Friday 15th February, 2019 at 9:00am
B&Q League First Division
28th February 1990
Alloa Athletic 1 Partick Thistle 0
You will have noticed immediately that the date on the front cover of the programme is the 27th January. This ill-fated match was postponed then and subsequently on 6th February, 13th February and 21st February before Recreation Park (the predecessor of the Indodrill Stadium) was finally deemed to be playable, but only thanks to a close decision, because the playing surface was extremely heavy.
Those of us of a Thistle persuasion, having suffered a truly abysmal performance, were sorry this match hadn’t been postponed again. Someone else who shared this view must have been manager, Sandy Clark, who saw his career at Thistle come to a shuddering halt. This was our 7th defeat in a row, six league games and a Scottish Cup tie versus Aberdeen. Now, Thistle fans are made of stern stuff but this was a severe test of their endurance and Sandy Clark paid the ultimate penalty.
Speaking of penalties, it was an 80th minute spot-kick awarded for a rash challenge by Bobby Law which determined the outcome of the game. The Thistle defender was immediately replaced by Lex Grant.
The Jags were going through a very tough spell and the attendance was recorder as a meagre 900. I suppose that would have been correct.
The full Thistle team for the featured match was as follows: – Cammy Duncan, Bobby Law, Bobby Smith, Jim Kerr, Roddy McDonald, Gary Peebles, Brian Gallagher, Brian Wright, Calum Campbell, John Flood and David McFarlane.
We finished in 8th position in the First Division and had to wait until the 1991-92 season to win our way back to the Premier League. Since then we’ve been up, down and back again. Variety is the spice of football life down Firhill way.
Robert R.
