As shareholders in Partick Thistle, a fan owned club, the Jags Trust thanks you all, new members and our longstanding membership, who have renewed their annual subscription during the close season.
The close season only covered a nine-week period since the play-offs, but it has been full of sport with Scotland at the World Cup USA, Canada & Mexico; Queen’s & Wimbledon tennis; Cricket; Golf and the Commonwealth Games Glasgow, finishing in time for the SPFL beginning in earnest.
With the close season being so short players had to return to training in mid-June and had a limited number of friendlies before that month finished. Thistle plays well in the Premier Sports Cup but missed out in being seeded. The draw has got us facing Hibernian, a Premiership Club, taking us to Easter Road. The game is now on Sunday 16th August with kick off 2pm.
We are into a new month and Season 2026-2027 starts today. We are heading down the River Clyde to Greenock. Of course, you could have guessed the venue with the clouds overhead and intermittent showers. The Wee Dublin End has no protection from the elements for the away support, so brollies and waterproofs maybe be advisable.
As a Trustee I attended the Disability Supporters Association monthly meeting and listened with interest to the many development ideas they have listed to enhance the facilities at Firhill for not just their members but everyone. Of course, they require to be costed and approved by the appropriate authorities. The DSA committee also had proposals for items to add to their social calendar, taking account of the successful and unsuccessful events from last season.
The Jags Trust continues its membership of Supporters Direct Scotland, alongside over twenty other Trusts.
Last week, along with one of my SDS colleagues, attended at Hampden for a 2-hour presentation “Be Part of the Game. Be A Referee” delivered by Willie Colum, Head of Refereeing. This event was hosted by the Scottish Football Union and attended by mainly Premiership club supporters.
Willie provided a very informative session with video examples describing the key rule changes and pre-season guidelines 2026-2027 and encouraged continuous Q&A. He confirmed that he had already delivered this presentation, prior to the start of the Premier Sports Cup matches, for managers, players, media and referees.
At the end of the evening, Willie explained that he is actively seeking the next cohort of Scottish Referees. Annually there are hundreds of under-20 yrs footballers, who have been discarded by clubs. Encourage them to think about becoming referees and meet their dreams and aspirations within Scottish football in a slightly different role.
As always Mark, Alex and the players need your continued noisy and colourful support home and away. So don’t forget you don’t have to drive or take public transport to away matches. Travel in comfort with other Jags supporters on one of the many supporters’ buses. Contact details are on the club website.
Let’s get off to a flying start today.
C’mon the Jags!