Winter of '63 Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 I remember being traumatised for weeks after the 8-1 loss to St Johnstone at Firhill. Saints has an outstanding team back then finishing third in the League. That Season was the first time Thistle had been relegated in almost 70 years. Alan Rough made his first team debut at the end of that season after we had been relegated. It was a sign of better things to come and the 5-1 League Cup Quarter Final win against St Johnstone at Firhill was a fitting redemption for the humiliation two seasons before...it is my favourite game at Firhill ever. The astonishing 8-3 game against Motherwell was very competitive for about an hour...we then scored 3 goals in 5 minutes to go 5-2 up and repeated the trick in the last 10 minutes to go 8-2 ahead. The next home game was against Ayr United on Christmas Day....we utterly outclassed them, dominating the whole game...and lost 1-0. That was the Partick Thistle way!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weebaw1 Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 When Denis McQuade pulled the ht draw recently, memories of the 8-3 game came flooding back. Unplayable! My sons said Denis looked gangly and un-coordinated and didn’t look like an ex (brilliant)footballer. Yes, that’s our Denis! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfaelivi Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 Yup Ballintore Jag, I wasn't at the 10-2 game but both Thistle goals were scored by the man who made me a supporter, George Smith. He was a student teacher at Bathgate Academy and I was in the school's primary department. Eventually he discovered I was a Jags supporter and he was my hero and his dad, a local baker, took me to a few games. I bumped into George a few years ago and he looks a million dollars - never been a drinker or smoker and he is now is 82 ( I discovered that I was born on his 10th birthday relatively recently - what a coincidence!! 1st June and we share it with Bob Monkhouse, Marilyn Monroe , Pat Boone and Morgan Freeman) Should be in the Hall of Fame but I'm sure George wouldn't cope with the "refreshments" at such an event - I know he has been asked. Quite a few more goals than Dools to his credit too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 12 hours ago, Jordanhill Jag said: Ok - I knew it was low figures - I remember standing in the Shed with my Dad and Chanting " we want 5" then "we want 6" etc etc - it seemed that everytime we demanded another Goal - the team duly obliged- and not to forget as mentioned- this was a very good Motherwell Team Note to the North Stand Guys - be more demanding - start chanting the Number of Goals you want Thistle to Score on Saturday ( worked in the past ) Back in the old days we used to plead with the team: "All we are saying, is give us a goal..." Then when it got more desperate: "Want a goal, a goal, we want a f*ckin goal want a goal, want a goal....!" Happy times! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 58 minutes ago, jagfaelivi said: Yup Ballintore Jag, I wasn't at the 10-2 game but both Thistle goals were scored by the man who made me a supporter, George Smith. He was a student teacher at Bathgate Academy and I was in the school's primary department. Eventually he discovered I was a Jags supporter and he was my hero and his dad, a local baker, took me to a few games. I bumped into George a few years ago and he looks a million dollars - never been a drinker or smoker and he is now is 82 ( I discovered that I was born on his 10th birthday relatively recently - what a coincidence!! 1st June and we share it with Bob Monkhouse, Marilyn Monroe , Pat Boone and Morgan Freeman) Should be in the Hall of Fame but I'm sure George wouldn't cope with the "refreshments" at such an event - I know he has been asked. Quite a few more goals than Dools to his credit too. Friend of mine knows George fairly well. He was in fact rather ill a year or so ago but glad to say he's over all that. In fact I believe he's currently in South America for an extended holiday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partickthedog Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 1 hour ago, lady-isobel-barnett said: Friend of mine knows George fairly well. He was in fact rather ill a year or so ago but glad to say he's over all that. In fact I believe he's currently in South America for an extended holiday. Could we pay his air fare back and then sign him? MIles Storey could do all the running for him. All he would have to do is put the ball into the net. Who needs Pele, Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jesus? We can have our own signing from South America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfaelivi Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 George in his pomp was like the proverbial excrement off a digging implement and won several sprints at athletics meets. Did not know he had been ill but glad to hear he is now okay. I still bump into his brother occasionally and he did not live the monk like existence of his younger sibling but is still going strong and must be getting on for 90 now. We could certainly do with a few of George's goals just now. He scored a good number against the Celtic and was linked with a move to the blue part of the city at one time in his career. Thankfully for us it never happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semi Nurainen Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 On 1/10/2019 at 1:34 AM, Jaggernaut said: League Cup, Aug 16, 1970: Thistle 1 St Johnstone 8. Two done h*n s doing their bit to get us relegated that season: Mabawzur, and Scott Symon. Our fate was already clear at the end of the League Cup games: P6, W0, D0, L6; F1, A25. And we think things are bad just now! ETA: Ritchie got replaced by Ian Dick, but as the league campaign dived from bad to worse, Ritchie got back in the team after a couple of months. Those were grim times. I was at that game. I also remember watching Celtic hammering 8 past us round about the same season and lost count of the times they put 5 or 6 by us. We think Caldwell/Bunnet/ etc are bad, but those days at the end of the 60s were the real dark days, the darkest ever in my memory (which goes back to '62/63). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Semi Nurainen said: I was at that game. I also remember watching Celtic hammering 8 past us round about the same season and lost count of the times they put 5 or 6 by us. We think Caldwell/Bunnet/ etc are bad, but those days at the end of the 60s were the real dark days, the darkest ever in my memory (which goes back to '62/63). Reckon we're of similar ages, SN. My reminiscence of yon sad days is more of resignation than despair. I really don't mind it being a particularly dark period in Jags history. But then that's so hard for me to put in context on a personal level due to my loyalty towards the national team throughout them days. Again, on a personal level my real low spot occurred sometime during the 80's, a period of mediocrity even hard to envisage today. At least during the the Save the Jags era there was something to galvanise us. Just as an aside as a supporter dating back nearly 60 years, I still maintain our most significant resurrection was up at Peterhead a decade or so ago. But that's something for another day. Edited January 11, 2019 by lady-isobel-barnett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laukat Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 35 minutes ago, lady-isobel-barnett said: Reckon we're of similar ages, SN. My reminiscence of yon sad days is more of resignation than despair. I really don't mind it being a particularly dark period in Jags history. But then that's so hard for me to put in context on a personal level due to my loyalty towards the national team throughout them days. Again, on a personal level my real low spot occurred sometime during the 80's, a period of mediocrity even hard to envisage today. At least during the the Save the Jags era there was something to galvanise us. Just as an aside as a supporter dating back nearly 60 years, I still maintain our most significant resurrection was up at Peterhead a decade or so ago. But that's something for another day. I don't go as far back as the 60's but the 80's sometime between Benny Rooney and Derek Johnstone's reign were also the worst period I can remember. As a club we were just going nowhere and having came from a period of Maurice Johnstone, Alan Rough, Donald Park etc it highlighted the lack of ability of the Carson(s), Spittal and Dalziel It really only started to change when Ken Bates sold his interest to Jim Donald, Bobby Watson and co. God only knows where we would be if that hadn't happened. At the time my Dad talked about the demise of Third Lanark and how that stemmed from a Chairman who didn't really care for the football club and wanted to make a quick buck. I don't think we were far from that scenario under Bates. As you say 'Save the Jags' was in a peverse way one of the best seasons as a supporter. There was a sense of togetherness and the playing squad McViegh managed to put together on a shoe string couldn't be faulted for effort. The Bunnet/ GB&Whyte where poor managerial choices that failed and as much as the boards/chairmen of those periods weren't great they were at least interested. This period if Caldwell doesn't work out will probably be more similar to the Bunnet/GB& Whyte and as much as our current chairwoman may have made mistakes its unlikely to be for lack of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpool Jags Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 Pretty sure Motherwell scored last in the 8-3 game. That was a thoroughly mental day's fitba'. Mr McQuade was utterly unplayable. He scored two, or maybe three, but assisted in a couple more. Heavy swirling rain slightly blurred the view from the shed, and I experienced even more pish than usual down the back of my leg as the goals kept going in and the crowd surged forward, in yet further celebration, but it was a day I'll never ever forget. Pretty sure it was 2-1 for us at half time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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