Thistle land lottery jackpot

● Euromillions winners back new £4m training ground for Partick which could be enough to keep Archibald at club

Plans to build a new £4 million training ground could be enough to keep manager Alan Archibald at Partick Thistle.

The training centre is being funded with the backing of Euromillions winners Colin and Christine Weir. The couple, who also donated £750,000 of the £161m jackpot they won in 2011 to their local football team, Largs Thistle, made a major investment in the Jags in 2015, helping to clear off all debt. It gave them five per cent stake in the Firhill outfit and they also gifted a further 19.28 per cent of shares to the Partick Thistle Football Club Trust.

But the funding of the training centre, which will satisfy the development needs of the men’s and women’s sides, as well as the club’s youth section, is a further boost and one that is expected to keep Archibald at the club.

Earlier this season Archibald turned down an approach by English League One side Shrewsbury, stating that he felt there was still an element of unfinished business in Glasgow. At that time he made it clear that his ambitions meant he would not rule out a move south in the future.

But after plans were revealed for the new state-of-the-art training facility he admitted that he would now find it difficult to find a better working environment and claimed that he was in no rush to seek out a fresh challenge elsewhere.

“If you’re going to leave a good club like this it has to be right,” explained Archibald. “If we keep on building and strengthening here then there’s no reason why I can’t remain here for another few years yet.

“The infrastructure at the club now is really good. If I was going to go anywhere else, that would be the first thing I would question.

“The board here are fantastic, they are always trying to help me. Any time we’ve had a bad run, and we’ve had a few, then the board come and ask how they can help.

“They recognise they have a young manager trying to make his way in the game. You don’t often get job security as a manager but that’s what I’ve had here for the last four years.”

The Maryhill club, who secured a top-six finish with their weekend win over Motherwell, have had their best league season since 1981, losing just two Premiership matches since the turn of the year, and news that they will soon have a dedicated training ground for the first time in their 140-year history, could be enough to stave off overtures from other clubs looking to poach their managerial talent.

Thistle currently hold their training sessions at Glasgow University’s sports ground at

ALAN ARCHIBALD “If we keep on building then there’s no reason why I can’t remain here for a few years yet”

Garscube and Lesser Hampden but despite the fact a plot for the new training ground has yet to be identified, the club expect it to be operational within two years.

“It’s amazing,” said Archibald. “It’s a bit surreal to be honest. It’s been a great week hearing that we’re in the top six and are now about to build a £4m training facility. For everyone involved – the players, the kitman, the people who cook our food – it will make a massive difference having a place to call home because it adds a couple of hours on to everyone’s day when we’re moving about.

“It could even make the difference when it comes to signing a player. If they have a decision to make between us and another club, a shiny training ground could swing things in our favour. It’s the sort of thing players ask about. I had to tell a couple of porkies to one lad we signed a couple of years ago by telling him we owned Garscube.”