Partick Thistle chair Jacqui Low and six other board members have resigned from the club amid fan unrest.
Supporters gathered outside Partick’s Firhill Stadium last month despite the Jags’ 3-0 win over Kelty Hearts in the Scottish Cup, and now all but chief executive Gerry Britton and one other director have resigned from the board.
Fan unrest came to a head in November with Partick followers perceiving the recent transfer of shares from the Jags Foundation to the PTFC Trust as an attempt to dilute fan ownership.
“Although all members of the Board were re-elected at last month’s AGM, a section of the fanbase, encouraged by a false narrative about fan ownership and ongoing negative commentary, has not moved on,” read a statement issued by the now largely deposed board.
“It became clear that their actions could impact on the club long term, particularly on match days, at a hugely important time for the team on the park. The disruption has already caused loss of potential sponsorship and, if allowed to go unchecked, it could do significant and real damage to the club these fans claim to love.”
The Kelty Hearts game saw a record-low attendance of 1,484 for Partick, with a number of fans instead gathering outside the 10,102-capacity Firhill having boycotted the fixture.
“It has been our great privilege to help steer the club through Covid, demotion and other challenges in the last three years and we wish manager Ian McCall, coaching staff and the team every success for the rest of the season,” continued a statement signed off by Alan Caldwell, Alan Rough, Andrew Byron, Douglas Noble, Jacqui Low, John Penman and Michael Robertson.
Partick are fifth in the Championship, eight points behind leaders Ayr United
“Likewise, we wish Brian Graham and the women’s team well for their season. We want to place on record our thanks to chief executive Gerry Britton, staff, volunteers and fans for all their support.
“We hope that by taking this action now, this will draw a line, allowing the club to move forward and focus on football.”
Partick’s next Scottish Championship match is at home to leaders Ayr United on Saturday December 17 with eight points separating the sides.
