Sorry, but I had to get this off my chest.

Sorry, but I had to get this off my chest.

Please excuse me, fellow Feverites, for the following rant.  At an exciting time for the Nix, activities back home concerning my beloved Partick Thistle have made me realise how lucky we are here. Followers of the Man Uniteds, Arsenals and Chelseas of this world may read this lot, have a good old giggle and think 'Who give a rat's arse about Partick Thistle', but hopefully any football fans out there who actually give a f**k about the game will read and this and reflect on the fact that some clubs actually don�t seem to give a flying f**k about their fans.

 

10 years ago in Glasgow, a young lady called Lianne McDonald started a Partick Thistle supporters website, www.ptfc.net. In the years since then ptfc.net has grown to become a well run, well moderated site which has become for many, including myself, the number one site for all things concerning Thistle. In common with the Yellow Fever site, ptfc.site provides far more information, informed comment, news and debate on Thistle than their official site could ever dream of. In the 10 years of it�s existence, ptfc.net has sponsored players, been involved in fundraising and has been constantly involved in lifting, and maintaining,  the profile of the Club.

 

Over the past couple of years, in particular since the appointment of our new Chairman, the relationship between the fans and the Board has been deteriorating rapidly. Many decisions made by the Board have shown them to have an almost pathological disregard for the fans, and this has now culminated in a letter to Lianne which has effectively forced her into a decision to close down ptfc.net after 10 years in existence.   

 

A woman who has, arguably, done more for Partick Thistle FC over the last decade than anyone else has now been ground down by the Board to such an extent that she feels her only option is to close the site. I won�t go into all the details of what has been going on, but I will say that any football fan who has been made aware of the Board�s actions has been appalled by their treatment of their supporters.  

 

There is now a huge backlash growing against the Board, and the Chairman in particular. Hundreds of e-mails have been sent to our Chairman expressing our anger and disgust at this latest kick in the teeth for our supporters. Instead of appreciating and acknowledging the feeling of the supporters, the Chairman has reacted by responding publicly to this criticism in an arrogant and patronising manner which has only poured petrol onto the bonfire and increased calls that the Board has to go.

 

Sorry for wasting a few minutes of your valuable time by going on about some little team most of you have never heard of. I just wanted, in a roundabout way, to remind you all how lucky we are to have a fan�s website which has the support of the �Club�, and a Club which values it�s supporters. Long may it last. 

Jag2008-05-08 08:55:53

Do you have any links to more information about this story? what was the reason Lianne gave for the board making her close down the site? im intrigued.

If you click on the link to the site in my original post, there's an article on the Home Page which details what the latest developments are and why she made the decision she's made. Not allowing her to use the new club badge on the site and withdrawing her access to post-match press conferences are the two latest developments. The Board haven't actually made her close down the site, it's Lianne's decision, but it's a "Constructive Dismissal" kind of thing, they keep making life more and more difficult for her. Jag2008-05-08 09:07:00

Man, that blows. Hope you guys give the bastards what for...

A bit like that russian at that other club - Hearts? or was it one of the Dundee's. I've PM'd you on the topic Jag. Publicly, I hope you all get it sorted and don't take it lying down. hang in there, banners on the terraces are always good for media attention too!

what a f**ken Dick, as per Milky Pisswit "that blows" 

Its biazzare that football clubs treat their fans like this. After all, without fans how the hell are they going to survive?

all the best to you and the fellow Jaggies on this one, (I've glanced at the pienbovril link - and i'll take your word as gospel on this)

That plain sucks and just shows that unfortunately if you end up with the wrong pricks in charge they will just shyte on you.There are  a few clubs in the UK in some of the lower divisions which have been screwed over by those supposedly in charge.

One of your better rants Jag hope you keep us posted on the situation,as Tigers said if you want some sheep sh*t sent him let us all know.EDIT if want some emails sent from NZ let us know.  

Thanks for the support, guys. Much appreciated. I've just got in and I'm too knackered to be bothered making a list of how the Board has f****d up recently. below is a copy of a letter which one the ptfc.net members sent to the Thistle chairman, Allan Cowan, after this latest episode. It fairly well sums up the feeling of the fans at the moment.

"Dear Allan,

As a season ticket holder, I'd just like to add my voice to the correspondence you'll have been receiving this weekend concerning the situation with ptfc.net, a little crisis in the Thistle community that has been entirely created by the crass and insensitive actions of yourself and your fellow directors.

Where exactly did you gentlemen lose the plot so completely? I'm assuming for the sake of argument that in the days of Save the Jags you did actually understand what Thistle means to its supporters, and what the supporters mean to each other, and how much we cherished the friendly nature of the club. If you didn't understand that, you certainly put on a good act for a while. But now every sneering, condescending, officious proclamation from the club just drives a bigger wedge between you and the support, a support you will have noticed who are deserting the club in droves.

All your huffing and puffing about "real Scottish football" rings totally false when the first practical sign of it is to continue with a process of harassment and denigration towards possibly the most valuable supporter the club has - not perhaps a value in monetary terms, but priceless in terms of keeping our dwindling band of supporters linked together. Maybe that's the problem - Lianne is worth her weight in gold to the club, but if you can't actually spend it to cover this week's losses it means nothing to you. This is going to be quite a damning legacy you leave behind when you go, which hopefully will be soon.

I've spoken at length with my father about this situation. He's been attending Firhill since the 1930s and has a calmer head and greater perspective on these issues than I have. I will spare you the embarrassment and not pass on his opinion of you and Mr Hughes, but suffice to say he also looks forward to your departure from the club.

This is what your customers think of you. You are part of the problem, not part of the solution. We will almost certainly renew our season tickets this summer because it would be foolish to be chased away from our club by your conduct, but we will not be spending a penny at the stadium or giving any other financial support to the club because we'd rather encourage you to go than to stay and it's better if that comes sooner rather than later, painful though it may be in the short term.

An apology is due to Lianne MacDonald, not just for the recent letter, but for the whole attitude displayed towards her by the club in recent seasons. If you are not big enough to make that apology, you are not big enough to be chairman of Partick Thistle. Please act accordingly.

Yours in sadness at the sorry state of our club,"
Jag2008-05-09 08:28:09

Good luck Jag, I sincerely hope the supporters take back what is theirs. Colchester United and Wellington Phoenix are extremely lucky to have such superb management teams in place.

Allen,