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So Brian scores against Ayr and grabs a double at Dundee United. He enters the PTFC history books as First double Grand Slammer Highest post-war league goals in a season scorer Highest lower league total goal scorer ever The Archive congratulates Brian on his 12 goals in our successful play off run, but refuses to sanction any further awards. Next season he cannot add to his lower league tally so contents himself with another post war record 25 league goals, including a season record 3 Grand Slams against Celtic, Rangers and Hearts. The manager then releases him as he is sneaking uncomfortably close to 121 competitive goals for Thistle. You read it here first.

That's quite an interesting list. The name that caught my eye was Kenny Watson. 37 goals playing in defensive positions and in some our poorest teams is some return at a time when we were constantly circling the drain of relegation to the then bottom rung of the league structure. Probably helped save the existence of the club in what was an incredibly bleak period.

Whilst we are on wonderful stats a word for my Jagzone co-comm Christopher Dobie who came out with the wonderful stat that he has shared on air - that since returning to the club Aidan Fitzpatrick has not scored an away goal south of the Tay Bridge! That my friends requires a doffed cap!

Thanks for this Michael - I was kinda wondering what you were on about with that quip!!! Yes, hats off to Christopher, he's like our own Derek Rae with all that prep, and I'm always impressed with his ability to call tricky assists and whatnot in real time. The two of you are a great combo, you with your "back in the day young man" routine and all that! Yes, 7 goals from those 2 cup ties alone. On our Archive, we break down every goal by every player in history on their page... http://thethistlearchive.net/maurice-johnston Yes, taking penalties really boosted Kenny's tally (see 'Every Penalty' tab) http://thethistlearchive.net/kenny-watson No, there's been quite a few. QP failed 5-in-a-row from 2008-09. At top-tier level we've also seen Dundee United and Hibs fail 3-in-a-row. Special mention for Glasgow Rangers who have had 3 play-off seasons and failed in their objective every time. This is a bit far fetched, can't see Doolan acting like that. He'll get the boots back on when BBG gets near, and a ding-dong battle for supremacy will ensue, the end result being that both men will shake on it at 150 apiece before retiring simultaneously after the 4-0 Scottish Cup final win over Ross County in 2027-28 in which both have scored a brace. Yes, and we're the only one to have lost both legs too, we were pathetic at Firhill that day. In first team terms just one friendly meeting... http://thethistlearchive.net/match-1956-05-05 Oh yes, will watch it for a third time one of these days!

Best not to mention VAR and Dingwall in the same sentence.

I've missed something, keep getting my north's and south's mixed up. 😂

Just brilliant ptd... look at the timing... he's on the verge... 61 - Willie Paul 59 - Brian Graham 53 - Kris Doolan 42 - Willie Freebairn 37 - Kenny Watson 32 - Maurice Johnston 31 - Mark Roberts 30 - John Proudfoot 30 - Liam Buchanan 29 - Chris Erskine 29 - Colin McGlashan

Not a stupid question mate. I think it comes down to as he was not recalled in January he cannot play for another club until the next transfer window. Knickers are unknotted haha

It would indeed, that also came out on Twitter. An exciting wee sub-plot, he could also register a second 'Grand Slam' vs. Ayr on Saturday; 2 in one season would be unprecedented! I presume that I would be correct in saying that any goals in the play-offs would not count towards this particular total, as this would be regarded as a separate competition (although it does have a direct bearing on league promotion/relegation). I am sure that we had this debate over Mark Roberts, when I presented my case for a Doublet for his play off feat against Stranraer, but you ruled me out of order! Reminds me of 'The Prisoner' when Patrick McGoohan asked the great computer who controlled everyone... WHY? The thing blew up! It was a most unsatisfactory ending to the series, but maybe it was brilliant. The query does bring some great but hard questions... were Thistle and Ayr playing a top flight match or a championship match? And it it's a top-flight match, does that mean you're relegated if you lose it? And what of the Thistle v Ross County fixtures? Were Thistle playing a top-flight game or were Ross County playing a Championship game? After 20 years and hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of labour, we've pondered everything to the nth degree. Statistics absolutely demand black lines, there can be no grey. One of the biggest decisions we made was to consult with fellow historians and to follow precedent. This is why - after much debate - we ruled out the Second World War alternative leagues as 'Official League' games, and it's also why we struck off the 5 SFL games of 1939-40 which were deemed void by the SFL itself. On the same basis, the consensus amongst historians and stottos is that play-off games are a separate competition, and we're even more comfortable with that than the wartime lines, it's a fairly easy decision to take when you consider hard the aforementioned questions. Edited to add: it's also worth noting that play-off games existed over 100 years ago before there was automatic promotion/relegation. These would determine who would be in the re-election ballot at the league AGM. There's never been any doubt whatsoever about the status of those games, decidedly and categorically non-league affairs in all the books and published goals tables. Again - the precedent is set. Our deeply considered drawn lines are permanently laid out on our 'About' page under 'Match Category Definitions'... http://thethistlearchive.net/about

I think you are spot on about it technically being a separate competition.

Don’t see why play off goals shouldn’t count. The number of games for each of those other 3 seasons were different in each case - 30,36 and 39 respectively

Brilliant research as always. If I am reading this right, 2 goals in the last 2 league games would make Brian our equal leading post-war league goals in a season scorer (and 3 would put him out on his own). I presume that I would be correct in saying that any goals in the play-offs would not count towards this particular total, as this would be regarded as a separate competition (although it does have a direct bearing on league promotion/relegation). I am sure that we had this debate over Mark Roberts, when I presented my case for a Doublet for his play off feat against Stranraer, but you ruled me out of order!

Most of your post-Airdrie updates in place, with a packed edition of 'Stats Watch'. Donald Wilson's capture nails it! Partick Thistle 4 Airdrieonians 0 → A MONUMENTAL SEASON FOR GRAHAM ● Amazingly, it's the first half-time stalemate in the league at Firhill in over a year, Queen's Park on 7 April 2023 being the last. Even more amazingly, Thistle won 4 nil that day too. ● Kerr McInroy hits double figures for competitive assists this season, now joint-top with Steven Lawless in that chart. ● Aidan Fitzpatrick hits the 20 mark in terms of goals/assists combined in all competitions this season. ● Brian Graham - the Division's top-scorer - has now scored against every team in the league this season! ● Brian Graham's brace (his 13th for the club) moves him onto 20 league goals for the season and he becomes only the 4th post-War to hit such a figure. The 3 other members of this super-exclusive club are Willie Sharp (22, 1953-54), Frank Coulston (21, 1970-71) & Maurice Johnston (22, 1982-83). See our (fully sortable) Top Scorers per season tables for the preceding 148 years. ● Brian Graham's tally of 24 goals in all competitions this term is the highest of any Thistle player since Maurice Johnston (35) in 1982-83. ● It's an impressive 3 goals in his 288 minutes for Ricco Diack who has scored in both home league matches with Airdrie this season. On both occasions he scored within 7 minutes of personal action! ● Points-per-game king of 2023-24 is undoubtedly Zander MacKenzie with just 2 losses in 22 games in all competitions this term. See our 'Squad Stats 2023-24' table (note: select the 'full' tab) to drill down more. ● For only the second time in the latest two league seasons, there are no bookings. The other instance? Versus Airdrie at the Excelsior back in August. What's going on?! ● In all competitions, Thistle have now registered 10 consecutive home wins versus Airdrieonians (2009 to date), extending the club-record in the H2H. ● Thistle qualify for the Premiership play-offs for the third successive season, where they will play… Airdrieonians! Third time lucky? ● Kris Doolan's Thistle remain unbeaten in 13 games played in the months of April and May. (c/o Matt Greer!) ongoing sequences: ● 6 competitive games without defeat, 16th Mar 2024 to date. (Longest run since: 6 games, 27th Oct 2023 to 2nd Dec 2023. Joint club-record: 16 games, 15th Nov 1975 to 21st Feb 1976 & 30th Sep 2000 to 13th Jan 2001.) ● 28 games in 3rd place (30th Sep 2023 to date), an extension of the club-record for a position outwith outright top or bottom. Overall, it's the longest run since the club-record of 33 games in bottom pace (12th), set between 20th Sep 2003 and 15th May 2004. ● 33 consecutive competitive appearances for Lewis Neilson, 15th Sep 2023 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Steven Lawless - 60 games, 18th Feb 2023 to 6th Apr 2024. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

If ICT went down I’d be interested in Ridgers, Devine or Samuel’s. Controversial, but all our keepers are out of contract and previously I would have been happy to say goodbye to the lot of them, but starting to think that Mitchell might not be the worst we could do.

I still wish we could somehow get the JLS singers into the JH. I feel it would give a much better atmosphere and would encourage more to join in. However I understand that’s their patch and moving out would likely return it to away supporters which sometimes worked against us in the 2nd half. The ideal would be a standing area in place of the bing but that’s not happening. No easy answer unfortunately