jagscast

I wonder if new signing, Lee Mair, will make his debut tomorrow. Possibly alongside Big Gabby?

We did win our first fixture at Firhill, a 3-1 victory over Dumbarton Harp, but it was a Scottish Qualifying Cup tie. We also beat Nithsdale Wanderers in the same competition at Firhill but no League win until Christmas Day.

Jaggy Advent 25th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-25-Dec-1909 Hibernian [h] W3-1 SFL First Division - game 16 venue: Firhill att: 4500 scorer(s): William Gardner (2), Fred Robertson THISTLE’S HISTORIC XMAS WIN OVERSHADOWED BY POST-MATCH TRAGEDY ^ James Main of Hibernian (29 May 1886 - 29 December 1909) The build up: Ever since it began in the nineteenth century, football in Scotland has stopped for nothing or no man. As we’ve previously explored on the Jaggy Advent, even World Wars are incapable of throwing up enough obstacles to halt our dual determination to both play and to support the auld game. If the calendar dictated that Saturday fell on the Christmas day, then a round of League fixtures was scheduled, that was that. There were several occasions where we went out of our way to specifically schedule matches for Christmas day, but these were relatively few and far between. This was in contrast to our neighbours from down South, who had full fixture cards annually for several decades up until the late 1950s. A decent level of Sunday-style public transport services operated on Christmas Day all the way into the mid 1980s (before deregulation), so it was still reasonably possible for most folks to get to games. One can only speculate as to whether ‘the wife’ and ‘the mother in law’ were quite happy to go along with the arrangements for the sake of peace and quiet whilst getting on with preparing the turkey. Before I get into any bother on this subject I shall refrain from further elaboration on this, and skip straight ahead to the next bit… Thistle went into this one on the back of our all-time worst home League run. It had been more than a year since we last had a home League win. Can you believe it? (Actually, perhaps you can. At the time of writing the Partick Thistle supporters of 2013 vintage have similarly been starved for eight and a half months!) Even at that, our last “home” win had come at Ibrox, where we defeated Morton by 5 goals to 1 on the 5th December 1908. Since then, we had played 14 League games without a home win, although this glum stat can always partly be excused by the fact that several of these fixtures were played on the grounds of our opponents. We were, of course, temporarily, of no fixed abode, having been caught out in between our domiciles at Meadowside and Firhill. The latter had yet to be termed a Fortress, and we had now played 5 League games without a win in our brand new home. Those of a masochistic persuasion can pore over the gory details of the horror run within the following spoiler... Going into the game, Thistle were 16th (3rd bottom) and Hibs were 5th. Jags were without the services of three key men – Alec Raisbeck, Maurice Parry and Thomas Callaghan – all of whom had picked up knocks in a bruising encounter against Rangers at Ibrox the week before. In the circumstances, this was not a game we were expected to win. However, in keeping with the truly unorthodox tradition of the Partick Thistle, we overcame the odds, halted the record run and bagged our first ever League win at Firhill into the bargain. And all of this on a Christmas day. In normal circumstances, all of this would have given us much cause for celebration, but as this tale unfolds, it will become apparent that our superficial joy was momentary and that, soon, our mood would turn to despair. Post-match events were set to cast a depressing shadow over all at Firhill, Easter Road and, indeed, the Scottish football community at large. The match: In a bid to overcome the frost bound surface, Firhill had been heavily sanded for this one. The directors of both clubs agreed that the game could be played – these were the days before the referee held all the power. Somewhat ominously, Sam Allan, the acting Hibs captain for the day, twisted his knee in the pre-match warm up. Hibs started the match with only ten men as they assessed the damage to Sam Allan. In his absence, it was James Main who was handed the captain’s armband – the first time he’d been bestowed with the honour. Despite this initial handicap, the visitors managed to grab the lead in 5 minutes when John Sharp opened the scoring. In the meantime, Sam Allan’s participation was ruled out and Callaghan was thrust into the action after 10 minutes, levelling the numbers of those competing in both sides to eleven. Within seconds, Thistle equalised through William Gardner. It had all been a very strange start to a very strange game. Thistle had the better of the play in the first half and Gardner netted again to put Jags 2-1 ahead as half time approached. Just before half time was called, our outside left, Frank Branscombe, slid into James Main, the Hibs back, resulting in a studs impression being left on the stomach of the Hibs defender. Interviewed years after the event, John Sharp, Hibs' goalscorer that day, was firm in his belief that it was a simple but freak accident, recalling that: "Branscombe slipped on the treacherous surface, his foot catching Jamie in the groin as he fell." After receiving attention on the field, Main was in no fit state to continue, and he was assisted back to the Firhill changing room. Main did not reappear for the second half and Hibs played out the game in the same way that they’d started - with only ten men on the pitch. Our visitors were backs to the wall for the duration but were resolute until the very end when Fred Robertson was finally able to put the seal on Thistle’s first ever League win at Firhill, a victory by 3 goals to 1. Thistle team: W. Howden, A. McKenzie, J. Bennett, R. Wilson, W. McDonald, R. Lyle, T. Ballantyne, R. Graham, F. Robertson, W. Gardner, F. Branscombe The aftermath: In the dressing room after the game Main appeared to have recovered and he was able to take tea with the rest of his team-mates. The injured player felt fit enough to travel to his home at West Calder by rail and after arriving at the station was capable of walking the half mile or so to his home. Nonetheless, on Monday 27th December, the Scotsman was reporting alarming developments, namely that the player had been rushed to hospital on the Sunday morning and that he had undergone an operation due to a ruptured intestine: “Main came through the operation successfully, but his condition afterwards became so serious that his relatives were summoned, and at an early hour this morning his condition was very low.” On Wednesday 29th December 1909, at 10:40pm, James Main died as a result of his injury. It was reported in The Scotsman thus: ACCIDENT TO EDINBURGH FOOTBALLER ENDS FATALLY. James Main, the well-known Hibernian player, died in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary last night as the result of the accident which befell him in the match at Glasgow on Saturday last between the Hibernians and Partick Thistle. The mishap occurred as the result of a collision between deceased and Branscombe, the Partick Thistle outside left, Main being injured about the stomach. The injured player seemed to have recovered after the match, and was able to proceed to his home at West Calder. On Sunday morning one of the doctors who had been in attendance, fearing a rupture of the bowel, had him removed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where an operation was performed. On Monday and Tuesday slight improvement was reported, but last night deceased’s condition was very low again, and death resulted. Main was a native of West Calder. He was in his twenty-fourth year, and he joined the Hibernians, his only senior club, when he was eighteen, and since then has been connected with the club. Main was one of the best club backs in the country, and his services have been so much sought after that the Hibernians have invariably had some difficulty at the end of each season in getting him to stay with them. He twice played in international matches, once against the English League for the Scottish League in 1908, and once for Scotland against Ireland last season. The following week, Thistle were at Hampden for the New Years derby against Queen’s Park. Frank Branscombe was initially listed in the Thistle line-up, but couldn’t bring himself to play. He also sat out the following game at Pittodrie. The funeral for James Main was held at West Calder on Monday 3rd January, and the Hibs contingent were joined by representatives from most of the leading clubs in the country, including a large contingent from Partick Thistle. Since Thistle were in action at Pittodrie that day, it can be assumed that most of the regular first team were unable to attend. It is not known if Frank Branscombe was among those present. As for the playing of football on Christmas day, Thistle played their 17th and final such game in 1971, the recent League Cup winners going down to a surprising 1-0 loss at home to Ayr United. This was the last year in which a full Scottish card was played out on Christmas day. When Christmas Saturday rolled around again in 1976 there was a bit of a "mutiny on the bounty". As normal, a full fixture list had been scheduled by the SFL, but many of the clubs decided to start altering dates in response to supporters feelings, and, no doubt, with half an eye on the never ending quest to maximise those all important revenues. Some games fell victim to the weather, but most clubs, including Thistle, switched to Monday 27th (We drew 0-0 at Rugby Park). Hibs came up with the whacky plan of scheduling their match for 7.30pm on Christmas Eve. 3,875 turned out for their match against Ayr but this was half their average for the season and the plan had clearly backfired. Clydebank and St Mirren get the honour of being the last of the senior Scottish clubs to have played on Christmas Day. Their First Division top of the table clash, kick off 3pm, drew an excellent crowd of 7,675 to Kilbowie on 25th December 1976. Earlier, Alloa had entertained Cowdenbeath in a game which kicked off at 11am. These were the only two games that did not partake in the "revolt of '76!". As a result of the reaction of the clubs in the Winter of '76, by the time of the next Christmas Saturday in 1982, the SFL decided to abandon the tradition. The 25th was ignored and all games were scheduled for Monday 27th December. Suitably flexible arrangements have been made to avoid Christmas day ever since. In the circumstances, we can only finish our Jaggy Advent by reverting our thoughts back to James Main, known as Jamie or Jimmy to his friends. The next time you’re at a match and the referee abandons the game due to adverse weather, you should think of the promising young 23 year old, cut down in his prime in just such conditions. There should be no mumping and moaning. History taught us a harsh lesson on Christmas day 1909 and we should take heed. If you’re ever passing West Calder cemetery you can pay your respects. There you will find a 9ft granite memorial which stands in salute of the lad to this day. We dedicate our final Jaggy Advent to the memory of James Main. Other results on Christmas Day:

Good old Alex O'Hara eh. A hat-trick on Christmas Eve. I'm sure he'd have been the toast of all the pubs in Maryhill that night(and probably responsible for a few hangovers on Christmas Day!) Myself and The Jukebox Rebel would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read the Jaggy Advent. It was enjoyable for us to research and write about, we hope it was enjoyable for you to read. Hopefully by us going through the entire length of Thistle's history it gave you some new knowledge on things related to Thistle, or Scottish Football in general. So yeah, thanks for reading. We'd also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We hope you all have an enjoyable day with your families. However, the Jaggy Advent is not yet complete. Tomorrow morning will see the final Jaggy Advent published and we must warn you it is a bittersweet one. While Christmas Day is a day of celebration, and the match is a positive one, we also uncovered a tragedy while researching the Christmas Day game and tomorrow's Jaggy Advent covers this tale of tragedy.

Jaggy Advent 24th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-24-Dec-1977 Ayr United [h] W4-1 SFL Premier Division - game 18 venue: Firhill att: 4773 scorer(s): Alex O'Hara (3), Bobby Houston JAGS DELIVER EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT ^ ^ Alex O'Hara. The slayer of Ayr United on Christmas Eve The build up: There is a common belief that the second season following a promotion is more difficult that the first season. Season 1977/78 was Thistle’s second in the new Premier Division having secured promotion in 1975/76. Our first season, also our Centenary year, saw us finish in a very respectable 5th place. An up and coming striker by the name of Jim Melrose played his first season for Thistle as we participated in various tournaments in this season. Our Anglo-Scottish Cup run ended in November when we played Leyton Orient. Despite 2 Dougie Somner goals we crashed out on aggregate 4-2. The season was also a season where we lost two important Thistle players. Joe Craig was lured to Celtic during the season, while Alan Hansen was purchased by Liverpool for a cheap £100,000. Thistle re-built through out the summer signing Alex O’Hara from Rangers, signed for a record fee of £25,000. George Mackie was signed to make the right-back slot his own. John Craig’s cultured feet were secured for the midfield, alongside fellow new signing Ally Love. Sandy Frame was signed as a centre forward. Sandy’s time at Thistle never really started as injuries hampered him before forcing him to retire. A cruel way for a promising career to end. Thistle crashed out of the League Cup against Dundee United after a replay, indeed we haven’t won any of the subsequent 6 League Cup games sparking one of our longest hoodoo’s in a cup competition. Our Anglo-Scottish cup involvement lasted until September when Bristol City eliminated us. We won the first leg 2-0 at Firhill, before imploding down south to crash out 3-2 on aggregate. The league form started shakily and at the start of October Thistle were in 8th position having won only 2 of our opening 7 league games. Celtic were the next opponents and Doug Somners goal gave us a 1-0 win that sparked an unbeaten run of 8 league games, winning 7 of them. Alex O'Hara scored his first Thistle goal, a winner against Ayr United, in this run that propelled Thistle up the league, before a 3-0 defeat at Parkhead ended the run. Thistle drew 2-2 with Dundee United before hosting Ayr United in a Christmas Eve clash. Ayr were in the relegation zone, but just a point from safety. The match: Printing deadlines for the Evening Times meant that only the first half of the game was covered in that days late Sports Times, with the game being seemingly uncovered in the 27th December edition. “Thistle were unchanged for the visit of Ayr United. It took Thistle only four minutes to sort the men from the boys. Gibson crossed to Houston who ran free on the right before crossing to O’Hara who made no mistake with his pointblank drive. In 14 minutes Thistle almost increased their lead. Only a desperate goal-line clearance by John Murphy stopped a Houston shot crossing the line with Sproat looking well beaten. Somner came close two minutes later from a Craig cross when his effort was only inches wide. Ayr replied in 20 minutes with a shot from McCall , which Rough saved easily. Gordon Cramond, Ayr’s tireless midfield man, showed how a shot should be hit just two minutes later when his effort left Rough stranded but went inches over. Ayr United surged forward and seemed to be out-numbering the Jags defence before sweeper Jackie Campbell stepped in and send the ball once back to Rough. In 65 minutes Thistle went two up when O’Hara hammered home a Craig corner.” – Evening Times 24th December 1977 No more details on the game were reported in the press. At some point in the following 25 minutes Alex O’Hara completed his hat-trick, his first in Thistle colours, while Bobby Houston also scored making the final scoreline 4-1 to Thistle. Thistle Team: Rough, Mackie, Whittaker, Marr, Anderson, Campbell, Houston, Somner, Gibson, O’Hara, Craig. Sub: Melrose The aftermath: Thistle fans were in dreamland. We would spend Christmas in the lofty position of 3rd in the league. Our next game was a trip to Fir Park on Hogmanay. Would we be able to record a victory that would have Thistle fans celebrating the bells in style? The answer was no as we slumped to a 2-0 defeat. This was the start of a horrendous run that saw Thistle win only 1 league game between New Year and the 15th April. This capitulation saw Thistle slide down the table to dramatic effect. We slid down the table going from 3rd down to 8th towards the relegation zone. Relegation was never really a threat as we had 7 points over Ayr United. But why was the run of form so bad? We were still playing with the same players consistently throughout the season. A reason for the downturn in league form could maybe be seen when examining Thistle’s Scottish Cup run. We drew Cowdenbeath in the third round, for what seemed a routine cup win at Firhill. The weather played havoc with fixtures in early 1978, and a day after drawing 1-1 against St. Mirren, Thistle took to the field against Cowdenbeath. This made no sense but the fixtures had to be played whenever the weather allowed it. Two games in two days seemed to take it’s toll on Thistle as Denis McQuade’s injury time equaliser allowed Thistle to escape with a replay. The replay at Central Park was constantly postponed(where have we heard that before!), and when it was replayed it was that man McQuade who popped up with the winner in a tense replay. Hibernian awaited in the next round, and Thistle eased our way through albeit with a replay. Dumbarton were disposed of in the quarter final, setting up Thistle’s first Scottish cup semi final since 1950. In a strange quirk of the fixtures Thistle played Aberdeen, our semi final opponents, twice in the league in the week leading up to the semi final. Aberdeen won both league games, hardly improving confidence ahead of the Hampden match. Thistle never turned up in the semi final and despite a double from substitute Jim Melrose, we fell to a 4-2 defeat. Other results on Christmas Eve:

Jaggy Advent 23rd December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-23-Dec-1961 Dundee United [a] W5-3 SFL First Division - game 16 venue: Tannadice att: 8000 scorer(s): George Smith, Neil Duffy, Tommy Ewing (3) QUICKFIRE HAT-TRICK EARNS JAGS VICTORY AT TANNADICE ^ ^ Tommy Ewing, hat-trick hero. The build up: The season of 1960/61 was a disappointing one for Thistle as we finished in a lowly 11th position, but the second half of it built the foundations for a prolific front partnership. With Tommy Ewing struggling for form, spending much of 1959/60 absent from the team, Joe McBride was signed in November 1960 to assist the well-established Davie McParland and fellow new signing Neil Duffy. The three of these forwards would tear the division up each scoring double figures that season. The main deficiency was the defence conceding a massive 69 goals, in only 34 league games, although this was average for this period in Thistle’s history. The summer of 1961 was spent trying to upgrade the defence. Billy Cunningham, a wing half from Ballieston Juniors, was already at the club and found himself getting more regular opportunites. Full back Sandy Brown was drafted in from Broxburn Athletic and Donnie McKinnon was recruited from Rutherglen Glencairn to provide a presence badly missed at centre half. This partnership would be consistent throughout the season and between them they only missed 2 goals as Thistle conceded only 55 League goals all season. Indeed in a League cup tie, a game against St. Johnstone saw a scoreline not seen in a Thistle game since August 1959 – a 0-0 draw. Thistle’s league cup campaign did not least past the group stage and the league form became notoriously inconsistent. While Thistle were able to score goals, usually through McParland, McBride or Duffy, they were unable to keep them out, recording only 1 clean sheet in our first 11 League games. In mid-November Joe McBride fired a hat-trick to deliver Thistle a 3-0 victory against St. Mirren. The following week we kept another one as Stirling Albion were beaten 2-0. A corner had been turned, many Jags fans thought. Well, maybe not as we lost our next game at Parkhead 5-1. This proved only to be a blip and we recorded our third clean sheet in four, along with our third win after defeating St. Johnstone 3-0. The regular scorers of Duffy and McBride were on the score sheet, but fans favourite Tommy Ewing also netted, ending his drought that extended back to mid-September, although he had only played 5 games since. It was a confident Thistle team that travelled North to Dundee to face a United side who were only a point behind Thistle in the league standings. With Dundee cruising at the top of the league, they had a 7 point gap over Celtic and Kilmarnock, United were hoping to show that they too were title contenders by defeating Thistle and firing themselves into a higher League placing. The match: Neither the Evening Times or the Glasgow Herald chose to cover this game in their comprehensive reports, merely giving a score overview, meaning details of this game are a little hard to find. Thanks to the Arab Archive(a Dundee United historical archive), we can, at least tell the story of the game if a little bare. The game at Tannadice kicked off a 2.15pm, with Tannadice not yet having floodlights an early kick off was held to ensure the game would be able to finish before it got too dark. After 20 minutes Dundee United went ahead. A United player was fouled in the box and Neil Mochan slammed the penalty past Jim Gray. Thistle were not to be disheartened by this and led at half time. George Smith grabbed an equaliser with 10 minutes to go to the break before Neil Duffy gave Thistle a lead. Dundee United responded after the break and 2 goals in 5 minutes saw the lead swing back into their favour. Wattie Carlyle got United’s second of the day before Eric Brodie put them into the lead. It was a lead that would last a matter of 5 minutes before Tommy Ewing got involved. His equaliser, on 66 minutes, sparked an avalanche of goals with his hat-trick finally being sealed in the 76th minute. There would be no more goals in the game as Thistle cruised to a 5-3 victory against Dundee United, giving us our first Tannadice victory since February 1960 when we won a Scottish Cup replay 4-1. Thistle Team: Gray, Hogan, Brown, Harvey, McKinnon, Cunningham, Ewing, McBride, Smith, Duffy, McParland The aftermath: Tommy Ewing’s 10 minute hat-trick helped dig Thistle out a hole and kept us in 6th place in a league which had 3rd to 9th separated only by 2 points. It had a generous effect on Thistle manager Willie Thornton who promptly declared that Thistle’s players could have Christmas Day off from training. There was the slight catch of having to train on Christmas Eve instead, as we prepared for a Scottish Cup replay against Hibs. While most of Scotland enjoyed a sunny Christmas Day, Edinburgh was covered in fog and ice, leading to the game being postponed. When the game was replayed, on January 10th, Tommy Ewing scored what would prove to be the last goal in his first spell with Thistle. After a shock exit in the Scottish Cup to Stirling Albion, Ewing was sold, for around £20,000, to Aston Villa. Thistle fans were shocked, his goal return of 7 goals in 15 league games was impressive and his partnership with McParland, McBride and Duffy was a chief reason in why Thistle were doing so well in the league. Ewing spent two seasons with Aston Villa before returning to Thistle in the summer of 1964. If anything Ewing was thought to be an even better player than he had been prior to his departure, a fact borne out by the statistics in his first season back at Firhill. He missed just three games and topped the scoring charts with 23 goals, including hat-tricks against Ayr United and Airdrie. Season 1965/66 was altogether less successful with injury keeping Ewing out of the team for huge chunks of the season. His prodigal return to Firhill lasted just two seasons and the following season saw Ewing line-up in the colours of Morton. From Morton he moved to Hamilton eventually taking up the role of manager at Douglas Park. In 2010 he was inducted into the Partick Thistle hall of fame The last paragraph contains an extract taken from "Partick Thistle Legends" by Niall Kennedy and Tom Hosie. Other results on 23rd December:

Jaggy Advent 22nd December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-22-Dec-1945 Queen of the South [a] L3-5 Southern League, Division A - game 20 venue: Palmerston att: 5500 scorer(s): Willie Sharp (2), Willie O'Donnell SHANKLY'S LAST GAME AS A JAG ^ The great Bill Shankly in the red and yellow, 1945. The build up: When World War 2 broke out in 1939, football became put on the back burner, but as seen in a previous Jaggy Advent it didn’t stop completely. Thistle, like every other club, had a reduced playing staff with the needs of the Army coming first. Despite this Thistle could still count on stalwarts such as Jackie Husband, Sammy Picken, Willy Sharp and Bobby Henderson. With players being moved all around the country, there were rules put in place to deal with “guest players” for clubs. Under these rules a player had to play for the club nearest to his base. For Thistle this was the Bishopbriggs RAF camp. In September 1943 Bill Shankly was posted to the Bishopbriggs RAF camp. Although he had been injured in a Wartime cup game while playing for Preston, he came North to Glasgow. Thistle officials became aware of this and met him off the train at Glasgow Central. Despite a willingness to play for Rangers, under the Scottish F.A. rules Bill Shankly was eligible only to play for Thistle. Thistle took good care of Shankly, sourcing a surgeon to look at his knee injury, a potential career ender, and paid around £150 for it to be fixed. Remarkably Shankly recovered quickly and in October 1943 he made his Thistle debut. Dumbarton were the visitors and ran out 6-2 winners. Bill must have wondered what he had let himself in for! The next week he discovered the full range of Thistle’s unpredictability when we travelled across the city to Parkhead and won 5-4. It was in a 4-3 defeat against Falkirk the following week when Shankly scored his first Thistle goal. His Jags career was off and running. Shankly scored 7 league goals in 21 appearances in 1943/44 as Thistle finished 10th in the Southern Division, but it was in the Summer Cup of 1945 where he really made his impact with the Jags SUMMER CUP SUCCESS The Summer Cup is a tournament that has appeared in various formats throughout the years. During the war it was intended as a tournament to run from the end of the season until July, allowing clubs to generate revenues through the summer months. It was a 16 team tournament involving all of the Southern League clubs. The first two rounds would be played over two legs, before a one off semi final and final at a neutral venue. Thistle were drawn against Dumbarton in the first round. Bill Shankly netted as we battled out a 4-4 draw. Onto the second leg and it was the turn of another guest player, Jackie Johnson from Stockport County, to bag a double and fire us through 6-5 on aggregate. Hearts awaited in the next round and Thistle were never in doubt after a 3-0 win in the first leg at Firhill. Hearts won 2-1 in the second leg but it never really troubled us. Morton were the team we faced in the semi final in a game at Hampden, and Jackie Johnson’s goal sent us through to a final against Hibs. Hibs had finished a massive 7 places higher than Thistle having acquired 10 more points. Inspired by Shankly at Right Half, Thistle beat Hibs 2-0, in front of a crowd of roughly 30,000, thanks to 2 more goals from that man Jackson. Shankly had been an ever present in our run through the Summer Cup as we won our second National Trophy With World War 2 ending in 1945, guest players were returning to their club as and when they were allowed to return home from their camps. On 29th September, Bill Shankly scored his last Thistle goal in a 1-1 draw against Aberdeen. Shankly missed Thistle’s 3 big home wins that season, a 6-2 against Third Lanark, 5-3 against Kilmarnock and 5-1 against Hamilton Accies, all in the Autumn of 1945 as it became clear his time at Thistle was drawing to a close. The match: With newspapers being reduced during the war and not yet back up to the usual comprehensive standards, detailed reports on games were rare. Sadly no detailed report on Shankly’s last game exists but there are things we can tell you. Firstly, it was an 8 goal thriller away to Queen of the South with the hosts coming away 5-3 winners. It was one of 6 Division “A” games to have a penalty awarded. The penalty went to Queen of the South, which they duly scored to make it 3-3, with Thistle having led 3-1 at one stage in the first half. McQuade, no not that one, of Queen of the South scored a hat-trick that day, overshadowing Willie Sharp’s double of the day. Trailing 4-3 at half time, the second half was “fiery” and the win for QOTS was sealed with a goal a couple of minutes from the end. Thistle Team: Steadward, McGowan, Husband, Shankly, Parker, Candlin, Campbell, Wright, Sharp, O’Donnell, McGeachy The aftermath: The game brought down Bill Shankly’s time as a Thistle player. He'd played 69 games for us, scoring 12 goals.He was free to go home, having served his time in the R.A.F. All over the country players were returning back to their team, Peter McKennan being an example of a player who returned to Thistle. Bill Shankly remained in football until 1974, best known for his achievements at Liverpool, where he won 3 English League trophies, 2 F.A. Cups and a UEFA cup, as their manager. Other results on 22nd December:

Jaggy Advent 21st December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-21-Dec-1957 Celtic [a] W3-2 SFL First Division - game 16 venue: Celtic Park att: 22000 scorer(s): Davie Mathers, Andy Kerr, John Harvey UNBEATEN CELTIC DEFEATED BY FIRHILL'S FINEST ^ ^ A card of Andy Kerr, the tormentor in chief at Celtic Park The build up: In 1955 Thistle installed a new floodlight system. With the introduction of the covered shed a year previous to it, Firhill was changing as a place to watch a football game. In the same year Thistle staged it’s first European match when Hibs played Djurgarden in a European Cup Quarter-Final. In 1956/57 Thistle were invited to a Floodlit league, aimed as a rival to the European Cup. Thistle won both our home games in the tournament losing away to Newcastle and Tottenham. We were also scheduled to play Manchester City but fixture congestion meant it was never played and the idea collapsed after this trial. Thistle started the following season in excellent form, dismantling Queens Park 6-0 in the league opener. A draw with East Fife followed before the unpredictable nature of Thistle reared it’s head again, as we lost 6-1 away to Clyde. The Jekyll and Hyde form continued until the start of December when we recorded back to back wins for the first time all season, beating Raith Rovers and Queen of the South at Firhill. Next up was a trip to Firhill, where we played a Celtic team who were unbeaten in the league to this point. However, Thistle went into this match unbeaten in our previous three league games against Celtic. The match: “Bobby Evans took his place in an unchanged Celtic team seeking to retain their undefeated League record against full-strength Partick Thistle. The crowd was slow to gather. Andy Kerr gave Celtic a worrying few minutes, when he wandered away to the left and lashed the ball into the goal area. Evans, however, stepped in to clear. Celtic soon made tracks for Thistle’s goal and ‘keeper Thomson did well to push round the post a Smith drive. Then in the twelfth minute “Jags” struck. Kerr began the move before parting to Harvey, who laid the ball in Mathers tracks – and from 14 yards the ball flew hard and low past Beattie for the opening goal. Celtic’s reply was a Mochan volley which brought out a great save from Thomson. Thistle went all out for another goal with Celtic striving just as keenly to get level. Mochan almost did the trick with a 30 yard lob that Thomson just managed to tip over the bar before he landed in the net. Trouble struck Celtic again in the 29th minute when Fernie went in a tackle with Davidson and had to be carried off with his left leg injured. Just as play restarted a bottle landed on the pitch, Andy Kerr picked it up and tossed it on the track. After five minutes Fernie came back at outside right, Smith moving to right half. Jags gradually got on top and the 37th minute brought them a second goal. Kerr again made the chance with a pass to Harvey, who from 25 yards belted a low drive well away from Beattie. Two minutes from the interval Collins jostled Thomson when he was clutching a Mochan cross, and the ‘keeper came up from the ground dangling an injured right hand. He was taken off the field and Harvey took over in goal. Thistle resumed with Thomson in goal again, but Celtic were back to ten men – Fernie being an absentee. Despite this handicap, Celtic flew into attack and Thomson showed that his injury had not affected his courage by dashing out to push the ball away from Mochan. However, Partick were soon buzzing around Beattie again. Then the seventh minute brought more Celtic trouble. McPhail collided with Thomson when following up a Collin’s pass and went down with a leg injury. He was carried off for treatment, leaving Celtic with only nine men. But three minutes later they scored. Wilson was obstructed inside the box, and from his cutely placed indirect free kick, slipped the ball to Mochan, who beat Thomson all ends up with a left hook that screamed into the net. Three minutes later Parkhead was a mass of green and white joy – Mochan had equalised. Receiving the ball from Wilson, he beat two men before lashing another low shot past Thomson. Two goals with nine men – what a recovery. As Celtic whooped their way to the middle of the field McPhail brought further joy by returning to the fray. Now it was Celtic back to nine fit men for McPhail was hirpling on the left wing. But what spirit Celtic showed. Five minutes from time Kerr put Partick ahead when he connected with a Smith cross and scored with a shot that went in off the bar. Celtic lost their undefeated league record, but it was not for want of spirit. Their depleted ranks fought courageously against a Partick Thistle team that is improving with every game. Once again Kerr proved his value at centre forward – he scored the winning goal.” – Evening Times 21st December 1957 Thistle Team: Thomson, Collins, Baird, Mathers, Davidson, Donlevy, Smith, Harvey, Kerr, Wright, McParland The aftermath: And with that Celtic’s unbeaten league start was in tatters! An excellent result at Parkhead for Thistle. Andy Kerr, the hero of the game, would go on to score the following week in a victory against East Fife, making it the 4th consecutive league game he had scored in. He wouldn’t score again in 1957/58 but the following season he would really thrive scoring an excellent 15 goals in 26 appearances for Thistle. He did miss Thistle’s biggest game of the season however, when injury prevented him playing in the League Cup Final against Hearts. Thistle went down 5-1 in the final, but who knows how the game would have went if Kerr had been fit. Thistle’s form for the rest of 1957/58 was largely consistent and resulted in them securing a top 6 finish, their highest since 1953/54. There was little to note in terms of the cup results, with early exits from both the Scottish Cup and League Cup. Other results on 21st December: Update: Still suffering from illness but doing my best to ensure that we are caught up by the end of today!

Jaggy Advent 20th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-20-Dec-1947 Queen of the South [h] W4-0 SFL Division A - game 16 venue: Firhill att: 20000 scorer(s): Willie Sharp, Kenny Chisholm (2), Tom Wright SEVEN SECOND KNOCKOUT ^ ^ Willie Sharp, Thistle's all time top goalscorer. The build up: Just prior to World War 2 breaking out Thistle made one of their most productive signings. In May 1939 Thistle signed Willie Sharp from Shettleston Juniors. He was seen as a potential, if slightly inexperienced, replacement for John McMenemy. Willie struggled to make an impact to begin with but due to the wartime demands on the first team he found himself appearing regularly in the late stages of 1939/40. He made an immediate impact seen as a goal creator and claimed himself a few assists for Ewing, MacKenzie and Walker. It was from 1941 that he truly thrived with his forward partner Willie Newall. Willie helped Thistle through the war years and led us to several cup finals. The start of the 1946/47 saw a change in attitudes from the public. The war menace had been defeated and the people of the United Kingdom had served their penance. It was the time to rebuild lives and enjoy some relaxation. This attitude could perhaps contribute to why the gates at Firhill started to soar. Maryhill Road and the surrounding area became jam packed with fans heading to the direction of Firhill. Gates of between 20,000 and 30,000 were common and that was without the Old Firm coming to visit. The opening game of 1946/47, a League Cup tie at Brockville, saw Thistle go into a 6-2 lead and begin to cruise the game. Falkirk dragged their way back into it and Thistle fans would have been delighted to hear the full time whistle when we were leading narrowly 6-5. Exciting games were the sign of the times as we recorded 4-2, 5-1 and 8-2 victories in the opening 6 games of the season. A 2-1 victory at home to Aberdeen saw the last time Peter McKennan hit the target for Thistle. He was transferred to West Bromich Albion at this point. Thistle went into the game against Queen of the South on the back of 2 score draws. We would be boosted by the return of Willie Sharp, Jimmy Walker and Hugh Brown to the squad after various lengths of absence. Thistle were flying high in 3rd position, just a solitary point behind Hibernian and Rangers, while Queen of the South approached it in mid-table having won a single away league game to this point. The match: In 1947, just after World War 2, newspapers weren’t the in depth coverage that we’ve been used to previously or since. Quite understandable as there were more important priorities at this time. Looking back through the online archive, the Glasgow Herald appears to have elected to choose covering the St. Mirren v Hearts game, with just a brief mention of the scores with the other games. So what is known about this game? On 20th December 1947, at 3pm, the referee’s whistle started Thistle’s game against Queen of the South. David Mathie kicked off to Kenny Chisholm, who flicked the ball back to Hugh Brown. The half-back sent a long ball through the middle for Mathie to chase. With the defenders watching the There are rumours that the Queen of the South goalkeeper, Roy Henderson, hadn’t even put his hat and gloves in the goal as the ball sailed past him. From then on Thistle were on easy street, Kenny Chisholm scored his first Thistle goals by scoring two. Tom Wright also scored leaving Thistle with a comfortable 4-0 win against a Queen of the South side that just never recovered from the loss of the early goal. Thistle Team: Henderson, McGowan, Husband, Brown, Forsyth, Candlin, Wright, Chisholm, Mathie, Sharp, Walker The aftermath: Willie Sharps 7 second goal remained a Scottish record for in excess of half a century. While in England there had been some, well authenticated, claims for a 6 second goal there has never wasn’t a Scottish goal rivalling it for ages. In 1980 the Scottish Cup offered an incentive, £1,000 would be awarded to the fastest goalscorer in the Cup that season. It offered the first genuine threat to Willie Sharp’s record, but ultimately it was never troubled. Fast forward to 1999 and it was a Partick Thistle player who threatened his record. Almondvale was the venue as Robert Dunn scored a quick fire goal. The question going round the Jags fans that day, was it faster than 7 seconds? Well it emerged that it was recorded at 7.5 seconds, equalling Sharp’s record. The record has since been tied by a third player – Alex Burke when he scored for Berwick Rangers against Raith Rovers in February 2003. What about Willie Sharp? Well the 229 goals he scored in 17 years at Firhill has never been matched by any other player. Only Alan Rough, Davie McParland and Jackie Campbell have played more games for Thistle than him. A true Thistle legend indeed. In 1950 Burnley were rumoured to have put a £15,000 bid, which would have been a world record of the time, but Thistle turned it down in a bold decision. Willie repaid the faith in him, with splendid form in the first half of the 1950s, reaching seven cup finals in his career at Firhill. Willie played his last game for Thistle against Kilmarnock in February 1957, choosing to retire from football at the end of that season. He was inducted into Thistle’s hall of fame in 2010. As for the season? Well Thistle continued their fine form, while entertaining fans, we wouldn’t be involved in a 0-0 that season, and we finished in a very respectable 3rd place. Things were looking promising for Thistle as we tried to rebuild after the chaos of World War 2. Other scores on 20th December:

Jaggy Advent 19th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-19-Dec-1959 Hibernian [h] L2-10 SFL First Division - game 17 venue: Firhill att: 11000 scorer(s): George Smith (2) OUR ALL-TIME RECORD HOME DEFEAT - CLINICAL HIBS ^ “Aw naw, no another wan”. John Freebairn beaten as Frank Donlevy looks on. It was just “one of those days” for our boys. The build up: Having started off the month poorly with two defeats and a draw, the Jaggy Advent has been on a great run of late with fifteen consecutive wins. (Is this is a club new record? ) Next, we’ll be regaling you with fantastical tales about flying reindeers and a portly old chancer from upper Finland who can seemingly can get up and down 2 billion chimneys in 10 hours without getting so much as an ounce of black soot on his white beard. Let’s get real shall we? Today’s Advent reflects the Thistle perfectly. If ever there is a team in Scotland who can run into soul-destroying trouble when least expected, surely that team is Partick Thistle! Hibernian, champions of Scotland in 1952, had lost a bit of their lustre in the recent seasons, although they were edging in on Hearts and Rangers at the top and looked like they could be set to make another challenge for this season’s title. They had won four on the bounce and just six weeks earlier they had pulverised Airdrie by 11 goals to 1 at Broomfield. Help ma boab! Jags were “doing away” in the mid table. However, going into the game, we still had every reason to feel confident. We had been doing well at Firhill, and had won 6 of our 8 home League matches so far, including both of our last two, 3-1 against Celtic and 4-2 against St Mirren. Unsurprisingly, Willie Thornton went with the same starting eleven that had done so well at Firhill against Saints the week before… The match: Thistle started like a bullet from a gun and George Smith hit the side netting within 30 seconds. 30 seconds later it was 1-0 to Hibs when Preston headed home an Ormond cross! The crazy tone of the entire game was immediately set. We were playing a high line and Baker broke it 8 minutes later, coolly slotting past John Freebairn. Two sucker punches in the first 10 minutes. We continued to attack and the Evening Times notes: “It was Hibs defence who were doing the rocking and rolling. Wren’s goalmouth was now a maze of green and white desperation as the amazing Jags kept swooping on in waves of speed and endeavour.” On the half hour mark we lost a third when Alex Wright headed into his own net. Could this day get any worse? YES! Despite yet more Thistle pressure, Hibs broke away, and won a corner which ended with Preston shooting home on 37. At this point the Evening Times starts to appoint some blame at the doorstep of the goalie. “Freebairn, who had not been entirely blameless for at least three of the other goals, was definitely the culprit as he dropped an Ormond cross to McLeod, who made it five in the 41st minute”. Five down at half-time. Ouch. Oh, and, by the way, Hibs also had two offside goals chopped off by this stage. And, YES, everyone agrees, we had been ALL OVER THEM! Amazing scenes. Alas, within four minutes of the restart it was six. McLeod went rampaging 10 yards before firing a shot that Freebairn stopped but dropped. An eagle-eyed referee decided “without palaver” that the ball was over the line. In the 54th minute Thistle FINALLY got the goal their attacking play had merited, the prolific George Smith shooting with enough force to get the ball over the line despite the block. 3 minutes later it was 7-1 and McLeod had himself a hat trick. On the hour mark, George Smith pulled another back. 7-2! “The Jags fans were roaring for a revival. After all, their favourites were only five behind now – and this was Firhill!” Any notions of such a revival were soon extinguished with goals from Ormond (66 and 73) and Baker (77) completing the rout. In Monday’s press, D.L. Campbell wrote the following article in The Bulletin… PARTICK AREN’T ALL THAT BAD The only thing Thistle lacked was the ability to finish things off. On Saturday, against Hibs at Firhill, the score of 10-2 looked, on paper, as if Thistle had hardly crossed the halfway line. That assumption is quite wrong. Lost in the eulogies and superlatives which have followed this latest Hibs goal scoring spree is the significant fact that on the score of sheer, goal-attacking pressure, Thistle actually held the whip hand. When the half-time whistle went they were five goals down – five goals scored smoothly, effortlessly, almost nonchalantly, by a Hibs machine that never missed a chance. Yet, in this disastrous 45 minutes, Thistle had forced no less than eight corners – against a total of two by Hibs! At least three times the ball went scudding across Hibs goal with their defence momentarily all at sea – and a Thistle foot just inches short of prodding it past Wren. At least twice, the ball struck the Hibs keeper and and came out, when he obviously had as little idea of where it was than the policeman on points duty at Queen’s Cross! And when those facts are added to an “own goal” effort by Wright, who beat his own keeper with a header from close range, it will be appreciated that it was just another of those days for Thistle! It’s easy to criticise a team which loses ten goals – and only scores two, but I don’t think Thistle are nearly so bad as the result looks on paper. Their great weakness lies up front, where only George Smith seems to have the confidence to attempt a shot from scoring range. This was typified by Fleming, for instance, when on one occasion he had the perfect ball laid on for him a yard inside the 18 yard line by Smith, who had split the Hibs defence on the left. It was a position that, in eight out of ten cases in senior football, should have resulted in a goal. But, with all the time in the world to line up his shooting sights on Wren, Fleming actually shoved the ball back out again to Smith who, with the defence given time to recover, was left in an impossibly offside position. That is the sort of unimaginative, non-confident approach which Thistle will need to eliminate up front if they are to gain any reward from their stuffy defensive and outfield efforts. How different it was with the Hibs team. Since I saw them last, they have improved tremendously. Bobby Johnstone has, rightly, taken the great bulk of the praise for the lethal “revival” of the Easter Road forward line. And there is no doubt about his vital influence here. But the three players who, to my mind, were the architects in the initial stages of this spree were Tommy Preston, John Young and John Baxter. The two wing-halves were immense, particularly in attack. At times, the Hibs front rank comprised SEVEN forwards – and the results were devastating. Yet it all looked so smooth and unflurried. I doubt if the now almost legendary Easter Road attacking machine of the early 50’s had much in hand of the present one, on Saturday’s Firhill display. Tommy Preston, I thought, was the most outstanding star in a star-spangled forward rank which had no more scoring opportunities than Thistle – but had the guile, craft and quick-silver thinking to take advantage of every chance thrown up. The one suggestion of weakness in the defence, I thought, was Jacky Plenderleith. The big centre half has always given me the impression that he is suspect in the judgement of the high ball down the middle – and several times this judgement was at fault on Saturday, even when he appeared to have plenty of time to take up position to meet it. Despite the score, Thistle’s John Harvey was the more impressive pivot of the two. CHALLENGERS? Are Hibs about to take over the mantle of Motherwell and Hearts as the finest ball-playing side in the country – and chief challengers for that League title? This week, they face a desperate Aberdeen at Pittodrie. On New Years Day they clash with Hearts at Easter Road, and the following day with Rangers at Ibrox. IN LESS THAN A FORTNIGHT THEREFORE, WE SHOULD KNOW HOW GOOD THIS HIBS TEAM REALLY IS. Thistle team – J. Freebairn, G. Muir, D. Baird, A. Wright, J. Harvey, F. Donlevy, J. Fleming, W. Simpson, G. Smith, D. McParland, W. Devine The aftermath: Now, looking back at this you’d be forgiven for thinking “jeez, the Thistle fans must have had a right miserable Christmas on the back of that one.” Well, actually, apparently not. It seems that, generally speaking, yer Thistle supporters of the 1950’s were a different breed to many of the greetin’ faced moaners that you get these days. More than one press report refers to good natured cheering from the resigned Thistle fans. “Where other fans would have fled the nightmare scene in misery, they stayed to cheer the magic and the goals as provided by McLeod, Preston, Baker, Ormod, and even their own Alec Wright.” All of which sounds a bit too “jolly spiffing” for my liking. It can only be hoped that our Grandads were being ironic. Manager Willie Thornton suggested that the Thistle fans should be awarded the title “Supporters of the year”. Said Willie “I thought the Thistle fans were wonderful when Hibs were banging one goal after another into our net. I didn’t hear one moan coming from the stand or the terracing – and I can tell our fans that their most sporting behaviour was very much appreciated by the club.” All week, Willie Thornton repeated a mantra, that “there will be no Firhill panic”. And William was as good as his word, for against Arbroath, a team who had shocked Motherwell the week before, he fielded exactly the same eleven for our boxing day trip to Angus. It was a vote of confidence in the present Thistle team in general, and goalkeeper John Freebairn in particular. “When you have been in an air crash, the quickest possible way to get your nerve back is to get into the air as quickly as possible again.” This was great man management, and Mr. Thornton proved himself to be a master in this art over his 9 year spell in charge at Thistle. “These boys beat both Celtic and St Mirren” said Mr Thornton, “and it was certainly no disgrace to fall to such a brilliant side as Hibs. Indeed, I considered them an even better balanced eleven than that just after the war.” At Gayfield, Thistle improved by 8 goals and drew 2-2. The Thistle fans had forgiven them already and it was announced that the excellent main stand was now a sell out for the New Years derby against Clyde. Tickets, priced 6s (30p) had been snapped up by “the supporters of the year”! From every conceivable angle, this result stands, categorically, as Thistle’s record home defeat in our entire 139 season history. However, it can clearly be recalled as a “freak blip”. Note that, if we had won this match, we’d have finished above Hibernian in the final League position. It should also be pointed out that this was the same weirdo fitba’ team from Maryhill that completed the League double over Celtic this season, winning 3-1 at Firhill and 4-2 at Celtic Park, where we were actually 4-0 up after an hour. That D.L. Campbell feller was right – we WEREN’T all that bad. Other results on 19th December:

Jaggy Advent 18th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-18-Dec-1999 Stenhousemuir [h] W1-0 SFL Second Division - game 18 venue: Firhill att: 1922 scorer(s): Peter Lindau THISTLE WIN LAST HOME LEAGUE GAME OF 20TH CENTURY ^ ^ Peter Lindau, Thistle's last goalscorer of the 20th Century. The build up: Season 1998/99 had been pretty disastrous for Thistle. We finished in 8th place in the Second Division, ranked 28th in Scotland by League position. It was the lowest we had ever fallen. With John Lambie at the helm it was hoped that things could be turned around and quickly. The Firhill revolving door was utilised to its full as only Des McKeown and Alan Archibald started the last game of 1998/99 and the opening League game of 1999/00. John Lambie plundered the Junior ranks bringing in Steve Dallas, Richie Newall, Eddie McGuinness, and Tom McAllister, but these signings bore little fruit and were shipped out during the early part of the season. Ray Montgomerie was brought in to stabilise the defence, with Albert Craig and David Elliot returning for another spell with the club. The signing which excited fans most in the early part of the season was that of an Internationalist. Quinton Jacobs, hailing from Namibia, was signed after extensive effort to obtain clearance. He took his place on the bench, making his debut in an away to game to Stranraer in a 1-1 draw. The season started sluggishly for Thistle, with first round exits from the League Cup and the League Challenge Cup, leading to a dismal opening quarter from Thistle, picking up only 4 points from our first 9 games. We were marooned at the bottom of the division. Goals from Steven Docherty and Robert Dunn gave Thistle a 2-0 cushion at half time in our next game, but this lead was relinquished and Alloa earned a 2-2 draw, but signs of improvement were evident. Thistle, rather remarkably, went on a run of 4 League clean sheets in a row. It was the first time since 1989 that this had been achieved and the 8 points gathered in this run helped pull Thistle closer to the pack, but we were still in the relegation zone. With Winter rolling in fast, and Quinton Jacobs being introduced to snow, Thistle picked up a further 6 points, bringing their total to 19 after 17 games. With the SPL being expanded to 12 teams further up the pyramid structure, there were 3 promotion slots available in the Second Division, Thistle were remarkably only 9 points off a promotion place. Stenhousemuir were to be Thistle’s last ever visitors to Firhill in the 20th Century and John Lambie spent Friday on a signing spree to ensure Thistle would win this historic encounter… The match: “The last Thistle game of the Twentieth Century at Firhill fittingly ended in a Jags victory, but it was a mighty close thing in the second half. There were countless games at the start of the season where Thistle would have 90% of the possession but end up losing, so we were perhaps due an afternoon where the opposition felt a little hard done by. The undersoil heating ensure this match would take place but it was still a tricky surrace for the players to contend with and that could maybe explain the poor final ball in a first half that Thistle dominated. It was a Thistle side that showed a number of changes from the side defeated by Ross County. John Lambie seems to have spent his entire Thistle career securing the services of players on a Friday afternoon, this time he excelled himself bringing in three new players. A new striking partnership was formed between Peter Lindau, on loan from Ayr United, and Scott McLean, signed from Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Also making a Thistle debut was Danny Lennon who went under the alias of “trialist” while Kenny Arthur made only his second appearance of the season replacing the suspended Kevin Budinauckas. It was one of the three new boys that scored the goal that separated the sides at the finish. With the clock showing 25 minutes, Peter Lindau collected a pass from Paul McIntyre, ignored any appeals for offside, and coolly knocked the ball over the outstretched arms of Lindsay Hamilton. It was a lead that Thistle fully deserved, at the time, as Thistle, with all three new boys prominent, knocked the ball about with some confidence, all that was lacking at times was a quality final ball. Stenhousemuir are by no means the poorest side in the Division, far from it and although Thistle had the ascendancy for the majority of the first 45 minutes they were always a threat to the Thistle goal, especially at corner kick, the ball frequently being curled in right under the bar. Not the nice easy relaxing afternoon I am sure that Kenny Arthur would have preferred upon his return to the team. Thistle had to reorganise when Brian Martin, for the second game in a row, had to retire early with injury, his place in the side going to Gavin Duncan, who lined up on the right side of the Thistle midfield with Martin’s spot in the centre of the Thistle defence going to Paul McIntyre. Thistle had cause to be thankful for McIntyre’s presence in the heart of the Jags defence in the second half as his magnificent tackle inside the box prevented what looked to be a certain Stenhousemuir goal. He wasn’t the only Thistle saviour in a second half that threatened to never end. On more than one occasion an equalising goal seemed inevitable, only for a Thistle boot or head to appear to clear the ball. Although it could only have been divine intervention that caused former Thistle player Alan Lawrence to slash the ball so far off target when in such a good position. Thistle were able to create chances of their own. Only a poor first touch denied Scott McLean the opportunity of a debut goal and a cross from the same player somehow eluded Albert Craig at the back post. Despite all Stenhousemuir’s late pressure, it was Thistle that held on to collect all three points.”- Match Programe 3rd Jan 2000 Thistle Team: Arthur, Docherty, Archibald, Montgomerie, Martin(Duncan 36), Lennon, McIntyre, Craig, McLean(Lyle 69), Lindau, Jacobs The aftermath: And so it was, Thistle’s football at Firhill in the 20th Century drew to a close with a win. Peter Lindau having the honour of the last goal of the Century for Thistle as we travelled to Arbroath a week later, securing a 0-0 draw. The opening game of 2000 was a 2-2 draw against Hamilton Accies with Derek Lyle and Eric Paton scoring in the second half after Thistle trailed 2-0 at half time. Thistle picked up a further 10 points in their next 4 league games to propel us into 4th place, just behind the last promotion slot but just ahead of Alloa Athletic who had 4 games in hand. Despite losing 3 of our next 6 games we still had a chance of being promoted to the First Division entering April, although this seemed unlikely as Alloa still held 2 of their games in hand with a 2 point cushion. Despite an impressive win in Dingwall midway through April, Thistle’s hopes had all but gone for promotion and as we picked up a single point in our last 4 games, we eventually finished in 5th position. A bad start had cost Thistle the possibility of promotion, but the signs were promising for the future. Thistle had a great deal more success in the Scottish Cup. East Stirling, containing Martin Hardie who Thistle would sign in March 2000, were beaten 2-1 in a narrow game at Firhill. This paired us with Albion Rovers away in the following round. A last minute Danny Lennon goal secured Thistle’s progress in a game that Thistle had led from the 6th minute, only to be pegged back a few minutes from time. High flying Livingston were next up in the Cup adventure. David Bingham put Livingston into an early lead with Albert Craig ghosting in to score an equaliser just before half time. After Marc Millar had been sent off, Scott McLean struck the winner 10 minutes from time to send Thistle through to the Quarter Finals for the first time since 1987/88. An away trip to Ayr United awaited Thistle and, ultimately, an unfortunate exit from the cup. Ayr’s first goal came after Danny Lennon cleared the ball against Neil Duffy rebounding it into the net, with the second looking suspiciously offside. Thistle’s cup journey was over. In the summer of 2000, Ray Montgomerie retired to be replaced by young Nortern Irishman Steven Craigen. Danny Lennon, Martin Hardie, Scott McLean and Peter Lindau were signed up for Thistle’s assault on the title in 2000/01. Quinton Jacobs chose to depart from Firhill. The positive, lengthy, cup run, combined with the good run of form at the time, brought a feel good factor back to Firhill leaving us to believe the good times were just around the corner. Other results on 18th December:

Jaggy Advent 17th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-17-Dec-1932 Third Lanark [a] W3-0 SFL First Division - game 18 venue: Cathkin Park att: 6000 scorer(s): Davie Ness, Lachlan McMillan, John Torbet THISTLE CREATE CLUB RECORD WITH WIN OVER THIRDS ^ ^ A cigarette card of George Cummings, one of six Thistle players to play in every match of the 12 game winning streak. The build up: Thistle, managed by Donald Turner, were troubled by financial instability at the start of the 1930s, but despite the need to sell of players to ensure financial safety, the club finished in the top 6 of Scottish football for 5 consecutive seasons. In 1931, after impressing on a pre-season tour in the South of England, Johnny Simpson was the latest in a long line of Jags players to be sold to keep the club above the financial brink. In January 1932, after a lengthy investigation into several methods of income-generating, it was decided for Firhill to be the home of greyhound racing. The construction of the track meant the removal of parts of the terracing, but since attendances were down, this would not be much of an issue. This was seen, at least in the eyes of some fans, as a necessary evil to stop the sight of their favourite players being transferred away from Firhill. The greyhound racing would remain at Firhill until 1957. In the summer of 1932 it was the same old sight for Thistle as valuable players left, John Simpson and Jimmy Rae being the notable departures. The loss was felt immediately at the start of the season as Thistle lost 6 of our first 7 league games leaving Thistle rooted to the bottom of the table. Then something remarkable happened. Thistle won their next League 9 games sending them flying up to 9th position in the table, but with between 3 and 5 games in hand of the teams above us. On 17th December, we travelled across to Cathkin Park on a horrendous day to play Third Lanark, a team who were enjoying a solid if unspectacular season. Having lost only 2 games at home at that point in the season, they were expected to be tricky opponents. The match: Third Lanark’s forward power will require to be strengthened if the club is to make headway. It was weakness in this department which led to the club’s defeat at Cathkin by Partick Thistle. With the wind behind them in the first half, Third Lanark should have been two or three goals up at the interval. As it was, both teams were goalless at half-time, and Thistle were worthy winners in the end. The turf at Cathkin Park is the best on any football pitch in the city, and it provided the players with pretty sure footing, despite the heavy rain. A high, swirling wind, however, handicapped the players and the attendance was small for such a match. Third Lanark played a hard game, but there was no method in their efforts. They had not a leader such as Thistle has in McMillan. The Firhill man has seldom seen to be better advantage, and it was fitting that he should head the first goal. When McAllister suffered an injury to his knee and went off early in the game it looked as if the Thistle’s chance of victory had gone. Ballantyne fell back to the centre-half position, and for about an hour he did well in this position. With only four forwards Thistle did not do much aggressive work, but every man put all he knew into his play. Time and again Third Lanark should have scored in this period. Dewar missed an open goal after Cummings had missed his kick and Jack sent the ball against the crossbar when he should have scored. Breslin had the best effort of the game, and Thistle’s luck was in when the ball rebounded from the far post. After being in the pavilion for about 20 minutes, McAllister returned and crippled along the right touchline while Ness acted as partner to Torbet. In the second-half Thistle did most of the attacking, but they met with no success until McAllister went back to his own position and the team played in its proper formation., Just after the resumption Thistle’s defence was rather unsettled, and Jackson just touched a shot from Breslin over the bar, and then punched clear from Brown’s corner kick. Thistle rallied therafter and with 18 minutes gone, McMillan headed the first goal following a corner kick taken by Ness. Third Lanark retaliated, and McKenzie finished a nice movement by sending the ball wildly past. Thistle’s second goal came from a penalty kick, taken by Torbet, after Warden had handled the ball, and then, with five minutes to go, Ness got his foot to a fast cross from Torbet and turned the ball inside the far post. A feature of the game was the uncertainty of all the backs. The home defenders, especially in the first-half, kicked the ball out of play far too frequently. Miller, who deputised for McLeod, played cleverly, and was the outstanding half-back on the field. – Glasgow Herald 19th December 1932 Thistle Team: Jackson, Calderwood, Cumming, Elliot, McAllister, Miller, Ness, McMillan, Boardman, Ballantyne, Torbet The aftermath: The win over Thirds propelled Thistle’s winning League streak onto 10, breaking the previous record of 9 as recorded in 1897. I wonder how many of the Thistle fans, and staff, realised the landmark they had made that day! Thistle went on to win their next 2 League games taking the total to 12, before St. Johnstone claimed a draw at Firhill on Hogmanay. The run of 12 consecutive League wins still stands as a Partick Thistle record to this day! Thistle fans of the time would have hoped that this purple patch of dazzling form would be the springboard to a great season. In reality, however, it was well wide of the mark. Thistle only won 4 more League games that season and had to settle for 10th place, their lowest finishing since 1926/27. At the end of the season, like a few before them, Thistle had to sell their star players to stay above the financial abyss. Goalkeeper Johnny Jackson was transferred to Chelsea while prolific striker Johnny Torbet moved to Preston North End. Other results on 17th December:

Jaggy Advent 16th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-16-Dec-1939 Airdrieonians [a] W2-1 Regional League, Western Division - game 9 venue: Broomfield att: ? scorer(s): Alex Younger, James Douglas ’39 to ’40 - A Season For Remembrance ^ Forthbank Park, home to King’s Park, was partly destroyed by the Luftwaffe in July, 1940. These were dangerous times and football was not immune. The build up: Thistle kicked off the 1939-40 campaign on the 12th August with a 1-1 draw at Tynecastle in front of a healthy crowd of 23,000. Those in attendance could not possibly have foreseen how the season would develop, although there can be no doubt that there was an ever growing sense of unease and anxiety in the air, as an almost unbelievable sequence of events continued to unfold just several hundred short miles away. With enough, supposedly intelligent, white Aryan Germans buying into the baffling concept that much of Europe was born subhuman, the majority of the continent was under severe stress in 1939, as the continuing territorial demands of the Third Reich reached wider and further with ineffectual resistance. When Poland was fixed into the sights of the crazed Hitler regime, wherever there was sanity, alarm bells were ringing at maximum levels. Ever since the Nazis had demanded the return of the Free City of Danzig to Germany in March, Britain had offered a guarantee of Polish independence, and this uneasy stand off was, from thereon, a nagging worry which preyed on British minds over the summer of 1939. In the press and on the radio, the diplomatic endeavours were reported with an ever increasing regularity, and with an ever decreasing sense of hope, as the inevitable, dreaded consequence loomed ever larger on the horizon. Within three weeks of season’s kick off, the tension was verging on unbearable, and speculation was rife as to the imagined impact in many walks of life. On Wednesday 30th August, SFA secretary George G. Graham confirmed that, having had no information to the contrary, the Scottish football card would be carried through on Saturday, as arranged. The following day, on Thursday August 31st at 11.07am, the order came from the Home Office that all children living in the “danger zones” should “evacuate forthwith”. Their intelligence reports were highly accurate. 17 hours later, the Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany began. At 4:45 a.m. on Friday 1st September, the Luftwaffe attacked several targets in the country and by 8:00 a.m., troops of the German Army launched an attack near the Polish town of Mokra. That same morning, many urban children all over Britain turned up at their local schools for a day that they would never forget. The bewildered kids were equipped with a gas-mask, a toothbrush, a change of underclothes, and a label. In Glasgow, they made their way to the nearest railway station and were variously transported to such destinations as Perthshire, Kintyre and Rothesay, where they were all to be adopted, until further notice, by the publically spirited families of the countryside and seaside towns. This process was repeated on the Saturday and Sunday and, all told, almost 120,000 Glaswegian children were evacuated over the course of a long, distressing weekend. Later that day, the cruise ship SS Athenia, under Captain James Cook, departed Glasgow for Montreal via Belfast then Liverpool. There were more than 1,400 on board by the time she left Merseyside for the open Atlantic. It's said that cries of “Cowards!” were hurled at them from Belfastian dock-workers. On the humid Saturday, the day after Germany had invaded Poland, tens of thousands of Glaswegian children continued to partake in the evacuation process. Mothers were also allowed onto the trains if they had toddlers. The United Kingdom and France issued a joint ultimatum to Germany, requiring German troops to evacuate Polish territory, with an expiration deadline of 11:00 a.m. on the Sunday morning. In this context, a football match seems almost surrealistic. However, Thistle beat Alloa 2-0 at Firhill in the afternoon, and went 5th in the First Division after the 5th round of games. This proved to be our last “peace time” game of the 1930’s. IT'S WAR On Sunday 3rd September at 11:15 a.m. BST, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made the announcement that everyone in Britain had been dreading. “This country is at War with Germany”. In Glasgow and district, the declaration was heard to a background of thunder. The sky was overcast and rain fell in a downpour as Mr. Chamberlain’s message unfolded. Within hours of the announcement, France, Australia, India, and New Zealand made the same declaration – they too were at war with Germany. In the early evening, the SS Athenia became the first major British casualty of the War when a German U-Boat, in breach of the German Navy's own rules, torpedoed the cruise ship in the Atlantic, some 200 miles west of the Hebrides, killing more than 100 people, with Britons and Americans bearing the brunt of the fatalities. The citizens of Glasgow, and indeed the entire nation, were outraged and shell shocked, and the harsh reality of our grim situation had been underlined in action, barely seven hours since Neville Chamberlain’s words had been broadcast. Europe’s troubles were now right here on our doorstep and one can only imagine how distressing this must have been for everyone in this country. Hundreds of the survivors were brought back to Glasgow where the Lord Provost, Patrick Dollan, organised a warm welcome for them, ensuring access to medical treatment and accommodation in some of the city’s finest hotels. He even launched a special relief fund for the survivors, with the people of Glasgow contributing more than £3500. At the Grand Central Hotel, the American survivors were greeted by the US Ambassador's 22-year-old son – he who would become President John F Kennedy. It is understood that John’s first public speech was given in front of what is today Champagne Central, the hotel’s main public bar. Kennedy toured hospitals and met 150 bruised and bloodied survivors at the Beresford Hotel – a well-known art deco building which still stands (as flats) close to the city’s dental hospital. Kennedy said at the time: “I have never seen people more grateful for all that has been done for them by Glasgow, than those to whom I have spoken today.” FOOTBALL BANNED Meanwhile, the civil servants at the Home Office were working round the clock on overtime schedules, issuing all sorts of guidelines and directives. Included in their closure orders of 4th September were “indoor and outdoor sports gatherings where large numbers of people might be expected to congregate”. Following the order, Glasgow City Council ordered the suspension of all grades of football until further notice. The SFA met on Wednesday 6th September to discuss the position, and Emergency Committees were formed on a district basis. At that time it was not expected that football in any form would be permitted for several weeks. League and Club officials were already anticipating that there’d be considerable restrictions on crowds and venues. Competitive football was not expected. BAN RELAXED In reality, it turned out that there was only one weekend without football. The return to normality in civil life, so far as that was possible, was hastened somewhat by a relaxation of many of the initial Home Office restrictions. On Sunday 10th September, the Home Office announced that football may go on in “neutral areas”. Mr J.C. Lyon, chairman of Hamilton Academical, expressed the view that, even on a restricted scale, war-time football in Scotland could be made interesting and attractive alike for enthusiasts of the game. His suggestion was that the leading League clubs in Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire should each adopt a city club “for the duration” and give it, on alternate Saturdays, the hospitality of its ground for a home fixture. He explained “Fir Park might, for the time being, be the recognised home centre of both Motherwell and Celtic, while Cliftonhill could, on alternate Saturdays, be the home territory of Albion Rovers and Partick Thistle. It seems to me a plan of that kind, if it could be worked out, possesses great possibilities.” Mr. Lyons excellent plan never came to fruition – as it transpired there was no need - but what a great thinker. His kind would be a most welcome addition to the board of the SPFL today! In the Scotsman of the 11th September, the relaxation was reported thus: “The Government are well aware of the value of football as a public “safety valve” and, with all football officials keen to carry on, something should be accomplished. Many men have been called up for national service in one form or another, but with the majority of junior clubs going to the wall there should be plenty men available, especially since there will be no bar in the way of transfer or registration.” At the outbreak of war, the government made it compulsory for all men aged 18-41 to take part in military service in some shape or form, and most professional footballers were in this age group and had to ‘sign up’. Footballers played for their own team when they could but that depended on where they were posted in the army and whether they could get time off. Many football clubs had to make up teams with whoever was available week to week, including players from other teams, fans, and even the people who ran the club. Often, this meant there were changes to the team line ups at the last minute. The question of allowing football in Glasgow was commented upon by the Lord Provost, Patrick Dollan, who said: “If football were allowed in Glasgow, the crowds would not be as large as in normal times. Those attending would, of course, do so at their own risk. They would also have to put up with some inconvenience, as the usual special transport facilities would not be available.” LEAGUE PROGRAMME OFFICIALLY ABANDONED The Scottish Football League met on the 13th September and made the announcement that everyone had been expecting, but it was still dramatic all the same: “In view of the decision of the Scottish Football Association today by which only friendly games can be played, the League competition has been abandoned. In order to be prepared for the position when the ban is lifted, the Committee have appointed a sub-committee to prepare a scheme for Territorial Leagues, comprising the Clubs in the League. When the ban is lifted, the Management Committee will confer with the Scottish Football Association. The Emergency Committee of the S.F.A. unanimously agreed that it must be the policy of the Association to carry out absolutely the wishes of H.M. Government with regard to the playing of football matches.” Clubs got busy arranging friendly matches, post-haste. As the old song goes, we are indeed “fitba’ crazy and fitba’ daft”. The Home Office initially restricted attendances to be 5,000, or half the seating accommodation, whichever was the lesser. In Scotland, complying with the conditions meant that the biggest possible crowd could be 5,000 at Ibrox, the only stadium with 10,000 seats or more. The majority of clubs would be looking at general averages between 2,000 to 3,000, many would be far less. “Fantastic and farcical” was the view expressed by a League authority when questioned about the Home Office intimation. On Saturday 16th September, Thistle played their first game of the Second World Wartime. Rutherglen, deemed to be just within the “neutral zone”, was our destination and we were defeated 3-1 by Clyde in a friendly at Shawfield. On Monday 18th September, a Home Office statement was issued, outlining the conditions in which football could be allowed. Some concession was made with regards to the crowd limits. In regards to the “danger zone” (a key point of interest to Partick Thistle), the statement specifically stated “The spectators at any one match must not exceed 8,000 in number, or half the capacity of the ground, whichever is the lesser.” Dispensation could be given for certain teams in certain games, but a special application had to made, and police permission had to be obtained. The Home Office edict further added: “The spectators must be evenly distributed in the stands and terraces available.” Within 5 days of the “danger zone” ban being lifted Thistle were in friendly action at Celtic Park. What are we like? SCOTTISH CUP SUSPENDED There were two big developments on the 26th September – good news and bad news. The bad news was that the SFA announced that their national competitions were to be suspended. There was to be no Scottish Cup this season. The good news was that the plans briefly alluded to by the SFL in their 13th September meeting, were effectively rubber-stamped by the Home Secretary when he granted permission of sorts via certain guidelines which were to be followed, “that teams must be able to travel back and forth on the same day” and that sort of thing. With the imposition of the blackout, the directives made sense. Only the very foolish would knowingly venture out in the pitch black of a wartime night. If you weren’t banging into a lamppost, chances were you could be knocked over by an equally foolish motorist scuttling around with his sidelights on. British road fatalities doubled in the Second World War. Following the Home Secretary’s decision, Mr. McAndrew of the Scottish League issued a statement that very same evening. He proposed that there should be two Regional Divisions, Eastern and Western, each consisting of 16 clubs. The competing teams were also outlined. From the Thistle point of view, we would lose 8 of the clubs that had started in our 20 team First Division and 4 local teams would be slotted in from the Second Division - Airdrieonians, Dumbarton, Morton and Queen's Park. Much talk and debate followed in the days to come. The Edinburgh clubs were not happy. On 7th October, the Football Pools resumed, and comprised of Irish matches and English and Scottish friendlies. It was another small step forwards in the quest to find a new wartime routine as close to normal as possible. NEW REGIONAL LEAGUES APPROVED On the 11th October, a Scottish League EGM, by votes of 31 to 7, approved the two-league regional plan that had been outlined two weeks previously. It was stated that the competitions were to start on Saturday week, the 21st October, and that the fixtures would be announced in the next few days. It had been suggested that a sufficient number of clubs, particularly from the East, would vote against the plan to ensure that it did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority, but, as the figures show, the threatened boycott never materialised. Indeed, the meeting was fairly brief, and the business was completed in about an hour. It was learned after the meeting that the seven clubs who voted against were those who were to be left out of the competition – Brechin City, East Stirlingshire, Edinburgh City, Forfar Athletic, Leith Athletic or St Bernard’s, and Montrose. It was further learned that, following the meeting of the League, the management committee had considered the position of Leith Athletic and St Bernard’s, one of which was due to be “axed” under the two-league plan. The committee decided that St Bernard’s should be the club taking part in the competition, and that Leith Athletic should drop out. All sorts of temporary rules were framed to ensure that no club could allow its interests to interfere with any work of national importance. Wages were to be capped and matches were only to be played on Saturdays, holidays excepted. Players could register for other clubs where it suited, without the need for an official transfer. It was stated that the annulled First and Second Division competitions, and the status of the clubs therein, would resume upon “the resumption of normal conditions”. With regards to the new Regional Leagues it was also made clear that the winners should not be regarded as the champion club for the season, and that they “shall not be entitled to any reward, unless the management committee resolve otherwise”. Triumphalism and the frivolous use of precious metal resources would have been deemed to be in bad taste at this time. No-one argued against that. COMPETITIVE FOOTBALL RETURNS TO FIRHILL On 21st October, after seven weeks of uncertainty, Thistle played their first competitive game of the Second World War. Our first game in the new Scottish Regional League (Western Division) finished as a 2-2 draw at home to Queen of the South. In England, the start of the match at Grimsby was delayed due to an air raid warning. It was another chilling reminder to all, most especially to those in “danger zones” such as Glasgow. Attendances, for safety reasons, were generally not issued by clubs during this season, despite some considerable press interest in the subject. However, it is estimated that average turnouts were down to about 25% of normal. There was even talk that some clubs may be forced to close down. After expenses, clubs split the gate receipts and the home club were obliged to guarantee £50 for the visitors. On 30th October, the Scotsman reported: “One has to note that Aberdeen, reckoned to be one of the best drawing districts in the country now, had only a few more pounds more than the guarantee to give their opponents in their first home match, while St Johnstone did not even draw the guarantee at the gates. Heart of Midlothian, it is understood, face a loss of £50 every time they get no more than the £50 guarantee, which will be frequent in away matches.” Some degree of attendance understanding can be fathomed from our game on the 9th December. Celtic, who were having a wretched season and would finish as Glasgow’s fifth best club, were the visitors to Firhill. We weren’t doing much better ourselves if truth be told. In fact, to be completely honest with you, we were bottom of the League. Thistle won 4-2 and, in doing so, consigned Celtic to the rock bottom spot in our place. Many strange things happened in wartime! The crowd was reported for this one as 3,500, a whopping drop of 86% from the corresponding fixture in season 1938-39, which drew 25,000 by comparison. Which brings us to today’s Jaggy Advent match (yes, there is a match today), our trip to Broomfield seven days later… The match: All around Britain, match programmes were cut. 20 pages typically became 4 or 8 or sometimes, just a single sheet. It was not uncommon for a broadsheet to be cut down to just 4 pages. With this in mind, you may have some sort of understanding as to why I cannot regale you with colourful tales of hotshot thunderbolts or spectacular come backs. No detailed match reports can be found online for this one and, right now, I don’t have time to get to the Mitchell Library for a dig around the local press from Lanarkshire! So what can be told? Well, we won for the second week in a row, defeating Airdrieonians by 2 goals to 1 on their home turf. Alex Younger and James Douglas scored for Thistle whilst Bobby Flavell, the tiny tormentor, scored for the home side. Bobby was a Scottish internationalist and averaged over a goal per game for Airdrie. The Thistle side featured two notable ever presents, Sammy Picken at outside left, and Jackie Husband at left half, both of whom played all 30 games in this new Regional League competition. Sammy bagged 9 goals to finish as our top Regional League marksman and the chances are fair that Jackie may have provided some assists via his long shy prototype! Interesting to note that half of Jackie Husband’s appearances came in wartime. Airdrieonians were doing quite well in mid table, so it was a good win for us and we continued our climb away from the bottom. Not that it mattered too much. Even relegation was rationed – there was none for seven seasons in a row! Thistle team: B. Henderson, P. Curran, J. Stewart, A. Elliot, G. Sutherland, J. Husband, R. Morrison, S. Picken, A. Younger, J. Douglas, W. Peat The aftermath: Thistle finished the season in 11th place, but at least we were above Celtic, a small, but nonetheless welcome, consolation prize. We played our last ever game in the one-off Scottish Regional League (Western Division) on the 25th May 1940, away to Rangers. Two days later, “Operation Dynamo” was underway. By the time of its conclusion on 4th June, a total of 338,226 soldiers had been rescued from Dunkirk by a hastily-assembled fleet of over 800 boats. The Scottish League had intended returning to the pre-War set-up, but the events at Dunkirk changed the thinking. The League Committee decided to suspend the League for the duration of the War, but let its member clubs form their own competitions in the meantime. This prompted sixteen clubs to create the Southern League, and a year later eight teams to set up a North Eastern League. From the clubs who’d contested the Regional League West, Queen of the South, Kilmarnock and Ayr United were ousted to make way for Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian and Falkirk. The same sixteen clubs remained throughout the league's existence, and the line-up only changed during its last season, 1945-46, when members of the North Eastern Football League joined. To accommodate this, the Southern League expanded to two divisions, A and B. When the Scottish Football League restarted in 1946-47, the Southern League set-up was used as the first post-war competition. As well as the league competition, the Southern League also ran two cup competitions - the Southern League Cup and the Summer Cup, a trophy which brought some much needed joy to all at Partick Thistle when we won it in 1945. (Perhaps, we’ll have some more on that later in the Jaggy Advent. ) As for the war? The good guys won that too. In doing so, almost 400,000 British military personnel sacrificed their lives. To them, we owe an unimaginable debt of gratitude. Other results on 16th December:

Jaggy Advent 15th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-15-Dec-1962 Aberdeen [a] D1-1 SFL First Division - game 16 venue: Pittodrie att: 16000 scorer(s): Ian Cowan THE YEAR WE SHOULD HAVE WON THE LEAGUE? ^ ^ Ian Cowan, scorer of a goal against Aberdeen 51 years ago today! The build up: The 1960s was a decade that started pretty well for Thistle, reaching a peak in season 1962/6, before tailing-off in the middle of the decade before rolling downhill, rapidly towards the end of the decade culminating in Thistle being relegated to the Second Division. The unthinkable had truly happened. Today’s Jaggy Advent takes us back to 1962, but we have to go back to the start of the decade to truly admire the class of ’62. In August 1959, David Mieklejohn collapsed at the end of a League Cup game, and his death was mourned not only by Thistle but by thousands of football people all across Scotland. One of Scotland’s all-time great players, he was a father figure to many of the players he brought to Firhill helping nurture their careers. He was replaced by Willie Thornton, a promising manager who had previously been with Dundee. In the summer of 1960, Thornton brought in Neil Duffy to the club, signed from East Stirling, who would make a massive contribution to the club over the next few years. Other signings, such as Jim Fleming, Billy Cunningham and Joe McBride would add to a squad which already contained the well-established Davie McParland. In January 1962 the popular Tommy Ewing was sold to Aston Villa. Thistle fans were furious as one of the favourite players from the time left the club. His departure, unsurprisingly, led to the club winning only 3 of their remaining 12 league games. As players leave, others must replace them with Hainey, Cowan and Whitelaw coming in to help bolster the front-line. George Niven, arguably Thorntons greatest signing, was picked up in February 1962 having been disgarded by Rangers and he would give Thistle some fantastic service throughout the 60s. The squad was complete and ready for the challenges of the season ahead. Thistle progressed out our League Cup group, after an unusual set of circumstances meant that should we draw our last game against Motherwell by a score draw, we would crash out on Goal Average. As it was, we won the game 1-0 but were beaten in October 1962 by Kilmarnock 5-2 on aggregate. Thistle had started the season in average form too, picking up 5 points from our first 5 league games, placing Thistle mid-table in the league. Then something astonishing happened, Thistle went on a 10 game winning streak in the League. Dundee United, Falkirk, Dunfermline, St. Mirren, Queen of the South, Dundee, Raith Rovers, Celtic, Airdrie and Hibs were all defeated during the fantastic run. This run had propelled Thistle up to 2nd in the table, with only Goal Average stopping us from being higher than Rangers. An away tie to 4th place Aberdeen and a crowd of around 16,000 saw the game at Pittodrie. The match: “Partick started brightly, and Ogston was called on to hold a strongly driven free kick by Brown. Dons replied through left-winger Thom and Niven did well to push the teenager’s shot over for a corner. The Firhill forwards and half-backs were moving the ball well in the outfield, but there was little between the sides in the first 15 minutes. In fact, up to this point the defences had proved superior to the attacks. Niven had to look lively in the Partick goal on one occasion when Winchester put Cummings through. A forward lob by Cunningham had the Aberdeen goal in danger, but Smith in attempting to breast the ball down allowed ‘keeper Ogston to collect. Duffy, the Partick inside left, was injured in a tackle with Bennett and went to the touchline for attention. Cooke, with a clever dribble, put Winchester through but the home leader shot against Niven. Before this incident there was a shout for a penalty when Winchester was grassed, but the referee paid no attention to the appeal. Several sallies by the Firhill forwards had the Dons defence working full-time, but Cowan was the only man to have Ogston in action. Two minutes after the restart only a great save by Niven prevented the Dons scoring. Allan released a powerful drive from a Cumming pass, and the Firhill ‘keeper had to dive to his left-hand post to prevent a goal. The Dons made another vain appeal for a penalty when Harvey appeared to handle a shot from Thom. There was more life about the exchanges now and the ball was travllening from end to end quickly. It was just as well for Dons that Ogston was safe. The ‘keeper brought off an excellent save from a Brown free kick. The Aberdeen goal fell in 64 minutes when Halney on the bye line pushed a free kick into the middle. Cowan hit it first time and the ball struck a defender on its way into the net. In 71 minutes Aberdeen equalised when Cooke was brought down and Kinnell scored from the penalty spot.” – Evening Times 15th December 1962 Thistle Team: Niven, Hogan, Brown, McParland, Harvey, Cunningham, Cowan, Whitelaw, Hainey, Duffy, Smith The aftermath: Only a penalty denied Thistle from an 11th successive league win, but the run of 10 wins in a row remains our second longest Consecutive League win streak ever. Thistle bounced back with back to back wins against Kilmarnock and Clyde leaving us just a single point behind leaders Rangers. Thistle’s next league game was played on 2nd March away to St. Mirren. Hold on? 2nd March? Surely that can’t be right? But it was indeed. The Winter of 1962 was a harsh one causing games to be postponed for a lengthy period of time. Thistle had been making moves towards protecting our pitch during the winter, with the Evening Times reporting that we’d be the first club in Scotland to have all-weather pitch protection. In 1961 Thistle had “heating wires” trenched into the ground behind one of the goals, and it was incredibly successful. The cost to have the wires laid into the entire pitch was just too costly, at a rumoured £15,000 for a club of Thistle’s size. Into 1962 and it was the turn of plastic sheeting to be the solution to the problems. Tottenham Hotspur had used it successfully, allowing them to be the only club in London to have a game on. The plastic sheets, covering the whole pitch, would cost £1,000 representing a significant saving. The only problem, Tottenham had found with the plastic sheeting was the fondness for Seagulls to peck through it. They hadn’t done enough damage to prevent it covering the pitch adequately, and with sheeting being cheap to repair seemed a good solution. However, ultimately, the plastic sheeting wasn’t adequate for that Winter. Game after game after game was called off and led to a back log of fixtures. Thistle lost a lot of their momentum and only won 6 League games when it was eventually restarted in March. Speculation will continue to rage on. Would Thistle have won the League if the weather hadn’t intervened? The answer to that question will never be known.

Jaggy Advent 14th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-14-Dec-1929 St Mirren [a] W3-0 SFL First Division - game 19 venue: Love Street att: 8000 scorer(s): John Ballantyne, John Torbet (2) TORBET AT THE DOUBLE AS JAGS SLAY SAINTS ^ ^ ^ John Torbet(middle) relaxing on North Berwick golf course. The build up: The 1920s was a strong point in the History of Thistle. We were wonderfully consistent in the league, usually securing a top half finish in the First Division. We won the Scottish Cup in 1921. The Main Stand was opened in 1927. Thistle were well and truly making progress under the helm of George Easton. He had held the post of Manager(as well as being Secretary), from 1903, ensuring stability for the club while bringing them success. At the start of April 1929 Mr. Easton passed away suddenly. The club was shocked at this sudden tragedy and the club, unsurprisingly, lost their next fixture 3-0 away to St. Mirren. Bound together in grief the players and club rallied for the concluding 3 league games, picking up 5 points to secure a second successive top 6 finish in the league. Over the summer of 1929, Donald Turner took over and for the first time in a generation Thistle fans faced the uncertain. How would he set up the team? Would he be able to have the same influential impact as George Easton? Thistle fans needn’t have worried. After losing the opening game of the season 2-0 to Dundee, Thistle won 4 of their next 6 to open the season with a strong showing. Simpson, Ballantyne and Torbet running riot through that spell, scoring 17 goals amongst them. Thistle started to make Firhill a fortress, only losing to Rangers in October, between opening the season and the New Year. Some of the wins were magnificent for the Jags fans to watch. Falkirk were beaten 5-1, Motherwell, who had finished 3rd the previous season, were trashed 6-1. For a strong home form though, the away form was dodgy at best. 1 win from the previous 6 away games saw Thistle heading to Paisley to play St. Mirren in tentative mode. Thistle and St. Mirren were both located in the upper half of the league with just a point between them, a close game was expected… The match: “Weathering all manner of storms during the first half, Partick Thistle found the second mostly comparatively calm, and finally secured a convincing win against St. Mirren at Paisley. Partick Thistle’s superiority was not overstated by the two goals Torbet scored and Ballantynes single. Difference there certainly was between the teams, but this was not so much in zeal or even skill, as in self confidence and self-control. For some obscure reason St. Mirren threw particular energy into all they did – it often bordered on sheer abandon – and, with the Thistle defence meeting the attacks with good measure of physical retaliation, the first half was largely a matter of the survival of the fittest. It held all the fervour of a cup-tie. Torbet had scored in the first half, and the Thistle’s two goals in the first minutes of the second half settled everything and at this early stage many Paisley people left. Those who remained only became further exasperated, as Thistle simply toyed with a defence entirely devoid of mobility and labouring apparently under a sense of despair. The home forwards were equally uncomfortable and McGrae must have fancies Lanbie’s hugh form to be like a bulkhead. Of the lot, Meechan showed most that was worthwhile. Where everything went wrong for Paisley, nothing ever seemed amiss for Partick. Jackson was invariably well placed, the backs – much the least impressive in the division – got off with a lot; the half-backs, all with styles peculiarly their own, were tireless and ever so successful. The forward line worked in ideal harmony. “ – Glasgow Herald 16th December 1929 Thistle Team: Jackson, O’Hare, Rae, Elliot, Lambie, McLeod, Ness, Miller, Simpson, Ballantyne, Torbet. The aftermath: Thistle’s season continued on the form previously shown – strong at home while woefully inconsistent away. Torbet, Ballantye and Simpson went on to score over 50 league goals between them that year, making them one of the more potent attacking partnerships Thistle have ever had. They played together for several more seasons before being broken up at the end of 1932/33. John Torbet currently stands as Thistle’s 5th top goalscorer of all time. The Scottish Cup of 1929/30 was the real highlight of the season for us. After seeing off Dalbeattie Star 6-1 and Dundee United 3-0, part of a run of 5 consecutive victories over United in the Scottish Cup, Thistle faced the tougher challenge of Aberdeen. Nearly 40,000 sneaked into Firhill and witnessed a 3-2 victory for Thistle in one of the most epic cup ties we’ve ever played. Falkirk and Hamilton Accies were seen off by 3-1 scorelines, setting up a Hampden Park encounter against Rangers. Over 105,000 people crammed in to witness the teams play a 0-0 draw. Four days later, on a Wednesday at 6pm, 103,000 people watched Rangers win the cup 2-1. A phenomenal attendance for a Scottish Cup final. To add salt to the would, Rangers won all the games between us that year including a Glasgow Cup and Charity Cup success. The Donald Turner era had started off positively, building on the success of George Easton to take Thistle to a Scottish Cup final in his first season. Donald Turner would guide Thistle through the 1930s and difficult war-time years before leaving in 1947. Other results on 14th December:

Jaggy Advent 13th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-13-Dec-1952 Hibernian [h] W5-4 SFL Division A - game 13 venue: Firhill att: 18000 scorer(s): Jimmy Davidson, Jimmy Walker (4) FIRHILL FOR THRILLS AS JAGS BEAT LEAGUE CHAMPIONS ^ ^ ^ Thistle Squad of 1952/53. [Photo courtesy of PT The Early Years] The build up: Todays game takes us back to 1952. Thistle had finished in a respectable 6th place the season before and had retained most of the players who had helped us do so well such as top scorer Alex Stott and the influential Jimmy Walker. The season started well with Thistle winning the Glasgow Cup by the end of September. We failed to progress through a tough League Cup group containing Hibernian, the League Champions in 1951/52, Celtic and St. Mirren. It was a group filled with strange results, losing 5-1 to Hibernian in the first game, defeating Celtic 5-2 in the second before an opening day repeat against St. Mirren losing 5-1 again. The league form was inconsistent as well, with 4-0 victories being followed up with crushing 5-1 defeats. In early December, after a 6-0 defeat at Dens Park, Thistle were mid-table and a Hibs team who were chasing a second successive League title were next up at Firhill. Thistle had one win in 5 league games while Hibs had picked up a single point in their previous two games since destroying East Fife 5-3. Around 18,000 fans packed into Firhill to witness an incredible match… The match: “With Paterson, their stalwart centre half down with flu, Hibs had to bring in reserve centre half Brown for this game at Firhill, Glasgow. Thistle, too, had changes. McInnes, recently signed from Larkhall Thistle, displaced McKenzie on the right wing, while Kerr, who was able to obtain Army leave, played at Left Half. The game opened briskly. Force of numbers kept Stott out. McInnes then started up a move, cleverly took position for the return pass, and send a beautiful pass through in Stott. The centres raking drive went past Younger’s far post. With barely 10 minutes gone, Younger did extremely well to pluck a McInnes drive from under the bar, and seconds later a Howitt try. It was nearly all Thistle at this stage, and very promising in all their advances was McInnes. During a heavy spell of Thistle pressure, Hibs goal survived in miraculous fashion. Practically every Thistle forward had a go, but a leg, a foot, or a body prevented them from getting a deserved goal. The League champions were much on the defensive. And in young McInnes the “Jags” had a game, who was too dazzling for Howie. Thistle just could not get that overdue goal. Younger deserved praise for a save from Stott. Hibs were seen only at intervals as an attacking force. Younger was again the saviour when he palmed a Howitt header over, and later another well-directed ball by Stott was pushed past for a corner. By comparison, Ledgerwood was an onlooker. In 22 minutes his first direct save was from Buchanan. In the 29th minute the Jags opened the scoring. Govan passed a short ball back to Younger, and Walker swerved past the ‘keeper and piloted the ball into the net. A minute later the same player almost scored again from a far-flung McInnes cross. Eight minutes from the interval Hibs equalised. Buchanan opened the move with a pass to Ormond, and the left winger sent it over to the far post, where Reilly beat Ledgerwood in the jump to head into the net. One minute later the champions went into the lead. This time Smith got sufficient room in a very tight corner to get the ball across. Ormond was there to send the ball into the net. This was certainly a turn up, and very much against the run of play, although it had to be admitted that the visitors were gradually coming more and more into the game. Half-time: Partick Thistle 1 Hibernian 2. Thistle inside 50 seconds scored but Stott was pulled up for offside. Hibs reply was quick and Turnbull places perfectly a free kick, but Johnstone’s effort from five yards hit the side net. Excitement ran high, as in the first half, but Hibs were now a good deal more in the picture. A Johnstone drive found Thistle goalkeeper Ledgerwood right on the spot. The “Jags” although not quite so enterprising now, were still dangerous and Hibs’ defence was forced often to clear at any price. Younger was a lucky man to see a flashing grounder from Howitt slip round the post. After 23 minutes Ledgerwood punted a long ball downfield, Walker took it on the run and scored amid excitement. More was to come. A minute later Walker completed a grand day with his third goal – a low shot into the corner of the net. The Thistle got a penalty when Stott was brought down inside the box, and Davidson scored from the spot to put Jags into a commanding two-goal lead. Two minutes later Hibs retaliated quickly to this reverse when Ledgerwood failed to smother a save. Reilly was the scorer. It was Firhill for thrills alright. Eight minutes from time Ledgerwood failed to hold a Smith shot and the ball rolled over the line for the equaliser. Hibs were now going all out. Gordon almost scored by lofting the ball over the advancing ‘keeper. The ball landed on the roof of the net. Almost on the whistle Walker scored the winner for Thistle.” – Evening Times 13th December 1952 Thistle Team: Ledgerwood, McGowan, McNab, Harvey, Davidson, Kerr, McInnes, Howitt, Stott, Sharp, Walker The Aftermath: Thistle’s late, late victory in a dramatic game had been hoped to fire them onto a positive run where they would progress up the table. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, as Thistle went on a 7 game winless run, including 4 consecutive 2-2 draws. Bobby Howitt scored in 6 consecutive games for Thistle at this spell, a record which Scott McLean bettered in 2000/01. Thistle would not win a League game 5-4 again until February 2000 when 9 different players scored as Thistle edged out Queen of the South 5-4. We did lose a game 5-4 in 1989/90 when a Flood hat-trick wasn’t enough to stop Albion Rovers getting all three points. Thistle’s season ended in a mid-table position of 9th but the building blocks were in place and in future seasons the team would go on to be more successful throughout the 1950s. As for Hibs? Well Jimmy Walker’s late winner denied them a point. A point that would have been most welcomed as at the end of the season, with Thistle unbeaten in our two games against them, they lost the title on Goal Average to Rangers. Other results on 13th December:

Jaggy Advent 12th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-12-Dec-1953 Airdrieonians [h] W9-0 SFL Division A - game 12 venue: Firhill att: 12000 scorer(s): Bobby Howitt (3), Joe McInnes (2), Alex Wright (2), John Harvey (2) THISTLE POST OUR BIGGEST TOP FLIGHT WIN ^ ^ ^ Bobby Howitt. Hat-trick hero against Airdrie! The Build Up: When assessing the matches possible for the Jaggy Advent on 12th December, there were several that stood out but the obvious choice was the match against Airdrieonians in 1953. In a year where we recorded our 1,000th top flight victory, it felt appropriate to pay tribute to the biggest winning margin. Thistle had approached season 1953/54 in confident mood. The nucleus of the team was the same as the team who comfortably finished mid-table the season before. The Glasgow Cup had been won and mood around Firhill was generally positive. The League Cup opened the season, as it did throughout the 1950s and Thistle rallied to win their last 3 group games to secure a quarter Final tie, against Kilmarnock. Before it could be played Thistle had lost their defence of the Glasgow Cup losing to Third Lanark before a heavy opening League defeat to Rangers to begin the campaign. The first leg of the Quarter Final was played at Rugby Park and Killie edged a thrilling encounter 4-3. A few days later when we were back at Firhill was a different story and Thistle blew them away winning 4-0 on the day and 7-4 on aggregate. This set up a Semi Final against Rangers on October the 10th? Could we gain revenge for the opening day defeat against the team we beat to secure the Glasgow Cup? You bet we could! Thistle despatched Rangers 2-0 to set up a final against East Fife, the semi final coming amongst a 3 game losing league streak. The final was played on 24th October, with the Fifers being a real power in the land. Thistle conceded two early goals through defensive blunders and went in a half time 2-0 down. Whatever was said at half time worked as they got an instant goal back from Jimmy Walker. Johnny McKenzie grabbed an equaliser for Thistle and the Jags were dominant as we went searching for the cup victory. East Fife’s Frank Christie picked the ball around 30 yards from goal and fired a cracked into the back of the net. Thistle supporters were stunned and as the referee blew the whistle for full time the tears shed down many faces. It’s regarded as many Jags fans worst memory of Thistle. The team bounced back from the cup final shock winning 4 in a row, before back to back defeats against Celtic and East Fife had us languishing in the lower half of the league. Airdrie were next to town in a relegation crunch with both teams being amongst the lowest scorers in the league… The match: Thistle made two changes to the team, Ledgerwood returned in goal, while Harvey took the place of Crawford at right half with the old schoolboy moving forward to partner McInnes on the left wing. “The game was barely two minutes old when Howitt electrified the dismal atmosphere with a wonderful goal. A fruitless McKenzie corner was played back to the winger. Getting little room to cross, he managed to lift the ball over to Howitt and, whizz, the roof of the net shook above the helpless Fraser’s head. Indeed, no goalkeeper could possibly have stopped the 15-yard “Howitizer” special. The game had suddenly wakened up now and the pace on the greasy surface was certainly a cracker. The attendance was now around the 12,000 mark. Thistle were gradually taking control and McCulloch and his mates were having a really busy spell from the eager Thistle forwards. In 15 minutes McInnes had really hard luck when he fired a great try inches over the bar, with Fraser again beaten. These Thistle boys were out to make amends for recent lapses and all were on their toes. So much were Airdrie on the defensive that very little was seen of their forward play, and it would have caused no surprise if another Howitt cross shot had gone under instead of inches over the bar. McKenzie should have made no mistake when Wright sent him clear. The winger’s weak left-footer was a mere “kepper” for Fraser. Try as they did Thistle just could not translate their undoubted superiority into goals, although no blame could be put on McInnes who was having a most inspired game. Thistle increased their lead in 32 minutes. Howitt passed forward to Wright who looked suspiciously offside, but the referee told him to carry on. Cutting in from the wing he neatly passed to McInnes. The left winger’s job was dead easy to pilot the ball past Fraser. With barely six minutes to go Airdrie had a glorious chance to reduce the arrears but, oh, Ian McMillan, surely you know not to stop until the whistle blows. To the consternation of all the Airdrie man, right through and only five yards from goal, suddenly stopped dead and trailed the ball back for offside. With a “smog” slowly but surely casting its shadow over the pitch the referee cut the interval to five minutes, and right away the Jags took up the running. Then McKenzie, making ground down the right, centred and Wright smashed in an unsaveable shot. Time, five minutes. This was the prelude to a Thistle goal spree. Two minutes later Harvey met another McKenzie cross and his goalward try was diverted past by an Airdrie defender. In two minutes Wright duly obliged when he headed home a McInnes free-kick from the by line. In other two minutes McInnes made the total six, and barely a minute was played when Howitt completed the debacle to make the total seven. All this within the space of 10 minutes. Thistle had netted five goals, surely a record and one for the Firhill anuals. Airdrie were just powerless now to avert further disaster. The defence, completely overrun, had gone to pieces and the front line was offering little relief. Sixteen minutes from time, Howitt finished off a mazy left wing movement by scoring the eighth and his own third goal of the day.” – Evening Times 12th December 1953 What isn’t mentioned in the match report is the 9th Thistle goal, scored by Harvey, and the fact that Ledgerwood saved a penalty as well Thistle Team: Ledgerwood, McGowan, Gibb, Harvey, Davidson, Mathers, McKenzie, Howitt, Wright, Crawford, McInnes The aftermath: Thistle, typically, followed up this high scoring victory with a 1-0 defeat at home to Rangers. We would return to goalscoring form throughout the season, including a spell in January when we scored 5 or more goals in 3 of 4 league games. We progressed to the Quarter Final of the Scottish Cup, including a 9-1 Second Round demolition of Tarff Rovers, being put out by Motherwell. But it was in the league that Thistle really shined. We rallied to win 5 of our last 7 games, including another 9 goal game against Airdrie this time a 6-3 victory, and finish 3rd in the league for the first time since 1947/48. It was also the first season where Thistle finished above Rangers, edging them by a single point. The side of 1953/54 was a squad that was so wonderfully Thistle. Full of such highs as a 3rd place finish in the league whilst being top goalscorers, to agonising lows as experience in the cup final where we lost despite being so dominant late on. It was a season where we scored, at least, 7 hat-tricks giving Jags fans plenty to cheer. Other results on 12th December:

Just in from work. Your wish is my command....

Jaggy Advent 11th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Tue-11-Dec-1928 Rangers [n] W2-0 Glasgow Dental Cup Final venue: Hampden Park att: 8000 scorer(s): Davie Ness, John Torbet THISTLE REGISTER PERFECT DENTAL RECORD ^ Captain Alex Lambie with the Dental Cup. The first Thistle team to k/o the Old Firm en route to a Hampden Cup Final success! Back - Sandy Lister (trainer), Jimmy Richmond, Dennis O'Hare, John Jackson, Robert Paton, Harry Gibson, Eddie McLeod Front - Davie Ness, George Boardman, Alex Lambie, John Ballantyne, John Torbet The build up: As the 1920s progressed, Glasgow’s population was fast approaching the one million mark and the pressing need for a dedicated, state of the art Dental Hospital had been firmly identified. With governmental funding being limited at that time (nothing new there then) a range of initiatives were put in place to help with “The Building Fund”. In the summer of 1928 there was a “Grand Historical Pageant”, held in the Garscube Estate from the 23rd to 29th June 1928. In his book “History of the Glasgow Dental Hospital and School 1879-1979”, Tom Brown Henderson refers to this event: “A willing army of seven thousand performers, singers, and dancers was enlisted. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales promised to attend one of the performances and there were high hopes that the Building Fund would benefit by a very large sum. An indication of the expectations of the Committee can be gleaned from the fact that the organiser was to be paid 4 per cent, on profits up to £15,000 and 31/2 per cent, on profits over that amount. Alas, rain fell heavily and almost continuously throughout the week of the Pageant and even the presence of His Royal Highness could not avert a disastrous financial result. The Building Fund received nothing.” Undaunted, the Hospital Building Committee pressed on. In another of their high profile fund raising attempts, the ever charitable senior football institutions of Glasgow were called upon for their help. To a club, they all stepped up to the mark. Celtic, Clyde, Partick Thistle, Queen’s Park, Rangers and Third Lanark all took part in the fundraising initiative via their participation in the one-off tournament which was to be officially known, rather unsurprisingly, as the Glasgow Dental Hospital Cup. With regards to its purpose, the five tournament games could only muster up combined attendances of under 20,000 people, and the organizers, once again, must have been left somewhat disappointed with gate receipt totals which would, undoubtedly, have been rather less than they were hoping for from the football mad citizens in the second city of the Empire. One can only conclude that the Glaswegian punters could not be tempted away from their coal fires for these midweek games, all of which were played in the cold, wintery evenings of 1928. All of this, however, is of little concern to the Partick Thistle fan in the here and now. What matters most to us today is the glory of the look back buzz, and the fact that, for the first time, the Partick Thistle had managed to defeat both the Celtic and the Rangers en route to winning a trophy! In early November, a single goal from the prolific John Simpson was enough to secure our First Round victory as Third Lanark were knocked out at Firhill. On the last Wednesday in November, a trip to neutral Hampden Park and a meeting with the Celtic was our Semi Final destiny. We rarely have too much trouble in overcoming Celtic at Hampden Park but, to be fair to them, they made a game of it that day and even managed to take us into extra time, with the scores being level at one apiece. Two goals in the first half of extra time knocked the stuffing out of them however and Jags ran out 3-1 winners in the end. This match was played in the days before floodlights became an integral part of the football stadium, and trivia buffs may be interested to learn that, due to the descending darkness, the referee blew his final whistle after just 21 minutes of extra time. Some might say this was natural justice for the fact that Celtic’s late equalizer, as reported in at least two newspaper accounts, was “well offside”. Divine intervention and no little skill had set us up nicely for the grand final at Hampden Park where, once again, our old rivals from Govan lay in wait. In recent times we had trounced them 6-3 at Hampden in the Glasgow Charity Cup Final of 1927. Could we defeat the current Scottish champions again? You bet we could! The match: “Keenly contested, the game was the best of the series. In the event of neither side scoring, or being equal in goals at the end of the regulation 90 minutes, it was agreed that corner kicks, counted from the start, should decide the issue. From the kick off the exchanges were exceptionally fast and of an exciting character. Partick Thistle, with the wind in their favour, were the first to settle, and after eight minutes Ness, from a long pass by Torbet, headed into the net to give them the lead. Continuing to have the better of the play, they added to their lead, Torbet converting a penalty kick three minutes from the interval. In addition Partick Thistle had been credited with three corner kicks, Rangers having failed to score even a minor point. After crossing over, Rangers were the more aggressive side, but though they had several good scoring chances they failed to locate the net. They succeeded, however, in forcing five corner kicks, but against that the Thistle had two similar awards. Partick Thistle not only combined better, but finished stronger and on the day’s play were worthy winners. Jackson kept a good goal, while O’Hare and Paton gave a sound defensive display. Lambie was the best of the three half backs, while Ness and Torbet, the latter until he went lame, the best of a clever forward line. Rangers, while keen, were inclined to be too individualistic. Archibald and Cunningham were their most dangerous forwards, and Meiklejohn the best of the middle line. Hamilton, Gray and Purdon were not so impressive as in the Semi Final tie against Clyde.” ~ Glasgow Herald, December 12th 1928. Thistle team: Jackson, O’Hare, Paton, Richmond, Lambie, E McLeod, Ness, Boardman, Gibson, Ballantyne, Torbet The aftermath: At the close, Preceptor Duncan Graham, in the absence of Lord Provost Mason, who was confined to the house with a chill, handed over the trophy which was accepted by Mr W. Ward on behalf of Partick Thistle. The players all received handsome badges described as “well worth winning”. From thereon, the trophy became the permanent property of the club and is proudly on display, complete with a wee bash, in the trophy cabinet today. Mr. Robin, chairman of the Dental Hospital Building Committee, thanked the Glasgow clubs for the efforts they had made to assist the funds. It was intimated the sum ingathered from the five games amounted to £819. They accomplished their goal in the end and the impressive art deco building at 203-217 Renfrew Street was finally completed in 1931. The Hospital opened in 1932 and contained treatment rooms, laboratories and a Dental School within its 4 floors. These days the listed building, which was extended onto Sauchiehall Street in 1970, remains in use as a teaching hospital for the profession, and if you’re brave enough you can even volunteer yourself for some freebie treatment! While you’re in there you can remark with some pride “Partick Thistle helped build this place you know…” This victory marked the first time that Thistle had beaten both Rangers and Celtic en route to winning a Cup Final, but it was certainly not the last. We’ve now performed this wonderful little party trick on five occasions, all told. The Jaggy Advent can exclusively reveal that no other Football Club in the world has ever matched this feat! Our run of Old Firm “double knockout” Cup victories started with the Glasgow Dental Cup in 1928-29, was repeated via the Glasgow Charity Cup success of 1948-49 and was most recently achieved in the winning Glasgow Cup routes of 1950-51, 1954-55 and 1980-81. And who was the Thistle manager for the three Cup successes of the 40s and 50s? None other than David Meiklejohn, who had played at the heart of the Rangers side in the Dental Cup Final of 1928. It’s a funny old game innit? Smile if you like the Dental Cup! Other results on 11th December:

Jaggy Advent 10th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-10-Dec-2011 Greenock Morton [a] W2-1 SFL First Division - game 16 venue: Cappielow att: 1849 scorer(s): David Rowson, Kris Doolan THE LAST OF THE ROWSON SCREAMERS ^ ^ David Rowson playing against Morton. He might just have scored his screamer! The Build-Up: There is a saying in football that you should never return to a club for a second spell, especially if your first spell was quite successful. The player in which today’s Jaggy Advent revolves around had two spells at Thistle, but rather than being a disaster in his second spell, he was even better in his second spell. His name? David Rowson. David Rowson started his career with Aberdeen having emerged through the youth ranks at Pittodrie. His undoubted highlight with the Dons was reaching the Scottish Cup Final in 2000. David played the full 90 minutes as Rangers won 4-0, a result that could have been different if Jim Leighton hadn’t been injured after just 3 minutes (there was no goalkeeper on the Aberdeen bench due to the rules of the time which only permitted 3 players on the substitute’s bench). In the summer of 2001, David moved south to Stoke City hoping to push on with his career and make an impact in the English leagues. Sadly, this wasn’t to happen as injuries blighted his time down at Stoke restricting him to less than 20 appearances. In January 2003, David Rowson became one of John Lambie’s last ever signings. Signed on the 17th January 2003, alongside Kevin McGowne and Ian Ross, David was immediately thrust into the team for the next league game and went on to make 13 appearances in the second half of the 2002/03 season. It was in the last of these, a 3-2 win at Easter Road, that he scored the first of his Thistle goals. In June 2003 David penned a year’s contract as he became part of Gerry Collin’s plans to build and consolidate in the SPL. As a consequence, David’s shirt number moved down from 37 to 11, and he played almost 40 games for Thistle that season scoring 3 goals, including an absolute screamer against Dundee. In the summer of 2004 David was out of contract again, and with Thistle relegated to the First Division, he chose to leave. Despite rumoured interest from Aberdeen, he went back down South signing for Northampton before later signing a deal with Darlington. In the summer of 2007, with Ian McCall having just taken over at Firhill, David was tempted back for another spell. He was in consistently excellent form that season playing almost every game for Thistle. His form was noticed in the stands as he swept the supporter’s Player of the Year awards that season. He continued to dominate First Division midfields throughout the country, while occasionally popping up with a screamer. In May 2011, just days after his dad had passed away, David found the courage to pull on the Thistle jersey for the final time that season in our season ending game against Raith Rovers. As the minutes ticked down, David popped up with a wonderful top corner 20 yard screamer to bring the curtain down on the season, scoring his first goal in over 20 months. Season 2011/12 was a campaign full of highs and lows. Jackie McNamara had been appointed as manager and David found himself, once again, as a key part in midfield. On November 19th, Thistle suffered what many regard to be their most humiliating result, a 1-1 draw away to Culter. Thistle won the replay 4-0 but pride had been dashed. Thistle drew 0-0 away to Ayr United, before defeating Livingston 2-1 to signify the start of a recovery from the Culter debacle. In a typically tight First Division, Thistle travelled down to Greenock hoping to continue their recovery. The Match: Thistle started with the same side that defeated Livingston, reward for the previous performance and result. Thistle started the half well with Cairney and Dargo both coming close with efforts. David Rowson had an effort deflected wide, but Cervi managed to grab Cairneys corner before it caused any trouble. Morton responded with a good period of pressure but efficient defending from Balatoni and O’Donnell kept them at bay before Thistle went ahead just before half time. Craig Dargos shot was well saved by Cervi, resulting in a Thistle corner. Cervi denied Dargo again forcing it out for a second corner in quick succession. It was taken short and found its way to Rowson who took aim from 25 yards and rifled it into the net. Morton started the second half strongly and soon responded with an excellent goal of their own, McGeoch drilling a shot past Fox from just outside the box. Both sides went looking for the game-winning goal with Taylor-Sinclairs effort skidding off the pitch into the goalkeepers arm before O’Brien wasted a good chance for Morton. With a few minutes remaining though, Thistle took the lead again. Taylor-Sinclairs cross from the left found its way to Doolan, who slammed the ball home for the game winner. Thistle Team: Fox, Paton, Taylor-Sinclair, Hutton, Balatoni, Archibald, Cairney, Rowson, Dargo(Erskine 72), Elliott(Doolan 82), O’Donnell The Aftermath: The goal against Morton was David Rowsons 12th, and final, strike for Thistle. He remained a vital part of the midfield for the remainder of the 2011/12. During the summer of 2012, heading into the final year of his contract with Thistle, he sustained a back injury disrupting his progress to fitness. With Thistle starting the year so well, it was hard for him to break back into the squad and he only made 2 substitute appearances, against Cove Rangers and Livingston, prior to January 2013. In January 2013 he went out on loan to Stenhousemuir to gain match sharpness. When Jackie McNamara left to join Dundee United later that month, fans were gutted at the news unsure how the team would move forward. There was to be more devastation for Jags fans as, later that day, it was announced the David Rowson had chosen to move on too. David made over 250 appearances for Thistle (many of which had the rest of his team strapped on his back!), and scored 12 goals for us. There are too many highlights from his Jags career to mention here but I’m sure the crossbar at Broadwood is still bouncing! David, unsurprisingly, signed for Stenhousemuir a club where he remains today, starting their loss against East Fife last Saturday. Off the field David has been training as an Independent Financial Adviser, working as a trainee with Johnston Carmichael Wealth. He stated in an interview in June 2011, that he hopes to, one day, transfer his skills and contacts into his own advice practice aimed at helping footballers better manage their finances. The word legend is bandied about too frequently in footballing circles these days, but Rowser is certainly worthy being classed as one. Highlights of the Morton game are available by clicking on the link below: http://ptfc.co.uk/me...greenock_morton Other results on 10th December:

Jaggy Advent 9th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-09-Dec-1899 Linthouse [h] W8-1 SFL Second Division - game 14 venue: Meadowside att: 2000 scorer(s): Willie Paul (2), John Blackwood (2), David Fairbairn (2), William Freebairn (2) LINTHOUSE GUBBED AT MEADOWSIDE FORTRESS ^ ^ ^ Meadowside, the happy home of PTFC from 1897 to 1908 The Build-Up: Following Thistle at the conclusion of the 19th century was a very interesting time and it is back to 1899 we go for today’s Jaggy Advent. At this time Thistle were playing at Meadowside, having moved into it in September 1897. Our first season in Meadowside saw us win 5 of our 9 home games, leading to us finishing in 8th position in the First Division, level with Dundee on 13 points. With no ability to separate the sides, goal average hadn’t yet been introduced; it gave the league a unique problem as to how to determine who should which club should be up for re-election. Unlike modern times there was no automatic promotion or relegation, the league would vote on whether they felt a club should be demoted or not. It was decided a playoff would be held between Thistle and Dundee, a whopping 6 weeks after the season finished. Held at Meadowside, thinking it would generate a bigger crowd, Thistle lost 2-0 to Dundee and had to wait for the vote to see if we would retain our First Division status or if we would be demoted to the Second Division. In May 1898 a vote was held by the league and it was voted that the status quo should remain, we had been saved relegation. In 1898/99 we hoped to improve and stave off any thoughts of being demoted, but a disappointing campaign saw us win only 2 games all season, still managing to finish above Dundee in the table. The member clubs of the First Division voted Kilmarnock, champions of the Second Division, into the top division sending Thistle to the Second Division. Dundee, who finished bottom of the league, were retained in the First Division, but it was difficult for anyone to complain about the demotion. Thistle had played two shocking seasons in the First Division and hadn’t shown any signs of improvement. Off the field saw Thistle change committee in time for the 1899/1900 season. Things would have to improve in order to see Thistle back into the First Division.Thistle’s last season in the Second Division in 1896/97 had been built on a strong home record with 8 wins and a draw recorded from their 9 home games. A fortress would have to be built at Meadowside to build a platform for re-election. Thistle started strongly winning 6 of their first 7 games, including all their home ties, but crowds at Meadowside were disappointing. Clearly the paying public would need more than a short term run of form to be convinced that the poor play of the First Division had been banished to the past. Thistle continued to impress and kept up their 100% home record, when a 3-0 win over Hamilton Accies at the start of December sent us 4 points clear of Morton, even if they did have a game in hand. Thistle were due to end a run of 3 consecutive home games, and play their last home league game of the 19th century, against Govandale rivals Linthouse F.C. a team they had a feisty relationship with. The Match: Thistle made one change from the team who defeated Hamilton Accies 3-0, Willie Paul returned to the side after a 3 game absence replacing McNichol in the starting line-up. Thistle were clearly looking for a quick start and got it as Blackwood opened the scoring in the 1st minute. Linthouse, visibly stunned by this early goal, took a while to get back into the game but when they did they struggled in front of goal. Thistle, however, played with a purpose and method to their play and it was no surprise that they led 4-0 at half time. Willie Paul and a double from David Fairbairn adding to the early strike. The second half started quietly, with Thistle content with their lead. Willie Freebairn added a 5th for Thistle to put a bit of gloss on the scoreline, before Linthouse scored a goal themselves. Linthouse had started to play with a bit of purpose, no doubt trying to make the scoreline more respectable when they were awarded a penalty. Drysdale promptly despatched it home to make the scoreline 5-1. This only annoyed Thistle and we scored three quick goals through Paul, Freebairn and Blackwood resulting in a final scoreline of 8-1. All four goalscorers ended the game with 2 goals as Thistle extended their home winning streak, in the second tier, to 15 games. Thistle Team: McDonald, Campbell, WIlson, Bryce, Proudfoot, Goudie, Fairbairn, Freebairn, Blackwood, Paul McDougall The Aftermath: The win gave Thistle a 4 point lead at the top of the division, with Morton having two games in hand, and only 4 games remaining. Confidence was high that we would secure the title and with it a credible chance of re-election to the First Division. In our last game of the 19th Century we drew 2-2 away to Abercorn. Thistle completed their 100% home season, extending their home winning streak in the second tier to 17 games, with wins over Motherwell and Abercorn. While there was only 9 home league games that season, it remains the only season where Thistle have not dropped a single point at home, an impressive achievement. Yet, despite this remarkable home record the league title was still not secure. We had to go to Hamilton on the last day and win, and we did. A stylish 4-2 win ensuring Thistle fans partied long into the night. Thistle won re-election to the First Division at the expense of Clyde, through the unusual method of the drawing of lots. The vote between Clyde and Thistle was level, with the League President reluctant to vote meaning the clubs future was decided through lots. In 1901/02, when Thistle had been relegated from the first division again, we won our first 7 home league games extending the unbeaten home record, in the second tier to 24 games. This was where it was sadly to come to an end, as Port Glasgow Athletic triumphed in January 1902, the only blemish in the home record that season. It was a remarkable run and one that still stands as one of the best to this day. The 8-1 victory over Linthouse was Thistles last ever competitive fixture against them. They were struggling to make an impact in the Scottish game and their attendances were poor due to the direct competition with Rangers. The club decided not to seek re-election at the end of 1899/1900, in a season where they did not win a single home league game. Their tenure as a Scottish Football League club ended after only five seasons. Other results on 9th December: This is simply a glimpse into the past of Thistle at this time. Should you wish to find out more and learn all about Thistle in the last 1800s then I would thoroughly recommend Partick Thistle – The Early Years(available at: http://ptearlyyears.net/introduction) which helped with the research of this piece.

Jaggy Advent 8th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-08-Dec-2001 Inverness Caledonian Thistle [a] W2-1 SFL First Division - game 18 venue: Caledonian Stadium att: 1926 scorer(s): Martin Hardie (2) THISTLE RECORD OUR FIRST LEAGUE WIN IN INVERNESS ^ ^ Big Mad Mental Martin Hardie Build Up: Thistle had cruised to the Second Division title in 2000/2001 ending a 3 year exile out of the top half of Scottish football. Few people expected John Lambies men to do much in our first season back in the First Division, we were expected to be fighting out a relegation battle. Lambie had worked quickly and tirelessly to ensure that the core of our title winning squad stayed in place. Players such as Archibald, Arthur, Craigen, Lennon, Hardie and McLean were all signed up, along with several members of Livingstons’ 2000/01 First Division title winning team. With the building blocks in place for survival, Thistle collected 10 points from their first 4 games. A good start was in order for us to ensure our survival so no-one was getting carried away. We extended our unbeaten league start to 7 games, until we went North to Dingwall. Thistle led 2-0 after 5 minutes and many Jags fans probably felt we were going to make it 8 games unbeaten. Ross County, however, had other plans and ended our unbeaten league start beating us 3-2. Thistle suffered a slump over the next month before a narrow 2-1 win over Raith Rovers sparked a run of 4 straight wins which propelled us to the top of the league. Being top of the league was a shock to the system so, being Thistle, we promptly lost our next two games and drew a third leaving us 5 points behind Airdrie. Thistle travelled North to Inverness having lost 50% of their away league games….. The Match: Lambie made three changes to the team who had drawn 0-0 with Ross County. Out went James McKinstry, who fell out the squad completely, while Britton and Hardie were dropped to the bench with Lennon, Dolan and McLean starting for Thistle. The swirling icy wind that came off the Moray Firth was always going to make it a difficult match, ensuring that neither of the two Thistle’s were able to produce football that they were capable off. The first half wasn’t totally void of goalscoring opportunities, but they were few and far between. Derek Fleming hit the bottom of Nicky Walkers post with a deflected effort, in one of the few moments in the first half that troubled either goalkeeper. In the second half the action around the goalmouths was more frequent but thoughts were starting to turn towards a second successive goalless draw when Inverness Caledonian Thistle opened the scoring on the hour mark. Inverness found themselves with a man in space on the left and Barry Robson’s excellent accurate cross was headed towards goal by Inverness’ top scorer Dennis Wyness. Kenny Arthur got a hand to it but he was unable to prevent the ball hitting the net. Suddenly Thistle had it all to do to get even a single point in this fixture, with Airdrie looking about to run away. We created more chances with last ditch defending stopping Alan Archibalds effort whilst Scott McLean fired an effort narrowly wide. Eventually in the 81st minute Thistle drew level, Scott McLean flighted in an excellent cross and Hardie piled home the header. Scott McLean almost had us in front but his shot was deflected narrowly past the post before in injury time one of the most dramatic Thistle goals ever. Nicky Walker in the Inverness goal did well to stop a goal bound shot but the ball fell to Hardie who knocked the ball into the net. The 700 Jags fans who travelled North went mental as Hardie disappeared into the crowd having secured us a valuable three points. Thistle Team: Arthur, McCulloch, Archibald, Craigen, Paterson, Deas, Walker(Britton), Lennon, McLean, Dolan(Hardie), Fleming The Aftermath: Season 2001/02 was a very enjoyable one for Thistle. We reached our first Scottish Cup semi final since 1979 after a dramatic cup run of 5 games. In early January, after the first attempt to play the game was postponed, we defeated East Fife at New Bayview 4-2. Our reward for that success was a home tie against Dundee, who were managed by Ivano Bonetti at that time, a manager who did not have a clue who Partick Thistle were. A 1-1 draw at Firhill soon let him know who we were before a Gerry Britton wonder goal and a late Andy Gibson strike saw Thistle through to a Quarter Final against Inverness C.T. The game was declared all ticket and the stands were packed as the Thistle’s battled out a 2-2 draw, Scott Patersons sensational strike the pick of the bunch. North we travelled again to play Inverness and a magical Scott Paterson free kick ensured we progressed to Hampden to play Rangers. Unfortunately the dream never really took off as an early Christian Nerlinger goal gave Thistle a massive uphill battle. Despite a spirited showing Rangers ran out 3-0 winners. As for the league? Thistle won their next two league games, courtesy of Martin Hardie goals, both with him coming off the bench, and indeed won all 5 of their league games between Inverness and the next meeting with Airdrie. Alex Burns salvaged a draw for Thistle on a day where goalkeeping heroics denied us from getting all three. The Scottish Cup run acted as an inspiration, rather than a distraction as players upped their performances to try and retain their places for the upcoming semi-final. By the time we were knocked out the Scottish Cup on 23rd March, Thistle had a 6 point cushion at the summit of the league. A couple of weeks later we went to Airdrie with an opportunity to win the league outright. Alex Burns, once again, secured Thistle a draw but it wasn’t enough to mathematically win the title for Thistle. The following week around 5,000 Thistle fans went to Love Street and saw Marc McCulloch head home the opener in the first half before Derek Fleming scored a second, breaking his leg in the process, to secure Thistle the title and a return to the SPL. There were no worries about ground capacity, as the board had acted swiftly and built the North Stand in time for the March 31st deadline. Thistle lifted the trophy at a home game against Raith Rovers to confirm back to back promotions. It was something no-one would have predicted a year before, let alone 2 years before when we closed our home league campaign with a 1-0 loss to Alloa and a mid-table Second Division finish. Fans often talk about defining games, I wonder how the season would have emerged had Hardie not dragged us back into the game and we finished that December day 8 points behind Airdrie instead. The goals from the 8th December 2001, are available to view below: Other results on 8th December:

Jaggy Advent 7th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sun-07-Dec-2003 Motherwell [h] W1-0 Scottish Premier League - game 15 venue: Firhill att: 4124 scorer(s): John-Paul McBride BRITTON AND WHYTE WIN THEIR FIRST SPL GAME IN CHARGE ^ ^ The Jags players celebrate receiving a win bonus. Build-Up: Today’s entry takes us back into the recent past, 10 years back to be specific. It was the season 2003/04. Since the turn of the Millennium Thistle had dragged themselves out of Second Division misery and won consecutive promotions to return themselves to the top flight of Scottish football, the SPL as it was now known. John Lambie guided us to a 10th place finish and then promptly retired, a well-earned retirement. Gerry Collins took over the management of Thistle in the Summer of 2003, tasked with the responsibility of consolidating Thistle’s position in the SPL. It wasn't an easy task, as John Lambies policy of one year deals(a prudent policy factoring in the possibility of relegation), meant that a significant chunk of Thistle’s team were signed by other clubs. Defensive mainstays Archibald and Paterson signed for Dundee United, Burns and Craigen signed for Motherwell(amidst much anger given Motherwell had recently been through administration) and Hardie went off to Kilmarnock. Gerry Collins signed a raft of players such as Bonnes, Anis, Forrest, Grady, McBride, Taylor, Thomson and Mikkelsen. Such a high turnover of players would inevitably require a bedding in period but pre-season results were encouraging, a 6-1 victory over Ayr United being the highlight. Thistle picked up 2 points from our first four games, draws against Livingston and Motherwell. The two losses were seen as unlucky with Thistle going down to 10 men after 20 minutes away to Kilmarnock and Mikkelsen having a blunder in a narrow defeat by Celtic. Another Mikkelsen blunder saw the Faroese International consigned to the bench with Kenny Arthur replacing him as Jags number 1. But the results didn't improve. An injury time Grant Brebner goal snatched the points for Hibs at the start of October before Hearts rounded off the month with a 4-1 rout at Firhill. When Thistle went down 4-2 to Kilmarnock in mid November it was clear Collin’s days were numbered. On 30th November, despite putting in a spirited display against Celtic in a 3-1 loss, Gerry Collins was sacked as Thistle manager. With Jim Duffy seemingly at the head of the wanted list, Gerry Britton and Derek Whyte were handed the responsibility of caretaker managers. The first league game Britton and Whyte took charge of was against Motherwell on Sunday 7th December 2003. It was moved to the Sunday to accommodate the T.V. coverage, from Channel 5, of Thistle’s 2-0 CIS Cup defeat to Celtic. Despite losing 10 consecutive league games, Thistle were, remarkably, only 6 points behind an Aberdeen side in 11th. Aberdeen were also in action that Sunday facing Hibs at Pittodrie. The Match: Britton and Whyte made only one change from the team who had put in a spirited display against Celtic the previous Saturday with David Lilley replacing Jean Yves Anis. Thistle dominated the game from the start. John Paul McBride shooting from distance early on to force a save from Gordon Marshall. Jamie Mitchell, one of the players retained from 2002/03, fired in a cross that Corrigan did well to clear ahead of pressure from Milne. With only 15 minutes gone Grady latched onto McBrides crossfield pass, but unfortunately was unable to compose himself sending the resulting shot over the bar. Adrian Madaschi missed a sitter for Thistle after half an hour. He managed to beat the offside trap played by Motherwell but sent a tame header, from a Grady cross, into the arms of Marshall. Kenny Arthur was called into action just before half time to save from Clarkson but Thistle were the better team, by far, in the first half. The disappointing performance from Motherwell disappeared at the start of the second half as they pressed Thistle early in the second half but never threatened Kenny Arthur in the Thistle goal. On the hour we took the lead, when McBride rifled a loose ball into the corner of the net. Motherwell stepped up a gear looking for a response but efforts from Lasley, Burns and Adams were dealt with comfortably. In the 87th minute Motherwell missed a glorious opportunity when Clarkson mis-kicked in front of goal after being excellently set up by Lasley. Lady luck shone on Thistle and we recorded our first league win of the season in December. Thistle Team: Arthur, Lilley, Whyte, Murray, Madaschi, Milne, McBride(Howie 88), Ross, Fleming, Mitchell(Taylor 90), Grady. The Aftermath: Our win against Motherwell was a welcome relief, especially since Aberdeen had disposed of Hibs 3-1. Never before in our history had we failed to win a league game before December, our longest ever league run without a win from the start of the season was broken in the first game Britton and Whyte took charge. The following week Thistle fans flocked to Firhill hoping the duo could repeat the trick with a 6 pointer against Aberdeen. Russell Anderson scored two identical headers as Thistle succumbed 3-0 to Aberdeen to fall 9 points behind the bid for survival. On 23rd Gerry Britton and Derek Whyte were given the role permanently to take charge. We recorded a 4-1 home win against Dunfermline just after Christmas to give some more hope that we’d stay in the SPL. However, we only won 1 more league game before April as we slumped towards the trap door of relegation. It was mathematically impossible for us to finish in any position other than 12th on 24th April when a Steve Lovell goal won the game for Dundee in our first post-split fixture, but there was hope for Thistle. At the top of the First Division Inverness Caledonian Thistle were locked in a promotion battle with Clyde. Clyde had a ground-sharing arrangement in place with Kilmarnock, ICT had no such arrangement. As such, Thistle fans began “supporting” ICT for the title, believing this would save Thistle in a fashion similar to Motherwell and Falkirk the previous season. On the final day of the SFL1 season ICT clinched the title and made arrangements to groundshare with Aberdeen. On June 1st the SPL voted on the issue of promotion, with 8 votes being required to allow ICT in the SPL. They only received 7 “Yes” votes and so were declined. The main concern was whether the groundsharing agreement should have been made before the March 31st deadline. Hearts and Hibs asked for another vote, which was set for June 22nd, and it emerged Dundee United Chairman Eddie Thompson had reversed his decision. He believed that a dispensation was in order for ICT’s ground and that the reduction to 6,000 seats, due to come into force from 2005/06, should be brought forward to allow ICT in the league. Thistle went to the Court of Session to stop the second vote, but Lord Brodie refused our appeal for an Interim Interdict. The vote went 10-2 in favour of ICT and we were relegated. Tom Hughes accepted the decision but the rest of our board disagreed and planned an appeal which was, ultimately, rejected. We would have to accept our relegation and attempt to rebuild in the First Division. As for the Britton and Whyte era, they signed up a host of players to prepare for life in SFL1, including the goal machine of Juan Ramon Escalas. Escalas had scored 11 goals before the end of October, but despite this Thistle had fallen 11 points off the pace of the top. A bleak November followed and after a 4-0 home defeat to St. Johnstone, Britton and Whyte were given two games to save their job. The first was a 1-1 draw at Broadwood with an on-loan Andy Wilkinson scoring his only goal for us, but the second was a 1-0 home defeat to Hamilton Accies, an early Brian McPhee goal slaying us. It was, ultimately, no surprise when on 20th December 2004, Gerry Britton and Derek Whyte were relieved of managerial duties with Thistle lying in 9th place in SFL1. Other games on 7th December:

Jaggy Advent 6th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-06-Dec-1975 Hamilton Academical [h] W2-0 SFL First Division - game 15 venue: Firhill att: 4000 scorer(s): Joe Craig, Dougie Somner THE CHASE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP The Thistle Squad of 1975-76 ^ ^ ^ Build-Up: Thistle are currently in our 81st season of top flight football in Scotland, but today's post takes us back to 1975/76 where Thistle were involved in the second tier. It was exceedingly rare for Thistle, at this period, to spend time outside the top division in Scotland, indeed since World War 2 we had only spent 1 season outside it. That was in 1970/71 where Thistle bounced back instantly after suffering the embarrassment of relegation, but this time Thistle had not been relegated. Scottish football had undertaken a league reconstruction. In 1974/75 the solution to Scottish footballs problems had been decided to create a 10 team top division. The top 10 clubs in 1974/75 would be retained in this new elite division, while the bottom 8 would be incorporated into a 14 team second tier. Thistle spent the season slightly off the pace as we tried to secure one of the valuable top 10 places, always seeming to just be 2 points behind 10th. It wasn't until the second last game of the season, a 0-0 draw with St. Johnstone, confirmed that Thistle wouldn't be playing Premier League football in 1975/76. Thistle’s relegation into the First Division was interesting to say the least. In today's football, when a club gets relegated there is a mass exodus of players with those who’s wages are too high, and those who believe themselves to be better than that level, usually leaving the squad. In 1975/76 there was little of this. Players such as Rough, Anderson, McQuade. Somner, Craig, Campbell and Houston stayed at Firhill to try and put Thistle back to the top of Scottish football. The Match: Thistle had made a strong start to the season with 7 wins in our first 8 games before Airdrie came to Firhill and ground out a 1-0 win. A couple of draws passed before a defeat in Montrose had Thistle in second with clubs closing in below. When Hamilton visited on 6th December, Thistle had galvanised together and they with Kilmarnock, who were leading the division, had a gap at the top of the league. Jackie Campbell missed the game with a “very nasty leg gash” and Benny Rooney took his place. Hamilton came to Firhill having had one away win all season and never threatened to make it a second. Thistle, wearing Red and Yellow stripes for the first season, cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory. Joe Craig opened the scoring to take his tally for the season to 13, however Dougie Somner was not to be out done and scored for the third home match in a row, forcing his total up to 15. The partnership of Craig and Somner would score 50 goals over the whole season. A remarkable partnership. This result, combined with Kilmarnock’s 0-0 draw with St. Mirren , ensured Thistle increased the gap over the teams below them, whilst narrowing the gap to league leaders Kilmarnock, who were due at Firhill in the following month. Thistle Team: Rough, J. Hansen, Kellachan, Rooney, A. Hansen, Anderson, Houston, Somner, Joe Craig, John Craig, McQuade The Aftermath: By the time Kilmarnock visited Firhill on 3rd January 1976, Thistle had overtaken them at the summit of the league. Goals from Benny Rooney and Joe Craig fired Thistle to a 2-0 win and gave us a 3 point cushion at the top with only 6 games remaining. Thistle won the league, having remained unbeaten since that defeat away to Montrose, on the 21st February with a 3-0 away win over Dunfermline. Joe Craig scored twice and Dougie Somner got one leaving them tied at 13 league goals apiece going into the final game against Montrose. A Somner hat-trick ensured he won the battle between the strikers for top league scorer. Joe Craig also grabbed a goal and this was the last league game where Craig and Somner would both score in as Craig left Firhill, for Celtic, in September 1976. Hold on. A league win in February? Surely not. The restructuring of the Leagues meant there were fourteen teams in the First Division, playing each other twice. This provided a total of only 26 fixtures, a disaster for the money men at Firhill as gate revenue would have dried up in February. Faced with this dilemma, the S.F.A. created the Spring Cup to help fill the gap that having 26 fixtures presented. It was a bit of a disaster. The tournament seemed to create only a minimal interest amongst players and fans. Thistle got through a section comprising of Forfar Athletic, St. Mirren and Meadowbank Thistle. Dougie Somner’s destruction of Forfar, scoring 4 goals, provided to be the highlight of this tournament. Thistle crashed out in the Quarter Finals when, after beating East Fife 1-0 at Firhill we lost 2-0 at Bayview. In truth, no-one was heartbroken. This would be the only season the Spring Cup was competed for. In May 1976 Albion Rovers forwarded a motion to include a third round of fixture games, bringing the season to a total of 39 games. It was overwhelmingly backed and was brought into force for 1976/77. Thistle’s season was a success overall. A title win ensuring that Thistle would be spending our Centenary Year in the Premier League. Other results on 6th December:

Jaggy Advent 5th December =========== TODAY'S GAME =========== Sat-05-Dec-1998 Arbroath [a] W2-1 Scottish Cup 1st Round venue: Gayfield Park att: 1333 scorer(s): Paul Tosh, Robert Dunn THE HEROES OF ARBROATH ^ ^ Kenny Arthur, the goalkeeping hero of Arbroath Build-Up: Jags fans who were amongst the 8,426 crowd at Love Street on Tuesday 31st January 1989 witnessed a virtuoso performance from Chic Charnley and, indeed, a magnificent team performance on the whole, as Thistle defied the odds and ran out deserved 3-1 winners in a Third Round replay against our Premier League opponents. Had you told me that magical night that Thistle would not win another Scottish Cup tie for ten years I’d have laughed you out of town and dismissed you as a loon. Yet that is exactly what happened… We lost at Tynecastle in the next round, and that defeat sparked our all-time worst Scottish Cup streak of ten consecutive lost ties. Our 1990s troubles weren’t confined to tales of woe in the Scottish Cup, however. Partick Thistle Football Club Limited were also on the ropes off the park, on the verge of financial ruin, and Robert Reid has subsequently revealed that, genuinely, we were on the absolute brink of being unable to fulfil fixtures in November 1997. Thanks to the sterling efforts of Robert, Michael Max, Allan Cowan, Bobby Briggs and hundreds of Thistle fans via “Save The Jags” the unthinkable remained as an imaginary concept. It was a grim period though, probably best diagnosed as “Post-Tannadice-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder”. After 107 years of playing national League football, Thistle sunk to their all-time lowest position at the end of season 1998-99, finishing 28th in Scotland’s football pecking order. Our lowly status at this time saw us having to face up to the ignominious prospect of a First Round Scottish Cup draw in November alongside, amongst others, a bunch of strolling Civil Servants, a bloke called Keith and some Welfare chancers from Whitehill. There were four ties drawn and twenty byes given. Thistle were not one of the clubs to receive a bye. Obviously. When you’re down on your luck you get no luck. We were sent to Arbroath for our troubles. A dour prospect on paper, it actually turned out to be one of the most legendary games in our modern day Scottish Cup story… The Match: For connoisseurs of good old fashioned “blood n snotters” cup football in the raw, freezing cold Gayfield Park was the place to be on the 5th December 1998. The Red Lichties were up for it from the word go, but it was Paul Tosh (on loan from Hibs) who fired home an early opener for Thistle in 8 minutes. Half an hour later, a bizarre bit of refereeing by Bobby Orr completely changed the complexion of the game. He disallowed an Arbroath goal on the grounds that David Kennedy had tugged on the jersey of the Arbroath scorer. The hapless Orr decided that it would be a better idea to award Arbroath a penalty instead, and sent our man off, effectively punishing both teams for what had been an innocuous bit of something and nothing in the first place. Arbroath weren’t complaining a minute later though - they duly converted their penalty and could now play for an hour against ten men (or at least that’s what we all thought at the time). The Jags fans (who were in the majority of the 1,333 crowd) went mental when Robert Dunn headed us back in the lead just before half time. There’s nothing quite like the bond between fans and a battling, ten man team giving their all. Yer man Orr seemed to have it in for Thistle from thereon though. Although there was hardly a bad tackle in the match we were reduced to nine men when Des McKeown was sent off on the hour mark, and then Jamie McKenzie saw red near the end, leaving Thistle to battle out the remaining minutes with eight men on the park. A scandalous refereeing performance. For Orr to have beaten us he would have needed to send Kenny Arthur off and reduce us to seven. Our Number One was a shot stopping miracle man in his prime, and this was the day that the boy became the man, most especially in the crazy last five minutes when Arbroath seemed to be camped in our box. Archie was another hero that day but, if truth be told, it was the whole team that made you proud to be a Jag. It was a momentous palaver and a half, but our eight men held out stoutly and heroically for a famous 2-1 win, much to the delight of the travelling rid n yell army, many of whom were on the pitch to celebrate at the end. Bobby Orr crapped his load and was off like a shot down the tunnel! 9 years, 10 months and 4 days after our Fourth Round Tynecastle defeat of 1989 we had FINALLY put a stop to the Scottish Cup rot that had set in. Thistle Team: Arthur, Kennedy, McKeown, Jamieson, Archibald, Gaughan, Cornell, McKenzie, Tosh, Dunn(Flannigan), McDonald The Aftermath: The victory marked the first time that we’d won a Scottish Cup tie without the need for a replay in 18 years, 9 months, 19 days. You had to go away back to the Fourth Round 3-1 win at Palmerston Park in February 1980 to find the last time that we’d done such a thing – a shameful record. The landmark win also ensured that, by the hair of our chin, we avoided the embarrassment of going the full ten years without a Scottish Cup win. With regards to the Scottish Cup of this season Cowdenbeath(one of the teams to have previously defeated us in the 90s) were drawn out the hat. A Paul Tosh hat-trick and Robert Dunn double fired us to a 5-2 win over the Fifers. It was another team from Fife, this time Premier League Dunfermline Athletic, who visited Firhill for the Third Round of the Cup. A pair of Andy Smith headers gave Dunfermline a 2-0 lead, but a Robert Dunn penalty brought Thistle back into the tie. There would be no leveller though and Thistle crashed out. Thistle, as is usually the case, followed up our most barren Scottish Cup decade by reaching the Quarter Finals 6 times in the 2000s Highlights of the Dunfermline game are below: Other results on 5th December: Apologies for the lateness in today's entry. Jagscast Towers suffered a slight power cut this morning!