Partick Thistle - The Early Years
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"Thistle – early years"
In 1903 Thistle goalkeeper Tom Wilkie was just one of two top class goalkeepers on the Partick Thistle books – the other being Willie Howden. Tom met with a Weekly Record reporter in 1903 to talk about his career.
In September 1903 the Scottish Weekly Record published an exclusive interview with Partick Thistle President William Ward.
“So far as I can see, there is a great future before Partick Thistle as a Limited Company. The chief difficulty that stands in the way is the conditions under which we hold the ground, but as these conditions have existed for seven years I do not see any immediate cause or know any reason to necessitate a change.”
In October 1903 Partick Thistle, having had arguably the best start to a season in the club’s history, followed by a few poor results, looked to the transfer market to improve results.
From Ibrox returned John Wilkie, a popular Thistle player of old, and Tom Turnbull, a young defender from Sheffield United, also signed.
By far the highest profile signing at the time was Celtic great Alex ‘Sandy’ McMahon, and the experienced new arrival was seen as a big improvement to the young Thistle squad.
Tall and straight-backed, blond with a handlebar moustache, Sam Kennedy looked every inch the late Victorian/early Edwardian gentleman. However, Sam was a plumber and he came from Girvan, and was a battering-ram centre-forward for Partick Thistle.
Robert Gray was a popular inside forward who played 215 times for Thistle over two spells at Inchview and Meadowside, and became a favourite with supporters for his exciting forward play and goalscoring. Robert was a speedy player who also had excellent ball control and was noted for his shooting from distance. He scored 45 […]
