Vote with head, not heart over turning pro, Queen’s Park members are urged
● President calls for pragmatism as vote tonight could change 152 years of history
Queen’s Park members have been asked to vote with their heads and not their hearts at an Extraordinary General Meeting tonight that could see the end of 152 years of “Ludere Causa Ludendi” – to play for the sake of playing’.
The committee at Scotland’s oldest club have proposed that Queen’s move away from the amateur status they began with in July 1867 and start to pay players. If 75 per cent of the club’s members agree, the club’s proud claim to be the only amateur team in senior football in Great Britain will end over the coming months.
Next year’s sale of their Hampden ground to the Scottish Football Association, along with the lack of compensation for the players produced via their highly-successful youth programme due to their amateur status, and the threat of relegation via the pyramid play-offs are all factors in the proposed change.
Club President Gerry Crawley, a former player, is unsure how the near 300 members will vote. He said: “Tonight is a truly a historic fork in the road. It will be an emotional decision for everyone involved. I have spoken to lots of members and they have never wanted the club to turn professional.”
“Their heart says that it should not be happening, however their head is saying something else.”
Crawley is hoping that it is the heads which prevail.
He added: “On paper it is a choice between growing professionally and what I call a managed decline.”
“In the last 20 years Queen’s Park have finished at the bottom of Scottish football twice. It could happen again and if we lose a play-off to an up and coming Lowland League, East of Scotland or Junior side, we are out of senior football and facing a massive scrap to get back in.”
“Turning professional does not avoid that but it gives us a better chance of avoiding it especially as we do not have the lure of playing at Hampden anymore. Losing Hampden is one of the provocations, but the committee have identified other challenges and have suggested actions to meet them.”
Crawley insists that, if the vote goes the way he wishes, the only change to the Spiders will be the payment of players as he explained: “If we turn professional, we can carry on with our youth academy. Two of our former youths [Andy Robertson and Lawrence Shankland] played against San Marino in Scotland’s last game so everyone knows how well we develop players.”
“We also want to be the club that continues to give players a second chance. The boys who drop out at bigger clubs can still come here and get a chance.”
“That ethos cannot leave us.”