Partick Thistle (Scotland)

Partick Thistle FC is a professional football club who were formed in Partick, a settlement to the west of Glasgow at the time in 1876. The team played initially at a ground called Overnewton Park, which is believed to be where Overnewton Road now stands.

The club moved homes and played at Jordanvale Park and then Muir Park before moving to Meadowside, near the banks of the Clyde in 1891, before they became members of the Scottish League in 1893.

In 1897 Thistle won the Second Division and promotion, but were sent back down after just one season. Another promotion came in 1900; which once again ended in relegation twelve months later. Thistle regrouped and won the Second Division again in 1902 to return to the First Division.

George Easton became the clubs first manager in 1903. Numerous other venues were used throughout this period in Glasgow, Greenock, Port Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Edinburgh and even Aberdeen for a spell before they bought land in Maryhill and built Firhill Park in 1909.

Easton was still at the helm in 1921 when Thistle defeated Rangers 1-0 at Celtic Park to lift the Scottish Cup with a Johnny Blair goal. Donald Turner took over as manager in 1929 and within a year ‘The Jags’ reached the final once again.

On that occasion Rangers lifted the cup after a replay. Turner remained in charge until he was succeeded by former Rangers centre back David Meiklejohn in 1947. In his first season in the manager’s chair David Meiklejohn took Partick to a third  place finish.

The team played some beautiful football which led to some supporters referring to them as ‘The Maryhill Magyars’ after the all conquering Hungarian national team of the day. In 1953-54 Partick reached the League Cup final, where they were defeated 3-2 by East Fife, with the team finishing in third place in the league.

Thistle returned to the final of the League Cup in 1956-57 where they were defeated after a replay by Celtic. Partick returned in 1958-59 to appear in the final for a third time. This time they were beaten 5-1 by Heart of Midlothian.

At the end of the season Meiklejohn was replaced by Willie Thornton, who led the side to another third place finish in 1962-63 before he departed in in 1968. Former Rangers boss Scot Symon took over at Firhill for a couple of years before handing the reigns over to Davie McParland.

McParland led Thistle to their most memorable moment in modern times.

Thistle pulled off one of the greatest shocks in the history of the Scottish game when they hammered red hot favourites Celtic 4-1, to lift the League Cup at Hampden Park in 1971 with young stars Alan Rough and Alex Forsyth in the victorious team.

To see the great day, click here:

A young Alan Hansen broke into the side before former Lisbon Lion Bertie Auld came in as manager in 1974. The 1974-75 season was the last in Scotland with just two divisions. Partick finished in the bottom half so they began the following campaign in the second tier First Division.

Auld’s side won the First Division title in 1975-76 and were promoted to the Premier Division. The team consolidated their top flight status before Peter Cormack became manager in 1980. Thistle were relegated in 1981-82. Benny Rooney took over as manager in 1984 as the finances became tight.

Firhill was used by Clyde FC from 1986 for five years while they awaited their new stadium to be built in an attempt to bring in some much needed cash. Several managers; a returning Auld, Derek Johnstone, Billy Lamont, John Lambie and Sandy Clark all came and went until 1990, when Lambie had a second attempt at bringing back success.

In 1991-92 Thistle went back to the Premier League as First Division runners-up. Lambie was replaced by Murdo MacLeod in 1994 who lasted until the end of the 1995-96 season when Thistle were relegated once again.

John McVeigh arrived as the new team boss at Firhill, with the club close to going out of business in 1998. It was only the intervention of a 'Save The Jags' campaign that gave the club a lifeline after Thistle had dropped down to third tier for the first time and then only just survived a further drop.

Tommy Bryce tried to arrest the slide before Lambie came back for a third spell as manager. Consecutive promotions in 2000-01 and 2001-02 lifted The Jags back to the Premier League, during a spell in which Hamilton Academical shared Firhill.

Lambie retired at the end of the 2002-03 campaign. New bosses; Gerry Collins and then join managers Gerry Britton and Derek Whyte found the task of keeping the team in the top flight difficult and they were relegated a year later.

Dick Campbell was in charge as Thistle went back down to the third level. He did however lead the side to an immediate promotion via the play-offs.

Campbell was sacked in March 2007 with Ian McCall becoming the next permanent boss. He did a fine job until he departed in April 2011, citing personal reasons. By now Glasgow Warriors Rugby Club had become the latest of tenants. The ground also staged occasional rugby league encounters.

Warriors departed for their own home at Scotstoun from September 2012. Thistle made a tremendous start to the 2012-13 season under manager Jackie McNamara. However, he departed to Dundee United in January 2013, taking three vital players with him.

Former defender Alan Archibald stepped up to the plate as the new boss following an interim period. It proved to be an inspired choice by the board as the team went on to clinch the First Division title and promotion.

Despite a tough season in 2013-14, Thistle staved off the threat of relegation with a tenth place finish under the captaincy of Sean Welsh. Abdul Osman took over as skipper in 2015-16 as Thistle finished safe in the bottom half of the table.

The 2016-17 campaign was Thistle’s most successful in some time as they ended in sixth place as Archibald continued to produce decent sides on low attendances. However, the 2017-18 campaign saw Thistle relegated through the play-offs against Livingston, despite the goals of Kris Doolan.

Archibald was sacked in October 2018 after a poor start to the season to be replaced by Gary Caldwell who ensured the team ended in mid table. Ian McCall was appointed as his replacement in September 2019, in a season that would end acrimoniously.

Partick were bottom by two points but with a game in hand when clubs voted to end the campaign with teams in the relegation slots at the time going down. The club along with Heart of Midlothian of the Premiership looked to take legal proceedings against the SPFL.

Partick Thistle FC will play in Scottish League One in the 2020-21 season.

My visits

Wednesday 27 January 2010

I awoke on a very wet morning in my Glasgow hotel. I had my plans set out for the day and Firhill was first up. Rather than getting stuck in the morning traffic, I decided to fight the elements and work off my breakfast by walking under the motorway and up the hill of Garscube Road to the stadium.

Firhill came into view and I liked what I saw. The new continental style floodlights added modern class to the backdrop of the traditional old Main Stand that was on the street front.
Access looked to be difficult as the ground was securely locked. I had done my usual advance planning and walked up the lane behind the old South Terrace to the gap by the Jackie Husband Stand to get a decent view.

Firhill Park had changed over the years, especially in the years after the Taylor Report insisted on all seater stadiums. It was originally oval shaped in the tradition of other great Glasgow stadia. The Main Stand is the original, having been refurbished several times. It had a seating deck above a small terraced paddock with the dressing rooms and administration block in the south end. 

From 2006, Thistle only use it on big match days. Opposite is the vast seated Jackie Husband Stand, named after a former player and employee of fifty years, opened in 1994 to replace the covered standing Enclosure. The North Stand was completed in 2002 to comply with Scottish Premier League regulations on seated capacities. 

The club sold the land behind to a property developer, where flats now stand. It was once an open curved terracing. The final City End is flat and unused at present, although it is hoped that a new stand will be built if planning permission can be obtained. Again, this was an open curved terracing.

The weather wasn’t showing any sign of improvement as I walked away to catch a bus on the main road. I liked Firhill. Hopefully the club, possibly with the help of Glasgow Warriors would develop the remaining end before too long to complete the picture.

Partick Thistle 0 Celtic 5 (Thursday 18^th May 2017) Scottish Premiership (att: 7,847)

Sky TV’s scheduling and my shift pattern meant I eventually got the opportunity to visit Firhill Stadium for a match for the first time. My flight from Luton to Glasgow actually arrived ahead of schedule.

It was a beautiful warm day around Glasgow as I visited several football grounds to take photos before I caught a bus up the hill to the Bonawe Street stop on the simpliCITY60 route along Maryhill Road.

It was mid-afternoon but I wanted to collect my ticket to save the hassle near to kick-off time. It also offered me the opportunity to take some decent photos as the TV crews were setting up. My previous snaps were in awful weather and not of great quality.

I’d walked right round the far side to find a closed ticket booth behind the Jimmy Husband Stand. Fortunatley I spotted a bell to ring for entry to the club offices. I was invited upstairs to collect my ticket before I had a bit of a misguided trek before eventually finding a bar called Kelbourne Saint; which was the bar used for the famous glass throwing scene in Trainspotting.

Further pre-match beers were taken in the State Bar and Bon Accord. My knees and feet were aching after some testing walks so the libation was most welcome before I took another bus back to the stadium.

The streets outside were bustling and I couldn’t spot a programme seller. I bought a half time draw ticket before entering the old Colin Weir Stand; grabbing a scotch pie and Bovril. The seats weren’t too roomy so I was delighted to find plenty of room further back.

Celtic fans had filled the Jimmy Husband Stand opposite and were making plenty of noise while displaying their European style banners. Their support had embraced the ultra type phenomenon from overseas and replicated many banners to commemorate the anniversary of their European Cup triumph.

The Bhoys came into the game already crowned as champions and were bidding to go unbeaten all season, with just Thistle and then Heart of Midlothian in their way. It could be argued that the competition was weak in Scotland; but there was no doubting that Celtic were a pretty good side.

Callum McGregor, Patrick Roberts and Emilio Izaguirre all went close before Celtic took the lead on eighteen minutes. Callum Booth tripped Roberts in the box; referee Andrew Dallas pointed to the spot and Leigh Griffiths tucked away the penalty to make it 1-0.

Seven minutes later it was 2-0 as Griffiths made a fine run to tee up Tom Rogic to slot home from close range with the ball just going over the line off the post. Thistle keeper Tomas Cerny was injured in the incident.

Eight minutes from the break Thistle had a great chance to get back into the game, but Liam Lindsay’s header from a Chris Erskine cross was straight into the arms of Hoops custodian Craig Gordon.

The home side were made to pay before the break as the impressive Roberts cut inside and fired home from twenty yards. To be frank; Celtic were in a different league and Partick had only survived a bigger mauling by decent goalkeeping, hard work and brave blocking.

It was good to see the Thistle under 10’s and under 11’s involved in matches on the pitch at half time, with both sets of fans getting behind the lads involved. They all received a rousing reception as they left the pitch.

Thistle replaced Cerny at the break with Mark Ridgers. Celtic seemed to ease off as Partick put one or two moves together without remotely threatening their opponents goal. The fans around me took great delight in seeing Griffiths have a row with his manager Brendon Rogers after being substituted.

McGregor smashed number four in off the underside of the crossbar with less than ten minutes remaining after Dallas had received confirmation that the ball had crossed the line. It was 5-0 a couple of minutes later as Roberts completed a brace with a lovely curling shot.

Ridgers made a fine save as the game entered stoppage time to keep out Rogic before the game came to an end as the Hoops fans raised the roof with a crescendo of noise. They’d certainly given their team tremendous backing.

By now my mind was on the other scores that evening. Four of my results had come in; but I let out a large groan on the bus as Blackpool scored a stoppage time equaliser at Luton to cost me £50 on my accumulator.

My mind was taken back to my conversation with the Thistle supporting barman at the Bon Accord a few months earlier. He said many fans were put off home games against the old firm sides because of what they took to the occasion. I understood him fully. There was a certain amount of arrogance among the support.

My National Express coach back to Golders Green in London wasn’t too busy. As we departed Glasgow fireworks were being let off next to Firhill. I managed to drift in and out of sleep before a proper nap and then some cricket action at Lord’s.