PARTICK Thistle fans determined to show football is a force for good have handed £17,500 worth of season tickets to charities in Maryhill.

Supporter-led Jags For Good was set up in April to generate funds for charities in and around the north of Glasgow and open up Firhill to more people.

The initiative have since raised more than £8600, which was matched by the club - and today season tickets were handed over to eight charities.

Neil Cowan, one of the Thistle fans involved in Jags For Good, said: "We had no idea what response we would get to the fundraising drive when we launched it back in April.

"But Thistle supporters have yet again shown themselves to be the greatest fans in Glasgow – if not the world – by supporting us in huge numbers.

"The response from the club has also been fantastic, and we’re hugely grateful to them for matching everything we have raised.

"The charities that are receiving the tickets all do incredible work with people who face serious economic and social challenges, especially at the moment with the cost of living crisis.

"Football can be such a powerful way of bringing people together, and we hope that everyone who comes along to Firhill as a result of these tickets can feel the solidarity, togetherness and inclusive spirit - if not always the sense of victory - that being a Thistle fan brings."

Jags captain Ross Docherty hailed the fans’ fundraising efforts and revealed that the first-team squad chipped in with donations of their own after defender Ciaran McKenna, who departed Firhill this summer, brought the cause to the team’s attention.

“The guys running it are doing a brilliant job,” he said. “It is going to help out people who are not as privileged as a lot of us.

“The boys put some money in as well. Ciaran McKenna, who has moved on now, raised it to the boys and they were more than happy to donate some the kitty to a good cause.

“It’s a proud moment. Especially in times like these with a cost of living crisis, it’s not easy for folk to fork out and the amount of people that have is brilliant.

“The work that the guys have been doing is amazing and long may it continue.”

Thistle manager Ian McCall was also keen to salute the work done by Jags For Good as he underlined the significance of the club maintaining its connection with the local community.

He said: “Absolutely. It’s hugely important.

“Jags For Good are brilliant. I did some refereeing at their football tournament, so it is a great job and shows what can be done. I’m very proud of them.”

As first told by the Glasgow Times back in April, Jags For Good was set up to break down the barriers to football many people living on low incomes face.

With the Red and Yellow Army supporting the cause in huge numbers and Partick Thistle matching every penny donated by supporters, eight charities have now benefitted from free season tickets for use by the people they work with.

They are: Includem; Maryhill Integration Network; North West Recovery Communities; Partick Thistle Charitable Trust; Turning Point; Home Start Glasgow North; FARE Scotland; Central and West Integration Network

The tickets were handed over ahead of Thistle’s first home league match of the season against Hamilton Accies on Saturday.

Prior to the game, Jags For Good will also be holding a food and cash collection drive for Glasgow North West Foodbank.