The Thistle Archive

TJF's 20th Thistle Pin is announced today and it's a stormer! We've taken the opportunity to fast-forward some ideas on the player's profile pages, see what you think per below, all critique welcome. 07-May-2024 Telling the Partick Thistle story whilst raising a few quid for the club is a win-win all day, and The Jags Foundation have today announced that Aidan Fitzpatrick (20 direct goal involvements this season) and Brian Graham (20 league goals this season) are the latest co-stars for the 20th Thistle Pin! (Precision engineering, we like that.) The 'Boing Boing Pin' will go on sale on the online TJF shop (accessible by members only) on Wednesday 8th May at 7pm. By purchasing yours, you help TJF to meet their £10kpm pledge to the Football Club and £2kpm pledge to the Youth Academy, while also supporting good causes in the wider Thistle community. 07-May-2024 Aidan Fitzpatrick (New 'Summary Totals' idea implemented; 'Bio Extra' entry expanded; 'Every Game' tab introduced; 'Every Goal' tab now hyperlinked to match hubs; 'Scrapbook' tab introduced; 'Gallery' tab introduced; in-lockdown interview added to 'Video' tab. Aidan is the co-star of the 20th Jags Foundation pin announced today!) 07-May-2024 Brian Graham (New 'Summary Totals' idea implemented; 'Bio Extra' entry updated; 'Every Game' tab introduced; 'Every Goal' tab now hyperlinked to match hubs; extra entries added to 'Scrapbook' tab; 'Gallery' tab greatly expanded. Brian is the co-star of the 20th Jags Foundation pin announced today!)

United 4 Thistle 1 → MIXED EMOTIONS ● Ben Stanway scores his first league goal for Thistle. Next target: to score in a match when Thistle don't get beat. ● Ross Stewart has now played 3, lost 3, with 11 goals conceded, and remains rooted to the bottom of the player's stats table for the season (see 'Full' tab). Ironically, his last clean-sheet came in March 2020 for Queen of the South at Firhill. A Thistle win that night would have meant no relegation! ● Ceiran Loney (16y, 1m, 20d) becomes the youngest Jag in history to make a league appearance. He takes over from Jamie McKenzie (16y, 4m, 21d) who set his record on 19th April 1997 in a 2-0 defeat away to Stirling Albion. ● Jags go three league games without a booking for the first time since February 2012. ● It's a third embarrassing defeat by (at least) a 3-goal margin versus Dundee United this season, an unwanted first in the H2H. ● 20-goal Brian Graham becomes the first Jag since Kris Doolan (2010-11) to finish as the Division's top goalscorer. He even wins when he's not playing! ongoing sequences: ● 30 games in 3rd place (30th Sep 2023 to date), an extension of the club-record for a position outwith outright top or bottom. Overall, it's the longest run since the club-record of 33 games in bottom pace (12th), set between 20th Sep 2003 and 15th May 2004. ● 35 consecutive competitive appearances for Lewis Neilson, 15th Sep 2023 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Steven Lawless - 60 games, 18th Feb 2023 to 6th Apr 2024. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

The TJF pins give us a good excuse to push forward design ideas for our player profile pages as we strive for the perfect template that can be rolled out en masse. Please have a click around on Neil Duffy's page and see what you think... any feedback / critique here is welcome... Neil Duffy →

He'd have kept going too were it not for the fact that he was called up to play for Scotland on the same day that Thistle were playing!

I wanted to know that myself a few years back, so went out of my way to properly research it. Johnny's the top man in league terms: Most Consecutive Scottish League Appearances 258 - Johnny Jackson (Partick Thistle, GK) 28th August 1926 to 25th March 1933 251 - Doug Smith (Dundee Utd, CH) 19th February 1964 to 18th September 1971 On the 'first class' competitive front (query includes all SFL, SPL, SPFL, Scottish Cup, League Cup, Summer Cup, European, Drybrough Cup and Anglo-Scottish Cup matches) Johnny is still the top man in Scottish football history: Most Consecutive Competitive Scottish Club Football Appearances 288 - Johnny Jackson (Partick Thistle, GK) 28th August 1926 to 25th March 1933 282 - Ally Shewan (Aberdeen, CH) 19th October 1963 to 23rd April 1969

Thistle 0 Ayr 0 → HUGE MILESTONE FOR BANNIGAN ● Jack McMillan registers his 100th appearance for Thistle in all competitions. ● It's huge congratulations to Stuart Bannigan who becomes just the 15th Jag in history to reach the 400 appearances mark in 'all competitions' (i.e. major and minor). The club will officially mark the 400 'major' appearances in 2 games time! ● It's just 1 goal conceded in 540 mins (a penalty!) and 3 consecutive clean-sheets for David Mitchell who is hunting down his personal best (4) set during the play-offs last term. ● In all competitions, Thistle go 8 home games without defeat versus Ayr United (2020 to date), matching the joint-club-record previously set from 1930-1937 and 1983-1989. ● Jags go two games without a booking for the first time since September 2022. ● Alas, an unprecedented two-in-one-season 'Grand Slam' is not-to-be for Brian Graham but, having scored in 3 of the 4 league games vs. Ayr United this term, he gets the consolation 'Hogan' joining Aidan Fitzpatrick who did likewise vs. Arbroath this season. ● Kris Doolan's Thistle remain unbeaten in 14 games played in the months of April and May. ongoing sequences: ● 7 competitive games without defeat, 16th Mar 2024 to date. (Longest run since: 11 games, 1st Apr 2023 to 1st Jun 2023. Joint club-record: 16 games, 15th Nov 1975 to 21st Feb 1976 & 30th Sep 2000 to 13th Jan 2001.) ● 29 games in 3rd place (30th Sep 2023 to date), an extension of the club-record for a position outwith outright top or bottom. Overall, it's the longest run since the club-record of 33 games in bottom pace (12th), set between 20th Sep 2003 and 15th May 2004. ● 34 consecutive competitive appearances for Lewis Neilson, 15th Sep 2023 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Steven Lawless - 60 games, 18th Feb 2023 to 6th Apr 2024. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

^ Did consider adding that element, but out of time for a while, leave it with me...

Most of your post-Airdrie updates in place, with a packed edition of 'Stats Watch'. Donald Wilson's capture nails it! Partick Thistle 4 Airdrieonians 0 → A MONUMENTAL SEASON FOR GRAHAM ● Amazingly, it's the first half-time stalemate in the league at Firhill in over a year, Queen's Park on 7 April 2023 being the last. Even more amazingly, Thistle won 4 nil that day too. ● Kerr McInroy hits double figures for competitive assists this season, now joint-top with Steven Lawless in that chart. ● Aidan Fitzpatrick hits the 20 mark in terms of goals/assists combined in all competitions this season. ● Brian Graham - the Division's top-scorer - has now scored against every team in the league this season! ● Brian Graham's brace (his 13th for the club) moves him onto 20 league goals for the season and he becomes only the 4th post-War to hit such a figure. The 3 other members of this super-exclusive club are Willie Sharp (22, 1953-54), Frank Coulston (21, 1970-71) & Maurice Johnston (22, 1982-83). See our (fully sortable) Top Scorers per season tables for the preceding 148 years. ● Brian Graham's tally of 24 goals in all competitions this term is the highest of any Thistle player since Maurice Johnston (35) in 1982-83. ● It's an impressive 3 goals in his 288 minutes for Ricco Diack who has scored in both home league matches with Airdrie this season. On both occasions he scored within 7 minutes of personal action! ● Points-per-game king of 2023-24 is undoubtedly Zander MacKenzie with just 2 losses in 22 games in all competitions this term. See our 'Squad Stats 2023-24' table (note: select the 'full' tab) to drill down more. ● For only the second time in the latest two league seasons, there are no bookings. The other instance? Versus Airdrie at the Excelsior back in August. What's going on?! ● In all competitions, Thistle have now registered 10 consecutive home wins versus Airdrieonians (2009 to date), extending the club-record in the H2H. ● Thistle qualify for the Premiership play-offs for the third successive season, where they will play… Airdrieonians! Third time lucky? ● Kris Doolan's Thistle remain unbeaten in 13 games played in the months of April and May. (c/o Matt Greer!) ongoing sequences: ● 6 competitive games without defeat, 6th Mar 2024 to date. (Longest run since: 6 games, 27th Oct 2023 to 2nd Dec 2023. Joint club-record: 16 games, 15th Nov 1975 to 21st Feb 1976 & 30th Sep 2000 to 13th Jan 2001.) ● 28 games in 3rd place (30th Sep 2023 to date), an extension of the club-record for a position outwith outright top or bottom. Overall, it's the longest run since the club-record of 33 games in bottom pace (12th), set between 20th Sep 2003 and 15th May 2004. ● 33 consecutive competitive appearances for Lewis Neilson, 15th Sep 2023 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Steven Lawless - 60 games, 18th Feb 2023 to 6th Apr 2024. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

From Willie Paul (the pioneer) to Willie Sharp (the Old Firm slayer) all the way to Kris Doolan (the milestone man) and Brian Graham (Peter Pan) via (super) Maurice Johnston in-between, this brand new Partickle explores the exceptional Thistle strikers who've dominated particular teams in the same league season by bombarding their goal nets. An astonishing realisation re Brian Graham ensues... The King Of The Slams →

Most of the post-Arbroath updates are now in place at your Archive... Arbroath 0 Thistle 1 → WE DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE ● For the third game in a row, the full matchday squad is Scottish-born. ● 17-year-old Thomas Horn becomes the 2,025th Jag in our A-Z of first team players. ● In all competitions, we've now seen a first half goal in 25 consecutive Partick Thistle matches, the longest such run since 1959 (25). ● Aidan Fitzpatrick hits double figures in our competitive goals chart for 2023-24. ● 4 of Aidan Fitzpatrick's 10 goals this season have been scored against Arbroath. His 5-goal total against the Red Lichties is bettered only by Denis McQuade (7). ● For the first time in history, Partick Thistle register back-to-back league wins at Gayfield! It's one of 5 club-records on the go versus Arbroath, 3 league wins on the trot also being an historical first. ongoing sequences: ● 24 games in 3rd place, an extension of the club-record for a position outwith outright top or bottom. ● 58 consecutive competitive appearances for Steven Lawless, 18th Feb 2023 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Chris Erskine - 70 games, 27th Aug 2011 to 2nd Mar 2013. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

The 5 M's is a strange co-incidence. In all of history, based on a 1-5 query, it was only seen for the first time on 4 March 2023, the 3-0 home win vs. Raith Rovers: David Mitchell, Jack McMillan, Harry Milne, Connor McAvoy, Aaron Muirhead Most common surname letter in a starting eleven is 7 (M's again), seen only in 1988, 3 times in close proximity, firstly in the 1-1 midweek Scottish Cup draw at Station Park on 3 February 1988: Archie MacLean, Alan Dinnie, John Workman, Bryan Purdie, Budgie McGhie, John McCormack, Pat Kelly, Willie McGuire, John McNaught, John Mitchell, Ian McDonald Re the close proximity thing, will skip that on the grounds of time constraints, thank you please!

Thanks to your inquisitive mind, we now know that we're currently sitting on a joint-record of 3 competitive draws in one season against the same club, never mind just the league! The full list of 3's: Season 031 1905-06 Hibernian Season 046 1920-21 Heart of Midlothian Season 046 1920-21 Motherwell Season 067 1941-42 Greenock Morton Season 080 1954-55 Celtic Season 082 1956-57 St Mirren Season 096 1970-71 Dumbarton Season 100 1974-75 Clyde Season 102 1976-77 Hibernian Season 102 1976-77 Motherwell Season 105 1979-80 Aberdeen Season 105 1979-80 Dundee United Season 106 1980-81 Rangers Season 108 1982-83 Kilmarnock Season 111 1985-86 Airdrieonians Season 112 1986-87 Clyde Season 113 1987-88 Queen of the South Season 117 1991-92 Forfar Athletic Season 117 1991-92 Hamilton Academical Season 118 1992-93 Airdrieonians Season 118 1992-93 Heart of Midlothian Season 118 1992-93 St Johnstone Season 119 1993-94 Raith Rovers Season 122 1996-97 Airdrieonians Season 122 1996-97 Dundee Season 123 1997-98 Hamilton Academical Season 124 1998-99 Queen of the South Season 126 2000-01 Arbroath Season 127 2001-02 Airdrieonians Season 128 2002-03 Dundee United Season 134 2008-09 Dundee Season 136 2010-11 Ross County Season 137 2011-12 Falkirk Season 138 2012-13 Raith Rovers Season 141 2015-16 Hamilton Academical Season 142 2016-17 Kilmarnock Season 144 2018-19 Falkirk Season 145 2019-20 Alloa Athletic Season 148 2023-24 Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Is Brian Graham eyeing-up a post-war league record with the Jags? Check this week's 'Stats Watch' and more... Thistle 2 Morton 1 →

What a photo by Donald Wilson! 3 video options for all of us to agonize over / enjoy this week, and most of the post-QP updates are now in place at the Archive → THE RETURN OF THE 20 GOALS-A-SEASON STRIKER! ● Tomi Adeloye is the first Jag to score in two games at Hampden in the same season since super Maurice Johnston did so in 1982-83. ● Brian Graham converts his 4th successive penalty, bringing his ratio (70%) back onto historical par (70.2%). His last 3 have levelled the match at 2-2. See our list of Every penalty taken. ● Brian Graham scores in a 5th consecutive competitive game for Thistle, and is the first to do so since Kris Doolan (6) in 2016. The club-record (8) lies with Scott McLean, set in 2000. ● Brian Graham becomes the first Jag since George Smith (1958-1960) to hit the 20 competitive goals mark in back-to-back seasons, an excellent achievement. See our Top Scorers per season page for a flavour. ● Kris Doolan's Thistle are 7 competitive games without a win, the longest run since October 2020 (11), under Ian McCall. ongoing sequences: ● 55 consecutive competitive appearances for Steven Lawless, 18th Feb 2023 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Blair Spittal - 57 games, 31st Mar 2018 to 4th May 2019. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

^ For anyone who wants a read, that Sunday Mail article is pasted into the 'Scrapbook' tab of Brian Graham's page → Most of post-United match updates now in place at the Archive, including the first 'Scrapbook' tab on a match hub for a number of years. Like Lawless and Graham we're on a bit of a run in terms of Video Highlights, now 101-in-a-row, almost 2 years-not-out! There are three video productions to savour (so far) this week. Don't miss 'The Story of the Match' video from DUTV, it's absolutely stunning... Thistle 1 United 1 → CONSISTENT LAWLESS & GRAHAM ● Referee Matthew MacDermid (who refused to send off either of Docherty or Moult for dirty play) takes charge of just his 4th Thistle match, yet 3 of them have been versus Dundee United this season. ● Steven Lawless reaches 54-not-out in competitive action, a new personal best, and the longest run of any Thistle player in the last 5 years. ● Brian Graham scores after 115 secs, but it's only his second-quickest goal as a Jag, having netted in 73 secs against Ayr United in September 2023. ● Brian Graham's goal means that he has now scored in a 14th consecutive month for Thistle in competitive action, extending his unique club-record. ● For the first time, Brian Graham scores in a 4th consecutive game for Thistle, albeit he matched this on a personal level in July 2021 (having missed a game in-between). The club-record (8) lies with Scott McLean, set in November 2000. ● 51-goal Partick Thistle remain top scorers in the League and 15-goal Brian Graham once again moves to outright top scorer in the Championship. ● Thistle go 6 competitive games without a win, the longest winless run under Kris Doolan. ongoing sequences: ● 54 consecutive competitive appearances for Steven Lawless, 18th Feb 2023 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Blair Spittal - 57 games, 31st Mar 2018 to 4th May 2019. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games, 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

@Fuctifano Ha, a tricky business, with the caveat that we're relying on our sequencing entries to be spot-on and one error was spotted in running this query... didn't go to the bother of considering draws... 4 of our 2 goal leads have been overturned in the last 10 years... 23.02.2019 Ross County [h] L2-4 (SPFL Championship - game 25) 23.08.2019 Greenock Morton [a] L2-3 (SPFL Championship - game 3) 05.11.2022 Dundee [h] L2-3 (SPFL Championship - game 14) 10.02.2024 Livingston [h] L2-3 (Scottish Cup 5th Round) ... by contrast, you need to rewind to April 2006 to find the last time we came from 2 down to win (yes, happened a few times in the DC era)... 29.04.2006 Dumbarton [a] W3-2 (SFL Second Division - game 36)

Exactly one year in, and KRIS DOOLAN is shoulder to shoulder with Davie McParland in terms of the first 50 competitive games...

Think we can all feel it before it's even checked, but in the last 10 years of competitive action it's 36 defeats from winning positions and 24 wins from losing positions.

Nice work! The club-record (4) was set in 1921 and matched in 1930, Thistle reaching the final on both occasions. Knocking out two higher-tier opponents in a single campaign would be an historical first for the Jags.

Ahead of their big Scottish Cup Quarter Final tie on Friday, we're delighted to present our latest permanent pages to the Thistle Archive, profiling the main Partick Thistle youth team, per below. We'd like to do more for all of the teams who represent Partick Thistle, but time and data constraints dictate that it's not possible to compile all of the historical season-by-season lists. As far as our youth teams go, we've at least made the effort to list full results for our top level youth team for the latest two seasons, as well as their full results history for the Scottish Youth Cup (1985 to date) and the short-lived SFL Youth Cup (2006 to 2010). With special thanks to the players, coaches and parents who got in touch to help complete the goals data! 2023-24 (Youth - Under 18s) → - The eleventh season of the Thistle Weir Youth Academy with results, line-ups and scorers. The page includes a 'Goalscorers' tab… 2022-23 (Youth - Under 18s) → - The tenth season of the Thistle Weir Youth Academy with results, some line-ups and all scorers. The page includes tabs for 'Goalscorers' and 'CAS Performance U-18s League Table'… Partick Thistle in the Scottish Youth Cup → - The Scottish Youth Cup is run by the SFA and usually played by the U-18 age groups. Thistle have entered in 36 out of 40 seasons since inception in 1983-84, and the complete results history is listed here… Partick Thistle in the SFL Youth Cup → - The SFL Youth Cup was ran by the Scottish Football League for a dozen or so seasons, from the early 2000s, and there were competitions for a few different age groups. As far as the top level (U-19) goes, we know of Thistle's participation in at least three different seasons, as profiled here… Match Lists (Youth) → - a brand new sub-menu page focused on the 4 new youth pages at-a-glance… p.s. if anyone can source a better league table for 2022-23 please do get in touch →

Certainly is! His one goal was like Messi too. #1 in our one-goal wonder countdown, Ye'll no' believe who scored it! In the 3 main breakdown categories for Partick Thistle players... in 'All Games' Archie McKenzie, 281 (1905-1915) in 'Competitive' Archie McKenzie, 261 (1905-1915) in 'League' Jackie Campbell, 392 (1964-1982)

With 3 huge cup-ties ahead in the next 9 days for the men, the women and the top youth team (all second favourites) we look back to a glory run in 2010... a poignant tale which puts football into perspective whilst reminding us that favourites don't always win... ... this is the bittersweet story of heartbreak and glory for Kieran Burns and Thistle, and the camaraderie of a fitba' team... League Cup Glory 2010 →

Re the goals debate, we have a page which meticulously breaks down all 11,665 goals ever scored by the first team, 1876 to date. You can sort by forename to get straight to any player for a quick look, and you can also sort the goals tallies by 3 categories, 'All Games', 'Competitive' or 'League'... All-Time Goalscorers Charts→ You can also look at each player's individual page, where the goals are broken down one-by-one (see the 'Every Goal' tab)... Anton Dowds → Aidan Fitzpatrick →