Partick Thistle have announced they are to build a new £4m training centre with the help of the Weir family.

The club have struck agreement with Three Black Cats, a company set up by the lottery-winning family from Troon in South Ayrshire.

Thistle will work with the investors to design and build a state-of-the-art complex.

The centre will then be leased to Thistle on a long-term basis giving them their first permanent dedicated training ground in their 141-year history.

ADVERT

The new facility will be designed to accommodate the first team, development, academy and ladies squads and will allow training in all weather conditions. A location has yet to be found.

David Beattie, chairman of Partick Thistle, said: “It has been a long-held ambition of this club to have its own training ground.

“The board is ecstatic that we will now have that facility. Most importantly, it won’t just be for first team use but for our youth academy, women’s team and everyone else who is part of our football club.

“We are grateful to Three Black Cats for their vote of confidence in us. Ian Maxwell will lead for the Thistle side in this project to ensure that this training ground will for work us in the years ahead.”

ADVERT

He added: “The money we currently spend on facilities around Glasgow will be used to service our lease and costs at the new ground.

“I can’t emphasise enough the significance of this new facility. It reinforces that we are an established Premiership club, with a level of professionalism and ambition that these new facilities will reflect.”

A spokesman for Three Black Cats said: “We have been looking for a new long-term investment opportunity and believe that this new project will work for us and Partick Thistle.

“Thistle’s ongoing stability – through the club management’s financial prudence and through the board’s strong leadership – persuaded us that this development is a worthwhile investment.

“It will be an exciting project and we are keen to get on with securing land as soon as possible.

“It is our intention to have the facility completed and operational within two years and will work closely with Thistle to ensure that it is fit for purpose.”

Colin and Christine Weir won £161m on the Euromillions lottery in 2011 and have previously invested more than a seven-figure sum in the club in the last five years.