Bone’s career made him Best of enemies with superstar
JIMMY Bone’s storied career as a player and coach is the stuff of legend. The former Fallin Boys Brigade and Airth Castle Rovers youth went on to become a Partick Thistle legend with 50 goals in 107 appearances between 1968-1972.
The striker then had spells at Norwich, Sheffield United, Celtic,
Arbroath, St Mirren, Toronto Blizzard, Hong Kong Rangers, Hearts and Arbroath.
After Joining the Canaries from the Jags for £30,000 in February 1972, Bone earned two Scotland caps that year.
He went into management while still playing for his final club Arbroath, and also managed Airdrie, Power Dynamos of Zambia, St Mirren, East Fife and Stenhousemuir before returning to the home of his first professional club at Firhill as caretaker manager in 2007. During the course of nearly four decades, Bone was well-travelled and encountered many big figures.
Jimmy Bone did indeed play against George Best in five different countries, and three different continents! The two first played against each other in England when Bone was at Sheffield United and Best was at Manchester United. The two then met north of the border when Bone was at St Mirren and
Best was in the middle of his infamous stint at Hibernian. Bone was then loaned to Toronto Blizzards in the NASL where he came up against Best’s San Jose Earthquakes in Canada and the United States of America. As if playing in four countries against each other wasn’t enough, Bone’s Hong Kong Rangers came up against Best’s Sea Bee in the early 1980s. The two would also play in the same Hong Kong Rangers side in the same season (1982-83) as they also faced each other yet again.