Ben Reilly

Oh no it isn't! (Can't be believe no one beat me to that one)

I have been firmly in agreement with most on here that Fox should be playing over Kilday. However, his last ditch clearance saved us from what looked like a certain Goodwillie sucker punch winner with the last kick if the ball. Fair play to him for that. Though I'd still rather see Fox partner Morrison (who I thought mostly did very well handling Goodwilie yesterday)

Has this been confirmed anywhere? I know the club won't offer up the information, but I can't see any mention of it anywhere else either. Not doubting you if you saw it happen, just dont see any record of it anywhere (tried the spfl website as I thought it might have recorded it) Any ideas what the red card was given for?

Yes, the sponsors have all been announced on Facebook, one of them has their name on the sleeve of our strips and I think most of the others now have an advertising board pichside at our home games.

Your exactly right, and some of our members have asked exactly the same questions since the beginning of the discussions about us turning professional. The money from the sale of Hampden is to be paid in instalments over a number of years, which gives a reasonable guaranteed income base over that period. Our playing squad budget is underwritten by our benefactor, and I believe a contract is in place for a set period to ensure this doesn't suddenly stop without warning. As I mentioned in my last post, the club are laying the foundations now so that we can be self sufficient once the above income streams cease. There has been a lot of talk of growing our fan base, particularly through integrating ourselves more into the community. Just yesterday if was announced that we will be giving away a number of tickets to local school children and providing a free bus to get them to our home games. We are also planning to increase the number of people engaging in our community coaching sessions, and I assume there will again be incentives to get these people to games. Along with reduced prices for friends and family brought along with a season ticket holder or member to certain home games, there is a real drive to get more people coming along to games. I expect this will be developed further once we're back in our own ground. We've also seen in the last month a steady stream of announcements of new sponsorship by local businesses, at a rate which we have never seen before. None of the above is a magic wand that guarantees lasting results, but we seem to be doing all the right things to gradually build a sustainable model.

Apparently the reason Mckinnon left us was because of a difference of opinion over our goals for this season. He wanted to go all out for back to back promotion whereas the club (while looking to be in the championship sooner rather than later) were content to consolidate ourselves in league one and develop the squad for the longer term. Fans of other teams will always tend to just see the headlines about our finances and assume we're 'doing a gretna' but all the noises from the club are that we're trying to build a self sustaining model that will hopefully work its way up through the leagues as and when we're ready to do so. Time will tell what we'll achieve in the long run but so far we seem to be laying a good foundation for steady growth.

https://captain-armband.com/product/spielfuhrer/ Just the first of many sites that sell these armbands that shows up with a quick Google search. If it makes you feel better, if the captain isn't wearing one on Tuesday night, I'll happily pay the €4.99 to get the club another one.

I too saw this happen, and the young lad who Doyle gave it too was the same lad who was involved in the flag ceremony. You could see how much it meant to the wee man, who was delighted to have received it from one of his heroes. I thought it was a fantastic gesture from our captain, and shows that he backs up his comments in the online match preview and programme about playing for the fans and creating memories with them. That lad I'm sure will remember his day for a long time to come. With that said, I'm sure that the armband given away yesterday was not in fact the original "cherished" article that we were presented with many years ago. From the pictures on Facebook yesterdays armband looked in pretty good condition. I would be amazed to learn that we have managed to go for years passing the very same armband from captain to captain, playing in all weather's on some absolute paddy fields and it has never got ingrained with mud or got lost in some away dressing room. Is it instead a possibility that we have a stock of armbands, and that they are readily available to buy? I would hope that the original armband is actually safely displayed somewhere in Lesser hampden along with other artifacts from our storied history. I remember a few years ago (I think around the time one of the red tops tried to start some controversy about it) that the club shop was selling the same style of armbands, and if I remember correctly proceeds of their sale went to a charity in memory or one of our late supporters (Hampden Diehard can correct me if I'm wrong) What's "SAD" is that some of our support (or is it maybe just one) are so concrrned about our history that they dont want us to have a future. Our history is unmatched in world football, and we are right to be proud of it, but if we want to continue to make history we'll want some fans to be there to see it for years to come. The young lad who received the armband and others like him will hopefully still be supporting the club long after you and I are long gone, and moments like yesterday may be the sort of thing that keeps them interested. Of course maybe I'm wrong and your wild conspiracy theory is true and that the powers that be read your post on here, realised you were on to them and came up with a cunning plan to get rid of it symbolically right in front of you.

I was chatting to Baynham before the game on Saturday, said he got a head knock at QotS and had been feeling the effects of it for a few days afterwards. I presume he will be out until he passes all the concussion protocols. Can't be too bad right enough as he was getting out the drivers seat of his car when I met him. I thought Lyon was great against Motherwell, and that we looked poorer without him against Airdrie. I would like to start the league games with him and Gillespie.

I've been at both games at firhill, one on my own and one with others in my household. From what i've seen stewards have not had any issue with folks sitting beside each other. I have however seen them asking people to put their masks back on while they are seated. There is a sign outside the gents toilet nearest where I was sitting that said a max of 9 people at a time could go in. Any time I went in (admittedly not at half time when I'd expect it to be busiest) I was the only one in there and there was no steward at the door controlling the numbers. One steward I was chatting to as I entered the stadium yesterday did mention the limit of 9 people, so it may be that they will try to enforce this at busier times. It's worth bearing in mind that the restrictions are changing as if tomorrow, and so that may possibly mean that more people will be allowed in the stadium and that the rules are either relaxed or enforced more strictly (or both!?) Not sure if that helps any?

Queen's Park could return to Lesser Hampden 'this year' - Leeann Dempster - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57843860 Just saw this. Did anyone hear the interview?

Has there been any response from the club to this request? Assuming the EGM happens, will it be announced by the club (I realise the irony on that as I type) and open to all members, or just those that requested it?

Any suggestions of the best place to park near Firhill tonight? Preferably for free[emoji846]

Got my membership renewed this morning online. Phoned the office first as I wanted to see if I could also get ticket for my son (season ticket holder) so we could sit together but apparently the system won't allow that. After yesterday's goverment announcement they are now waiting for confirmation from the joint response group about what's allowed after the 19th. They will then send out an update and put season tickets on sale. At that point they hope to be able to reallocate seats so that people can sit in groups and members/others can mix. I also register for an online account on the ticketing platform. It looks like in time there will be an option to link your account to friends and family.

Make that 2. Both great deliveries and great headers.

Names on the backs of our kits now I see (unless I missed that last season). Plus a plain yellow captains armband? It's just not the same club anymore [emoji12] Great goal though....the more things change....

Craig Slater signed a 2 year deal at Forfar. Would be a great signing for them if he stays fit. Hope he can do, and does well there. Shame things didn't work out for him with us.

Thanks for the time taken for a detailed response. However I don't think I'm any the wiser whether we are fan owned or not. The following statement in the wiki entry you linked about fan owned companies (CIC's) would seem to describe our situation given that none of the committee, directors or members make any money from their involvement (except the secretary who I assume is employed by the club) "A community interest company is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximize profit for shareholders and owners." Does that then mean we do count as being fan owned as I Zingari suggests. I'm not really bothered whether we are acknowledged as being fan owned by SDS, just confused about what the difference is. Out of interest how many other clubs in the SPFL have the same Membership model as us? I imagine a fair number of clubs further down the pyramid and juniors will be but unaware of any in the national leagues.

Here's a question I wonder if anyone on here can help with. Are Queens Park fan owned? I was reading an article of the Supporters Direct Scotland website this morning about the 'fan bank' fund to help clubs that are transitioning to fan ownership. A number of clubs were listed as being fan owned (Clyde, Stirling Albion, Motherwell and most recently Morton, among others) but we were not on that list. I was under the impression that the members owned the club, as we have no majority share holder or 'owner'. Is that different to fan ownership and if so how? I have no agenda here, and don't particularly advocate for or against fan ownership (in truth I don't fully understand all the details) I'm just genuinely intrigued about the difference between our model and the clubs that were listed.

Does the Hockey centre meet SPFL stadium criteria? Also the stand only holds about 500. Can't see that bring a goer really. Time someone opened a Lanarkshire branch of Jaconellis near the Fountain Of Youth.

There aren't specific under 18 tickets. Under 18's need a full price ticket. As far as I can make out from the FAQ's that the SSC sent out, SSC members could only apply for one ticket each, for which you need to register an account with Uefa. Uefa only allow over 18's to register, therefore under 18's technically can't buy tickets via the SSC allocation. In reality I'm sure there will be ways round that as others on here have mentioned getting multiple tickets, I'm assuming by using friends membership number's/email links on their behalf. I dont think that any of the above applies to tickets bought in the original ballot. Like you I still have my tickets via uefa for 2 of the games, which are for me and my 9 year old. As I bought these together in 2019 they will still be valid. I dont know how to link it, but in the faq's on the uefa app it still has the following with no mention of under18's not being allowed. Does my child need a ticket? Yes. Entry to the stadium will only be granted upon presentation of a valid ticket, including for children. All children (regardless of their age) will require a valid ticket to access the stadium and will have a seat allocated to them. Even if your child can sit on your lap, a valid ticket is required. There are no reduced fares or discounts for children. Hope that helps.

Fair enough, I'm just being selfish as Hamilton is easier for me to get to. I'd still happily take Firhill over Falkirk, or even Airdrie.

I read an article a week or so ago in one of the papers linking us with potential managers that mentioned in passing that we'd be sharing with Hamilton next season. I dont remember which paper it was so don't have a link to it i'm afraid. I'd certainly prefer Hamilton to Maryhill personally from a logistical point of view, but I'm sure Firhill may suit others better.

Well that's a bit underwhelming, and definetly quite surprising. Especially given that the reason we let Mark Roberts go was because we wanted to bring in someone with experience of managing a playing budget. As far as I know Laurie Ellis doesn't have much experience of that either. Does make me wonder I'd there is a director of football or similar in the plans to assist with that side of things. I dont imagine that will be Dempsters department as based on her interview last night she more interested in the community development side of things. It was nice of the club to email the members (immediately) prior to it being announced to the press for a change. Anyway, good luck to Laurie, I hope he proves to be the right choice and manages to continue to build on our recent success. I wonder if this continuity will help with retention of some of Mckinnon's signings? Malky Mckay for Director of Football?

I think I'd even rather have Malky Mckay than Ferguson. In fact I'd take Malky Mckay Snr before Ferguson.