Partick Thistle F.C.
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| Partick Thistle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Partick Thistle Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Jags; The Harry Wrags | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1876 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Firhill Stadium, Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland |
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| Capacity | 14,538 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Allan Cowan |
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| Manager | Jimmy Bone (caretaker) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Scottish First Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | Scottish Second Division, 4th (Promoted due to winning the playoff) |
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Partick Thistle Football Club is a Scottish professional football club from the city of Glasgow. Despite their name, the club are actually based in the Maryhill area of the city, and haven't played in Partick itself since 1908. They are members of the Scottish Football League, and currently play in the First Division after being promoted through the play-offs at the end of the 2005-06 season.
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[edit] History
Partick Thistle were formed in 1876 in the burgh of Partick (administratively independent of Glasgow until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city). They originally played on what is now the site of the Partick railway station and Morrisons supermarket near the River Kelvin. They have had a number of other homes in Partick including at the site of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum before finally settling at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill district of Glasgow in 1909. They had to move as their Meadowside ground was demolished to make way for a granary (which was itself only very recently demolished).
Thistle won the Scottish Cup in 1921 beating Rangers 1-0 in the final, and more famously they won the Scottish League Cup in 1971 by defeating Celtic 4-1 in the final. They have never won the Scottish Football League; their highest ever League placing being third, achieved on three separate occasions. They have triumphed five times in the Glasgow Cup, in 1951, 1953, 1955, 1961 and 1981.
Thistle's original colours were navy blue shirts with white shorts, similar to those currently used by Dundee. These were replaced for the 1936-37 season by the clubs current red, yellow and black favours. Since the change in colours, the club have predominantly played in red and yellow hooped jerseys with black shorts, although for a period in the early 1970s took to the field in yellow jerseys with red shorts. Other, shorter-lived variations have involved replacing the hoops with stripes, playing in red shorts and a single season experiment with a red and yellow halved jersey.
Traditionally considered one of the top clubs in Scotland, the club have undergone a period of decline in fortunes since the mid 1980s and in 1998 the club almost went out of existence. Faced with massive debt, it looked as though they would certainly go bankrupt until the supporters organised a 'Save the Jags' campaign (the Jags being the club's nickname). This managed to at least ensure the club's survival although they were still relegated to the Second Division that year.
In 2001 they won promotion from the Second Division to the First Division, and the following year they managed to win promotion from the First Division to the Scottish Premier League, the top division in Scottish football. They were relegated back to the First Division in 2004 having finished bottom of the SPL. The club's aim at the start of the following season was to get out of the First Division and back into the SPL. Thistle instead were relegated to the Second Division. This was the first time a club in Scotland had been relegated from the top league and then relegated again the following season due to poor performance (Clyde and Dunfermline Athletic's successive relegations in 1974/5 and 1975/6 were triggered by league reconstruction).
On 15 April 2006 Thistle secured their place in the playoffs by beating nearest rivals Stirling Albion 2-1 at Albion's Forthbank stadium.
On 6 May 2006 Thistle secured their place in the playoff final by beating Stranraer 4-3 on aggregate, playing Peterhead in the final.
On 14 May 2006 Thistle won promotion to the Scottish First Division due to a heroic performance against Peterhead in the first division playoff final. Thistle headed into the playoff decider with a 2-1 deficit to overturn, and the prospect of facing a home side likely to sit and protect their lead from the first leg. But the Jags squad was fuelled by anger and disappointment at throwing away a 1-0 half-time lead in the first leg. After conceding an early goal in the 5th minute from Peterhead's striker Martin Bavidge, Thistle's chances looked slim and they needed at least 2 goals for a chance of promotion. Goals from Thistle's season-long goal hero Mark Roberts scoring his 22nd goal of the season and Billy Gibson's dramatic injury time equaliser took the game to extra time. Thistle put on the pressure and created the best chances but couldn't break through Peterhead's strong rearguard. The game went to penalties and Thistle went through, winning 4-2. Penalties: Roberts (goal), Kilgannon (goal), B.Gibson (goal), Snowdon (miss) and Ritchie (goal).
Since 1996 the Jags have been relegated 4 times, promoted 3 times and been through administration which almost saw the club shut down in 1997.
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Noted players
Jimmy Bone (Currently assistant manager of Partick Thistle)- Jackie Campbell
- Chic Charnley
- Arthur Duncan
- Johnny Flanagan
- Alex Forsyth
- Tommy Gibb
- Ronnie Glavin
- Alan Hansen
- John Hansen
- Jackie Husband
- Mo Johnston
- Bobby Lawrie
- Peter McKennan
- Donnie McKinnon
- Dave McParland
- Johnny Mackenzie
- Dennis McQuade
- Andy Murdoch
- George O'Neill
- Alex Raisbeck
- Alan Rough
- Bill Shankly
[edit] Managers
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[edit] Support
The club's fans traditionally come from the north-west part of Glasgow and pride themselves on being anti-sectarian in contrast to factions of the support of their much larger Glasgow neighbours, Rangers and Celtic. Their traditional rivals (other than the Old Firm) are Clyde F.C..
The club also draws many temporary fans, what with the ground being so close to the University of Glasgow. Many students from outside Glasgow choose to follow Thistle while there, many ending up supporters for the rest of their lives.
[edit] Noted supporters
- Craig Ferguson, comedian and host of American television programme The Late Late Show.
- Biff Smith - Singer with Glasgow band The Starlets
[edit] Achievements
Thistle's best ever placing in the Scottish League is third place, which they have achieved on three occasions: 1947-48, 1953-54 and 1962-63. They have qualified for mainstream European competitions twice, appearing in the Fairs Cup in 1963-64 and the UEFA Cup in 1972-73. They also participated in the Intertoto Cup in 1995.
[edit] Honours
- Scottish League Second Division:
- Winners (1): 2000-01
[edit] Other honours
- Glasgow Cup:
- Winners (7): 1934-35, 1950-51, 1952-53, 1954-55, 1960-61, 1980-81, 1988-89
- Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup:
- Winners (3): 1926-27, 1934-35, 1948-49
- Tennents' Sixes:
- Winners (1): 1993
