Partick Thistle’s move to fan ownership took a significant step forward yesterday as the model to be used at Firhill was outlined and a timeline put in place for the process to be finalised.
The Working Group, comprised of a cross-section of supporters from various fans’ groups, was formed in December after the previous club board resigned earlier that month. It was formed to deliver a solution to the ownership saga that has been rumbling on at the cinch Championship club for over three years now.
It appears to have achieved its goal, judging by yesterday’s announcement. A joint statement from the PTFC Trust (the organisation that received Colin Weir’s stake in the club), The Jags Foundation (the 1000-strong fans’ group) and The Jags Trust (another supporters’ body that holds a 7.5-per-cent shareholding in the club) provided the detail on the changes that will be made.
“The Working Group came together and I would thank them all,” said TJF chairman Sandy Fyfe, who was part of the group. “It’s amazing when you get a bunch of fans together in a room with a starting point and an objective.
“We got there really quite quickly because we have two huge common interests: a belief in fan ownership and a love of our football club. It was a very straightforward process once everyone got around the table together and started working together.
“That’s been encouraging for me – and that proves to me that fan ownership can work in the longer term as well. We can’t rewrite history but everyone was able to draw a line in the sand, get around the table and come up with the best solution for Partick Thistle.”
TJF and TJT are to become corporate trustees of the PTFC Trust, which holds a 74-per-cent stake in the Maryhill club. In practice, this will mean that the democratically-elected boards of the two organisations will manage the Trust.
“Instead of five people determining everything, you have got tow democratically-elected boards,” Fyfe reasoned. “It’s not down to individuals, it’s down to consensus of boards – and memberships sitting underneath those boards.”
The five current Trustees – Richard Beastall, Ali Campbell, Neil Drain, Fergus Maclennan and Randle Wilson – will then resign from their posts ‘at such time that they are confident and comfortable that everything is operating as it ought to’, the statement explained.
“The Trust’s role in the short term is to work hard to get to that point in the timeline this summer,” said Drain. “Once all these things are done our role is essentially passive. We’ll let TJT, TJF and the season ticket holders get on with it.
“How long we just sit there and watch will depend on how we get on in the next six months but we have taken great strides from where we started out just before Christmas. I am very confident we won’t be hanging about for long unless something changes.”
The Trust’s original proposal, that was accepted by the previous club board, was criticised for being undemocratic and doubts were aired over the suitability of the Trust as the vehicle to manage the shareholding but these issues appear to have been resolved. Should everything go according to plan, the new model will be implemented by May.
There has been one particularly notable update, too. Under the previous proposal, the plan was to define season ticket holders as beneficiaries, prompting concerns that such a policy was exclusionary and would leave some supporters on the sidelines without a say. Under the new proposal, the definition will be expanded to members of TJF and TJT, as well as season ticket holders – an estimated 2000 or so people.
“The Working Group worked very well,” Drain said. “TJF came up with the bulk of the proposal but when we saw it we were very happy with it. We were pleasantly surprised with it and all of our main concerns have been addressed and our questions have been answered.
“We have always said – and people didn’t always believe us – we wanted fans to have the say and get democratised. This seems to be a way of doing it that allows fans to choose the Trust, TJT or TJF and still get a say. It encompasses everyone in the Partick Thistle family, which is brilliant.
“I think at the time the criticisms were valid but we always said ‘give us time’. I think we have answered that. Our intentions have always been to get to the place where we will be in the summer where we deliver everything that was promised to fans. People seem to be on board and it is great to see everyone pulling in the same direction.”
Fyfe added: “This has democracy at its heart and it gives influence to democratically-elected fans. It gives transparency to members. It’s expanded the membership for decision-making beyond beneficiaries to TJF and TJT members too.
“In the event that someone doesn’t want to join TJF and they’re not a season ticket holder, they can join TJT. Everyone has got an opportunity to be represented here and that was fundamental to our consideration.”
This isn’t the first occasion that a timeline has been put in place during Thistle’s fan ownership saga but Fyfe is confident that this time supporters have every reason to believe that the Working Group’s plans will come to fruition.
“We set out the timeline in the way that we have to give complete transparency to what’s going on,” he said. “We wanted fans to understand all the steps that need to happen. The key difference is that there is absolute alignment from all parties – the Trustees, TJF, TJT – all the people who can make this work. That’s why I have confidence in the timeline.”
