The Big Queen's Park FC Thread

[DA Baracus]

1 hour ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

Yeh, we’ve done this numerous times. The SFA license requirements have been sliced and chopped by many fans of many clubs and as the original application was for the Bronze standard there is no requirement for seats anywhere in that stadium. It was said at the meeting that plans have been assessed for temporary stands at both ends, either or and both. But we can’t afford to build the south stand at the moment. Of course, we might gave been able to if we hadn’t spaffed a million quid on the aborted original contract. 

A direct question was asked  about “the west side of the stadium” and the answer was there’s no more work to be done there. Not no more planned, no more to be done. The entire west side.

Another direct question was asked about how long the Hampden deal would be in place. Mumble, mumble,  faff, faff. “I’ll be keeping close to our new friends across the road”. So a year, to be reviewed. If it suits the SFA.

Another direct question was asked about why it had taken 3.5 years to not yet complete the stadium. Response was a story about rocketing costs and black bricks that were on a long lead time. The costs rocketed late 21 and across 22. So if we’d built it to the original programme, no problem.

I could go on but the defensive behaviour of the committee guys, on every subject, plus their blanket denial of any failings led me to conclude thus:-

• there is no plan; we are completely in the grace of Willie Haughey

• the numbers given about revenues from members, ST and away fans made it very clear that away fans are the most important group to The President. The Hampden plan is all about increased revenue on the back of large away support. The example given for turnover if we had been playing the top six clubs this season makes it clear that’s how we survive. 

• the short-term desperation of the committee is in conflict with the long-term plans for the first team

Just to be clear, the football part of this wasn’t discussed. Everyone involved on the operational side of the business was in Inverness. However Beuker and his team definitely have a plan. But the club’s business side, the leadership and administrators, are making it up on the spin and stuck in the nineteenth century. It’s been like that since we went pro you might say. The bigger problem now is that with each passing month we are more and more dependent on one wealthy man. That’s not what we voted for in 2019. We owned two grounds then, now only own one, have huge commitments and debt, can’t use the stadium we have and our biggest revenue target is fans of other teams. And it’s everyone else’s fault, nothing to do with the jolly old Queen’s. 

If only those black bricks were available to make it all better.

If even half of this is true then Queen's Park fans should be very, very worried.

Instead it appears, from the outside, that most are either clapping this on or hoping for the best, rather than taking action now when it is needed. I know this from experience.

[Ben Reilly]

1 minute ago, qpfc said:

10 might be Savoury I feel 

You could be right there.

[Grumpy Soo-sider]

41 minutes ago, qpfc said:

Not that it counts for much but Bannon being given the number 4 suggests he’s going to play a fairly influential role in the side for the upcoming season. Great to see as I thought he was fantastic last season. Looked like a 19 year old going on 28 with the level of maturity shown in his game 

He had a really solid game today. Seemed have grown in confidence.

[foreverarover]

On 07/07/2023 at 18:05, ExiledLichtie said:

I can't imagine there would be a problem with top flight games at Hampden.  I think the problem that people (including me) would have would be just changing stadiums whenever you felt like it.  If Hampden is your nominated grant and you're lead tenants, then why would there be an issue?

The issue is that they only hire out one small section of the ground with a couple of turnstiles. That in itself means they can dictate how much of the ground they require per game and can alter to suit the potential visiting support. Every other club has to pay for and upkeep a full staduim irrespective of the crown size. That is imo a massive advantage. I said this before and say it again, this was always the plan to stall the build hoping to get into the top league and hire out hampden. 

[Salvo Montalbano]

4 hours ago, Grumpy Soo-sider said:

As I understand it, we were not allowed to build terracing as it is deemed a 'new ground' by the SFA so had to be all seated.

That seems like utter bullshit, to put it mildly. Plenty of new grounds have been built in recent memory with terracing, plenty of new terraces have been built at existing grounds and there are plans for new terracing at other venues including new builds. The fact that BYOS mentions that as far as the board are concerned the west end of the ground is complete tells its own story.

[Spiders For Life]

12 minutes ago, foreverarover said:

The issue is that they only hire out one small section of the ground with a couple of turnstiles. That in itself means they can dictate how much of the ground they require per game and can alter to suit the potential visiting support. Every other club has to pay for and upkeep a full staduim irrespective of the crown size. That is imo a massive advantage. I said this before and say it again, this was always the plan to stall the build hoping to get into the top league and hire out hampden. 

Teams opening parts of the ground they rent to suit the size of the crowd  is hardly a new concept.

[Zanetti]

12 minutes ago, foreverarover said:

The issue is that they only hire out one small section of the ground with a couple of turnstiles. That in itself means they can dictate how much of the ground they require per game and can alter to suit the potential visiting support. Every other club has to pay for and upkeep a full staduim irrespective of the crown size. 

How is that unique to us playing at Hampden? It happens quite often even in this division, such as Thistle opening the main stand or instead allocating smaller travelling supports a section of the Jackie Husband.

[foreverarover]

Just now, Zanetti said:

How is that unique to us playing at Hampden? It happens quite often even in this division, such as Thistle opening the main stand or instead allocating smaller travelling supports a section of the Jackie Husband.

Yes but the club still have maintain the whole staduim to keep it's licence, that costs money. 

[Zanetti]

6 minutes ago, foreverarover said:

Yes but the club still have maintain the whole staduim to keep it's licence, that costs money. 

Right. Presumably you were equally as bothered by North Lanarkshire council having to pay for the upkeep of Broadwood while Clyde only really used one stand (but had plenty more space there if required)?

Edited July 8, 2023 by Zanetti

[Grumpy Soo-sider]

Being back at Victoria Park today reminded me of when they were promoted in 2012 (I think) and had to make their stadium all seated. They did this for the away stand (old terracing) over the summer break. They also put seats in the Jail End, extended the East Stand and relayed the pitch. Over summer!

 

[foreverarover]

37 minutes ago, Zanetti said:

Right. Presumably you were equally as bothered by North Lanarkshire council having to pay for the upkeep of Broadwood while Clyde only really used one stand (but had plenty more space there if required)?

The opposite stand at Broadwood is pretty much mothballed and not been used for years as is behind the goals. They were never going to be used by fans as the council won't bother to spend the money to upkeep it. They will still get thier licence by maintaining one stand. Remember Cumbernauld colts also use the ground as do rangers ladies, so you point becomes invalid. They have had to get other clubs in to allow it to be upkept. Cumbernauld colts paid for the last refit of the pitch. The Colts have teams from age 5 to u21 and a lowland league team. That pitch is used pretty much daily and Clyde paid zero into the pitch. 

Edited July 8, 2023 by foreverarover

[Zanetti]

1 hour ago, foreverarover said:

The opposite stand at Broadwood is pretty much mothballed and not been used for years as is behind the goals. They were never going to be used by fans as the council won't bother to spend the money to upkeep it. They will still get thier licence by maintaining one stand. Remember Cumbernauld colts also use the ground as do rangers ladies, so you point becomes invalid. They have had to get other clubs in to allow it to be upkept. Cumbernauld colts paid for the last refit of the pitch. The Colts have teams from age 5 to u21 and a lowland league team. That pitch is used pretty much daily and Clyde paid zero into the pitch. 

Do you know what we're paying to use Hampden? Or how much of a cut the SFA will be taking from ticket sales? If the answer to that question is no (and I know it is) then your point is invalid too.

For what it's what, I truly wouldn't care if any other club decided to rent and move into a much bigger stadium to reap the same alleged benefits we are. Good for them! We both know that's unlikely to happen though, because Edinburgh City  or even Raith moving into Murrayfield isn't the same as us playing at Hampden.

[ExiledLichtie]

1 hour ago, foreverarover said:

The opposite stand at Broadwood is pretty much mothballed and not been used for years as is behind the goals. They were never going to be used by fans as the council won't bother to spend the money to upkeep it. They will still get thier licence by maintaining one stand. Remember Cumbernauld colts also use the ground as do rangers ladies, so you point becomes invalid. They have had to get other clubs in to allow it to be upkept. Cumbernauld colts paid for the last refit of the pitch. The Colts have teams from age 5 to u21 and a lowland league team. That pitch is used pretty much daily and Clyde paid zero into the pitch. 

I've complained about Queens picking and choosing their stadium, but I really don't think its a big deal that they get to choose how much of their stadium they open.  I mind Celtic having a big chunk of stadium covered, and St Johnstone having cardboard fans.  I don't see an issue with it at all.

[Hampden Diehard]

12 hours ago, CathcartSkins said:

Do we own the land up to the bollards outside that wall? If so, the plenty of land to work with.

Fairly sure the boundary wall as it is, is the extent of the land we own.

[Hampden Diehard]

Onto the football, and the second half was as good as I've seen Thomson play; very encouraging. Spong had a good game in midfield with him.

County were big and banged us about a bit, so good experience for some of the more "industrial" sides in the Championship. 

Paton looked as if he'll cope with that and I can see him scoring plenty. Looks like an excellent signing.

The mantra seems to be to play it out from the back. We were caught out a few times, but that's the risk you run. It is pleasing on the eye but we'll see how it pans out.

We only used one sub (Hepburn) and the word was we're playing a different starting eleven on Monday to give the squad a full game. We'll see if that's what happens.  Certainly looking forward to seeing Hepburn again as he'll start. The other Southampton lad is supposed to be a bit of a player; looking forward to seeing him too.

It'll be interesting to see what eleven finishes on Monday but I can see us use the League Cup to shape the side, as you'd expect.

Exciting times.

[behindthelens]

[Bring Your Own Socks]

37 minutes ago, behindthelens said:

Thanks BTL. Fans attending will need to show patience with the playing from the back style shown here. The league cup fixtures have a real importance this year, not in terms of glory but buying time to get all these strangers co-ordinated. The QP lads who’ve been playing this way for at least a year have a big influence.

[Bring Your Own Socks]

16 hours ago, CathcartSkins said:

Do we own the land up to the bollards outside that wall? If so, the plenty of land to work with.

This extract from the Land Register was last updated in 2016. Presumably the 2020 updates when we sold the stadium to SFA are still in the system, unless someone forgot to fill in a form Unfortunately both addresses have the same postcode which is what the search engine asks for. 

So assuming the two boundaries are as shown, red lines for Hampden and dark blue lines for Lesser, the other shaded areas relate to areas where separate conditions are applied. The light blue one is marked as “Concourse” and applies to Lesser but the land is owned by the SFA. Notable also that Letherby Drive and the Lesser car park I.e. west of the bollards are land that belongs to the SFA, again assuming we have access and use permission. There is a chance of course that our negotiating team managed to secure these areas as part of our land in 2020, but given the disdain shown to us by the SFA at the time, I very much doubt it. 
 

[Hampden Diehard]

13 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

Plenty of new grounds have been built in recent memory with terracing, plenty of new terraces have been built at existing grounds and there are plans for new terracing at other venues including new builds.

This is what Queen's were told and there will have been a date at which this applied, so "recent memory" doesn't mean much. Certainly, Edinburgh City or whatever they're called let people stand, although my understanding is that it's not actually a terracing. That was actually raised at the meeting.

I'd be interested to hear what the "plenty" , "plenty" and particularly "plans for new terracing at other venues including new builds" you refer to are. 

[Salvo Montalbano]

35 minutes ago, Hampden Diehard said:

This is what Queen's were told and there will have been a date at which this applied, so "recent memory" doesn't mean much. Certainly, Edinburgh City or whatever they're called let people stand, although my understanding is that it's not actually a terracing. That was actually raised at the meeting.

I'd be interested to hear what the "plenty" , "plenty" and particularly "plans for new terracing at other venues including new builds" you refer to are. 

Look at the WoS Grounds for Optimism thread, look at the equivalent for the East of Scotland League, look at the plans for Rosyth (new build), go to a game at Kelty Hearts (fairly new covered terracing, new uncovered terracing as of last season), look at the plans for Ayr United's new stand with covered terracing under the seating area...

Given that people like Ian Maxwell at the SFA are keen on telling people that things are facts without them being true, I'd be questioning anything that came out of his or his brethren's mouth tbqhwy.