glasgow sheep

Orion scum

Well done loon 

if a young player is capped by his country does that increase the compensation teams need to pay to sign him up after contract expires?

I see where you're going with this 

Someone elsewhere was claiming he is the second highest paid manager in the SPL on about £200k.  If true no wonder they are trying to punt him

More importantly the last TRF front page and first article was a homage to One Up and a plea to save it from immanent closure

Thistle Ultras (12-16 year olds)

Free Season Ticket

Dedicated Ultras Zone (Section 6). Singing is compulsory

Thistle Ultras Banners at Home Games

Thistle Ultras T-Shirt

Exclusive Facebook page

Elected Representative who will meet with the Fan Base on a regular basis

Invite to exclusive Coaching Session

Thistle Schools Ambassador competition

To join then all you need to do is collect your Season Ticket, which is of course completely FREE for ALL under 16s.

The Club policy is that all of our younger supporters will have their very own Season Ticket. If you don’t have yours yet you can order it now by e-mailing mail@ptfc.co.uk and it can be collected at the next home game.

If on Saturday, or any other home league game, they don’t have a Season Ticket, all under 16s are still guaranteed FREE entry.

Go to the Ticket Booth, fill out a simple form, and they will be given a ticket for the game and a Season Ticket will be posted out to them. 

Split after 26 games or play each other three times? Wow that solves everything

Never in my life have I heard an Aberdeen player being booed for deciding not to sign a new contract. If Diamond was booed it was not because of that.

 

Sadly plenty booed Fraser at Dens

i wonder if the new stadium rules will mean they still have to be all seated but clubs can set their own capacities based on their needs, or will standing areas be allowed to return/ be retained?

The clubs did say last season that they were going to look at "safe standing", which I think won't include, for example, Crapiellow.  However that discussion inevitably has been forgotten about in the last year of hun machinations and league reconstruction.

Lastly, for now, stolen from P&B and an excellent post highlighting the potential benefits.  These reasons, along with the fairer cash distribution and removal of ground criteria (see above) means I'm more inclined to vote in favour of this:

Although the battle for the title will be no more exciting I'd still say the top 8 is an improvement on the current top 6. It makes the fixture list completely fair with equal numbers of home/away games etc, it also gives 2 extra teams a chance to make it into the top group - under usual circumstances St. Mirren would have almost no chance of making the top 6 but a top 8 place is more achievable. You'll see Celtic/OF having to face their 6/7 closest rivals in the last 14 games of the season which might just make the league a bit tighter, I know the same goes for all the teams but I'd be more confident of seeing someone put up a challenge if it was likely/guaranteed that the OF faced 2 trips to Pittodrie, Tynecastle, Easter Road etc rather than an extra trip to The Falkirk Stadium etc. Perhaps I'm clutching at straws just a bit.

 

I don't see any reason why the first half of the season would be a terror ride, even if a team does fall into the middle group they've still got 14 games to save themselves. Although the top 8 will be the main prize dropping into the middle 8 might have it's perks if you're going to get Renfrewshire/Fife/Ayrshire derbies etc. The argument about youth development is one you get a lot with regards the fear of relegation but going back to the year when Gretna were doomed by Xmas, St. Mirren felt it necessary to give Jim Hamilton another 18 months in the SPL. Both St. Mirren and Kilmarnock were saved by Gretna's financial woes but I don't recall either team being particularly innovative with team selections or playing styles, in fact iirc the football got worse as the season went on. It was actually Gretna who gave youth a chance, through necessity, and the likes of Kyle Naughton got their breaks. Management team, club policy, and finances will affect youth development much more than the threat of relegation. Overall these plans should take away some of the fear of relegation, more money is going into the second tier and even if a club is relegated after 22 games they could be back playing SPL teams again. As things stand if a club like Killie were relegated it would be complete and utter financial catastrophe, with the chances of bouncing straight back up pretty slim. Under the 8-8-8 system, there isn't as big a financial hit and getting back up looks a lot more do-able.

 

Where these proposals get a bit messy is the bottom 8. How many relegation places are there between the Championship and the National League? Are we just moving financial catastrophe and protectionism down a tier? I'd hope they'd have 2 teams being relegated automatically with another being involved in a playoff with 3/4/5 in the National League and no unnecessary ground restrictions, anything less than this and that bottom 8 will be absolute murder with 5/6 teams basically playing friendlies for the second half of the season.

 

Overall though the early signs are positive. You've got one governing body, equal home and away fixtures, more money going to the lower leagues, the potential for the leagues to be significantly freshened each year with as many as 4 new teams, potential for more derby matches, more trophies for smaller clubs and all this without diluting the quality of the top league or losing the 'glamour ties' that broadcasters crave.

As for freshening things up you got that right; if we'd had this system for the last 10 seasons 15 different clubs would have played in the Top 8 (including St. Mirren just last season and Falkirk a couple times) and only Celtic would have a perfect appearance record as opposed to just 9 in the top six.

 

The middle eight would have been even better with potential appearances by QotS, Airdrie Utd and Clyde along with the usual suspects of Morton, Hamilton etc. How would the finances of these clubs have been changed if it had happened 10 years ago?

More details, all of which sound very positive in my mind:

  PROPOSED SCOTTISH LEAGUE RESTRUCTURE

•     SPL proposal is for a 12-12-18 structure
  
•     Top two leagues to split into three leagues of eight after 22 matches then play a further seven home and seven away games
  
•     Leagues will be called Premier Division, Championship and National League
  
•     Top eight teams to play for title and European places; middle eight to contest promotion and relegation in and out of Premier Division; bottom eight to decide who drops into National League
  
•     11 out of 12 SPL clubs need to vote in favour of plans, while the proposal requires approval of 23 out of 30 SFL clubs
  
•     One league body to replace SPL and SFL
  

Plans for Scottish league reform will see stadium rules relaxed   

By Jim Spence BBC Sport   

Top-flight rules requiring 6,000 covered seats and under-soil heating are to be scrapped under the proposed new set-up for Scottish football.

And artificial surfaces could appear in the top league, with two clubs contemplating installing them.

Plans seen by BBC Scotland will reduce the licensing criteria for clubs in the two top divisions to bronze level.

That means "adequate pitch protection", namely pitch covers, will replace the need for under-soil heating.    There will also be the possibility of short-term derogation for those clubs who currently fall short of meeting bronze level; meaning they could compete in the top leagues while bringing their facilities up to standard.

The Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League, in conjunction with the Scottish Football Association, have struck a merger deal in principle that would see a 12-12-18 set-up complete with mid-season splits and end-of-term play-offs.

Speaking earlier this week, Raith Rovers chairman Turnbull Hutton hinted at a relaxation on stadium regulations.

    "The dawning reality from the SPL is that the criteria for stadiums are going to have to be tempered with some realism," he said.

    "There has been millions wasted on infrastructure for a bankrupt football set-up just to tick a box on the old SPL check-list."

It has also emerged that the club winning the title will give up £315,000 from their prize money which presently stands at £2.7m, with the runners-up also surrendering a substantial sum from the £2.4m currently on offer.

The biggest clubs have agreed to the cuts to fund the proposed changes and ensure a fairer distribution of cash throughout the divisions.

The winners of this season's First Division will pick up £68,000.

If the proposed changes are voted through, the winners of the new second tier stand to earn £387,000.

To offset the financial hardship of relegation, given the possibility of up to four clubs being relegated each season, an advance of £200,000 will be made to each club dropping out of the top league at the beginning of the first season following their relegation.

After two rounds of fixtures which are due to culminate with New Year derbies, the top two leagues would split into three sections of eight for two further rounds of matches.

The top eight will contest the title and European places, the middle eight would play-off to decide which sides would start the following season in the first or second tier and matches in the bottom eight would determine which sides were to be relegated to the bottom tier of 18.

  http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65241000/jpg/_65241021_pyramid.jpg[/img]     

The winners of the "play-off" eight and the "Championship" eight will receive a trophy or a pennant.

The clubs finishing first and second in the National league of 18 will be promoted, with the four teams below involved in play-offs with those finishing fifth and sixth in the Championship eight.

From season 2014/15, the bottom two from the National league will be relegated and replaced by sides from an unspecified set-up that will involve the Highland League, Juniors and the South of Scotland League.

The document outlining the changes says: "These proposals... will ensure a dramatic, exciting league with meaningful matches at all levels and at all points of the season."

The proposed voting structure in the new set-up would see Premier clubs having three votes, with those in the Championship receiving two votes and National league clubs getting one vote.

An independent executive chairman would have the casting vote in the event of a stalemate.

July League Cup games are also under consideration, with the league programme to start at the beginning of August.

The SFL will put the plans to its clubs later this month, with 22 of the 29 full members needing to give their formal approval. Rangers, as associate members, do not have voting rights.

SPL clubs, who put forward the 12-12-18 blueprint, will also have a formal vote, with an 11-1 majority required.

I went to the Emirates and to watch Scotland and thought it was ok but the pitch of the lower tier is far to shallow, esp when standing, meaning you're view is obstructed by the guy in front of you

I hate the split. A season should gauge a club's performance over the space of an entire season. The split means those teams who peak late in the season may be stuck in the lower divisions despite having more points than teams in the upper divisions.

 

I've always hated the SPL split. This double split will just be  even more shite.

 

The best leagues in world don't split. Why should we?

The best league's in the world are in countries of 40,50, 60 Million folk.

We have 5million people in this country, we have about 20 Full time clubs.

We do not have the population nor the number of full time clubs to support a top league of 16 teams. 

Countries of similar size to us have smaller leagues.

Below are countries with populations of between 4Million and 7Million (

(from smallest to biggest)

Croatia (pop 4M) - 12 teams (play 33 games, 3 relegated, just moved from 16-team league)

Ireland  - 12 teams (just increased from 8, 1 down, 1 playoff)

Georgia - 12 teams (split after 22 games into what looks like an 8-8-

Norway - 16 teams (play 30 games, 2 relegated, 1 playoff)

SCOTLAND (pop 5.2M)

Denmark - 12 teams, (play 33 games, 2 relegated)

Finland  - 12 teams (play 33 games, 1 relegated)

Slovakia - 12 teams (play 33 games, 1 relegated)

Switzerland - 10 teams (play 36 games, 1 relegated)

Serbia (pop 7.5M) - 16 teams (play 30 games, 2 relegated)

Bulgaria 16 teams (play 30 games, 4 relegated)

Austria 10 teams (play 36 games, 1 relegated)

Azerbaijan 12 teams ( 1 relegated, 1 playoff)

Sweden 16 teams (30 games, 1 relegated, 1 playoff)

Hungary 16 teams (30 games, 2 relegated)

Belarus 12 teams (33 games, 1 relegated, 1 playoff)

Portugal 16 teams (30 games, 2 relegated)

Czech Republic (pop 10M) 16 teams (30 games, 2 relegated)

10 leagues with 10 or 12 teams

7 Leagues 16 teams, all except Norway with larger populations than us.

Given that this all started with Citeh fans not buying tickets at the Emirates, I'm sure that for a Cat A game at the Emirates (United / City / Spurs / Chelsea / Liverpool) is 62 pounds (same as the away). IMO 62 quid is steep but the quality of stadium, experience and football on show makes it just about worth paying.  Certainly at the Emirates anyway.

fuck that

Away tickets in the SPL already must be priced at the same price as the equivalent home ticket.

I see the tims are in Spain on a training camp.  Are any other teams doing this? Doesn't seem that afc are doing anything, infact I believe most players have gone home or off to some Blackpool in the sun resort for beer and chips

We can confirm the match details for our forthcoming Youth Cup match as follows:

MATCH: Celtic v Aberdeen

COMPETITION: SFA Youth Cup, 5th Round

DATE: Sunday 24th February 2013

VENUE: Firhill Stadium

KICK-OFF: 2pm

Any idea how much it is into this?

Planning on going along

One recurring theme this season is that AFC don't seem to feel they're getting enough support at Pittodrie. We bang on about what the club/league bodies need to change, but fans also need to look at themselves and ask if they're doing enough to encourage folk to turn up.

Crowds have been very disappointing other than County, Hearts, Celtic and United.  Given the quality of football the team deserve a bigger crowd and given our financial situation the club needs a bigger crowd.  Other than our perpetual injury crisis the biggest disappointment this season is our home record, and I have no doubt that has a lot to do with the crowds.  However having had 3 home games on Live TV, and a further 2 coming up has certainly robbed us of bigger crowds.  I'm not sure if we can do anything about it but we seem to get a disproportionate number of our home games on tv compared to away games and compared to others in the SPL

wow

bat shit crazy doesn't quite cover it

Butcher says no.

Seems like the correct choice

Interesting point I only found out this week.

As The Rangers are only Associate Memebers of the SFL they have NO vote in the upcoming discussions

Dst are responsible for them and they posted them last week

Yowzer

If the council allow a Stadium only for Cove and none of the associated facilities that Aberdeen City, never mind AFC, are crying out for you have to question why