well as home fans.

A Student, or "Young Person's" gate is one thing I would definately like to see Livingston address. £16 and £7 for League games leaves a substantial jump for those at College, University or Young folk in employment.

I was, however, impressed with the £12 and £6 prices for Tuesday night. Thought they might hike it up to Division 1 prices given the opposition. At least it's something, anyway.

If it was made clear that nobody would be admitted through the U16 gate without proof of age, would this problem not die pretty much straight away? Even better if it was applied at every ground in the league, so that those entitled to concessions would know exactly what they had to bring with them

I, probably like most folk, think it's a pretty good thing for Thistle to be doing - I really hope it does pay off for them in the form of getting more fans on a longer term basis, and hopefully also in terms of the number of adults bring their kids along. Is it planned to continue with this after this seaosn? I just ask because my feeling is that while these things are well intentioned whenever they're run, sometimes it seems to be on the basis that there will be an immediate increase, and when that doesn't materialise the idea gets dropped. I'd like to see this kind of thing being given a decent number of years - I suppose the dilemma is whether or not the gamble will pay off, and by reducing your short term income in the hope of better things to come later, it definitely is a gamble.

Will be interesting to see how it works out for Thistle giving free entry to u16's. We've been going down this route for a good few years now but feel it's necessary for people to actually feel they are contributing to the club and displaying a commitment of a minor sort than just allowing them free entry. As a result u17's can buy a season ticket for Palmerston for £18 (£1 per game) or match by match entry for a fairly nominal £3 a game. Personally I think that should meet the middle ground of encouraging youth support without devaluing the experience completely by letting them come an go for nothing.

I think it's definitely paying off with many more young fans around the place than there have been in the past which bodes well for the future. Having said that, the Scottish Cup campaign and the European adventure have latterly had probably even more to do with raising the profile of the club locally so it's impossible to isolate the effect of the cheap entry campaign in reality. Still, we're a club on the up in crowd terms at the moment.