1967
The day Thirds scored their last Cathkin goal
It’s almost 50 years since a famous team kicked their last ball.
The name Third Lanark vanished from league tables after their 5-1 defeat at Dumbarton on April 28, 1967.
Financial double-dealing brought their 95-year existence to an abrupt end.
The Hi-Hi were the third best team in the country just six years before their demise.
Watching the club slide into liquidation ended the dreams of the Third Lanark fans.
It also wrecked the hopes of footballers who were proudly wearing the famous redand-white shirt.
John Kinnaird was gaining a reputation as a fine inside-forward when he found himself in the footballing wilderness.
He scored the last-ever goal for Thirds at their Cathkin Park ground in a 3-3 draw against Queen of the South.
That came a week after he hit their last-ever winner in a 1-0 success against Cowdenbeath.
Like his team-mates, John’s performances came despite the shambolic state of the club.
The way he was treated after breaking a limb sums up the way things were going.
He recalled: “I’d been doing well and there had been a story in the newspapers saying, ‘Aberdeen may bid for Kinnaird’.
“Then I broke my arm during a game and that set me back a bit.
“On the day I sustained the injury, I was getting my arm looked at when chairman Bill Hiddleston shouted not to cut the jersey off me because they’d need it for the next week!
“He didn’t seem to be prepared to put any money into the club.
“I recall us being paid in shillings and halfcrowns before a game against Morton to make sure we took the field.
“On one occasion, I headed back a throw-in and found I was left with a white mark on my forehead.
“We were supposed to start every match with a fresh ball, but an old one had been whitewashed to make it look new.”
John started his professional football career in England and followed a former team-mate back to Scotland.
He said: “I didn’t really play much football at school. I took part in swimming and diving. I was a good athlete.
“I started playing for Clarkston Amateurs in Glasgow and was spotted by a scout for Middlesbrough.
“I spent three years at Ayresome Park, where I played in the youth team with Don Masson and Cyril Knowles.
“When I was released, I trained with Airdrie for a couple of weeks before Third Lanark made me an offer.
“Harry Kirk, who’d been a team-mate at Middlesbrough, played for them. I reckoned that if it was good enough for Harry, it was good enough for me.
“I accepted the way things were. I was only 21 and just wanted to play football. The seriousness of their financial situation didn’t really hit home until later.
“On the way to the last game at Dumbarton, we were told the club was probably finished.
“It was a pretty dispirited team that finished with a heavy defeat.”
Drew Busby scored the club’s last-ever goal that evening at Boghead, and the Thirds players were left in limbo.
John said: “I was disappointed to be without a club, and no other team approached me during the summer.
“I signed for junior team West Calder United and went on to play for Shotts Bon Accord and Armadale.
“It’s encouraging that, 50 years on, people are still trying to revive Third Lanark.”
Now 71, John is retired from his job as a transport manager.