Jordanvale Park

By the start of the 1880-81 season, Partick Thistle had moved to their first private grounds, at Jordanvale Park, Whiteinch. It was described as one minutes walk from the (tram) terminus, and with a dressing room near the grounds. The ground was on the corner of Hill Street (now Edzell Street) and Dumbarton Road.

However, by the start of the following season, improvements had been made to the ground, and dressing rooms had been built on the ground. Throughout the 1880-81 season, and the start of the next season, few games seemed to be staged at Jordanvale. The result of the first Scottish Cup tie at Jordanvale, against Pilgrims in October 1881, was protested against by the visitors, on the grounds that the enclosure was not properly roped and staked. The protest was upheld, and the game was replayed. (The original game was a 3-1 win for Thistle, the replay ended 7-1 for Thistle.)

Evidently the lessons had not been learned at Jordanvale, and the following cup tie against Petershill was also replayed again on the grounds that “enclosures had not been properly kept”. After Thistle again won a replayed game, Glasgow Thistle attempted to protest the next cup tie, but this protest was not sustained by the SFA.

It may be that Thistle were victims of their own popularity, as they continually attracted large crowds for games, and the reputation of the Partick Thistle followers was also growing. In the 1882-83 season Mavisbank switched their Scottish Cup tie to Jordanvale to take advantage of the guaranteed large crowd, although they lost the game 14-2.

The large crowds would have been due, no doubt, to the fine home record at Jordanvale. Since moving in in 1880, they had been undefeated until Vale of Leven visited on November 1882 and inflicted the first defeat – by 6-1. Indeed, with Thistle moving from Whiteinch back to the centre of Partick at the end of the season, they finished their tenancy of Jordanvale having lost only four times in three seasons at the ground.

The site is now occupied by church buildings, at the corner of Edzell Street and Dumbarton Road.