Queen’s Park coping despite having to furlough players six weeks after turning pro

Queen's Park voted to turn professional last year after 152 years as an amateur club. Picture: Stuart Wallace/BPI/Shutterstock

Transition after 152 years of amateur football has not been easy

Queen’s Park would be entitled to believe the fates have conspired against them more than most in the teeth of the Covid-19 crisis. Across the 152-year history of Scotland’s oldest football club, amateur status and their homestead being Hampden were worn as badges of honour. Only for them to be turned in just ahead of the world being turned outside in.

The Glasgow club only moved their squad on to professional contracts at the end of January. Six weeks later, these players essentially had no gainful employment as a consequence of the halt to all activities necessitated by the global pandemic. In March – that lifetime ago – the club was close to concluding building contracts for the redevelopment of Lesser Hampden, following the £5.1 millon sale of the national stadium to the Scottish FA last summer. Now that has been forced into abeyance by the shutdown.

Gerry Crawley, the Queen’s Park president, refuses to look upon his club as the organisation that put all their chips on black only for the roulette wheel of existence to come up red, though. Quite the opposite in fact.

In a recent address to supporters, the 57-year-old former Queen’s Park, Dumbarton, Brechin City and St Johnstone player ruefully reflected on the fact that he thought his second year in the role would strictly revolve around the potential for on-field growth that the structural changes had given the impetus for. He still thinks that will be the case – just later than anticipated.