Third Lanark AC

Whitburn Jag · Member

Some questions for you all from a new member.

BLACKHAT_ · Member

Witburn Jag? I cant beleive there are more than two thistle fans, U, matt & who?

I'll answer your question for you, Partick Thistle are more than welcome to play on 3rd lanarks field, for a price. If you are a man to honour your bets, Ill put a grand on third lanark to win their league next season. If I lose it goes directly to you, if I win, I send it all to their funds. U want the pitch? Say so. Bring it to the table or dont

I edited for the reason I think you are not a standard fan

-- Edited by BLACKHAT_ at 22:26, 2008-01-11

Whitburn Jag · Member

I've read and re-read my email and then your reply and I cant see the two are related. So, I really dont know where that came from. I'm sure I could reply and we could exchange insults....but I wont take the bait. You don't know me..so PLEASE (yes, it's capital letters time) DONT ASSUME I AM NOT A STANDARD FAN. This was a genuine set of questions from someone who is interested. There was no malice, sarcasm or whatever intended on my part.

BLACKHAT_ · Member

Fair does. If you want to rent or buy a pitch, Put it in an email & keep it there. If you dont want a public responce, dont post in a public forum. Happy New Year

TopCat · Veteran Member

Ooh it's all getting a bit fractious at the moment!

In reply to Whitburn Jag, I currently attempt to play on Cathkin Park at the moment for the Thirds as the keeper (a jersey I hasten to add that I am proud to wear for many reasons). That feeling of attempting to play is echoed by the rest of the boys in the team as they are severely inhibited in trying to play our expansive passing game.

The state of the pitch is, unfortunately, not good at all in the present climate. Three teams ply their trade on the hallowed turf on a weekly basis through official bookings via the city council lettings department while at least one other team unofficially just turns up and uses it whenever they choose. Net result is that it really has taken a pounding.

That aspect doesn't really bother me as the keeper much as most pitches are a mudbath at this time of year anyway. What annoys me is that I have to painstakingly search the area each half for broken glass and dog dirt left by the good citizens of the city at their backside. I can also see that the boys in front of me are trying to get the ball down and move it but the pitch prevents it as the ball will bounce many times before reaching its' intended target.

A second aspect of the pitch that grates on my nerves are that the goalposts are not properly aligned with each other. It creates all sorts of havoc with getting your angles right and has necessitated me having to make marks in the area to compensate for this factor. Although when I read Bert Bells book Still Seeing Red it appears that a former Thirds No.1 from way back also used to put marks in his area (spooky eh?!) so maybe the goalpost alignment is a long standing problem. In addition, one of the goalposts has a sagging bar in the middle taking a good few inches off the height of the bar in the central section.

Hope this helps Whitburn Jag. We are of course in the middle of year 1 back in (skint) business. All donations are welcome to help pay for strips / washing / refs / training etc etc. Partick Thistle Lad (Matthew Curry) will help you out on this front if you contact him and can advise on where to send your financial help.

Finally, we could always do with a groundsman. I, too, am a Jags man and after the Scottish Cup debacle yesterday when he forgot to switch on the undersoil heating, maybe we'll pick one up on the cheap!

weirdface

-- Edited by TopCat at 13:44, 2008-01-13

Whitburn Jag · Member

Thanks for the reply Topcat...I didny notice about the allignment of the goals....I'll keep an eye open on the site to check for the next home game. By the way...the only pitch I've ever been interested in renting, booking or buying was my Subbuteo pitch in the 70's. PS...Hope Buchanan is fit for the cup tie on 22nd.

Neil · Veteran Member

Hi Whitburn Jag,
I've just belatedly replied to one of your previous posts from last week and just noticed this more recent one with a few questions you wanted answered.
Firstly, Blackcat is a cynical loonie and the king of non sequiters, so, ignore the plonker.
Anyway, at most of the home games the average attendance has been around 30- 40, 50 in the summer months, although something like 150 turned up for the pre - season friendly with Queens Park reserves. There have been guys from as far afield as England and Inverness who have popped along just to see the famous scarlet shirts playing on the hallowed Cathkin turf. Some people stand on the terracings but most watch from north touchline and tend to move around. During the good weather, more locals and old Thirds fans were coming along regularly but, unfortunately, the worsening weather has meant the old crowd have been absent lately. At amateur level, I think this is the kind of crowds we would expect, but by using website posting, making links with other sites, the team playing better and improving as we seek a stronger squad etc., we would hope to expand the average crowd in the new season and get people into the habit of going along to Cathkin more regularly again. Difficult but achievable. As for away games, I've not been to one yet so I can't really say.
Meet us in pub or at game and we can fill out some of our ideas to you on how to do this and, of course, answer any other question/ queeries that you might have.
(See the goalie's response with respect to pitch question)
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