phoenix1876 Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 (edited) growing up my mums was a celtic fan, my dad was a rangers fan i didnt really support a team from scotland, i was all about manchester united growing up, (also torquay united ). i was never forced into supporting either club, even with my older sister being a hardcore celtic fan, the rest of my family on my mums side and my whole school, i was getting asked left right n centre who i supported, to which i had no answer, manchester united didnt really cut it. I had just turned 11 getting into football more n more, and my dad did not want me growing up on either side of the divide. then back in 2000, 3 or 4 games before the end of the season after thistle won promotion from the second division my father said to me, Do you want to go to a thistle game, i said yes (i had never gone to a football game before that in my life). And ill be honest, best experience ever for me, the jags won that game and i truly felt part of something. And after that i couldnt stay away, the following season i barely missed a home game. the club even treated me well by letting me be a mascot twice, the home game of the scottish cup against dundee where we drew 1-1 and thistle vs birmingham in a pre season friendly. The reason i got it a second time was because they lost the pictures from the first game in a storm i think, then they lost the second set of pictures again, so i presented an award at the end of that season where we played ross county and won 1-0. So now when people ask me who i support i proudly say "Partick Thistle" to which i get a response of "if thistle didnt exist who would you support celtic or ranger" or my favourite "oh i used to be a thistle fan" just to add one more thing my dad in now a jags fan too MON THE JAGS!!!! Edited April 23, 2011 by phoenix1876 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 It's a frequently recurring thread, but always good to read how Jags fans got inducted/trapped/persuaded into Jagginess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanarkjag Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 All me dads fault. The B****** bought me a season ticket for getting good exam results in the early 90's and I've been suffering ever since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven H Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Was born a Jag, am a 5th generation of the family to follow Thistle, my Papa's grandad lived in Partick and supported Thistle from the day they were founded, my Papa's dad carried that on as did my Papa (2 of his sons carried that tradition on, my dad and uncle) and I am the only one of my generation (about 7 boys all in) to carry that tradition on. It is loooking like my son will follow in my footsteps, although he aint as into Thistle the now as I was at his age. Makes me proud to hear him tell his wee pals "I support Thistle" and while they run about wi their Rankers or Smellic tops he stands out from the rest in his Jags strip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I got into supporting the Jags mainly as my Dad said to me one thing you'll never get asked by a fellow Jags fan is if you look on Thistle as a mini Celtic or Rangers. Gotta say the Old Man was correct. Well for the first 38 odd years anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 My dad was sort of a fan but not really into football, but a work colleague of his was more keen. That's how I caught the bug... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennythistle Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 My mum's side of the family were all jags (her grandpa, dad, uncles and brother. Her brother and my dad became best friends and he took my dad to firhill where he caught the bug (he was previously a celtic fan). Like Steven I was born a jag but wasn't at a lot of games as family moved to dunblane when I was in primary 5 and when i started high school i took up playing rugby so always playing on saturdays. Still took in some games but not until 6th year of high school did i get a season ticket and go on a weekly basis. Tried to get my daughter into it but now as she has moved to Liverpool that is going to be hard (she has been a jags mascot, was there last week and has been telling school mates in Liverpool she supports the Jags...as well as Liverpool). Have 2 ye old son and he has spent the entire week going on about jags....won't go out to play without jags top on...tells anyone who passes by that we got a penalty last week. There is hope there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hebridean jag Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Great grandfather Grandfather Father Me Sons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluddy Hell Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I caught the bug from my dad, have no idea how he started supporting Thistle as most of my family are Rankers fans, but my sister is a die hard, and when I was about 5 I turned round and said to my dad, 'why cant I go tot he football?' Makes me wonder why I opened my mouth now! But would not change it for the world!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 (edited) I got into supporting the Jags mainly as my Dad said to me one thing you'll never get asked by a fellow Jags fan is if you look on Thistle as a mini Celtic or Rangers. Gotta say the Old Man was correct. Well for the first 38 odd years anyway. You mean until MWM's post? To reply to the question ... when young, although if the question came up I called myself a Jags fan (this was down to my close mate when I was a kid being a Jags fan) and did look for their results, I was never really a proper football supporter until almost grown up. Then, after getting the bug I started to take the occasional game in at Firhill but what confirmed me becoming a Jags supporter was when two mates - one from either side of the divide - each took me to an OF game and seeing their worst fans close up made me decide the "wee team" was really the best team. Edited April 23, 2011 by Mr Bunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Papa was a Jags fan went to first game back in 82 cup run v K*ll*e(2-2 replay at Firhill), then went with mates from school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillresigned Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Was a Celtic fan as a boy, until went to a game against Motherwell and was sickened by all the bigotry and I started wanting Motherwell to win. My great- uncle was a Jags fan(of sorts) and he offered to take me to Firhill, and now forty years later I'm still going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewanstu Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I had no choice who I supported...at 6 months old I was taken to my first game. It was against St. Johnstone, or at least that's what I'm told and no oddly enough I dont remember it. My first away match was at 18 months old at Tynecastle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Osbourne snr Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 My dad was sort of a fan but not really into football, but a work colleague of his was more keen. That's how I caught the bug... That's a new take on "Wanna come see some puppies?". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kni Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I am ashamed to admit that I was a Rangers fan, like my Dad, until I was 10. He took me to Firhill (versus the Binos). I loved the place, especially being able to walk from one end of the shed to the other at half-time. My new heroes were Roughie, John Hansen and Denis McQuade. The following year, I went up to Bishy High and was delighted to find that Frank Coulston was my PE teacher. He even taught me ballroom and highland dancing! Frank knew that I was the only Jags fan in my year and it did me no harm when teams were being chosen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Shot Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Brought up a Rangers fan by an entire Rangers supporting family, I followed them home and away and lived for a saturday, in 1986 the "Souness Revolution" started ,and despite the sectarian element being present my entire time as a fan it changed dramatically after 1986, by 1989 I had had enough, I considered myself a football fan and could not stand to be asscociated with anything else connected to being a Rangers fan,I was 19 at the time. I didn't want to stop going to watch senior football and Rangers was all I knew, my initial plan was to go to Ibrox every second week and support the away team but I worked with a Jags fan and he invited me to join him at Firhill anytime,so I went to one game with him and continued to go on my own to home games after that, to be fair, I just went and watched at first,no passion, and then we got into the top flight and I lost interest again because all the crap that comes with the OF were now back in my weekly footballing life again so soon, I stuck with it though and a few seasons on, the passion hit like a freight train and that was me hooked , 20 years on ,i've never looked back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKennan Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 My great-grandfather came from a Portadown Orange family (Google 'Edenderry' and 'Portadown' and you'll get the idea) who chose to follow Thistle after arriving Dock Street, Kelvinhaugh, about 1890. Not sure why he didn't follow the usual suspects, but we are a bunch of contrarians in my family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicol1981 Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 dad took me when i was a wee wein and crawling under the seats watching thistle , saying that i still do buts that's why i love thistle more ups and down and no vile bigotry stuff like with the old firm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Traveller Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Stirring tales of how we all got into Thistle. For the guidance of any board members who resign in the future, it might be more helpful to offer directions on how you get back out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoggy Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Born a Jag 40 years ago, as was my dad, as was my grandad. My great grandad started supporting thistle because he lived in Partick and helped the club out now and then. My son has no interest in football, but maybe I can get him in the end via the Glasgow Warriors as he has a bit of an interest in rugby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 I visited Scotland for the first time in March 2007 and told my brother-in-law to "take me to a footy game - any game." Thistle had the nearest game, so we went to Firhill to watch us lose 2-0 in the driving rain to the Accies (all I recall is someone missing a penalty - I think Mark Roberts - and an older gentleman standing next to me screaming his lungs out). I dunno, it all just really endeared me to the club. Even when I read about the finance problems and the talent leaving for clubs with bigger budgets, it oddly enough endears me even more. Maybe it's because my American clubs are the same way (Google "Cleveland" for further information). It makes me think that becoming a Celtic or Rangers fan is taking the easy way out. Even though I don't get to see games (Cup reschedulings, refs strike and bad weather ruined my chance last fall), I still try to throw some sponsorship money in and follow the live text updates and match reports as best I can. So I guess that if following a team you rarely, if ever, get to see sounds like an odd/dumb thing to do, consider that a lot of people find belief in God to be perfectly logical too. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beep0608 Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 (edited) October '71, and I'm sitting in a caravan in St Andrews, aware that there's a cup final on but not paying special attention, until Frank Bough, in the Grandstand studio, comes on and says something along the lines of "we have a remarkable latest score from Hampden in the Scottish League Cup Final. It says Partick Thistle 4 Celtic 0, but we'll check that one for you". A couple of minutes later he confirmed that really was the score, but he still seemed unconvinced. This must have been around quarter to 4. I sat up, suddenly interested. I knew this was something special, and that my local team (I lived in Scotstoun, so Thistle were my local team as far as I was concerned, the other side of the river was a distant land to me, and Mum and Dad were not keen on me going to Ibrox or Parkhead, bless 'em) were cuffing the best team in the uk. I probably became a Jags fan there and then. I got nervous, expecting a Celtic fightback. Every time Frank Bough read score updates I dreaded a Celtic goal, but time ticked by. We got the occasional update.....still 4-0 at Hampden. I started to relax a bit then.....4-1. Aw naw. Here it comes....more time ticked by, it got to half four. Still 4-1. I started to relax a bit and finally old Frank confirmed the final score. Yessss!! I'd been to Hampden for a Scotland v Wales 0-0, and a family friend took me to a Rangers v Bayern 1-1 but I wasn't grabbed. We left before Rangers late equaliser so maybe that did me a favour. I went to my first Thistle game a few weeks after the final, another 0-0 against Dundee. I remember a Denis McQuade run and shot, and a late Alan Rough save. Later that season I saw Jimmy Bone and Bobby Lawrie score in a 2-0 v Aberdeen. A shot from the edge of the box slammed into the net. The crowd roared and jumped about. My first live goal, aside from the Bayern goal which was met by silence, so that was me hooked, and a certified Jags fan. My favourites then were Denis McQuade, Badger, but especially Jackie Campbell. A true Jags legend. Edited April 25, 2011 by beep0608 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 These stories make great reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpool Jags Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 I had the extreme good fortune to be brought up in the middle of Kirkland St. I used to stop and watch, fascinated, as my street became congested with fitba' fans every other Saturday, making their way up to the game, probably just out of the Shakespeare or one of the number of pubs a few hundred yards south of the stadium. My dad was a Jag, although he was rarely able to take me due to Saturday afternoon working commitments as a musician at the Barrowland. At school (Dunard St. Primary) football was becoming the buzz interest with this particular group of 8 year-olds; most of them sons-of-h*ns, but only one declared Thistle fan - an unassuming wee fella who got a bit of stick for his allegiance, even at that age! One midweek day in late January (?) 1966 we were at home in the league to leaders, Celtic. This I had to see even though I wisnae allowed. I kidded on to my mum that I was playing at one of my friend's that night but at around 8.30 (games kicked off at 7.30pm in those days) I headed gingerly up to Firhill and waited till they opened the gates a bit later to let people out. Jeezo, it wis fckn packed: 36,000 I was later told. I didn't get much further than the Firhill Rd. side of the North terracing, and couldn't see that much over the heads of the men in front of me. A man next to me told me it was 2-1 for Thistle, and it stayed that way for ages, then with what seemed like the final attack of the game, Bertie Auld equalised for them. I felt gutted, but more importantly, I was now a proper Thistle fan. That was me now, been to a game and everything. Apparently the rules were: "you can't support a team till you've been to a game". At least those were the rules according to the sage clique of 8 year-olds in my class. That was it, I did anything I could to get to Thistle games - first team or reserves. I'd lie to my mum routinely over my whereabouts on a Saturday just to get on the North West bus which, conveniently left from the top of Kirkland St. every away game. Ginger bottle cash-ins supplemented my pocket money to make these ventures affordable. Now totally and utterly hooked I looked forward to us winning something and had an unshakeable belief that we would do something big time. Although I didn't realise it then, as none of us could, 23/10/71 wasn't so far away. Thistle till I die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinyman Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 (edited) Up until I was about 6 I had a Rangers top , then changed to hearts when about 8 as wanted to support someone different from old firm, then dad took me to Firhill and the glorious journey began First season I started going was when we got relegated on last day at home to Ayr , so great start lol Edited April 25, 2011 by Tinyman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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