Some new  pictures of Larkhall Thistle teams from the past, thanks a lot to John Milne for supplying photos 16 and 17, John’s father is in the pictures. The pictures are from the same era and the 1953 one had players names but the other one didn’t, any help filling them in would be welcome. Just leave a post at the bottom of this page and it will show at the top of the comments on the home page.

Back row, Left to Right: Stewart, Nelson, Calder, Chalmers, Gunne, Flieder
Front row, Left to Right: Orr, Maxwell, Milne, Haughey, Black

 

The Larkhall Thistle team from around 1953 who won the Lanarkshire Junior League Cup and were finalists in the Evening Citizen Cup for the third year in a row where they played Coltness United. The Jags had also played Coltness in the previous season’s final where they lost 2-1.

Larkhall Thistle team photos 1
Larkhall Thistle team photos 2

Larkhall Thistle had a good cup run in 1977, a time that was dominated by the big Ayrshire teams of the day.

8th January 1977
Scottish Cup Third Round
Larkhall Thistle 3 Arniston Rangers 2

22nd January 1977
Scottish Cup Fourth Round
Linlithgow Rose 2 Larkhall Thistle 3

This was an outstanding result for the Jags and one of the most famous victories in their history as they beat the East league giants on their own park. Larkhall’s hero on the day was Alistair Duff who scored all three of the goals.

12th February 1977
Scottish Cup Fifth Round
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 4 Larkhall Thistle 1

Thistle travelled to play Roy Roy in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup, a game that the Jags lost 4-1. The home team had themselves lost 4-1 in their previous game to lowly Carluke in the Dryburgh Cup, a major shock at the time and Thistle looked to be going into the game with every chance of winning. The game was marred by crowd trouble which caused a six minute hold up in the second half. See photo
Scorers for Rob Roy were Frew 2, Ward and Lochrie, Thistle’s goal was scored by Duff.

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.

 

The Local Lads – Thistle players from in and around Larkhall – By Hugh Kerr

There have been many local lads past and present who have played for Thistle over the years, here Hugh Kerr shares his recollections of some of the most memorable of them.

I was on gate duty at the last home game against Carluke and was quite surprised by the number of local ex-players who were at the game. Guys like Davy Henderson, big John Hunter and a Thistle legend, Martin Mulhearn. It has been said that the Thistle don’t give local talent an opportunity which set me thinking about locals who had played for the club over the years.

Lets start with goalkeepers;

GOALKEEPERS

Fred Craig Fred played with the Jags in 1912 then was keeper at Plymouth Argyle for many years. He was also the Argyle penalty taker.

Tom Coates Not only a top class keeper he was also a fairly good outfield player, once scoring a hat trick at today’s opponents when we had 10 outfield players and 2 keepers. He also played non-league down south and also with the Albert, signing with them because they paid ten bob a week more than the Thistle! Big Coatsie is his son, the quiet man at our games. Sadly Tom is no longer with us.

Guy Montgomery Guy played with us in the early seventies and was our keeper during the epic 3 games with St Rochs, with us finally being defeated 2-1 at neutral Petershill. Guy was only a boy at the time but a very brave and confident keeper.

Alex Morrison It is said goalies need to be daft to play that position and Alex certainly lived up to that theory! He came from Ashgill and was capped for Junior Scotland while at Gasworks Park. He went on to play and manage Darvel, taking them to the Scottish Cup final where they lost 3-0 to Bo’ness. He was also in charge at Hurlford Utd and the Albert.

John Graham John was at the Thistle when he had only turned 16 years old as stand-in for Alex Morrison. I remember once when we were travelling to Forfar West End in the Scottish Morrison turned up for the bus under pressure after night out. Young John then took ill on the way up and was in no state to play, so big Alex played when still badly hungover. The game ended in a 3-3 draw and he had nightmare. Thistle won the replay 6-1.

Matt Preston Matt was also at club during the Morrison reign and was a good competent keeper.

Mitchell McIntosh As well as Mitchell himself, his brother Alex also played with us. Mitch was a big strong brave keeper who had one of his finest displays in the jersey in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup when we beat Linlithgow Rose 3-2 at Linlithgow. The big man was magnificent and at the other end, Alistair Duff  of whom a well known reporter at the time for the Citizen – Tommy Workman – said can only score goals, netted a hat trick. The Thistle punters cleaned out the local bookies who were offering odds of something like 6/1 as Rose were odds-on favourites for the cup. What a day in our history. We went out in the next round at Rob Roy.

Graeme Nisbet Nizzy came to us from Stonehouse Violet and soon became a firm favourite at Gasworks park not the tallest but an excellent keeper again very good on his line.

Scott Kelly Over the years we have had quite a few keepers on the small side, Scott played with our Under 19 team and was understudy to Davie McEwan in our promotion year. Again a good shot stopper. Scott stopped playing due to work committments.

Davie McEwan Reinstated to the junior ranks from Dumbarton after also playing with Livingston, Hamiton Accies, Alloa and Clyde. A great shot stopper who marshalls his defence very well. Currently recovering from an operation on his knee after the horrendous late attempt at winning the ball by a Kilwinning player in the Scottish Cup replay in February.

Lee Moss Definitely the smallest goalie ever to play with us, coming in after big Davie’s injury and despite his lack of inches the wee man has never let us down.

DEFENDERS

John McStay Stylish centre half, famous name in Larkhall.

Willie Lamb Old fashioned full back, still see Willie in Larkhall.

Micky Lyons Again cultured full back, played with us twice. Played in the 1968 cup semi-final team. Still seen about Larkhall.

John Hunter Centre-half. Played in a team that won two trophies at same ground, on Wednesday then the following Saturday. John never misses a game.

Davy Henderson Not the tallest, stays just up from park and seldom misses a game.

Bobby Stillie Centre-half. Played in our famous win at Linlithgow.

John McKerr Also played with John Hunter when we won the two trophies in four days.

Bobby Muir “Teabread” was his nickname as he ran a baker’s van.

John Martin Centre-half. Again with us twice, signed from Fairholm, went to Dundee then returned.

Danny Carroll Old style full-back. Wingers never passed him twice! Sadly no longer with us.

Alex Walker “Big Eck” Solid centre half who was magic in the air. All I need to write about the big man was Ellon Utd. Alex is also no longer with us.

Dougie Bryden I have decided to include the “Larkie lawyer” as a defender for obvious reasons. Dougie was a Jekyll and Hyde at Gasworks Park. He arrived with the bowler hat and briefcase etc but as soon as he put on the jersey he was without doubt one of the hardest players ever seen in the red and white. One story in particular springs to mind. It was a West of Scotland tie against Muirkirk and one guy at the back of the enclosure was giving the big man a real hard time. When Dougie came over to take a throw in, something was said by the guy and to everyone’s amazement Dougie calmly put the ball down, stepped over the wall and landed a great right hook. He then stepped back over the wall, gave his name to the astounded referee and headed for the pavilion.

Tam Anderson Great right back. Came from Stonehouse Violet.

 

 

 

In 1968 Larkhall Thistle had their best run in the Scottish Cup since winning the cup twice at the beginning of the century, when they went all the way to the semi final – beating some of the biggest names in Scottish junior football along the way.

The run to the semi was as follows:
First Round: Bye
Second Round: Darvel home, won 3-2 came back from 2-0 down
Third Round: Irvine Meadow, won 3-1
Fourth Round: Bo’ness United home, won 2-0
Fifth Round: Inverurie Locos away, won 5-1
Sixth Round: Lochore Welfare away, won 2-1
Semi-final: Glenrothes (East End Park, Dunfermline), lost 4-0

The semi-final at Dunfermline was virtually a home game for the Fife team but if it had not been for the huge travelling support from Larkhall the gate would have been a disaster. Unfortunately the open spaces of East End Park did not suit us and we were well beaten on the day.

The Jags team that played in the semi-final was:
Dave McGavin, Martin Mulhearn, John Dingwall, Mick Lyons, Hugh Kirkland, Bobby Mitchell, Jacky Balloch, Andy Campbell, Rab Brown, Bert Steel, Jim Allen

Veteran Thistle supporter Hugh Kerr reports that, “A lot of tears were shed that day by a lot of grown men after getting so close, because for a club like ours who knows when we would get so close again to the final (which at that time was played at Hampden). Great memories indeed”.

Of these guys Andy Campbell and Jim Allen were capped for Scotland. Tam Armstrong was a regular in the team at the time but unfortunately he was injured for the game and was replaced on the day by John Dingwall.

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

More pictures of Larkhall Thistle teams from the past. Again if you can fill in the blanks please leave a comment.

 

Back row, Left to Right: Henderson, Moffat, Smith, Bell, Cunningham, Weir
Front row, Left to Right: Feeney, Nugent, MacReady, McNab, J. Bell, Little (Trainer)

 

 

 

Back row, Left to Right: Tom Anderson, Arthur Whiteside, John McKerr, Alex Morrison, Les Innes, Tam Sutherland, Martin Mulhearn
Front row, Left to Right: Jim Beaton,  John Chalmers, Alan Duff, Willie Powell, Davy Boyle, Stewart McCandless

 

Back row, Left to Right: Jim Conroy, Robin Park, Guy Montgomery, Martin Mulhearn, Hugh Kirkland, Jim Dempsey, Vic Wardrope
Front row, Left to Right: Jim Allan, Bobby Ferguson, John Chalmers, John Sangahan, Alan Law

Above photograph taken on the day of the famous first game with St Roch’s in the Scottish Cup in the early 70s. The game ended 2-2, the replay also finished in a draw but Thistle lost out 2-1 in the second replay.

 

Back row, Left to Right: John ???? (trainer), Mick Lyons, Hugh Kirkland, Dave McGavin, Bobby Mitchell, Jacky Balloch, Tam Armstrong
Front row, Left to Right: Andy Campbell, Rab Brown, Martin Mulhearn, Bert Steel, Jim Allen, John Doyle (coach)

The 1968 team above was almost entirely the team that reached the semi-final of the Scottish Cup that year, for the story of Thistle’s best run in modern times, click here

Thanks to Chris Lenson for supplying the photograph above along with the names.

NEW PHOTO – We’ve got some of the names of the team here from the 60s, waiting for a few of them though.

<- Back to previous page of photos.

Larkhall Thistle team photographs from down the years, if you have any information about any of the players or know any of the years the pictures were taken please leave a post at the bottom of the page.
Thanks to Hugh Kerr for supplying the pictures and the names of the players.

 

Picture taken on the day of Thistle’s 3-1 win against Kirkintilloch Rob Roy in the Scottish Cup in 1974.

Back row, Left to Right: John McKerr, Tom Anderson, John Hunter, Ian McFie, Jack Wilson, Scott McCartney, Arthur Whiteside
Front row, Left to Right: Alan Duff, Alistair Duff, Dave McLelland, John Hamilton, Tam Sutherland, John McCaig

 

Back row, Left to Right: John Brown (physio), John Hutcheson (coach), Tom Anderson, Martin Mulhearn, John McKerr, Alex. Morrison, John Hunter, Jim McGowan, Jim McLaughlin (coach)
Front row, Left to Right: Alan Duff, Ian Sneddon, Davy Boyle, John Sanaghan, Alan Hamilton, Peter Boyle

Trophies both won same week at Shettleston, The Dryburgh Cup and RJ McLeod Cup

 

This was one of Thistle’s best ever sides and had a record that was second to none in the junior game. At the time of the photograph being taken, the Jags had played 21 games and won no less than 18 of them, with two draws and only a single defeat.

Back row, Left to Right: Micky Lyons, Hughie Kirkland, John Weatherall, Bobby King, Jacky Bulloch, Dougie Bryden
Front row, Left to Right: Hughie McMillan, John Dingwall, Martin Mulhearn, Andy Campbell, John Doyle, Bert Steel

Back row, Left to Right: Alan Hamilton, Jim McGowan, Tom Anderson, Arthur Whiteside, Alex Morrison, Martin Mulhearn, John McKerr, Stewart Cunningham, John Brown (physio)
Front row, Left to Right: Jim McLaughlin (coach), John Chalmers, Alan Duff, Davy Boyle, Ian Sinnett, John Sanaghan, John Hutcheson (coach)

 

Back row, Left to Right: Jamie Bulloch, Robin Park, Tommy Coats, Martin Mulhearn, McInnes, Galbraith
Front row, Left to Right: Hugh Rundell, John Chalmers, Jim Roberts, John Sanaghan, Willie Knox

 

Back row, Left to Right: J Cowan (secretary), Gibb, Miller, Whitelaw, W Marley, Clark, A Marley, S McLellan (secretary)
Front row Left to Right: McGuire, Waddell, Boyd, Dunsmore, Johnston

 

Back row, Left to Right: Andy Cheek, Alan Sneddon, Bobby Stillie, Mitch McIntosh, Frank McGonigle, Davie Morrow, John Graham, Jim Black, Davy Henderson
Front row, Left to Right: Willie McKinlay (Coach), Davy Booth, Brian Fisher, John Chalmers, Johnny McCaig, Bobby McPhee, Martin Mulhearn (Coach)

 

Thistle’s Central League First Division winning squad from 1999 – 2000 season.

Back row, Left to Right: Jim Sweeney, Ian Stoddart, Paul Anderson, Ian Campbell, Stuart Thomson, Gary Lynch, Jim McLuskey, Stuart Bovill, Brian Watret
Middle row, Left to Right: Willie McAneny (Coach), Jim Kavaghan, Paul Roberts (Elvis), Willie McCormack, Tony Mitchell, Peter McAninch, Grant O’Donnell, Derek Gardiner, Julie Thomson (Physio)
Front row, Left to Right: Jim Dempsey (Assistant Manager), Craig Digham, Stevie  McQuade, Derek Paterson, Spencer Stirrat, Bobby Crilly (Manager)

More Thistle pictures on the next page ->