Monday 28th August, 2023 at 4:30pm
To communicate and inform as many Thistle supporters as possible Alistair Creevy’s programme notes will be reproduced in full on ptfc.co.uk each Monday following a home fixture where a programme is produced.
Below are Alistair’s notes from Saturday’s match programme against Queen’s Park.
Dear Thistle fans,
A very warm welcome to you to issue two of the PTFC Match Programme for season 2023/24, whether you are reading this at the stadium, at home, as a Jags fan or a Spider, in Scotland or further afield.
Everyone at the club is very grateful for the support shown to our match programme since its return earlier this month, with many sponsors taking adverts and 500 fans ensuring issue 1 was completely sold out.
A big thanks to editor Tom Hosie and his team of volunteers for ensuring such a high-quality product – that initial success means the order number has been increased today. Enjoy!
Elsewhere at the Wyre Stadium at Firhill I’d like to use this opportunity to highlight some of the important work we have commenced across the stadium in recent weeks.
We have been working closely with the stadium’s facilities manager Paul Smith across a number of stadium improvements which will continue throughout the season.
Initially this includes cleaning at the front of the Colin Weir Stand, getting rid of overgrown weeds and then repairing masonry work.
Repairs to the Jackie Husband Stand roof are also under way and, in addition, we have replaced the flags with three brand new ones which, subject to delivery and installation, you should see proudly on display this afternoon, adding a little more red and yellow to the stadium.
There is much to be done and hopefully supporters will like what they see – much of this has been funded by new investment into the club, including a sizeable one-off donation by a supporter, for which we are extremely grateful.
In my last set of programme notes I acknowledged the appointment of our new CEO Chris Ross, for whom the Raith Rovers home fixture came at the end of just his first week in the new role.
Chris has since settled in very well and is getting to know the various supporters groups and many other Thistle organisations to help him fully understand the fanbase. Thanks to all those who have helped him feel so welcome so far.
Two people I didn’t mention in my previous programme notes were Douglas McCrea and Andrew Holloway who I would like to officially welcome to the PTFC board of directors.
Douglas needs little introduction given he is so well known to fans over many years, in fact decades, with his company McCrea Financial Services supporting the club including most recently with sponsorship of monthly and annual player awards.
Andrew joined the board representing The Jags Foundation and is already making a significant impact to the board, further strengthening the links between club and TJF, which is a hugely important relationship for the club.
So we now have a strong board which is fully behind Kris, Paul and the team in pushing to be competitive at the top end of the table once again.
Enjoy the game, mon the Jags!
Alistair Creevy.
