The University of Glasgow and Partick Thistle Football Club are delighted to announce the launch of a new long-term partnership that will provide word class training and development opportunities for both parties.
Garscube Sports Complex, just five minutes’ drive from Firhill, is now the official training ground for the 1st team and Youth squads for Partick Thistle Football Club and will provide a mixture of grass, 3G rubber crumb, fitness suite and catering facilities for all players and management.
The new venture is part of the University of Glasgow Sport & Recreation’s new strategy to partner with key organisations to provide opportunities for students, athletes and teams. Similar partnerships are already in place with the Glasgow Hawks (rugby), Glasgow Warriors (rugby) and Glasgow Rocks (basketball).
This latest partnership will see a number of new initiatives launched to develop the success of University football including:
1. Facility sharing – the Glasgow University Football Club (GUFC) will have access to Firhill Stadium for all future (home) Scottish Cup games, which will provide a stadium experience and proper opportunity to build a fan base for University sport
2. Coaching clinics that will see experienced Partick Thistle coaches working with University squads to help develop team performance and providing specialist coaching clinics and shadowing opportunities for university coaching staff
3. Opportunities for internships so that University of Glasgow students can benefit from work placements with elite level athletes and Partick Thistle Football Club can benefit from specialist knowledge in strength and conditioning, diet and nutrition and video analysis
4. New business and marketing opportunities that will provide increased engagement with the University community and spectators and fans for Partick Thistle Football Club
Ben Philip, Sport Development Officer for the University of Glasgow, said: “Partnering with the University’s local SPFL football club provides a boost for our own club within Scottish student football.
“By providing coaching and mentoring interactions with some of the best footballers in Scotland the club is in a position to offer a unique student experience for aspiring footballers within our community.
“The partnership is one we see very much as long-term and we are very confident it will quickly deliver real benefits and positives to both parties. With the strengthening of these links we are sure we’ll see more students at Firhill supporting Thistle and, in reverse, Jags fans are warmly welcome to come and enjoy watching our own teams in Black and Gold.”
The new partnership was announced on the day the full Partick Thistle FC first team squad returned for pre-season training at their new base at Garscube.
Partick Thistle manager, Alan Archibald, said: “We’re all looking forward to training at the Garscube complex this season and I’ve no doubt it will make a big difference to results on the pitch as well. The facilities are great and having a permanent training base brings Thistle up to the standard of the more established clubs in the league.
“It has been something I’ve wanted to have in place since I first took over as manager and I’m really pleased with how things have turned out. At this time of year especially, having good facilities can even make the difference between players coming to us instead of going to one of our league rivals so it’s really important across the board.
“We’ve already experienced the benefits of working alongside Glasgow University with access to its sports science department last week for pre-season testing. It allows us to use state of the art equipment that we simply wouldn’t have access to otherwise."
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