HELL OF A MESS
Firhill board coup follows report of billionaire buy-out Cash-strapped Jags axed players’ bus to Alloa game Now Lottery patron Weir quits and pulls £6m funding
IT was in June that
Sportsmail first broke the story of a wealthy international consortium led by a ChineseAmerican billionaire in talks to buy Partick Thistle.
A bright new future appeared tantalisingly within the grasp of the Firhill outfit should Chien Lee’s group get their way and conclude their purchase of a 55-per-cent stake in the Scottish Championship outfit.
For fans of a club no stranger to adversity over the years, the move was understandably met with a mixture of cautious optimism and a healthy dose of scepticism.
Yet even the biggest cynic in the Thistle ranks could not have forecast the dizzying speed of events over the last seven weeks that have left their proud institution looking increasingly like a club in crisis.
In the wake of Sportsmail’s revelations of a takeover by Lee’s NewCity Capital firm, a boardroom coup at Firhill saw incumbent chairman Jacqui Low resignMed thoe board.N deposed with David Beattie returning in her place.
In a show of solidarity with Low, club legend Alan Rough swiftly resigned from the board
Almost immediately, Beattie confirmed this change at director level was to ‘drive Thistle forward’ and that ‘active dialogue’ was now taking place between the club and the Lee-led group that also holds a controlling stake in Barnsley and OGC Nice.
So far, so good. Then came reports cash-strapped Thistle had cancelled the team bus to take their squad to their Championship opening match against Alloa last Saturday.
Players instead were to make their own way there. The same arrangements will be in place for their trip to Morton on August 23.
Alarm bells started ringing. Club sources insist they plan to hire a coach for the rest of the away trips this season.
But they confirmed cuts were needed to prevent the ‘significant deficit’ faced by the club from impacting upon Gary Caldwell’s playing budget.
That came amid claims — hotly disputed — that £200,000 had been frozen from funds available to the Thistle boss.
The background to these worrying financial snippets became clear last night with the crushing news that Thistle’s multi-millionaire benefactor Colin Weir had severed all ties with the club.
Wind the clock back slightly to last month’s boardroom coup when Beattie was insistent that talks with the £161m lottery winner sat at the top of his agenda.
It is safe to say, given yesterday’s seismic events, those talks did not go well. Weir, a friend of the deposed Low, would not be depositing another penny in the Thistle coffers.
‘I can’t provide the benefits of significant monies and a facility to an unknown entity or group, who may or may not have the best interests of the club at heart,’ he said in a statement.
Sportsmail understands Weir’s withdrawal of funding at Firhill would have impacted on Caldwell’s playing budget although, ironically, the sale of two players who came through the Weir youth academy will help offset that.
Aidan Fitzpatrick earned the club £350,000 when he joined Norwich this summer while Liam Lindsay’s move from Barnsley to Stoke will trigger a similar sell-on windfall. Sportsmail contacted Partick Thistle yesterday but were told Beattie was unavailable for interview. The club did release a statement in which they addressed some concerns.
‘The current board of directors have honoured the playing squad budget signed off by the previous board, a major proportion of which was already committed when the new directors were appointed,’ the statement read.
‘However, the budget did run at a significant deficit, which could not be recouped from the club’s recurring income. This shortfall has been partly covered by the fees to be received following the sale of Aidan Fitzpatrick and the sell-on percentage the club will receive as a result of Liam Lindsay’s transfer from Barnsley to Stoke.
‘The remainder of the deficit will be funded by adjusting aspects of our logistical operations, not by reducing the funds available for the playing budget.
‘The current playing budget available to the manager is likely to be around the third or fourth highest in the league.
‘As a result of these factors, we are able to fully support the manager’s aspirations to challenge at the top of the Championship this season. Any suggestions that the ultimate target is anything other than promotion are false.
‘The board strongly refutes any suggestion that £200,000 has been removed from the playing budget, as the figure available to the manager remains as it was under the previous board.’
Last night, Thistle’s veteran striker Kenny Miller insisted the developments were not diverting the players’ focus from their aim of reaching the Premiership under Caldwell.
‘The bus issue is a non-starter, for me,’ he said. ‘It’s not any drama for players to jump in cars to get to matches that are within half an hour away. It’s not that big a deal.
‘Will there be buses for the further-away trips? Absolutely.
‘The other stuff, the boardroom changes, have been going on for a number of weeks now. You hear and read about the things going on off the field and those are strong words from Colin Weir.
‘But, as players, you look at one thing only — playing football. We’ve got one goal and one goal only — winning promotion — and we are focused on a huge game at home to Dundee United on Friday night.’
But Thistle’s long-term future is an increasing cause for concern among fans who thought their lucky numbers had come up just a few short weeks ago with Sportsmail’s exclusive revelations.
The exit of one lottery winner has changed all that.