The Big Queen's Park FC Thread

[CapitalDiamond]

3 minutes ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

In a second obvious attempt to divert attention, just how did Thistle get in their mess and a semi-derelict stadium with all the money Colin Weir invested?

Very good and fair question! How did Falkirk lose £1.2 million in a year?! 
 

if QP are paying a market rate (whatever that is and I can’t see why the SFA would do a Sweetheart Deal) then fair enough.

I do worry that what is happening at QP doesn’t feel sustainable. Dempster, Beuker, Coyle, a Brilliant Team, Firhill, Ochilview, Hampden, training facilities, Stadium Build over runs.

Haughey seems to be a genuine Philanthropist and I hope that’s the case. QP was here before him and will be here once we’re all gone if the custodians do their jobs.

 

[Spider1975]

There's a lot of whataboutery on here.

We were slagged off for having too big a stadium, then having no stadium at all, to having a stadium that wasn't big enough to provide a fair allocation for visiting fans for one game to being accused of gaining a competitive advantage by ground sharing and playing our 'home' games 'away' & forcing our competitors to play Friday nights which was unfair!  And now we're back to having too big a ground at mates rates with a crap pitch - sometimes you just cant win, (as the end of last season proves, we mean that both metaphorically and literally).

 

[TheHitman]

After what felt like weeks of silence, the club finally speak.
 

They spoke to say - ‘we are playing over there, but having to play here, until over there has hosted a big game and been done up. Oh and tomorrow at 10am we’d love for you to give us your hard earned money, but we don’t plan on telling you how much of it we need, until 10am, when if you dither over the cost for too long, you may miss out on a ticket for the first month and a bit of games at Lesser. Tara for now’ 

 

 

[Le Tout P'ti FC]

Just wanted to flag this interview with Willie Haughey on GMS this morning. 

Start from 2:48 if you want to hear him wittering on about University of Life and his son’s 42 break on a snooker table.

Jump to 2:54 if you want to hear more about his thoughts on his team’s new manager.

Spoiler: it is not the QP manager job he is opining on. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001mlqw
 

 

[foreverarover]

8 hours ago, Grumpy Soo-sider said:

So teams should not be allowed to use an alternative stadium?

The redevelopment of Lesser has been a shambles from the start but that should not mean Queens are not allowed to play at an alternative stadium. Hampden makes sense. It was our home for over a hundred years, and it was necessary to sell it to fund our move to the professional ranks. Our move 'home' is the logical solution for away fans as well as home fans.

I'm sorry but to any cynical person which I am, knew that the staduim build was a long extruded sham so if they were promoted it would miraculously be unfinished and unavailable. If anyone thinks anything other than this needs to think again. There is a perfectly good ground at petershill thst is more than suitable for them to play even if on a Friday night. 

[Spring Onion]

Is Leeann Dempster doing a good job? She certainly had a good portfolio and never gets any bad publicity on the national news broadcaster for Scotland. Feels like she is never given any criticism in the fiasco that is QP stadium build. Who is to blame for this shit show. Has anyone explained why its taken so long for so little to be done?

[Spider1975]

5 hours ago, Spring Onion said:

Is Leeann Dempster doing a good job? 

Good question.

On the face of it the 'club' has achieved two back to back promotions and got within a gnat's p$&s of getting into the SPL.  The general consensus I'd suggest amongst the fans though would place this rapid rise down to the playing staff and coaches, which I would suggest would be down largely to Martin Beuker's recruitment/vision and Owen Coyle's management, (we shall ignore the lack of squad depth and drop in form towards the end of last season for a moment!).

Nothing stated/accused by other teams fans on here in the last 24 hrs regarding the stadium fiasco generally hasn't already been said/felt by the QP fans, most of whom will point an accusatory figure at the leadership team of the club (non-playing side), which ultimately lands at LD's door.  I'd also add that I think many fans now feel a lot more disconnected from the club given the almost rationing of information being published, whether that be about the stadium or whatever else - it all feels rather disorganised.  

What LD does do well and certainly isn't shy about publishing, is all the QP community work, to which she usually appears front and centre, which to be glib about it seems to take up 75% of her time.  I'd personally say she seems to have a decent handle on her own PR though I think many QP fans are seeing through that.  Using the Icarus analogy, the higher you fly to the sun, the greater the exposure to the heat; it may just be a matter of time before the main stream media start to ask the questions the fans repeatedly have been doing over the last few years.

In general the infrastructure and administrative cock-ups have largely been left in the shadows of the teams fairy tale rise to the Championship.  At some point though the team will settle, be it in the Championship/L1 at which point the end-game of financing the operation through player sales will have to start bearing fruit - I'll be interested to see whether she's still around at this point.

[Derry Alli]

10 hours ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

In a second obvious attempt to divert attention, just how did Thistle get in their mess and a semi-derelict stadium with all the money Colin Weir invested?

Didn't Weir only ever say he was only investing in youth and community projects? 

[DA Baracus]

11 hours ago, Spider1975 said:

The rise to the Championship has been far more rapid than anyone anticipated; personally I also take with a massive dose of salt the 'aim' of becoming an established SPL team too as I really don't see that as feasible.  I don't think we've outgrown Lesser Hampden, more like we've outgrown the initial design embarked on.....exhibit A being that white black elephant of a VIP enclosure......if that makes sense

I can categorically state that Queen's Park will never play in the SPL. 

[Spider1975]

15 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

I can categorically state that Queen's Park will never play in the SPL. 

Thank you for the confirmation. 

[Bring Your Own Socks]

1 hour ago, Derry Alli said:

Didn't Weir only ever say he was only investing in youth and community projects? 

Honestly don't know but that makes sense, they do have a good set up. 

[Spider Rico]

Anyone aware of more details on season tickets going on sale today (other than the brief social media post)? 

[DA Baracus]

3 minutes ago, Spider1975 said:

Thank you for the confirmation. 

You're welcome. I know for a fact that Queen's Park will never play in the SPL.

[Bring Your Own Socks]

18 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

I can categorically state that Queen's Park will never play in the SPL. 

I like Dunfermline. Great club, really nice people and the best of an old-new stadium. Lovely town too. City centre is quaint, and the history  just amazing. Lovely people too. Did I mention that?

[DA Baracus]

1 minute ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

I like Dunfermline. Great club, really nice people and the best of an old-new stadium. Lovely town too. City centre is quaint, and the history  just amazing. Lovely people too. Did I mention that?

[Zanetti]

17 minutes ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

I like Dunfermline. Great club, really nice people and the best of an old-new stadium. Lovely town too. City centre is quaint, and the history  just amazing. Lovely people too. Did I mention that?

I agree with all of this, glad they came back up but he's not wrong I'm afraid.

Mainly because the SPL hasn't existed for a decade though!

Edited June 9, 2023 by Zanetti

[Boris the Spider]

59 minutes ago, Spider Rico said:

Anyone aware of more details on season tickets going on sale today (other than the brief social media post)? 

Members tickets on sale and reduced (fair play). Hopefully season tickets are the same.

[1320Lichtie]

I feel like this is going to be a mental season for QP coming up one way or the other 

[Ben Reilly]

16 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

That's the problem though, isn't it. Meadowbank is nowhere near suitable for League One football (and was even worse before they allowed fans to stand and then eventually behind the goal on the high jump area). If Lesser is just too wee then I'm afraid it means sucking it up for a year until it has a capacity big enough for your needs.

If it's suitable in August, why isn't is suitable in September? If the intention is just to sack off Lesser and move back into the big stadium then the club should just say so IMO. I don't think it's a good idea, and a well built (i.e. proper stands and not the big Royal Box) Lesser could and should be a fantastic facility but if the only issue is that you're not going to accommodate enough fans then you won't be the only team who's ever had to limit the number of spectators or have a waiting list for season tickets etc.

As has happened in the past, there's nothing to stop Edinburgh clubs negotiating with the SRU about using Murrayfield while work is carried out on their own stadium. The only difference here is that QP have something to offer the SFA as a bargaining chip (use of Lesser for training etc) where Edinburgh City perhaps don't have anything to entice the SRU.

Clearly we don't have to "suck it up for a year" as we won't be playing at Lesser after September.

The answer to your question about Lesser being suitable in August and not September is clearly laid out in the post you quoted me from.

[Salvo Montalbano]

3 minutes ago, Ben Reilly said:

As has happened in the past, there's nothing to stop Edinburgh clubs negotiating with the SRU about using Murrayfield while work is carried out on their own stadium. The only difference here is that QP have something to offer the SFA as a bargaining chip (use of Lesser for training etc) where Edinburgh City perhaps don't have anything to entice the SRU.

Clearly we don't have to "suck it up for a year" as we won't be playing at Lesser after September.

The answer to your question about Lesser being suitable in August and not September is clearly laid out in the post you quoted me from.

Well no, there is plenty to stop Edinburgh negotiating with the SRU or anyone else. Firstly you need to have a registered ground, secondly you have to have first dibs on the venue. 

Secondly, the "suck it up for a year" statement is something you should be doing, not actually doing. Celtic moved to Hampden for a full season - fine. They then moved into a half built Celtic Park - fine. They then added a temporary stand at one end - fine. Plenty of clubs have had to make do with reduced capacities during building works. What makes QP a special case? 

Thirdly, the bit about building work not being able to continue with fan at games - again, it's been shown that this is possible in multiple cases. Queens could have fans coming in the North end while the South end is being worked on for example. And this is something that only needs to happen every couple of weeks. Queens Park could have a run of away games plus a free weekend for a cup and potentially be away from Lesser for a month or so to let a big run of work to be done. Incompetence is no defence I'm afraid.