DITCH CROWD LIMITS NOW
this weekend – delaying until Monday is of no benefit to anyone and continues to harm clubs, communities and fans.”
Thistle and Killie welcomed the news that the 500 restriction, in place since Boxing Day, is to be lifted next Monday.
But they are bemused as to why it comes too late for their Championship clash at Firhill on Friday – a match being broadcast live on BBC Scotland.
Thistle have written to Holyrood chiefs pleading for the restrictions to be removed ahead of the weekend fixtures to stop lower league teams being “disadvantaged again”.
Their stance has been backed by rival managers Ian McCall and Derek McInnes. Jags boss McCall said: “It would be great if we could do that.
“Kilmarnock normally would maybe bring 2000 with them and the crowd would be over 5000. But the board’s done the right thing and we’ll just have to wait and see what the guys at the top of the tree say.”
In his letter to the First Minister, north-east Labour MSP Marra wrote: “The past two years have been incredibly challenging financially for clubs and the decision to wait until Monday to relax restrictions means another weekend of lost revenue. It also has a major impact on fans who wish to attend these games.
“Given that there is little evidence of the impact of these restrictions on public health and that stadiums can reopen on Monday anyway, I would ask you to reconsider the decision immediately, take the logical step, and allow full attendances at games this weekend for the benefit of clubs and the communities they serve.”
Jags boss McCall added: “I’d like to think decisions are made for the whole of
Scottish football and not just one game at Celtic Park on the second of February.
“What would solve it is if the government said, ‘Yes, it would lessen the blow, let’s allow a crowd at Firhill on Friday night with all the testings stringently done and allow crowds at all the other games on Saturday’.
“I’m not here to have a go at the government because I appreciate how hard it is. There would certainly be some goodwill there by just bringing it forward. If we weren’t live on the BBC maybe we would have changed it to Monday and got the crowd in, I don’t know.”
Killie gaffer McInnes is backing Thistle. He said: “We are obviously still respectful of the situation. But if there is a way Partick can be successful we would support that to try to get as many in the ground as possible.
“It’s two well-supported clubs, a good game, and even though it’s live on TV there would still be a significant crowd.”
Thistle admit they expect their plea to fall on deaf ears with the 500 limit not due to reach its threeweek conclusion until Sunday. A statement said: “We were pleased to hear the good news that restrictions on fan numbers at games are to be removed. But we don’t understand why this hasn’t happened immediately.
“We have asked the question to see if there is any scope to bring the date forward as we owe it to our fans to try.
“We know it’s a long shot and unlikely to be changed but the right thing to do was to state our case rather than simply accept being disadvantaged again.”
A Killie spokesman said: “We welcome and support Partick Thistle’s statement and will assist them in any way to try to allow both sets of fans to be at Firhill.”