Friday 17th February, 2017 at 9:00am
Relegation from the Premier Division in 1982 was a bitter blow for all Jags fans and the recovery process was lengthy and extremely painful. All through the succeeding years of the 80’s we just simply seemed to be getting nowhere. These came to be recognised as the wilderness years. We made a habit of finishing 8th in the second tier of Scottish football and in season 1984/85 we even plunged to 11th. Surely we must be better than that. Fortunately, towards the end of the decade, the green shoots of recovery began to emerge and there were signs in the featured match that at long last things were looking up. In saying that, it took until season 1991/92 until we finally returned to the promised land.
Thistle were quickly out of the blocks and Bobby Law gave us the lead as early as the 2nd minute. The visitors were quick to reply, Colin “bomber” Harris striking in 6 minutes. Following the break, Thistle started the second-half with a goal after just 2 minutes. This time it was the prolific Calum Campbell who found the net, just as he did on 16 other occasions that season, 17 if you include his goal against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup. Thistle dominated second-half proceedings with an improved standard of football and Chic Charnley put the issue beyond doubt from the penalty-spot with 15 minutes remaining.
The full Thistle team was as follows: – Cammy Duncan, Gary Peebles, Bobby Law, Jim Kerr, Gerry Collins, Bobby Smith, John Mitchell, Brian Wright, Calum Campbell, Brian Gallagher, Chic Charnley.
These were a few names in the Hamilton line-up familiar to Thistle fans – Andy Murdoch, Kevin McKee, Willie Jamieson, Paul McDonald.
The visitors wore a sky blue strip. We can expect something similar on Saturday.
Over the years one makes hundreds of football connections. The referee in the featured match was Martin Clark from Edinburgh. I met up with him at McDiarmid Park last Saturday, where he was referee supervisor – small world isn’t it?
You will notice on the front cover – photo by Tommy Taylor. Now, 27 years on, who is still snapping away? Yes, the ever green, indestructible Tommy Taylor!
Robert R
