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SPIDERS SETTING SIGHTS ON SUCCESS

First win is crucial as Queen’s build for a Premiership push

THE sign speaks the truth: ‘Welcome to the home of the Warriors’. The advert pasted to the gate offers a glimpse at a turbulent present: ‘Going through a storm?’

Both had a relevance as the sun shone high and consistently at the home of Stenhousemuir as lodgers Queen’s Park took on Partick Thistle in a Glasgow derby, which in the way of the constant, gentle surreality of Scottish football, took place outside of Glasgow.

As the players stopped for water breaks in Stenhousemuir, another nod to surreality, there was much to reflect upon.

The match was constantly engaging, providing five goals, two of which were brilliantly crafted and executed, but also offering a glimpse of the challenges and chances afforded by ownership or, at least, substantial financial backing.

It is slightly odd to be at a Queen’s match and find they have a manager with the pedigree of Owen Coyle, a sporting director with the CV of Marijn Becker, a chief executive of Premiership substance in Leeann Dempster and players with the accomplishment and potential of Simon Murray and Malachi Boateng.

The answer to how much of this has been accomplished sits high in the Ochilview stand. Willie Haughey, the highly successful businessman and former Celtic director, is now a benefactor to the club. The friend of the Lisbon Lions is now a guardian for the Spiders.

‘He doesn’t want any fanfare about it,’ a Queen’s Park intimate said before the match. ‘We had to convince him to go public because we had to tell people we had money to complete deals and they were asking, quite reasonably, where it was coming from.’

The next question is where the Spiders are going. The short answer is a refurbished Lesser Hampden, probably before Christmas. The long answer cannot be definitive.

It is reasonable to assume, however, that the personalities at the club are not there to be plucky contenders in the lower reaches of Scottish football.

The question for Thistle is more immediate. It will be answered, if only partially, next week. Who is going to own the Maryhill Magyars?

Fan ownership is on the agenda. But what will it look like and what will be the implications of rebuffing the Jags Foundation, a group of fans seeking to run the club?

A figure on the terrace behind the goal gave a perspective on the turbulence at Thistle on a still, summery day.

ANDREW HOLLOWAy has his hands full. He carries his year-old daughter, Ruby, while her threeyear-old sister, Evie, is at her side. He is at Ochilview with his father and his sister, Heather, who sits on the Jags Foundation board with him.

At a meeting last week, the Foundation proposal to be the preferred bidder was rejected by the Three Blacks Cats, a group charged with dispensing the legacy and shares of Colin Weir, the Thistle benefactor who died in 2019.

The preferred bidder will be announced soon. The spurned bidder is ‘not going away’.

Holloway, a chartered accountant, who was involved in the negotiations with the Three Black Cats, believes he has a mandate to pursue a future for Thistle that may be crudely described as the ‘Motherwell model’.

‘We want to articulate the positive case for fan ownership,’ he said. ‘The meeting with the Three Black Cats was an extremely disappointing evening but we gained a net increase of 100 members after it. We are not going away.’

With more than 700 members and total monthly subscriptions of £6,000, the Foundation has the financial and physical strength to influence the future.

‘We look forward to seeing what and who has been selected,’ he said. ‘We hope that it will represent fan ownership in a proper way, where the views of supporters are taken into account. We fear that might not be the case.’

He believes more information will be made available this week.

‘The club need to move because there is a fair bit of discomfort among our support about what this may look like,’ he added.

‘We on the Foundation board are ready to work with anyone who wants to work with us. We are not ruling ourselves out of the picture.’

He was keen to point out one aspect. ‘This is not personal. None of us are pursuing this because we have a “Jacqui Low out” agenda,’ he said in reference to the Thistle chairperson.

‘We are pursuing it because we believe it was Colin Weir’s intention to deliver fan ownership at Partick Thistle. We believe it should be implemented properly and not be fan ownership in name only.’

A Thistle fan of some vintage, Holloway admits his allegiance carries the certainty of fluctuating fortunes.

‘It is never dull,’ he admitted. ‘I came as a kid in the 1995-1996 season when we were relegated, so I knew from the start that it wasn’t going to be straightforward.’

The day is a microcosm of his experience. Thistle play well. Thistle play badly. Thistle score two goals. And lose.

yet the support eschews any attempt to launch a protest or any sort of objection publicly to the

news of the rebuttal to the Foundation.

‘First, and most importantly, we want the club to have a good season,’ said Holloway.

Vocal support is part of this aim. The fans were loud if ultimately disappointed.

‘We let them down,’ said Ian McCall, the Jags manager, after the match. ‘I know that is a cliche but it’s true.’

THERE was fan joy, of course. Its distillation could be found in the 65-year-old body of Keith McAllister, secretary of Queen’s Park Supporters’ Association. He has a table set up just inside the ground where he sells badges and scarves and advises on the schedule of supporters’ buses.

He is, of course, known for his devotion to the Spiders, featuring in features on screen and in print.

‘I have not missed a game home or away since 1979,’ he said. How many games is that? ‘Hunners,’ he replied with a grin. A rough count holds the tally at about 1,500 but McAllister rates Ochilview as the scene of his greatest moment as a fan.

On July 1, 1980, the Spiders came back from a three-goal deficit to win 4-3.

‘Just out there,’ said McAllister, casting his eyes on to the artificial turf. ‘Alan Irvine crosses the ball and Gerry Crawley seems to take a puff on a panatella before slipping it home.’

Crawley, immediate past president of the club, now sits alongside Haughey in the stand.

‘Reasons to be hopeful? Absolutely,’ said McAllister, seemingly slightly unnerved by this state of affairs. ‘Without Willie we could have faced a future of playing in the Lowland League. Now we are looking upwards.’

With 58 years of supporting Queen’s, McAllister has a fully defined dream. He added: ‘More than playing in the top division, more than just about anything, I would like to see Queen’s Park win the Scottish Cup at Hampden.’

They have won it ten times, though admittedly the last success was in 1893.

If the immediate prospect of such an event is remote, then signs are more than hopeful for Queen’s. They can be embodied in the shape of Boateng, a 20-year-old Ghanaian, who has travelled from Crystal Place to Glasgow to spend a season on loan.

His presence illustrates the reality of the Spiders of 2022. First, Coyle has the contacts (in this case Dougie Freedman, sporting director at Palace) to investigate such a move. Second, Queen’s Park have the resources and ambition to make the move attractive to player and Palace.

‘It’s as good a debut as I have seen in football, at any level,’ Coyle said of the midfielder. ‘Palace have genuinely high hopes for Malachi.’

Coyle’s only regret was that the player’s debut was delayed because of registration protocols but talked enthusiastically of a practice game against Celtic at Livingston last week.

He pointed out that Celtic had fielded a strong side, including Giorgos Giakoumakis Anthony Ralston, Carl Starfelt, James Forrest and Liel Abada. But, more pertinently, Boateng was up against internationals Aaron Mooy and James McCarthy in midfield.

‘This was a Celtic side at full throttle and Malachi stood up to it,’ added Coyle.

His team-mates followed that example on a testing day at Ochilview. The Championship season is yet young but a reprise of this Glasgow derby later in the season could have significant implications at the top end of the table.

The Verdict: The Championship

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2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

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