Sections of Partick Thistle supporters have been left furious after their club’s announcement regarding an upcoming clash with Celtic.
Partick will take on the Hoops at the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill on January 18th in the Scottish Cup 4th Round. Thistle go into the game having been demolished 6-0 at Celtic Park back in September in the Betfred Cup.
As you would expect, Celtic have been handed the majority of the seats at Firhill. The announcement from Partick stated that Hoops supporters would be given both the Jackie Husband and John Lambie stands. Thistle fans, meanwhile, will have the entirety of the Colin Weir stand.
Yet, it appears that giving us two-thirds of the ground hasn’t gone down too well with some. Here’s a look at some of the fury from our cup rivals’ supporters:
Did they stop half-way through the statement?
From these replies, you could be forgiven for thinking that these Partick fans only read three lines of the statement then furiously closed the tab before venting their anger.
However, it’s clear as to why Thistle have made this decision. They explain in their statement that it’s the best decision for their own club’s revenue. They also try to explain to supporters that the funds will go towards helping Ian McCall improve his dire squad as they bid to get themselves out of a relegation battle.
Yet, how typical is it that some just don’t want to listen? They don’t care if their club is maximising revenue streams if it comes whilst providing a positive for Celtic.
The stats show they made the right decision however. Firhill holds a capacity of over 10,000 (StadiumDB). In their last match against Alloa, they only managed an official attendance of 1,714. The last Scottish Cup match against Penicuik Athletic sparked an attendance of 3,165. Their third latest home match against Morton raked in 2,751 supporters.
These are hardly figures that should make the club believe they’ll get a box-office turnout from their own fans against Celtic. Considering McCall’s team has failed to win nine of their 14 matches under him, they have every right to believe that a huge home backing won’t turn up next month.
Partick are trying to do what’s best for their club in the long-term. Hopefully, when they calm down, their supporters will be able to see that.
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