P7 teacher set Fitzpatrick on course for Partick finishing school
AIDAN Fitzpatrick was born and raised in Partick so perhaps it was in inevitable when he left school at the age of 16 that his education should continue at Firhill. The teenage forward, rated by Thistle legend and team-mate Kris Doolan as one of the most exciting players ever to come out of the club’s academy, isn’t just the Maryhill side’s first top team scorer born in the 2000s; at this moment in time he is also the club’s 2018-19 top scorer with three goals.
Presented yesterday with the Irn Bru Golden Balls award to mark his two-goal, one-assist performance on his full debut in the Irn Bru Cup against Stranraer, the talented teenager reflected on his coming of age at the club he has been affiliated to ever since being noticed starring as a P7 in the St Peters Primary School team. But it isn’t just lower division opponents he has been turning it on against; he climbed off the bench a few weeks back to get a smart assist in an Andre Mbuyi Mutombo’s equalising goal against Premiership champions Celtic.
“It was my P7 teacher’s dad, [former director] Ronnie Gilfillan, he had something to do with the academy, so it all started from there,” said Fitzpatrick. “I was playing for my school team and she obviously said to her dad, and he got me in for a trial. That was St Peters Primary School in Partick so just down the road and I have been here ever since.
“It was weird to be playing against Celtic,” he added. “Ever since Under 12s I have been out there hoping that I could do it and finally I was.”