Partick Thistle: Duncan Smillie is new interim chairman as club urges 'unity'
- Published
Fans protested against the Partick Thistle FC Trust takeover
Former Glasgow Rocks owner Duncan Smillie has been confirmed as strife-torn Partick Thistle's new chairman.
Chair Jacqui Low and six directors resigned last week after recent fan protests followed the Partick Thistle FC Trust becoming majority shareholder.
Smillie was the only director not to resign and has become interim chair until the end of the season.
"This appointment helps add stability and business continuity to the new board of directors," Thistle stated.
"While we anticipate another update soon as we further strengthen the interim board, for now all attentions remain firmly focused on Saturday's cinch Championship home match against Ayr United."
Fans protested against the decision to make the trust the majority shareholder - when it was gifted the late Colin Weir's shares instead of The Jags Foundation - as the second-tier club looks to adopt a fan-ownership model.
However, Richard Beastall and Fergus Maclennan of The PTFC Trust and Caroline Mackie from The Jags Foundation have now been appointed to the club's board as the two sides look to work more closely together.
Ahead of Thistle urging "unity" behind the new interim chairman, trustee Neil Drain told BBC Scotland: "We are now talking to The Jags Foundation very fruitfully and the board have done the best thing probably for the club to move on at this stage.
"They were becoming the story. You want the team to be the story."
Drain explained that the trust had formed to keep the idea of fan ownership alive after it "became apparent" the foundation was not going to receive the shares.
"We've put the cart before the horse by making sure we got the shares before the fan model was correct," he admitted.
"Now we are aiming to get the best fan model that suits Partick Thistle."
Drain understood why some fans felt "disenfranchised" but said that members of the trust, foundation and board, and Low in particular, had all been subjected to "behaviour that was over the top", especially online.
Now, though, the club have received several approaches from business people willing to put money into the club while not necessarily wanting involvement at board level.