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Hugh Strachan


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3 hours ago, denismcquadeno.eleven said:

A pal of mine back then, later in October 1971, gave me a cassette tape copy of the second half of the BBC Scotland radio commentary of that famous final on 23.10.71. (In those days it was often just the second half on radio for whatever reason.) My pal’s dad had hit on the idea of recording some of the match from the radio onto tape. What a brilliant idea in the circumstances! Much later, I had it put onto CD. The commentator said after the final whistle, whilst the celebrations went on, “In and amongst all those great young Thistle boys I want to make particular mention of Hugh Strachan. He has stood out for all he has done in this game today.”

Brilliant post Denis, and this really stands out. Do you still have this amazing gem of a recording? If so, we'd really love to put it on YouTube for everyone to enjoy.

 

Hugh Strachan (1939-2023) R.I.P.

At 32, he was the oldest Jag on the pitch in the 1971 cup winning team and, sadly, he's the first of the gang to die. Hugh expertly marshaled the young lions, both as a player and a coach. We'll still be talking about him in 2071 and beyond. Hugh Strachan →

Denis McQuade, HUGH STRACHAN and Alex Rae made their competitive debuts together at Annfield Park in August 1970. Hugh scored his one and only goal that day! He would give no further cause for concern for netting manufacturers in his 4 years at the club, but more than played his part. With his "one goal wonder" status, Hugh featured at #11 in our countdown Ye'll No' Believe Who Scored It! →

 

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Sorry to hear about Hugh Strachan.

My condolences to his family and friends. This will be a very sad time for everyone who knew and was associated with Hugh.

I also saw him play many times and like our two strikers, Bone and Coulson, Strachan and Capbell forms an equally impressive defensive partnership.

I read somewhere recently that when Hugh Strachan's contract ended and wasn't extended this resulted in Davie McParland's resignation.

Apparently Davie with the Board's agreement promised when he signed Hugh a job as a coach when he retired from playing. Unfortunately the Board refused to honour this because when the time to do so they said they just couldn't afford it!  

So we list Hugh  as a player and coach and Davie as our  manger!

 

 

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This is sad news for Thistle fans. Condolences to Hugh's family and friends.

Strachan was an essential cog in the wheel of that special Jags (McParland) team in the early 70's, the wise "old head" (just older than 30!) marshalling the defence admirably, making sure we were solid enough at the back so that our impressive attacking midfielders and forwards could inflict their damage on whoever we up against. 

For some reason, I'd always thought that Hugh had had a long and distinguished career at Rugby Park before coming to us, but I just discovered that (according to Wiki), he played only 19 games for Killie before joining us, and then he clocked up 100 matches for us (TTA will probably have more accurate stats). My false memory is probably because he was already over 30 before joining us, I was a teenager with less interest in players' backgrounds, and back then it wasn't as easy as it is now to get information on players' careers (remember Jaymak's Now You Know in the ET?)

That's all I have to say right now. Really quite saddened by the news. R.I.P. Hugh Strachan. One of the LCF 12, and the 2nd Division winners of the season before that...... an unforgettable Thistle No. 6.

ETA: Apologies, because that "LCF 12" is too restrictive; it should be expanded to include several other players who were fully involved in earlier matches in the competition but not the final.

Edited by Jaggernaut
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My recollection of Hugh Strachan was that he made the self-evidently good players around him, even better, just by his reading of the game, his positional sense and the calm reassurance he seemed to possess. Never one for the flashy or the unnecessary when danger lurked, he was one of the most pragmatic Thistle players I can recall.

As mentioned above, the manner in which he left Firhill was a sadly shameful Board of Directors episode - both he and Davie McParland deserved so much better.

RIP 

 

  

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1 hour ago, denismcquadeno.eleven said:

PPS: The result of the very next game on the ‘Saturday’: League-Aberdeen 7 v Thistle 2! Divine justice for the PTFC Board’s ‘meanness’ or just that the players had been partying pretty much the whole of the week after the Final?!!! Make your own mind up!

As you point out the very next Saturday game was the 7-2 at Pittodrie - presumably the drink hadn't kicked in before the 0-0 draw at Dens in the mid - week.

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