OWEN COYLE is going back to the future in order to help Queen’s Park lift some major silverware for the first time since Queen Victoria was on the throne.
The first television has yet to be sold when the Spiders won their tenth and last Scottish Cup in 1893 – only Celtic (40) and Rangers (34) have won the competition more often than their Glasgow neighbours, even though their last final was in 1900.
Scotland’s oldest senior club (formed in 1867) dominated the game for decades but were handicapped by remaining amateur. They turned pro three years ago and now, having helped them win promotion to the Championship last season, Coyle intends to put Queen’s back on top.
“We changed our amateur status less than three years ago but the club has been transformed since then,” he claimed. “Our remit is to bring young players through and help them with the addition of some more experienced boys.
“The club’s new stadium is going to look great. It’ll be able to hold a couple of thousand fans but we’ll also have the potential to increase that if things go as well as we hope.
“I understand what Queen’s Park means to our supporters and I can assure them we won’t lose the core principles of the club. Everything we do will be honourable and above board.
“However, I definitely believe that we can get back to the heights and the successes which Queen’s enjoyed so long ago.”
Coyle and his long-serving No.2 Sandy Stewart are confident that they can deliver the goods in Mount Florida due to the financial support of Baron Willie Haughey.
“We know the pressure is on now but Sandy and I have been successful in Scotland, England and India and if you don’t believe you can be successful then you shouldn’t be in this game,” he insisted.
“There will be some bumps in the road along the way but we see the big picture and something magical can happen here. We’ve had to deal with expectations throughout our careers but we’ll do it with a smile on our faces.”
Coyle also believes that returning to the top flight for the first time since 1958 could be on the cards.
“Wales hadn’t been to a World Cup since 1958 but they’re back now,” he pointed out. “Similarly, Queen’s were in among the trophies when they started out but they’ve since had a barren spell.
“They’ve been operating in the lower leagues for longer than anyone can remember but every club can have its day in the sun, which is why we love the game.
“We’ve had to release a lot of lads who’d played their part in getting us this far but we’ve already made a few new signings and we’ll be competitive in this league.
“I look at what Arbroath did last season, when they finished up two points away from automatic promotion. Dick Campbell did a great job, effectively signing up the best part-time players in the country and beating everyone.
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves but we have big plans here. Rangers and Celtic have huge supports but we want to become everyone’s second-favourite club, the one people will come and see when they can’t get to their first choice’s away games.
“Queen’s Park are a family club and we want spectators to have a nice day out when they come to watch us. Last season we launches an initiative where we invited all the local schools to come along and that will be continued.
“The Championship will be a tough division next season: Dundee will be favourites to go straight back up because they have the biggest budget but football doesn’t always work that way.
“Partick Thistle and Inverness will be stronger and the fact we finished fourth in League One, 28 points behind Cove Rangers, shows how much we need to improve but we’ll get there.
“This club has a great history – our secretary, Graeme Shields, was invited to the FA Cup final at Wembley last month because Queen’s were semi-finalists in the very first one and twice reached the final.
“We believe it also has a bright future.”
