Spiders still climbing: Queen’s Park v Ayr United on BBC

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Martin is encouraged by Queen’s Park’s recent performance at Partick Thistle

• Published18 September 2026, 07:02 BST

As Mark Twain almost certainly never said, news of Queen’s Park’s demise has been greatly exaggerated.

When reports emerged last year that Lord William Haughey was ending his financial agreement with Scotland’s oldest football club, the general assumption was the Spiders might easily slip away back down the Scottish Professional Football League web back to lower league obscurity.

Not so. Instead, Sean Crighton’s side remained defiant last season as they came close to flirting with the promotion play-off places before finishing a commendable sixth.

Yes, the Queen’s Park academy may be no more, but the under-17s and under-19s sides are thriving – both won their respective leagues last season.

And businessman Haughey’s presence remains in the background, with his City Charitable Trust helping transform the club’s impressive Lochinch training ground in the heart of Glasgow’s Pollok Park.

“One thing we’ve got here is a great training centre,” manager Crighton says.

“And, obviously, at Lesser Hampden, the pitch is unbelievable. We’ve got the facilities – we need to be a good Championship team.”

Watch: Queen’s Park v Ayr United

18 September 2026 from 19:25 BST

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They are also a Championship team that is very much buying into the brave new Craig Mulholland Scottish FA vision of developing young Scottish talent, with a view to the balance sheet.

Queen’s Park helped both Scotland captain Andy Robertson and Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland earn themselves some valuable early steps in senior football. Helping emerging talent flourish is something Crighton is keen to continue and develop.

“Josh Fowler’s moved on to St Johnstone, doing well in the Premiership,” Crighton points out. “Seb Drozd has moved on to Partick Thistle – he’s flying over there. Henry Fieldson’s gone to St Mirren.

“We’ve got a barrowload of them [this season]. Young Ross McLean has come into the team last year a couple of times and progressed well this year. He’s a manager’s dream, he’s very versatile – he can play in the middle, he can play wide, he can play at the back.

“Tyrece McDonnell as well. I think he made 26 appearances last season.”

And the manager added: “We need to be that club because that’s Queen’s Park’s history. The guys that are in the national team, they started at Queen’s Park.

“When I got the job, that was it from the outset. It was, ‘Can you help players progress?’ Not just me, everyone in the building. That’s what we want to try and do.

“I’ve got a sense of pride that we’ve managed to have these players play for us and then move on.”

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‘Anybody can beat anybody’

On the pitch, central midfielder Scott Martin – a relative veteran now at the age of 29 – is also impressed by the level of emerging Scottish talent he sees around him.

“Young Aiden McCallion [co-operation loan from Rangers], he’s a central midfielder as well,” Martin says. “He’s been great since he came through the door, gets on with his work, very tidy on the ball. Same with Lewis Stewart [also co-operation loan from Rangers], he’s lightning.

“At Rangers, they must be so used to dominating the ball and having time. But here in the Championship it’s a totally different game. It’s end-to-end, it’s high intensity.

“It will be a great experience for them because they’re learning a totally different side of the game that maybe you wouldn’t learn at a B team or an under-19s or 20s, whatever it might be. The way they have fitted in has been absolutely top notch.”

After a good League Cup group campaign, the start of the Championship season has been more challenging for Queen’s Park. They currently find themselves second bottom of the table.

However, Martin is in no doubt they have what it takes to stay in the division again this season as they prepare to host an Ayr United side one place and one point above them.

“Anybody can beat anybody,” Martin added before Friday’s BBC Scotland TV match.

“We’ve had a lot of difficult games, but I think the Partick Thistle game was our turning point [0-0 draw] in the sense that we found that belief that we can go to, in my opinion, the hardest place in the Championship and grab a point.

“In terms of where we are this season, I think we’re OK. There’s been parts of games where we play really, really well. It’s just trying to put that all together and be more consistent.

“We’ve got a youngish squad at times as well, so it can be a bit difficult, but we’re not far away from being a right good side again.”