cinch Championship
Sat 11 December, 2021. Kick Off: - 15:00
Firhill Stadium
Match Information:
Ticketing Information:
Partick Thistle v Arbroath – Saturday 11th December.
After a thrilling November, Thistle’s Firhill return takes place on Saturday 11th December as we welcome Arbroath for a top half cinch Championship fixture.
Thistle are unbeaten at Firhill since September while the Red Litchies haven’t lost on the road since October so it has all the makings of another fantastic afternoon of football in Maryhill.
Ticket prices for this match are priced at:
Adults – £20
Concessions (Over 65s, students, disabled supporter including carer, 16-18 year olds) £15
Under 16 – £5
Purchasing before matchday
Ticket purchases before matchday (11th December) are available to buy through one of the three methods below:
Matchday purchases
Tickets can be purchased on matchday through online sale. The Executive Offices will not be open on matchday.
Limited provision will be made at the Jackie Husband ticket office for home supporters, without bank cards or online access, to use cash to purchase tickets for this game.
Partick Thistle Season Ticket Holders
This fixture is on the Partick Thistle 2021/22 season ticket. Use your season ticket card, or the PTFC ticketing app at the turnstile to gain entry to Firhill. Season tickets are only valid for the stand they were purchased for with no changing between stands on a game by game basis, currently permitted.
If you are a Partick Thistle season ticket holder who is due to be self-isolating on the date of this fixture, or who develops Covid-19 symptoms between now and matchday you should not attend this fixture. In this event, please contact to update us. We will de-activate your season card for this fixture and provide access to the live stream of the match.
Away fans can purchase their ticket for this cinch Championship fixture through one of the three methods below:
Away supporter ticket prices for this match are priced at:
Adults – £20
Concessions (Over 65s, students, disabled supporter including carer, 16-18 year olds) £15
Under 16 – £5
Last phone orders for delivery is Wednesday 8th December at 4pm. All tickets should be uplifted from Firhill by 4pm on Friday afternoon.
Online ticket sales for Arbroath fans will be available right up until kick-off. There will be no provision available for physical in-person ticket sales for Arbroath supporters on matchday.
Socially distanced section
Our socially distanced section, which has proven to be quite popular over the past few home fixtures, will remain in operation for this upcoming match.
It will continue to be located within sections 8 and 9 of the Jackie Husband Stand. In this space, social distancing of 2 metres will be observed and the wearing of face masks will be required. This area will be stewarded to ensure fans are kept safe.
Should you wish to be in this area, please purchase a socially distanced ticket on our ticketing platform.
Any season ticket holders who wish to utilise this section are requested to contact the ticket office in advance – this will allow us to ensure all season ticket holders who wish to be situated in this area will be accommodated.
You can contact the ticket office by calling 0141 579 1971, selecting option 1 or by emailing
Other matchday info
There have been some important changes to the matchday experience at Firhill.
Kiosks located within Firhill will be open for this fixture offering a full range of the usual food and drink you would expect on matchday. Additional card machines will be in operation in the kiosk to ensure quicker service and payment to reduce matchday congestion. A second kiosk will be in operation within the John Lambie Stand.
50/50 tickets will be available to purchase online (online purchases will close at 2pm on matchday) and around Firhill on matchday. The winner of the 50/50 draw will be announced at half time and the winner will be contacted by the club within the week following the fixture.
No match programme will be produced for this fixture.
Matchday information will be emailed to all season ticket holders and registered email addresses on our mailing databases on the morning of the game. Sign up to our mailing list here to ensure you receive our matchday information on the morning of the game.
Live Stream
We’ll be providing a livestream of the game which you can watch with a PPV pass, priced at £12.
To find out more about buying a PPV pass, click HERE.
Audio Commentary
Our JagZone audio commentary service will return this weekend with audio coverage of our cinch Championship match against Arbroath.
Join our commentary team on Saturday afternoon as they bring you comprehensive audio coverage of the match. The show gets underway at 2:30pm.
To listen to the broadcast, simply log in to your Jagzone account, click on the audio commentary tab and press the play button on the player.
50/50 Half-Time Draw
There are two ways to enter Saturday’s draw with entries from both methods going into the draw for the prize jackpot.
Purchasing Online
Tickets can be purchased online through our ticketing platform until 2pm on Saturday.
To enter, simply head over to our ticketing platform and follow the link for the draw.
Purchasing at Firhill
Tickets will also be available to buy in-person at Firhill from our sellers who will be located around the ground. As Firhill moves towards becoming a cashless stadium, we encourage fans who can to use contactless payment when entering the draw. Supporters will be issued with a physical ticket upon their purchase.
The winner of the 50/50 draw will be announced at half time and will be contacted by the club next week.
Tickets to enter cost just £1 each with no limit on the amount of tickets you can purchase. Remember, the more tickets you purchase, the better your chances of winning!
Online entries will close at 2pm on Saturday 11th December 2021
The management team’s written previews and reactions are presented by The Jags Trust. You can keep up to date with the latest from The Jags Trust by visiting their website, www.jagstrust.com.
Partick Thistle are aiming to make it a remarkable ten games unbeaten this Saturday as Arbroath visit Maryhill in the cinch Championship. The two sides are separated by goal difference in the league standings with Thistle’s superior goalscoring exploits seeing them sit in fourth place above the Red Lichties. However, it was Dick Campbell’s side who won the last time the sides met, at Gayfield Park in August. Thistle assistant manager Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the game:
“When you’re on an unbeaten run like we’re on at the moment, there’s obviously a good feeling around the club and everyone’s in good spirits in training. We were a little bit disappointed not to get the win against Queen of the South on Saturday but we can’t afford to dwell – we have to put that behind us and get ready for a really tough game against Arbroath.”
Archie spoke a bit more on last weekend’s draw with Queen of the South, telling us there was a feeling among the squad that they could have got all three points after an improved second half performance.
“They made it very difficult for us in the first half but we were much better after half-time. Brian Graham came on and I think we were able to move the ball up the pitch a bit quicker because of that. Early on we weren’t finding the space we needed to play attacking football but that space started to open up a bit more later on.
“Brian had a good chance, Kyle had a shot just past the post and Ross MacIver had an opening but it wasn’t to be. On another day we probably take one of the chances but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. The good thing was that we kept them relatively quiet and made sure we got a point.
“As much as Jamie had to make a couple of great saves, those saves come from shot at the edge of the box so it’s not as if we’ve been torn apart. Then in the second half they barely threatened and that’s down to the organisation in the defence which has developed a lot since the start of the season.”
Now, as the team prepare to face Dick Campbell’s Arbroath, Alan knows it’ll be difficult to get a win against the Angus side.
“I think they’ve only lost twice all season in the league and one of them was on the opening day so that shows you how tough they’ve been to beat this season. They’ve gone away from home and beaten Killie and Inverness so we don’t think for a second that they’ll come here and play with any fear.
“Up front they’ve got the league’s top scorer in McKenna and the boy Nouble both of whom caused us a lot of problems when we last played them so it’ll be a real test for our guys tomorrow.”
When the Jags fell to defeat at Gayfield Park earlier this season, individual mistakes cost them the game having taken the lead in the first half and Archie hopes the team’s tendency to concede slack goals has been eradicated in the time since.
“Well, we’re on an incredible run of clean sheets at the moment which shows the improvement that there has been. At the start of the season, we were leaking far too many goals and it was costing us points but since then we’ve really tightened things up.
“As I touched on earlier, we’ve become more organised and I think we’ve shown an ability to dig in and see out results when we need to. We’re also better at dealing with spells of pressure like when Queen of the South were on the front foot at the end of the first half on Saturday.”
Finally, Alan gave us the latest team news ahead of the game.
“We’ll hopefully have the same squad to choose from again. We got Lewis Mayo and Richard Foster back last week which was great and they’ll be available again. There are a couple of players carrying little knocks but we’ll just have to wait and see how they feel overnight before we make a final decision.”
Exclusive video interviews with Ross Docherty and Thistle assistant manager Alan Archibald will be available for JagZone subscribers to watch today – log in to view.
JagZone subscribers will be able to tune in to live audio commentary for our clash with Arbroath, starting at 2:30pm – click here to tune in.
We will be providing a pay-per-view option, priced at £12, for any supporter who wishes to watch our livestream of the match – click here for more info.
We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of the fixture on JagZone following the game.
Article Copyright © 2021. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to ptfc.co.uk.
Partick Thistle sought to end a run of six games without victory against Arbroath as the Red Lichties visited Firhill for the Jags’ first home game of December.
Dick Campbell’s side were 3-1 victors in the sides’ previous meeting this season, coming back from 1-0 down thanks to two goals from Michael McKenna and one from Nicky Low.
Both teams came into this game off the back of goalless draws with Thistle having shared points with Queen of the South a week prior to this contest while Arbroath had battled to a stalemate against Raith Rovers.
In difficult conditions, the opening period of the game delivered little in the way of exciting football, however, the hosts burst into life in the 13th minute to force Derek Gaston into his first save of the game. Stuart Bannigan intercepted a Colin Hamilton pass and quickly got a counter-attack started by playing the ball to Scott Tiffoney. He hurdled a Michael McKenna tackle and fed the ball out to Brian Graham on the left side of the Jags’ attack. Graham then curled a pass over to the opposite side of play where Kyle Turner was able to bring the ball down. He cut inside, onto his left foot, and tried to beat Gaston at his near post, however, the ex-Morton ‘keeper was able to force the ball around the post in a somewhat unconventional manner.
Arbroath then hit back with a chance of their own on 18 minutes. Jason Thomson zipped a pass into the feet of Anton Dowds and the number 19 touched the ball around the corner for the onrushing Scott Stewart. The midfielder got away from Kevin Holt and raced into the Thistle box before trying a low shot across goal. The angle proved too tight though as Stewart dragged his effort wide of the far post.
The Championship’s top scorer Michael McKenna looked to add to his tally with 10 minutes left until half-time. The number eight struck a free-kick forcefully from 25 yards, looking find the near top corner, but Jamie Sneddon was across his goal-line quickly to make a relatively comfortable save.
The away side had the better of play latterly in the first half and that was rewarded on the stroke of half-time as they took the lead. James Craigen swung a corner kick into the Jags’ six-yard box and Anton Dowds escaped the attentions of Tunji Akinola to rise and header towards goal. The delivery had enough power on it to mean that he was only required to flick it onto the target and that’s exactly what he did, inflicting the first goal against Thistle since 15th October at the Fountain of Youth Stadium.
Coming out for the second half, there were signs of life from the Jags, most noticeably in the 48th minute. Kyle Turner chipped a free-kick into the Arbroath box finding the run of Lewis Mayo, free of his marker. The centre-half had found the net at the Bing End in Thistle’s last home league game but couldn’t do so again here as his header floated harmlessly into the arms of Derek Gaston.
The hosts carved out another opening three minutes later when Brian Graham looked to restore parity. Scott Tiffoney picked the ball up on the left wing and clipped a glided ball into the Arbroath area. Brian Graham rose to meet the cross but, like Lewis Mayo not long before, could only glance it into Gaston’s grateful grasp.
After that, the visitors came back into things and probably should have been two goals to the good with 54 minutes on the clock. Joel Nouble latched onto a loose ball on the right side of the Thistle box and cut it back to Scott Stewart in space. Having missed the target in the first half, Stewart made sure to make more of this attempt and his outside-of-the-foot finish looked bound for the bottom corner as soon as it left his foot. As the fans around Firhill were waiting for the net to ripple and Stewart to wheel away celebrating, Richard Foster popped up out of nowhere with a marvellous goal-line clearance to turn the ball away and keep the score at 1-0.
There was another golden opportunity for the Smokies to extend their lead one minute short of the hour mark and Scott Stewart was involved again. The former Airdrieonians man drove into the Jags’ box from the right flank and tried another low shot across goal. This one was parried by Jamie Sneddon but only to the feet of James Craigen. The midfielder, whose finest moment as a Thistle player came at that end Firhill against Morton in 2013, fluffed his lines with a first time shot as he put it wide of the near post from seven yards out.
Arbroath should have been left rueing their missed opportunities in the 62nd minute when Ross MacIver was presented with a big chance to get his first goal of the season. Scott Tiffoney clipped another one of his trademark cross into the Red Lichties’ box, finding Brian Graham at the back post. Thistle’s top scorer elected to knock the ball back across the face of goal as MacIver rushed in to meet it on the volley. The ex-Ross County man got good contact on the hit but fired it right off the crossbar and when the rebound fell to Kyle Turner, he couldn’t force it home.
That miss proved costly for Ian McCall’s side as Arbroath eventually got a deserved second through Liam Henderson. It was another set piece that was Thistle’s undoing though rather than a James Craigen corner, it was a Michael McKenna free-kick this time. The ball into the box was aimed towards the back post where Henderson was battling with his marker and the number 22 was able to get up to meet the ball, thundering a header beyond Jamie Sneddon to put his side into a more comfortable lead.
The Jags pushed for a route back into the game late on but, in truth, Arbroath looked the more likely to get the next goal as they picked their moments to attack. Joel Nouble had a couple of efforts that threatened the Thistle goal without hitting the target and Tam O’Brien struck the post with a drilled effort from 25 yards out.
The referee’s whistle went after three minutes of added time, confirming the victory for the travelling Smokies and condemning Thistle to just their second home defeat of the league season. The win saw Arbroath leapfrog the Jags and Kilmarnock into third place.
Up next for the Maryhill men is the visit of Raith Rovers who come to Firhill for the first time in the league since the 2012/13 season. Kick-off for that one is 3pm on 18th December.
The management team’s written previews and reactions are presented by The Jags Trust. You can keep up to date with the latest from The Jags Trust by visiting their website, www.jagstrust.com.
The nine-game unbeaten run came to an end this afternoon for Partick Thistle as they were beaten 2-0 by Arbroath at Firhill. Goals from Anton Dowds on the stroke of half-time and Liam Henderson in 78th minute secured the points for the Red Lichties as they leapfrogged the Jags, leaving Thistle in fifth place. The hosts’ best chance of the game came with the score at 1-0 as Brian Graham set up Ross MacIver but the substitute volley thundered back off the bar and was cleared. Although both of Arbroath’s goals came from set pieces, they might have scored at least a couple more from open play with Scott Stewart, James Craigen and Joel Nouble all passing up good opportunities to add to the Smokies advantage. Jags boss Ian McCall spoke to ptfc.co.uk after the conclusion of the match:
“Arbroath thoroughly deserved to win that today which is very frustrating because I thought we were doing alright for the first half an hour but then Cammy Smith goes off and that seemed to hurt us a lot. Then, we concede that goal on half-time and that’s a real sucker punch too.
“Coming out for the second half we had a few moments early on but we let it fizzle out. They really should have scored a couple of their chances after that but eventually they did get that second goal and reflecting on the 90 minutes, you can’t say they didn’t deserve to win.”
Both of the visitors’ goals came from set plays and the manager was frustrated to see his team lose goals that way.
“We knew coming into the game that they were going to be a threat from set pieces so of course it’s really disappointing that they’ve beaten us with two. We could have defended both of them better but, to be honest, I’m going back into the dressing room to a defence who have kept eight clean sheets in a row and I’m finding it tough to give them too much stick.
“We knew the defensive run was going to come to an end at some point and, realistically, today they could have scored four or five if they were really clinical so we now just have to put this game behind us and look to get back to what we’ve been doing well recently next weekend.”
Although he admits his side were well-beaten in the end, the gaffer does feel that the game could have changed if Ross MacIver had buried his chance to restore parity.
“It was a big moment and if we get back level with 25 minutes to go then you never know what might have happened. In that second half we looked like we needed something to create a spark and the goal could have been that.
“Ross himself is frustrated to have missed it but these things happen in football and we should have been creating more good chances than just that one anyway.”
Now, McCall is hoping to see his team bounce back next week as they take on Raith Rovers in more home league action.
“It’s all about how we react now. We’ve got two more big games coming right up so we can’t let this affect us. We didn’t give a good account of ourselves last time we played Raith so we’ll need to do a lot better than last time and a lot better than we did today if we want to get a result from that one.”
Further reaction from Thistle manager Ian McCall will be available for JagZone subscribers to watch tonight – log in to view.
We’ll also have extended highlights and a full game replay of today’s match on JagZone tonight.
Article Copyright © 2021. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to ptfc.co.uk.
Sat 11 December, 2021
cinch Championship 
Firhill Stadium
Thistle can have no complaint whatsoever about this one as they are well beaten by Arbroath.
A Ross MacIver effort that came off the bar while the score was still 1-0 was the closest Thistle would come to a goal and had that gone in it may have turned out differently but in truth Thistle were second best for large chunks of this game.
Nouble turns Docherty before sending a shot just wide of Sneddon's right hand post.
O'Brien's long range effort smacks off the Thistle post. McKenna knocks the rebound home but is offside.
Into injury time.
Graham trips Nouble at the edge of the Thistle box.
Nearly a third for Arbroath. Docherty is caught in possession by Hilson who slips the ball to Nouble whose finish is poor and the ball goes wide of goal.
A Mayo header from Turner's corner drops well wide of goal.
Thistle can make nothing for the corner and Arbroath win a free kick deep inside their own half for a foul on Nouble.
A dangerous Foster cross is cleared at the expense of a Thistle corner.
There's surely no way back for Thistle now. Thistle concede a soft free kick wide on the left and when that free kick is delivered deep into the Thistle box Henderson is there to head home. The second set piece goal that Thistle have conceded this afternoon.
Sneddon gets a strong hand to Craigen's free kick to steer it to safety.
Nouble is tormenting the Thistle defence and wins a free kick near the left hand side corner flag.
We have a break in play for Arbroath's Dowds to receive some treatment.
McKenna steals the ball away from Foster but Mayo is there to clear his low cross ahead of Nouble.
Thistle are so close to an equaliser. Tiffoney's ball to the back post is knocked back towards goal by Graham to MacIver whose effort comes off the underside of the Arbroath crossbar.
What a chance that is for Arbroath. Sneddon saves Stewart's shot but the ball falls nicely to Craigen who looks to have a relatively simple chance to tuck away but can't hit target. Another lifeline for Thistle.
Henderson's shot on the turn is blocked by a Thistle defender.
What a goal line clearance that was from Foster to prevent Stewart's shot, after an assist from Nouble, from finding the bottom corner of the Thistle net. A potential turning point in the game?
MacIver flicks on a long ball forward but Graham can't get to it ahead of Gaston.
Graham is able to glance a header from a Tiffoney cross towards goal but Gaston is untroubled in saving.
A chipped free kick from Turner finds an unmarked Mayo but he can't get his header past Gaston. A good opportunity, Thistle's best of the game so far, goes abegging.
It's not unexpected nor undeserved. The corner is delivered into a dangerous area and Dowds is there to head powerfully past Sneddon.
An Arbroath head is on the end of this corner but the ball drops right in front of Sneddon who makes an easy save.
The corner goes deep again and is cleared.
Although less than convincing, Thistle clear the corner.
Holt heads on Turner's corner to Graham who in turn sees his header saved by Gaston.
Bannigan has the ball on the edge of the Arbroath box. He elects not to shoot for goal himself and works the ball to Graham to his right whose shot is saved.
McKenna takes the free kick. It's well enough struck but from that distance there isn't enough curl or whip on it to truly trouble Sneddon.
Akinola fouls Dowds and Arbroath have a free kick in a dangerous position left of centre and about 25 yards out.
It's another deep corner from Arbroath that O'Brien meets with his head at the edge of the box but his header goes well wide.
There are some really heavy challenges coming in as this game becomes a real physical slog.
A cross comes over from the Arbroath right that Craigen can't get on the end of inside the Thistle 6 yard box.
Smith is down again and his afternoon might be coming to an early end.
Sneddon makes a very easy save from a Nouble header.
Smith is back on his feet and back on the pitch.
Play is stopped for Smith, who looks to be in a bit of discomfort, to receive some treatment. Arbroath are unhappy as they were on the attack at the time.
Tiffoney is fouled in the middle of the park but Thistle want the advantage as Smith collects the ball.
Best chance of the game so far comes the way of Arbroath as Stewart uses his pace to get into the Thistle box but his shot goes wide of Sneddon's right hand post.
A Graham header from a Bannigan cross drops wide of goal but Graham had dropped back from an offside position in any case.
It's Turner again with the corner and Graham is able to nod the ball towards goal where it is cleared. Some signs that Thistle are starting to get into their stride after a slow start.
Good play from Thistle ends with Turner's shot rather fumbled round the post by Gaston.
Turner delivers the corner into a good area but it is well defended by the visiting defence.
Tiffoney tries to inject some life into things and wins Thistle's first corner.
It's Arbroath that have had the better of the opening 10 minutes but overall there is a real flat feeling to the game played in difficult underfoot conditions.
With only Nouble inside the 6 yard box the corner is aimed deep and is well defended by Thistle.
Tiffoney picks up the ball inside the centre circle and advances towards goal. He looks to be fouled but the referee initially plays advantage until Tiffoney loses possession and awards Thistle a free kick that comes to nothing.
Foster gets forward for Thistle early on but the flag goes up for offside.
Arbroath get things underway. Thistle will be shooting towards The John Lambie Stand in the first half.
It's a damp and soggy Firhill but this afternoon's game with Arbroath goes ahead as planned with only goal difference separating the two sides in a congested top half of the league.
Ian McCall's starting eleven shows two changes from the side that started at Queen of the South last weekend.
Brian Graham and Cammy Smith start today with Zak Rudden missing out with a knock and Connor Murray dropping to the bench.