TALKING PARTICK THISTLE
Auld left for Hibs in December 1980 but Peter Cormack continued the good work and secured sixth place with a 1-1 draw against Rangers on the penultimate day of the season.
Higgins said: “I’m surprised that it has been so long since Thistle finished in the top six as I thought the John Lambie period in the 1990s would have provided that.
“We had a decent team then with Alan Rough in goals, Dave MacKinnon and Brian Whittaker were the full-backs with the old stalwarts Jackie Campbell and Andy Anderson in the centre of defence.
“We had Donald Park, Kenny Watson, Alex O’Hara, Iain Jardine as well so we had a team of seasoned professionals who were all well respected.
“The one thing Bertie had done was retain Premier Division status for quite a few years so he had guys who knew how to stay in the division.
“Ostensibly we were a parttime club then – there were only a few of us who were full-time.
“So to stay in the Premier Division then was an achievement in itself, never mind finishing sixth.
“When I had joined from Hibs I had protection on my salary and I think there were only two of three others – Roughie being one – who were full-time.
“The rest of the lads all had other jobs during the day and we trained three nights a week.
“We won the Glasgow Cup that year when we beat Rangers in the semi-final and then beat Celtic in the final at Firhill.
“The thing was it was fullstrength teams in these days so we beat the Celtic side that won the league that season.
“The Thistle fans loved it as they would say ‘who is the only team that’s unbeaten against Celtic in cup finals in the last 10 years?’
“The answer, of course, was Partick Thistle after winning the League Cup Final in 1971.”