Sunday 3rd March, 2019 at 9:00am
Scottish League First Division
Partick Thistle 4 Heart of Midlothian 1
4th February 1961
News of the Scottish Cup quarter final draw would have been unlikely to send the Thistle support into rapturous applause, but on reflection we have had some very encouraging results against the men from Tynecastle, even when they were flying high, as they were to some extent in 1961, finishing 7th in a very competitive Scottish First Division. So in the featured match Thistle had a job on their hands, but rose magnificently to the challenge, obtaining a resounding 4-1 victory.
The Thistle team on the day featured in goal the unpredictable John Freebairn; who like the wee boy we all know was very good when he was good but at other times less so. The full backs were Joe Hogan; who doubled as a centre forward would you believe, and Sandy Brown, who later transferred to Everton where he was a huge success. The half back line featured Alex Wright, John Harvey and Frank Donlevy. At outside right was Dougie Wright, whose partner was Billy Cunningham. Spearheading the attack was the prolific Joe McBride, and we had a famous left wing of Neil Duffy and Thistle legend David McParland. There were, of course, no substitutes in those far off days.
Goalscorers on the day were Dougie Wright, Joe McBride, and Neil Duffy who scored twice. All in all, it was a good team performance and great result. Dare we hope for a repeat on 4th March? You never know.
As a matter of interest, had you been present at the match, your programme would have cost you princely sum of 3d. The downside to that, however, is that you would now be well beyond the first flush of youth. You can’t have it both ways!
Robert Reid
