TRAGIC Lotto winner Colin Weir was hailed for “saving” his beloved Partick Thistle — as we can reveal he brokered a secret £2million legacy deal for fans weeks before he died.
Jags legend Alan Rough said the lifelong supporter, who passed away on Friday aged 71 after a short illness, “loved the club”.
Colin Weir was hailed for ‘saving’ his beloved Partick Thistle before his deathCredit: AFP – Getty
It comes as we tell how Colin’s firm Three Black Cats forked out that amount for the south terrace area and the main stand at the Glasgow side’s Firhill Stadium.
The deal with Firhill Developments — worth £1,956,000 — was finalised earlier this month.
Colin, who owned 55 per cent of the club, planned to gift the land back to the club immediately and was due to give his shareholding to a fans group by March next year.
Paying tribute, Thistle and Scotland icon Rough, 68, said: “He was just so passionate about the whole club.
“Any time you met him he would talk about the good times at Thistle and the memories he had. That was the kind of guy he was.
“He was a very private guy, but loved the club. You have to be honest and say he saved the club just before he died. If it had passed over to foreign owners who knows what would have happened.
“From that aspect the club will always be eternally grateful.”
‘SAVED THE CLUB’
Fans held a minute’s applause in Colin’s honour before Thistle’s 2-1 Championship victory at Greenock Morton and Thistle players wore black armbands.
Colin completed his takeover of his boyhood heroes in November.
He had already invested around £2.5million from his £161million shared lottery win in 2011 — and previously stumped up £6million for a new training ground.
Rough — who visited Colin with board members to discuss plans for the club — revealed he loved seeing starlets progress at the club’s Thistle Weir Youth Academy — also set up after his lottery win.
The former goalkeeper said: “We all took it in turns to go and see him and have lunch with him and talk about what he wanted to do.
“If he was healthy enough to go to the games he would be there.
“He has got his own wee room over in the other stand and he would go through with his family and he’d watch the games. He used to get a real kick out of it.”
“Whatever he invested in the academy he saw the results of that and took a great deal of pleasure from seeing the players maturing.”
Partick applaud the late Colin WeirCredit: Kenny Ramsay – The Sun Glasgow
Board members at the club — where Colin also has a stand named after him — vowed to fulfil his legacy.
Ex-chairwoman Jacqui Low — a co-director of Three Black Cats — said he was a “true gentleman, well read and with a wicked sense of humour”. She added: “And he loved Thistle to the end.”
Board member Alan Caldwell, 45, said: “The onus is on us to ensure his legacy is fulfilled”.
And current Jags chief executive Gerry Britton, 49, said: “He was so giving, so selfless. His generosity to many causes was unbounded. He’ll be sadly missed by so many people.
“It’s a fantastic legacy he’s left behind. He’s given the supporters the opportunity to own their club.
“We want to build on that positive legacy.”
BUILD ON HIS LEGACY
Colin and wife Christine, 64, became the UK’s biggest lottery winners after their EuroMillions jackpot win.
The couple from Largs, Ayrshire, divorced earlier this year after 38 years of marriage. They had two grown-up children — Jamie, 30, and Carly, 32.
In 2013, they set up The Weir Charitable Trust and donated to local team Largs Thistle — paying for a brand new 3G pitch.
Former TV cameraman Colin and Christine also made a £1million donation to the Scottish independence campaign ahead of the 2014 referendum and they continued to support the SNP through donations.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was “incredibly sad” to hear of Colin’s death. And former First Minister Alex Salmond also paid tribute.
He said: “There are only a very few people who have responded to good fortune with the overwhelming wish to share it in support of the causes in which they believed, than Colin and Chris Weir.
“I first met Colin in the 1980s when we produced party TV broadcasts on a shoestring budget of £200 per episode. He was every bit as decent and committed a person when he had many tens of millions.”
Partick Thistle pay tribute to EuroMillions winner and Jags owner Colin Weir before Morton clash with minute’s applause
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
