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The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists


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For a century and a half, Partick Thistle have always played a role as one of Scotland's foremost clubs in many ways, even if they've never been crowned champions of the land. In this extensive piece, we will show how enduring and wide-reaching the club's impact has been in terms of the players who have featured both in the Partick Thistle first team, and on the full international stage. The presence of Jagsmen has been permanent down throughout the decades, all the way from the 1880s to the 2020s without a single pause. The depth of representation is a real eye-opener with well over 150 players winning some 1,500 caps between them, from Antigua to Togo, from Wales to Albania and dozens in between!

The journey will be divided into 15 parts, focusing on one decade at a time. The players are listed in chronological order, by date of when they completed the "double" of playing for the Jags and winning a full cap. As always, these declarations require rules and our definition of a full international cap is guided by each national football association, even if this differs from any lists that FIFA might have made. The definition of a Partick Thistle player is one who has played in a legitimate first team match. Whether for club or country, voided games are excluded and friendlies are allowed.

On each page, we'll include a basic overview of where Partick Thistle stood at that particular time, and each capped player will be profiled briefly with an internationally-focused bio, together with their fully detailed cap list showing their age and club at the time, as well as the individual match details with attendance where known. Who was the first, who is the latest? Who played in the Maracana? Who went to the World Cup? Who is most-capped? All will soon be revealed in this fascinating Tour du Monde, enjoy!

 

wc-jags-2.jpg

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The 1880s was the decade in which Thistle made the key switch from being a public park team, becoming a more serious operator in the game, with their own private grounds. In 1880, the committee wasted no time in registering the club as a fully fledged member of the Scottish Football Association, ready to compete annually in the prestigious Scottish Cup. They played at 3 grounds during the decade; Jordanvale, Whiteinch (Aug 1880 to Jun 1883), Muir Park, Partick (Jul 1883 to May 1885) and Inchview, Whiteinch (Jun 1885 to May 1897). Each move was seen as an improvement by the ever-progressive commitee men and the growing stature of the club was cemented by many great milestones along the way, not least of which was reached in 1888 when WILLIE PAUL became the first man to win a full international cap whilst a Partick Thistle player, a tremendous everlasting honour for both the player and the football club.

The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists, part 1: 1880s →

 

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36 minutes ago, The Thistle Archive said:

For a century and a half, Partick Thistle have always played a role as one of Scotland's foremost clubs in many ways, even if they've never been crowned champions of the land. In this extensive piece, we will show how enduring and wide-reaching the club's impact has been in terms of the players who have featured both in the Partick Thistle first team, and on the full international stage. The presence of Jagsmen has been permanent down throughout the decades, all the way from the 1880s to the 2020s without a single pause. The depth of representation is a real eye-opener with well over 150 players winning some 1,500 caps between them, from Antigua to Togo, from Wales to Albania and dozens in between!

The journey will be divided into 15 parts, focusing on one decade at a time. The players are listed in chronological order, by date of when they completed the "double" of playing for the Jags and winning a full cap. As always, these declarations require rules and our definition of a full international cap is guided by each national football association, even if this differs from any lists that FIFA might have made. The definition of a Partick Thistle player is one who has played in a legitimate first team match. Whether for club or country, voided games are excluded and friendlies are allowed.

On each page, we'll include a basic overview of where Partick Thistle stood at that particular time, and each capped player will be profiled briefly with an internationally-focused bio, together with their fully detailed cap list showing their age and club at the time, as well as the individual match details with attendance where known. Who was the first, who is the latest? Who played in the Maracana? Who went to the World Cup? Who is most-capped? All will soon be revealed in this fascinating Tour du Monde, enjoy!

 

wc-jags-2.jpg

Out of reactions (my tranche has been used up!), so can I just say that this sounds brilliant and thank you for all your wonderful work.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Partick Thistle went from strength to strength in the 1890s. After having been snubbed by the Scottish Football League for inaugural membership in 1890, our amazing committee men were undaunted. They were a key driving force for a new independent set-up, the Scottish Alliance League, which came to fruition just one year later. The club's participation lasted 2 seasons before it became a co-founding member of the Scottish Football League Second Division for season 1893-94. All of this kept Partick Thistle very much at the front and centre of the senior game in Scotland. In the springtime of 1891, our goalie JOHN McCORKINDALE became the second to be capped whilst a Partick Thistle player, bringing prestige to the name of Partick Thistle. Promotion to the top-flight of Scottish football arrived in 1897, and this was followed by a move to an extensive new stadium at Meadowside, Partick (Jun 1897 to May 1908). All of this enabled 'The Jags' to attract a decent level of player; six joined our "internationalists club" this decade. These are the stories...

The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists, part 2: 1890s →

 

 

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  • 5 months later...

The 1900s were turbulent for Partick Thistle. Promotion in 1900, relegation in 1901, promotion again in 1902. Record highs of 5th in 1905 and 1906, before plummeting some 10 places in the next couple of seasons. And then horror - what had originally been conceived as “the dream home” at Meadowside was unceremoniously taken away by developers in the springtime of 1908, leaving the Jags homeless. The nomadic season of 1908-09 which followed turned out to be one of the worst in the club's history, the team regularly battered and the ever-dwindling fanbase demoralized. Bottom of the league with 2 wins in 34, 15 points adrift of 17th. Hope springs eternal where Thistle are concerned though; it's a much-loved institution. The directorate were determined, just as their 19th century predecessors had been, and a new ground in Maryhill was quickly created from scratch in time for season 1909-10. The club's top-tier status was maintained all the while and we had 11 new entries to the internationalist's club to ably demonstrate it. Indeed, the move to Firhill co-incided with the introduction of two new distinguished members in the form of Maurice Parry and Alec Raisbeck, bringing us up to 22 and counting…

The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists, part 3: 1900s →

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1 hour ago, Jaggernaut said:

When did we last have a player in the Scottish international team? More than 50 years ago?

I think it's Alan Rough. His last cap while technically still a Thistle player was the 2-1 defeat at Wembley in April 1982. He'd signed his contract with Hibs and would have been a Hibs player by Spain 1982.

1 hour ago, Jaggernaut said:

ETA Apart from Roughie, of course!

John Hansen played against Yugoslavia in June 1972 in the Brazil Independence Cup. I can't (immediately) see anyone who played more recently than that other than Rough who was a Thistle player at the time. But I'm probably missing someone.

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Can we really count Nicky Walker? He played his last game earlier in May 1996, made his (substitute) appearance against the United States later in May. Signed for Aberdeen that summer, but can't work out when exactly to the day/month.

I'd have thought it similar to Rough in Spain as a Hibee.

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3 minutes ago, Woodstock Jag said:

Can we really count Nicky Walker? He played his last game earlier in May 1996, made his (substitute) appearance against the United States later in May. Signed for Aberdeen that summer, but can't work out when exactly to the day/month.

I'd have thought it similar to Rough in Spain as a Hibee.

He was still a registered Partick Thistle player at the time of his appearance against the USA though it was common knowledge that he was off to Aberdeen. 

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Paul McGinn's only cap - substitute appearance in 1-0 win over Austria in September 2021

Stephen O'Donnell's last cap - substitute appearance in 2-2 draw with Austria in March 2022

Kevin Nisbet's last cap - substitute appearance in 2-0 win over Georgia in June 2023

Jack Hendry's last cap - full appearance in 1-0 defeat to Hungary in June 2024

After those four, I think you're back to Graham Dorrans in 2015, then a string of "joined us afters" like:

  • Cammy Bell in 2010
  • Jackie McNamara(!) in 2005
  • Billy Dodds in 2001
  • Derek Whyte in 1999
  • Simon Donnelly in 1998
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3 hours ago, Woodstock Jag said:

Can we really count Nicky Walker? He played his last game earlier in May 1996, made his (substitute) appearance against the United States later in May. Signed for Aberdeen that summer, but can't work out when exactly to the day/month.

I'd have thought it similar to Rough in Spain as a Hibee.

He signed for Aberdeen after Euro 96. In the programmes for the tournament he was listed as a Thistle player.

Edited by Muscat Jag
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In our story to date, the British Home Championship has been the staple diet for those winning international caps but that was greatly interrupted in the 1910s as the championship was suspended for five seasons between 1914 and 1919. It would be fair to say that Partick Thistle's history is highly entwined with the First World War; almost 80 of our boys served, 14 of them never came home. Despite all of this, we still have 8 new additions to our internationalists club in this decade, and Thistle, now fully re-settled in Maryhill, really dug in as one of Scotland's premier clubs, finishing in the Top 6 half of the time. Amazingly, the Jags were unbeaten at Firhill in the league for the whole of 1910-11, to this day a unique occurrence in the top-flight for Partick Thistle FC. On the international stage, the story of the decade belongs to future-Jag Johnny Houston, who was part of the first Irish side to defeat England (1913) and the first Irish side to be crowned British champions (1914).

The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists, part 4: 1910s →

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