Larkhall Thistle currently have 19 signed players in the squad. So far this season, several players have left and a few have come in. Kevin McMinn moved away due to work commitments, Scott Nicholl also left because of his work, JP Grant and Mark Russell left by mutual agreement, Larkhall Thistle Squad 2013 – 2014:

	Davie McEwan Position: Goalkeeper   Age: 31 Occupation: Driver Previous clubs: Livingston, Hamilton Accies, Dumbarton, Derry City, Alloa, Clyde
	Lee Moss Position: Goalkeeper   Age: 31 Occupation: Delivery Driver Previous clubs: Larkhall Vics, Netherburn Amatuers, Milton Rovers
	Andy Brown Position: Defender   Age: 27 Occupation: Forklift Driver Previous clubs: Larkhall Thistle, Lesmahagow
	Adam Cassidy Position: Central defender Occupation: Previous clubs:
	Kevin McMinn Position: Central defender Left the club
	Mark Russell Position: Defender Age: 20 Left the club
	Niall_Reynolds Position: Defender Occupation: Previous clubs: St Anthony’s
	Robert Borg Position: Central defender Occupation: Previous clubs: East Kilbride Thistle
	Neil SchonevillePosition: Defender Age: 31 Occupation: Previous clubs: Rutherglen Glencairn
	Stuart McIntoshPosition: Defender Occupation: Previous clubs:
	Mark Canning Position: Midfielder Age: 29 Occupation: Manufacturing Previous clubs: Kilmarnock, Dumbarton, Albion Rovers, Kilwinning Rangers
	Ryan Innes Position: Midfielder Occupation: Previous clubs: Larkhall United
	Scott McLachlan Position: Midfielder/Striker Age: 27 Occupation: Joiner Previous clubs: Airdrie Youths, Royal Albert
	Mark McKeever Position: Midfielder Age: 38 Occupation: Chartered Engineer Previous clubs: Dunfermline, Bonnybridge, Linlithgow Rose, Camelon, Larkhall Thistle, Cumnock, Pollok, Shotts
	Hugh Kelly Position: Midfielder Age: 34 Occupation: Postman Previous clubs: Celtic, Stoneyburn, Fauldhouse Utd. Livingston, Cumnock, Petershill, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth, Shotts, Lanark, Forth
	Matthew Clarke Position: MidfielderPrevious clubs: Shotts Bon accord, Lanark United
	David Aguilera García Position: Midfielder/StrikerPrevious clubs: CD Llosa
	Scott Nicholl Position: Midfielder Left the club
	JP Grant Position: Midfielder/Striker Age: 26 Left the club
	Jordan Marshall Position: Midfielder Occupation: Previous clubs: Hamilton FP, Dalziel Amateurs
	Brian Jack Position: Midfielder Occupation: Previous clubs: Shotts, Petershill, Cumnock
	Graham Gracie Position: Midfielder Occupation: Previous clubs:
	Ross McGeachie Position: Striker Age: 28 Occupation: Banker Previous clubs: Hamilton Accies, Fauldhouse, Camelon, Lemahagow

Previous player squads:

Player Squad Season 2014 – 2015
Player Squad Season 2013 – 2014
Player Squad Season 2012 – 2013

This is just a page for everything else that doesn’t fit into a specific category but has something to do with Larkhall Thistle. Thanks to Hugh Kerr for the photographs and most of the details below. Thanks also to exiled for added comments and information.

This photograph was taken during the crowd invasion of the park at Kirkintilloch on 12th February 1977. See archive page for more details.

Some of the faces in the photograph above: Jock Roy, Davie Wilson, Jock and Danny McLeish and Jackie Hamilton. (Thanks to exiled for the information)

Two pictures above celebrating Tom Sutherland as Larkhall Thistle Player of the Year. The top one was taken at the presentation dance in The County Inn in Cambuslang in 1973 0r 74.
Back row: John Hutchison, John Chalmers, Arthur Whiteside, Jim “Suzz” Sutherland, Alan Duff, John McCaig, Bobby Bloomfield Front row: John Hunter, Scott McCartney, John McKerr, Alastair Duff (Thanks again to exiled for his help on this one)

The pictures above are from a Larkhall Thistle training session at Gasworks Park, taken prior to the Beatons Cup Final against Bellshill in 2001 In the background is the former Larkhall Thistle Social Club which was wound up in 1989.

This is an old photograph of some Larkhall Thistle players training in the old pavillion and changing rooms, opposite the side where they are now.
Barbells – Bert Steel, crouching – Bobby Woods, situps – Dick Nelson, barbells – Tommy Walker, standing in corner – Harry Kirkwood.

Two Thistle players at Shawlands

Larkhall Thistle players Paul Anderson and Hugh Kennedy pictured outside the Shawlands Hotel in Larkhall, just before the cup final with Bellshill at Firhill.

As featured in the regular Larkhall Thistle match programmes, a series of quiz questions involving Thistle and their players past and present. Questions by our resident Thistle expert/researcher/Googler, Hugh Kerr.

Question 1
Who was the last Thistle player to be capped at both Junior and Senior level for Scotland?

Clues:
– He got his two Senior caps in the same year, against Wales and England
– He stayed in Larkhall for many years and had a business in the town.

Answer
Tommy Ewing. He signed for the Jags from Birkenshaw Welfare Hearts and played for Junior Scotland during his spell at Gasworks Park. He then signed senior with the other Thistle – Partick – and was with them for three years, during which he won his two Scotland caps in a 1-1 draw with Wales and a 4-0 defeat to England. Tommy then moved to Aston Villa before returning to Partick Thistle and Morton, where he finished his playing career. He also had a spell as manager of the Accies. Tommy owned the Ranch bar in Larkhall and Jilts in Hamilton for many years.

Question 2
Can you name the five sets of fathers and sons who have played with the Jags?

Clues:
– In one set the father and two sons played with the Thistle.
– Of the fathers and sons in the five sets, two sons and one father went on to manage and play at the highest level.

Answer
1. The McLeans
Tommy “Speeder” McLean played for the Thistle in 1932 in the Scottish Cup semi-final, where we lost 3-2 to Rob Roy. His two sons, Jim and Willie subsequently played with the Jags. Wee jum as he was known played senior with Hamilton Accies, Clyde, Dundee and Kilmarnock but is best known for his 22 years as manager of Dundee Utd, winning the league championship and breaking the Old Firm’s hold on major honours.
His brother Willie played for Airdrie, Sheffield Wednesday, Alloa and Clyde. He played with and managed Queen of the South and Raith Rovers and also managed Motherwell Ayr and Morton.

2. The Chalmers
Jimmy and John Chalmers. Jimmy played with us in the early fifties and John was with us in the seventies before moving to Lesmahagow where he gained numerous caps for Junior Scotland.

3. The Dempseys
Jim Dempsey joined the Thistle from Blackburn United and had a tremendous spell at the club in 1969 before he joined the Accies where had two spells as a player. He also played for Raith Rovers, Stirling Albion, Albion Rovers and Thistle again. Jim also managed Accies for a season then came back to Thistle as manager in 1991-1992 but left to manage Fauldhouse .
He returned as assistant to Bobby Crilly in 1999. You could say Jim was an old style tough-tackling half back. His son John was in the same mould as his old man when he was with us during his dad’s spell at Gasworks Park.

4. The Hamiltons
Charlie Hamilton only played with the Thistle for one season and was an old type battering ram centre forward. His son Graeme was only with us for about six months and was a skilful midfielder.

5. The Bapties
Crawford Baptie “Big Beeba” as he was known was equally at home either in defence or midfield and was great favourite with the supporters. He also played at senior level with a host of clubs including Falkirk, Accies and Motherwell. His son Jack signed for us from Lanark United but failed to command a regular place and was released and now plays with our tenants at Gasworks Park, Royal Albert.

Question 3
We have travelled to the North of Scotland on many occasions, can you recall the only time we were defeated?

Clues:
– It was a major shock on the day.

Answer
Ellon United. The game was played at Uddy Park, Formartine and quite frankly should never have been played. When we arrived they were putting down red salt on various parts of the pitch, including the goalmouths and it was clear that the ref was hell bent on the game going ahead. It was about the only game on in the North of Scotland, even Aberdeen’s game was off due to frost, in fact Bobby Clark and Alex McLeish were at the game.
We just could not get to grips with the conditions and lost 2-1 to a team who lost 6-0 at Cumnock in the next round. The game ended with Tommy Burns in our goal a spectator as we laid siege to the Ellon goal. Tommy had to keep out his goalmouth as much as possible as the ground was starting to freeze under his feet. That was the longest bus journey home you could imagine.

Question 4
Anyone who has looked into the history of the Thistle will know that Tommy “Fister” Lang won an English FA Cup medal with Newcastle, but can anyone name the guy who coached Thistle, won a senior Scottish Cup medal with his home town club, was capped for Scotland and once during his senior career scored 6 goals in one game?

Answer
Wilson Humphries. Wilson was Motherwell born and played for them at inside-right, once scoring six goals in one game against Dundee Utd and was capped once for Scotland against Sweden. Wilson also played for St.Mirren, Dundee Utd and Hamilton Accies. He was a part time coach at Motherwell, combing it with his main job as a school teacher and also managed St Mirren for a couple of seasons.
He was only at Gasworks Park for part of a season, I am not sure exactly how he came to be coach – I think one of our players at the time taught at the same school. When he arrived we were rooted at the bottom of the old Central League First Division and looked odds-on for relegation, but we went on a run of victories which resulted in us needing a win at Renfrew to stay up. We won 2-1 and I can remember the game quite clearly, Tommy Burns was absolutely brilliant in goals and at the other end Alistair Duff netted twice in what turned out to be his last game.
Wilson Humphries had the knack of getting the best and more out of even the most basic players and when he entered the dressing room, he commanded the attention of the players right away. He was old-school in many ways – one story in particular springs to mind. One of our players sustained a bad head gash and our physio at the time John Brown who was brilliant at his job and a great favourite with the players, was all for taking the player off. The player in question was local lad Alan Hamilton, not great on ability but would run for you all day. Wiilson said, “John get a f*****g bandage on it and make sure he doesn’t see it in the mirror, I’ve played with worse in my time”.
So Alan was put back on the pitch with what looked like a turban on his head. We won the game and in the dressing room later when he saw the gash, Alan nearly fainted. He had to go to hospital to get umpteen stitches. Wilson’s bonus for keeping us up was a bottle of Black Label which was his tipple. We couldn’t keep him due to financial restraints, but what a six months we had while he was coach with his unique style of man management. Unfortunately Wilson passed away in 1992.

Question 5
Who was the coach who in one calendar year managed to relegate three clubs, including the Thistle?

Answer
Ian Browning. Ian was in charge of Carluke Rovers as one season ended and they were relegated and he was sacked. New season started and he was with Stonehouse Violet, he had bad start and was sacked. He then joined us in October as player coach when quite honestly we were in a really bad way but he did not help things and we went down to Division C of the old Central League as did the Violet. Quite a record at any level.

This section is general articles about Larkhall Thistle – short and sometimes long. All contributions most welcome, just leave a post at the bottom of the page in the comments section or send an email to:

iamcintosh @ bluebottle DOT com

Thistle’s Scottish Cup run to the semi finals, 1968

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.

Larkhall Thistle Playing Squad Season 2012 – 2013

Davie McEwan
Position: Goalkeeper   Age: 30   Occupation: Driver
Previous clubs: Livingston, Hamilton Accies, Dumbarton, Derry City, Alloa, Clyde
Davie was part of Dumbarton’s squad that won the Third Division Championship in 2009 and set a club record, of not losing a goal for 747 minutes along with stand in keeper Mark McGeown.

Lee Thomson
Position: Goalkeeper    Age: 25   Occupation: Mature Student / Part-Time Barman
Previous clubs: Rangers, Albion Rovers, Troon Juniors, Bonnyton Thistle, Albion Rovers, Lugar

Lee Moss
Position: Goalkeeper   Age: 30   Occupation: Delivery Driver
Previous clubs: Larkhall Vics, Netherburn Amatuers. Milton Rovers

Kevin Duris    
Position: Defender   Age: 24   Occupation: Bricklayer
Previous clubs: Lesmahagow, Royal Albert, Eddlewood Amatuers

Johnny MacKay
Position: Defender   Age: 22   Occupation: Groundworker
Previous clubs: Royal Albert Blantyre Vics U21

Andy Brown
Position: Defender   Age: 26   Occupation: Forklift Driver
Previous clubs: Larkhall Thistle, Lesmahagow

Mark Russell
Position: Defender   Age: 19   Occupation: University, Studying Sports Coaching
Previous clubs: Strathclyde Utd, Blantyre Vics

Dean Richardson
Position: Defender   Age: 25   Occupation: Works For Robert Wiseman
Previous clubs: Celtic, Bohemians, East Stirling

Ryan Moore
Position: Defender

Mark Weir
Position: Defender   Age: 34   Occupation: Gas Engineer
Previous clubs: Clubs Livingston, Dundee Utd , Carluke Rovers, Forth, Lesmahagow

Alan Fleming
Position: Defender

Mark McKeever
Position: Defender/Midfielder  Age: 37   Occupation: Chartered Engineer
Previous clubs: Dunfermline, Bonnybridge, Linlithgow Rose, Camelon, Larkhall Thistle, Cumnock, Pollok, Shotts

John Paul Grant
Position: Midfielder/Striker   Age: 25   Occupation: School Janitor
Previous clubs: Motherwell, Glenafton, Lanark Utd. Yoker

Hugh Kelly
Position: Midfielder   Age: 33   Occupation: Postman
Previous clubs: Celtic, Stoneyburn, Fauldhouse Utd. Livingston, Cumnock, Petershill, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth, Shotts, Lanark, Forth

Mark Canning
Position: Midfielder   Age: 28   Occupation: Works For Oticon Ltd Making Hearing Aids
Previous clubs: Kilmarnock, Dumbarton, Albion Rovers, Kilwinning Rangers

Scott McLachlan
Position: Midfielder/Winger   Age: 26   Occupation: Joiner
Previous clubs: Airdrie Youths, Royal Albert

Brian Jack
Position: Midfielder
Previous clubs: Shotts, Petershill, Cumnock

Steven McInall
Position: Midfielder

Neill MacMillan
Position: Midfielder

Graham Gracie
Position: Striker  Age: 20   Occupation: Student
Previous clubs: Larkhall Thistle U19

Ross McGeachie
Position: Striker  Age: 27   Occupation: Banker
Previous clubs: Hamilton Accies, Fauldhouse, Camelon, Lemahagow

Mark Brady
Position: Striker

Ross McNab
Position: Winger / Striker
Previous clubs: Livingstone United

Sandy Strang
Position: Striker
Previous clubs: Lesmahagow, Royal Albert

Duncan “Dunky” Sinclair
Manager

Tam McLaughlin
Coach

John Ross
Physio

Larkall Thistle play at Gasworks Park in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire.

The address of the park is:
Gasworks Park
Raploch Street
Larkhall Lanarkshire
ML9 1AJ

The park is easy to get to and there are excellent transport links to Larkhall, both by road and by train.

By road:
Exit the M74 southbound at Junction 7 and follow the signs for Larkhall, through the mini roundabout to the traffic lights at Larkhall Cross. Raploch Street is straight ahead and the park is 100 yards on the left. From the M74 northbound, exit at Junction 8 and follow the signs down the hill into Larkhall. Larkhall Cross is about 2 miles and Raploch Street is on the left at the cross. Larkhall is also ideally placed for the main East/West road in Scotland, being roughly midpoint on the A71.

Parking:
There is loads of on street parking outside and in the streets around the park.

By train:
From Glasgow Central low level platform 16, trains run every half hour. From Larkhall Central, exit the station onto Caledonia Road and turn left, then left into Raploch Street.

CONTACT:

For season tickets, buses to away games, tickets for events etc, phone or text any of the following:

Stevie Johnston 07523153713
Chris Lenson 07878468937
Hugh Kerr 07746875347

For anything to do with the website or programme, email:

ian @ larkhallthistle.co.uk (no spaces)

Or leave a comment at the bottom of any of the pages, it will show up at the top of the home page as the latest comment.