President: Chris Lenson
Manager: Duncan Sinclair
Larkall Thistle is a junior football club based in South Lanarkshire in Scotland. Thistle are the oldest junior football club in Scotland and currently play in the Stagecoach West of Scotland League Central District First Division.
Larkhall Thistle were founded in 1878 making them the oldest junior football club in Scotland. They started out at Loch Park in Larkhall but in 1881 moved to their present home, Gasworks Park, situated just behind the main cross in Larkhall. They have just finished the last season of sharing the ground with local rivals Royal Albert.
Gasworks Park is thought to be the only junior park in Scotland to have hosted the Junior Cup final, on two occasions in 1888 and 1889.
Also known as the Jags or sometimes Larky, they play in red and white vertical striped shirts with black shorts. The away strip is currently blue and black vertical stripes, similar to Inter Milan. Other recent away tops have included Argentina style light blue and white vertical spripes.
Thistlqe have had a long and often successful life in the junior ranks and as well as many minor league and cup triumphs, they have won the ultimate honour in Scottish Junior football, the Scottish Cup, on two occasions – in 1907–08 and 1913-14, beating Queens Park Hampden XI 1-0 and Ashfield 1-0 after 1-1 and 0-0 replays. Thistle also lost a final in their first appearance in 1902-03, going down 3-0 to Parkhead.
The club has been a rich breeding ground for players and managers in the senior game both for teams in Scotland and beyond. Many ex-players have gone on to play senior football, indeed it is thought more than any junior club, including:
David Richards – Port Vale, Dundee United, Luton Town
Alex Raisbeck – Hibs, Stoke, Liverpool. Partick Thistle
John Hutton – Aberdeen, Blackburn Rovers
Andy McLaren – Preston North End, Burnley, Sheffield United
Jimmy Carabine – Third Lanark
George Brown – Kilmarnock, Airdrie, Clyde
Gerry Baker – St. Mirren, Hibernian, Ipswich Town, United States
Billy Boyd – Clyde, Manchester United, Southampton
Jim McLean – Clyde, Dundee, Kilmarnock
Tommy Cairns – Rangers, Bristol City, St Johnstone
Davie McParland – Partick Thistle
John Clark – Celtic, Morton
Alan Sneddon – Hibernian, Celtic, Motherwell
Jock Ewart – Airdrie, Bradford City, Preston North End
Tommy Ewing – Partick Thistle, Aston Villa, Morton
Jimmy Gibson – Partick Thistle, Aston Villa
Neilly Gibson – Rangers, Partick Thistle
Jock Govan – Hibernian, Ayr United
Willie McStay – Celtic, Huddersfield Town, Kilmarnock
Hugh Burns – Rangers, Hearts, Dunfermline, Ayr United
Footnote:
In Scotland, junior football is non-league football played by men as distinct from other parts of the UK where junior football refers to the boys game. Players are paid depending on the club budget but well run junior teams can often pay more than senior league teams.
nice to see thistle off to a good start this season,very proud my son Scott plays for thistle as i had strong connections to larkhall(my grandparents lived a goalkick away in st.davids place) and i saw many games as a kid,good luck to lads for rest of season,happy birthday to my son this month p.s. could you please spell his name correctly,thanks
Thanks for the comment, good to see people starting to chip in. Scott had a great game yesterday, especially in the first half when he tore the Greenock defence apart.
No problem spelling his name correctly, a lot of this is done by word of mouth and so sometimes the players names aren’t 100% but I’ve got in now from your comment and I’ll change the site.
thanks for that ian the little things can be important,great result and nice to know scott is playing well in a good team
Hi I took pictures at the Game on SAT 15 againts Neilson How do I give you the pictures as your E-Mail address did not work!!!
Hi Adam, I sent you a reply from my email address so it should be OK now, let me know if you didn’t get it.
Thanks, Ian
great result, team seems to be playing with a lot of confidence,nice that scott got a couple must have inherited something from his old man after all.
I think they’re all benefitting from a settled team Jamie, more or less unchanged for the last six games now. Scott’s on fire on the right side he’s setting up a lot of chances as well as chipping in with goals.
great to see jags of to a good start this season rack in the points before xmas really enjoyed the cup game last week at elgin even with rooster as my passanger roll on the gow today
bad result (and thats something coming from a gow boy) we seem to concentrate more on scoring than losing goals but sort it out at the back and we won’t go far wrong,heads up lads,one bad result doesn’t make a bad team
Hi
My name is Andrzej
Im fan British football from Poland
I would like sun new information about yours association (club)
I collector pin badge British National fa, County fa ,club, league, supporters.
most Scottish badges football.
If you could send me yours badge. I will hope.
Zdzieszek Andrzej
Lodz Gorna 93-252
Ulica. Felinskiego 20 m 1
Poland
Hi Andrzej
Thanks for the message, we are a small non-league club and we don’t really have a club shop or badges etc for sale. We might do something in the future so please check back again some time.
is todays game on
The game is on.
wish it had been off just like the ref
Myself and Benson walked to the game at EK on Saturday and had the pleasure of watching the team get off to a great start for 2013, just what the doctor ordered. At times in the game the play was exceptional considering the conditions. I would have paid the entrance money just to see Mark Canning’s half volley, he must have got my DVD for his Christmas. Roll on Saturday. Fitzy.
It would be dead easy to say that the referee had a poor game, but that’s exactly what happened. If he would have kept up with play, he might not have got so many decisions wrong. I’ve seen Thistle play at lot better though, so hopefully the players will use this defeat to spur them on for the rest of the season, starting with the Greenock game next week. Fitzy.
Hi Lads,
Play for Lanark and couldn’t help notice that the game was being filmed yesterday. Is there anyway I would be able to get a copy of the footage taken on Saturday, this would be a great help to myself.
Thanks
game off v bellshill park icy and frozen
Great result on Saturday, with two great goals. Keep working hard guys and who knows were we could be by the end of the season. Just to let you know, I predicted a 2-0 win with Mark to score a half volley, before the start of the game, ask Mark Canning if you don’t believe me.
What a great hard battled result for the boys at the weekend. Not a great day for football, but just shows you that if you role up your sleeves and work hard for each other, then you can grind out results, which could just get you promotion at the end of the season. I believe we can do it, the rest is up to you.
I agree mate, considering we were a few players short and with no experienced cover they did very well. Horrible day for football though!
can we make up a wee group for the team with a drum flags and that to support the team
from
cameron wilson
simply the best.
All the best Jags for this Saturday, it’s 100 years exactly since the Junior Cup was last won.
About time it was back in Larkie !
Well said Tommy,hope we get a good crowd tomorrow,’mon the Jags!
Can anyone help? My father (now deceased) once played for Larkhall Thistle, not sure of exact dates, think it might have been 1940’s. I was wondering if there were any photos of that decade to see. Purely just for memorabilia. Would be grateful.
Many Thanks
Hi Pamela what was your dad’s first name ?. We don’t have many photographs of teams from that era plus not many people still with us who could maybe give us some info on your dad. We have framed pictures on clubhouse walls of teams from 1914 to present day will check them and let you know.
Hi Hugh! Thanks for getting back.My dad’s name was Charlie Conlan and as far as I know he was a striker in the late 1940s or early 1950s.If you find anything I would be rea\lly grateful!
Hello, would like to offer your manager a scout for opposition reports and player referral , contact [email protected] , http://www.soccereye.co.uk
Memories at gaswork park some very good players matt mulhearn ; tommy coats goalie? Cup tie at st roachs what a support good luck for rest of season
Thanks for your kind words billy those indeed were exciting days the money the club generated from those games with the Roch put us on a sound financial footing. They had one or 2 good players Denis McQuade who went on to play in the Partick Thistle team who beat Celtic 4-1 in the League Cup Final Dom Sullivan who went on to play for Celtic and Aberdeen and Willie Callaghan
Big month for the jags starting today against league leaders the wee gers then home league match then fauldhouse in the scottish so as it’s nov 5th hope the team bang(ers) in the goals put out the fires at the back and that we rocket up the league and sparkle into the next round of the cup so come on sinky tam and the (guys) for FAWKES sake lets do it
Good day Hugh,my name is Davy Clark,If I’m not mistaken we were in the same class at Larkhall Academy.I was back in Larkhall in October and went to watch the local derby match.As I entered the ground one of the Thistle officials approached me and told me I was in a team pic in the clubhouse.He took me in and showed me.Billy Paterson and I ran the team in 1978.He told me he would send me a copy of the pic so I could put it up in my bar at home in South Africa where I’ve lived for 36 years.
At the game I met Billy McVie,Alec Scobbie and Hugh McMillan who I played with at Muirkirk and another ex playerJo Lockhart.I’ll send you a pic.
I would appreciate if you could send me the pic Hugh(red hair if its you)
Best Regards
Its me all right Davy but the hair is white now I am club treasurer and I am surprised I missed you that day. I am currently recuperating from an operation so not at club much at the moment. Your sister had e.mailed Ian who does the website and arrangements are in hand to get a copy for you. Sorry I missed you.
Hi
I wonder if anyone can help me I am doing some ancestry on my family and have been told that my Grandfather used to play for Larkhall Thistle around the early 1900’s his name was John Brown just wondered if you had any old records.
Thanks
Carol Cooper
Hi Carol will see if I can find anything but our records don’t go back that far but we have some old photos with names.
I am looking for the forenames of the following Larkhall Thistle players who were capped at Junior level;
W Rodger 1892 v Ireland
J Miller 1908 v Ireland
“Wee Dykie” Creechan 1924 v England and Wales
Thanks in advance for any assistance with the above.
Hi will try and get your information
Thanks to everyone who helped when my dad – Bill Gray – had a bit of a turn during the Darvel game. He now realises he can’t stand for a whole match and at the age of 92 it’s no big thing to sit down! He’s fine now.
Not a problem Norman glad he is fine . We have some seats that we put out for people who can’t stand for 90 minutes so no reason why your dad can’t still come to games.
Hello,
I’m the editor of a website called LFChistory.net which is the largest historical site on LFC. I’m currently writing the biography of Alexander Raisbeck, whose first club was Larkhall Thistle. He and three of his brothers graced the side 1894-96, the youngest, Andrew in 1900-1901. I have so far been unsuccessful in finding any images of the side from that time and was wondering if there is a club historian who might help me out and solve as well some queries I have about those early years.
Thank you!