10 things about Partick Thistle

Partick Thistle make the short journey to Celtic Park in the quarter-finals of the Scottish League Cup on Wednesday evening.

The Firhill club famously lifted the trophy for the one and only time in their history when they stunned Celtic 4-1 at Hampden on October 23, 1971.

Here are 10 other facts about the Jags.
 
1 Thistle were the winners of the 1929 Glasgow Dental Cup and still retain the trophy to this day! Historian and honorary vice-president Robert Reid has told many a visitor to Firhill that the club should really have been presented with a plaque and not a cup for being successful…
 
2 The famous conversation between a physio and a manager which consisted of ‘He has a head knock and doesn’t know who he is’ followed by ‘Well tell him he is Pele and get him back out there’ is believed to come from Partick Thistle. The manager involved was legendary Maryhill manager John Lambie and striker Colin McGlashan.
 
3 Thistle’s Firhill home since 1909 has a record attendance of 54, 728, which was set for a Home International between Scotland and Ireland in 1928. The current capacity is 10,102.
 
4 Firhill was used as the home of fictional side Strathclyde FC in an episode of Taggart in 2000 called Football Crazy. Many of the club’s players including Chic Charnley, who had several stints in red and yellow colours, were seen on the show.
 
5 Scotsport commentator Arthur Montford said that Partick Thistle had finally shaken off their unpredictable tag as he closed the coverage of the 4-1 League Cup success over Celtic in 1971. The following Saturday Thistle lost 7-2 to Aberdeen and less than two months later they defeated Motherwell 8-3, so perhaps they were still unpredictable.

6 Recently-retired TV pundit Alan Hansen started his career at Partick Thistle before he enjoyed a long spell at a Liverpool side that dominated England and Europe. His older brother John was a one-club man, playing more than 200 times in an 11-year career at Thistle. The full-back won two Scotland caps during his time at Firhill, as well as winning the League Cup.
 
7 Partick Thistle reached double figures in a League Cup tie 21 years ago, hammering Albion Rovers 11-1 in a second-round match played at Fir Park. Ian Cameron led the way with four of the goals and Albert Craig grabbed a double, with Bobby Law, Willie Jamieson, Gerry Britton, Isaac English and Roddy Grant also on target.
 
8 Partick Thistle have not played in the Partick area of Glasgow for nearly 110 years as Firhill is situated in the Maryhill area of the city.

9 Partick Thistle have won the Scottish Cup once, back in 1921. A 1-0 win over Rangers was secured at Parkhead, with Johnny Blair scoring the only goal of the game.
 
10 The red and yellow colours that Alan Archibald’s side wear now were first seen in 1935. Prior to this, a succession of blue jerseys had been worn, as had a blue and white striped outfit, yellow and black horizontal stripes and a claret and amber jersey.

Craig Stewart