Partick Thistle: Colin Weir-backed fans group makes takeover bid
- Published
Partick Thistle are at the bottom of the Scottish Championship after losing to Dunfermline on Saturday
A Partick Thistle fans group - backed by EuroMillions winner Colin Weir - says it has made an offer to take control of the Championship club.
Thistle For Ever (TfE) proposes to buy the south terrace area and main stand from Firhill Developments and run the Glasgow club "for the community".
Weir withdrew his support in August citing "uncertainties" about a mooted takeover by a foreign consortium.
However, he would fund TfE's purchase "without conditions".
Weir, who estimates he has invested around £2.5m of his £161m lottery win to date, would play no part in the running of the club but would resume his funding of the Thistle Weir Youth Academy.
He had previously set aside £6m for a new training ground.
TfE was set up earlier this month after it emerged Thistle were in "active dialogue" with foreign investors who have stakes in French club Nice and English Championship outfit Barnsley.
The fans group's announcement was followed shortly by a statement from the Partick Thistle Football Club Trust stating that it did not believe the foreign consortium, led by Paul Conway, "would be in best interests of the long-term future of PTFC".
PTFC Trust says it is unhappy with the lack of information coming from the Conway consortium and states that "it is simply impossible for the supporters trustees to arrive at the same conclusion as the PTFC board of directors/majority shareholders group that this deal is in the best interests" of the club.
TfE, meanwhile, says it has received "hundreds" of pledges of financial support and has been "positively received in many quarters, including support from a cross party group of MSPs".
It has a five-year plan to get Thistle into the Scottish Premiership's top six.
"With our fully-funded offer, we have ensured that the current board has an option that ensures the future of Partick Thistle at Firhill for decades to come," said Paul Goodwin, who is leading the group.
"It will be run as a sustainable club, debt free and in the hands of those who cherish it more than anyone else - the supporters. It must be considered as a viable alternative to handing over control of our club to people with no affinity and no understanding of Partick Thistle.
"Colin Weir is a long-time Thistle fan who wants nothing but the best for the club. His incredibly generous support allows us to put this offer on the table."