THE supporter who launched the fan takeover of Partick Thistle has welcomed the resignation of seven board members this week following months of bitter off-field unrest and predicted a bright future lies ahead for the Firhill club under their new hierarchy.
Paul Goodwin, the former head of Supporters Direct Scotland who advised Dunfermline, Hearts, Motherwell, Morton and Stirling Albion on community ownership, first approached the late EuroMillions lottery winner Colin Weir about gifting his major shareholding in the Jags to his fellow supporters back in 2019.
Goodwin was astonished in August when Three Black Cats Ltd (3BC), a shelf company which then chairman Jacqui Low was a director of, decided not to hand Weir’s 55 per cent stake to the Jags Foundation, a community interest company set by fans.
And he was, along with many of his fellow supporters, perplexed when 3BC then announced the PTFC Trust, a hitherto-anonymous group which held a 19.28 per cent shareholding, had been chosen as the recipients.
Low and six other directors, including Thistle great Alan Rough, stepped down this week following angry protests outside Firhill at the Scottish Cup game against Kelty Hearts last month and hit out at the “false narrative” over fan ownership.
However, Goodwin has claimed their departure was inevitable, welcomed the appointment of two PTFC Trust members and one Jags Foundation member to the board and expressed hope they will be able to deliver the model which Weir had wanted.
He compared the exit of the former directors to the ousting of the old Celtic board in 1994 following a prolonged campaign by the Parkhead club’s disgruntled fans and stated that better times lie ahead for Thistle.
“The power dynamic at any football club is all dependent on the shares,” he said. “As soon as the shares went into the vehicle (PTFC Trust), and we all know it wasn’t the right vehicle, then the board had no moral authority to run the club.
“It was an interim board that was put in place when Colin Weir’s money was used to purchase the club. It was a temporary board.
“What they offered wasn’t even a version of community ownership. Effectively what they were saying was ‘you can have the shares, but you can’t influence what we do as a board’. You can’t have half community ownership or quarter community ownership. That is stupid.
“In the conversation that I had with Colin Weir’s lawyers, they indicated he wanted a model similar to the Well Society where the fans select a board of qualified people who are, if they believe they need to do so, able to add extra experience.”
Goodwin added: “Now, the people who sit on a board and run a football club not owning the majority shareholding is by no means unique. The big difference this time was as soon as the fans got a sniff or democracy there was no way they were going to stand for it.
“I think as soon as the protests started the board members realised that it wasn’t, as Alan Rough had suggested ‘30 people on the canal bank’. I think the vast majority of Thistle fans thought ‘this doesn’t smell right’.
“The AGM was the trigger for it. At the last minute, they changed it. Rather than have votes on each individual board member, the whole board had to be voted in or nothing at all.
“To be honest, I expected them to tough it out longer than they did. But as soon as fan protests start they just can’t take it. History shows that exactly the same thing happened at Celtic when the Kellys and the Whites were in power.”
Goodwin, the co-founder of the Scottish Football Supporters Association, was pleased when he learned that PTFC Trust representatives Richard Beastall and Fergus Maclennan and Caroline Mackie of the Jags Foundation had joined Duncan Smillie on the Thistle board this week.
He is optimistic that the trust and the foundation will be able to work together amicably and deliver the kind of community ownership model which lifelong supporter Weir had been eager to see before he passed away in 2019.
“The Jags Foundation have got nearly 1,000 members paying money in each month,” he said. “They are a legitimate one member one vote community ownership organisation. They are democratic and their communication is spot on. They are superb. They have done a brilliant job.
“They are an exemplar, just like the Well Society, the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association and the Foundation of Hearts
“The trust was there beforehand. But it is not a fans organisation, it is just a vehicle to hold shares. It would be very hard to close it down now. But there is no point in them creating a fans organisation when one already exists.
“I think the trust realised there was only one way forward. I see it remaining as the vehicle that holds the shares. But I think all of the kind of Well Society, Foundation of Hearts activity will be done through the Jags Foundation, which is great. They have just had elections, they have a vibrant and talented board. There can be no worries about it. I think a corner has been turned.”
Goodwin dismissed the swipe which the outgoing board members made against the fans who protested about the Jags Foundation not receiving the majority shareholding and rubbished the suggestion that their actions were impacting on the performances of Ian McCall’s side.
“What is the false narrative?” he said. “Community ownership is the owners of the shares having the ability to say who is running the club on their behalf. What Jacqui Low and her board were offering was not community ownership.
“The Jags Foundation have nearly 1,000 members paying money in every month. Jaqui didn’t want to know. Why? We’re coming up to the January transfer window. The club could use it to get players in.
“I can’t see any way back for the old board to be honest. The shares are in the trust and the trust have now cosied up to the foundation which is good to see. There is a positive way forward and they can put all of the unrest to bed.
“In the fullness of time, they will be operating just like Hearts, Motherwell and St Mirren. I have huge confidence in them. They have quality people involved. I am really comfortable with the people who are leading it. There are enough smart, clever people involved.
“The manager and his players are a step removed from it all. I don’t think it will make any real difference to them. I don’t think it had any impact on the park. As soon as the whistle goes they don’t give a monkey’s.”
