Looking back at Partick Thistle’s Tennent’s Sixes success 30 years on from winning
Trophy stands proudly in their dressing room to this day
IT has been 30 years since the Tennent’s Sixes football tournament was last held but to former Partick Thistle striker Gerry Britton, it doesn’t feel so long ago.
Britton and his Jags teammates were the last team to win the indoor mini- tournament, held regularly at Glasgow’s SEC, that featured representatives from topflight clubs facing off against each other in short, high- scoring six- aside matches.
It is a tournament that is fondly recalled by many Scottish football fans and Britton admits that he thoroughly enjoyed competing in the annual event because of the feel- good factor that surrounded it all.
“It was a brilliant atmosphere,” recalled Britton, speaking ahead of a reunion event at Firhill to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Thistle’s win. “You would get maybe 8000 there, loads of screaming wains that were absolutely buzzing.
“The good thing for players was that you got a day off training, so that was a plus! It was inside when it was freezing in January.
“It was quick, entertaining and there were loads of goals. It was more like playing five- a- side with your pals than anything professional. The players really enjoyed it and the atmosphere really helped. The supporters seemed to really take to it.”
The Thistle players certainly took to it in 1993, making it all the way to the final where they defeated Airdrieonians to secure the cup that sits in the Firhill boardroom to this day.
The matches themselves don’t particularly stand out for Britton but he is unlikely to forget the reaction of John Lambie Partick Thistle’s famously sweary former manager after the team went out to celebrate their success.
Britton said: “What I do remember is the night out after it when [ team- mate] Paul Kinnaird got us into the Savoy on a Monday night. I think there were about 15 people there and we were there with our tankards! It was a good laugh.
“Lambie had just blanked [ the Tennent’s Sixes tournament]. He just said to [ assistant manager] Gerry Collins ‘ you take it, f*** ing Sunday, I’m no f*** ing going’.
“We had been out until the wee hours it was the usual back then and then we were in training on the Tuesday morning. Lambie was like ‘ right you, ya smart arses’.
“He had us running up and down hills in Ruchill Park, as he liked to do.”
It’s a far cry from the modern professional football environment. The days of players going out to Sauchiehall Street to celebrate a cup win are gone, and the thought of a professional team training in a public park is laughable these days.
It’s this professionalism that means the Tennent’s Sixes won’t be coming back any time soon. Each side took the tournament fairly seriously and sent their best players to compete but the football landscape has changed so much in the intervening 30 years.
“No chance [ it will come back],”
Britton said. “There were so many positives probably the biggest thing was its attraction to young supporters.
“They loved it, it was like ice hockey or basketball with the number of goals that were flying in. They were really close to their heroes on the pitch.
“I can’t remember any crowd trouble and there wasn’t segregation. The das got a couple of pints and the kids were happy.
“But in this day and age, the thought of your top pros ... In those days the surface wasn’t great but it was what we were used to. You just got on with it. I don’t think it’s likely to happen again.”
Tennent’s Sixes may be consigned to history but Masters football an indoor five- a- side mini- tournament featuring recently- retired players returned to Glasgow last year.
Britton, who counts Celtic among his former clubs, wasn’t involved on that occasion but he recalled an incident from 2010 when he played in a Masters tournament in Dubai for the Hoops against a star- studded AC Milan team and a sobering encounter with legendary Italian defender Alessandro Costacurta.
“I was working in the district court and then two days later I was playing against AC Milan,” said Britton, who worked as a lawyer after hanging up his boots.
“I had been playing against Costacurta so I said to him ‘ can I get your jersey?’ He said ‘ aye, no bother’. At the end of the game he gave me his shirt and I said ‘ that’s brilliant, thanks very much. Do you want mine?’ He said ‘ nah, you’re alright!’”
The Tennent’s Sixes Success reunion event is at Firhill on the evening of Saturday January 28 and tickets, from just £ 35, are available via ptfc. co. uk