Crighton's Spiders look for a spark as Inverness and Morton test their resolve
Sunday 11 October 2026 · By Finn Gallagher
It's been a difficult few weeks for Queen's Park, and Saturday didn't make things any easier.
Sean Crighton's side lost 2–0 to Raith Rovers at Stark's Park, their fifth league defeat in a row. Captain Scott Brown opened the scoring for Raith, and Kyle Turner added a penalty.
Queen's Park weren't happy with either goal. The club's match report says Crighton challenged both, including the penalty, and he was shown a yellow card for remonstrating with the officials. You can understand the frustration. When results aren't going your way, decisions that go against you feel even harder to take.
To make matters worse, results elsewhere didn't help. Greenock Morton beat Arbroath for their first win of the season, which means Queen's Park are now bottom of the Championship. Both clubs have four points, but Morton are ahead on goals scored.
The numbers show where the problem is. Queen's Park have scored just four league goals in nine games, the fewest in the division. Their goal difference is minus 11, and their only league win so far came against Morton, a 2–1 victory on 5 September.
We haven't seen any post-match comments from Crighton yet, so we'll leave his verdict to the club's own channels. But the challenge is clear. The Spiders need to find a way to create more chances and take them.
The good news, if there is any, is that they don't have to wait long for a chance to respond. Queen's Park have two games in five days, both of them important.
First up, Inverness Caledonian Thistle visit on Tuesday 13 October, with kick-off at 19:45. Scott Kellacher's side are in good form after beating league leaders Stenhousemuir on Saturday, so it'll be a tough game. But home games under the lights can create a bit of atmosphere, and Queen's Park will need their supporters behind them.
Then, on Saturday 17 October, the Spiders travel to Cappielow to face Morton at 15:00. It's tenth against ninth, and both teams are on four points. If there's a must-win game this early in the season, this is probably it. Morton will be full of confidence after Saturday, but Queen's Park have already beaten them once this season.
After that, Queen's Park host Dunfermline on 24 October, then travel to Ayr United on Saturday 31 October.
It's a demanding run, and nobody at the club will be pretending things are where they want them to be. But there's still a long way to go in the season, and the gap to safety isn't huge.
What the Spiders need most is a goal, a performance and a result to build some confidence. Tuesday night against Inverness would be a good place to start.
If they can get something there, Saturday at Cappielow suddenly looks a lot more hopeful.
North is at the top. The goals face the Somerville Drive and Letherby Drive ends. The East Stand runs the length of the pitch, on the Hampden side.
Lesser Hampden sits in Mount Florida, on Glasgow’s south side, pressed against the western end of the national stadium. Queen’s Park call it home again from the 2025–26 season, under the sponsored name The City Stadium. For a visiting supporter it is a very different afternoon from a trip to Hampden proper: 990 seats, a hybrid pitch you can almost touch, and the bulk of the national stadium looming over the east side.
Buy before you travel. The ground cannot take a full Championship away following. Allocations are often around 250, and for better-supported clubs those briefs disappear into a ballot. Your own club will sell them; there is normally no pay-on-the-gate. Paper tickets have been used for some away ends, so read the instructions that come with the purchase. Accessible spaces, including wheelchair and personal assistant seats, are in the East Stand and should be booked ahead with Queen’s Park on 0141 632 1275.
Visiting supporters are housed in a segregated block at the north end of the East Stand, the covered full-length stand on the Hampden side of the pitch. Home fans take the rest of that stand. The west side is the J. B. McAlpine Pavilion and the directors’ and hospitality seats, not a general away end. The goals sit at the north and south ends of the pitch, so from your seat you look across the width, with one goal towards Somerville Drive and the other towards Letherby Drive. Stewards will point you to the turnstiles; do not follow the Spiders into the home section. A south stand on the Letherby Drive end has been planned for away fans, but it is not part of the ground you will walk into, so trust the ticket rather than an old drawing.
Mount Florida is the station to aim for, a short ScotRail hop from Glasgow Central on the Cathcart circle, then a walk of about ten minutes down towards Somerville Drive. King’s Park is the other nearby stop. First buses from the city also pass close by. If you are on a coach, the usual approach is Cathcart Road and Letherby Drive, where drivers are directed into the blue parking beside the ground. Cars are a poorer bet: matchday restrictions cover a wide resident zone around Hampden, and the stadium car parks are not a free-for-all.
The Montford, on Aikenhead Road, is the traditional pre-match house and fills early. Bar 1867, inside the McAlpine Pavilion, has opened to supporters before kick-off on some Spiders matchdays, but treat that as a home-club facility and check on the day rather than assuming away fans will be waved in. Food inside is basic. Toilets are on the concourse behind the East Stand. The seats are covered, the legroom is ordinary, and the Glasgow weather is not, so bring a layer even if the forecast looks kind.
What you get in return is a ground with a story. Lesser Hampden opened in September 1925, with room for about 12,000 on terraces, and the Spiders beat a Scottish amateur select 6–0. It was used when the national stadium was rebuilt, hosted a Commonwealth Games warm-up track in 2014, and was rebuilt with the new East Stand so Queen’s Park could meet SPFL licence rules after their long stay next door came to an end. It is tight, loud if you sing, and close enough that a misplaced pass feels personal. Turn up early, keep your ticket handy, and enjoy the odd privilege of watching a league game in the shadow of Hampden.