Wednesday 18th June, 2025 at 2:42pm
The club can today confirm that, after nearly 15 years as part of the first team set-up and 441 senior appearances, Stuart Bannigan has left Partick Thistle Football Club.
Talks were held between Stuart and the club regarding a contract extension, however, no agreement was reached and now Stuart will move on.
Leaving the Celtic youth set-up as an under 15s player, Stuart was signed for Thistle after he’d been spotted training at the Firhill Complex adjacent to a Jags under 17s session.
Impressing with his seemingly boundless energy, Stuart progressed quickly and was signed as an apprentice with the Thistle first team in 2009.
His first team debut came the following year when, aged 17, he came on as a substitute in a Challenge Cup fixture against Clyde at Firhill and his league debut followed soon after, against Stirling Albion.
Having had that taste of first team football, Bannigan then went out on loan to get a more regular run of games and Somerset Park was the destination of choice as he joined Ayr United and helped them to promotion through the Second Division play-offs.
Returning to Maryhill, he would make 16 appearances the following season and also score his first goal for the Jags – against Hamilton on the final day of the campaign.
That goal set him up nicely for a breakout season in 2012/13 as he featured 39 times for Thistle’s enthralling title-winning team with Bannigan’s hard work with and without the ball helping the team become one of the club’s best in recent memory.
The midfielder handled the step up to top flight football with ease and his quality was recognised towards the back end of 2013 with a call-up to the Scotland under 21s squad and the league’s Young Player of the Month award.
As Thistle established themselves in the Premiership and improved year-on-year so did Stuart and before too long he was considered among the best Scottish midfield prospects in the SPFL but he suffered a serious knee injury in March 2016 which put his career in doubt.
Overall that injury and its associated setbacks ruled him out for around two years – he made 12 appearances during the 2017/18 campaign but didn’t feature at all after September and was made to wait until the following season to make a lasting comeback.
Despite a scare in pre-season, Bannigan returned to the pitch as a substitute to rapturous applause in a home league fixture against Morton before getting back into the starting XI three weeks later.
Stuart started 28 further matches before the end of the season and even scored the club’s final goal of the campaign; a penalty against Queen of the South at Palmerston Park.
Following the club’s demotion to League 1 in 2020, Bannigan was a key member of the squad that secured an immediate return to the Championship with 25 games played and one outstanding free-kick scored on the way to the league title.
In our four seasons since that promotion, Bannigan has played 172 games in all competitions and regularly been one of the team’s most consistent players evidenced by the three consecutive McCrea Financial Services Player of the Month awards he won this past winter.
His excellent service to the club was officially recognised by his induction into the Partick Thistle Hall of Fame in 2022 and his Testimonial Year in 2023.
At the end of a 15-year association with Partick Thistle, Stuart Bannigan leaves as a legend of this football club, a two-time title-winner and a Hall of Famer.
From everyone here at The Wyre Stadium at Firhill, thank you Banzo.
Partick Thistle Head Coach Mark Wilson said:
“Having played against Stuart during my playing days I always admired his tenacity and the way he put everything on the line for his team and having worked with him as a coach with the Academy and as a player with the first team, I’ve developed and even greater respect for what he has brought to this club over the years.
“To play over 400 games for one team is something very rare and something that I know Stuart is very proud of. The resilience he showed by coming back from what was essentially a two-year long lay-off is testament to his character and the passion he has for the game and Partick Thistle.
“He’s an undisputed Jags legend and I’m sure every Thistle fan would join me in wishing him the best for the future.”
