From beating Gers to taking on Tarbuck
The latest chapter in Partick Thistle’s colourful history saw EuroMillions winner Colin Weir take over the club and set plans in place for fan ownership.
It’s a move that beat a rival bid by a ChineseAmerican tycoon.
Thistle have long been the great unpredictables of Scottish football.
Former Jags’ player Ian McIntosh experienced that during his time at Firhill.
His playing career then took many twists until he ended up as a team-mate of men like Ron Atkinson, Jock Wallace and John Charles.
It all began back in 1952 when he was being tracked by Manchester United.
He recalled: “I was playing for Campsie Black Watch, and there was talk in the newspapers about interest in me from England.
“I don’t know how true that was, but I was taken over to Celtic Park and had an interview with their manager, Jimmy McGrory.
“But I decided to join Partick Thistle, where my schoolmate, Bert Duff, had signed.
“Thistle immediately loaned me out to Petershill, which was close to my home in Glasgow’s Springburn area.”
Ian got into the Jags’ side four years later. He didn’t make the team that took Celtic to a replay in the 1956 League Cup Final, but did hit the net 11 times in 24 league matches.
There was a goal in a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park and he took part in a 3-1 win against the Hoops at Firhill.
“The following season, I wasn’t really getting a shake at Firhill,” he said.
“One of my last games was a 3-0 victory over Rangers.
“I played a few more times but couldn’t get a regular run.
“Bury came in for me and it was the chance to play every week.”
He made a sensational start at Gigg Lane under Scottish manager Dave Russell.
A record of 10 goals in his first 12 matches was a record to be proud of.
He went on: “I spent a couple of seasons at Bury before I was transferred to Weymouth.
“After a year, Oxford United came and paid a fee for me.
“We won the Southern League in consecutive seasons under the captaincy of big Ron Atkinson.
“That led to them taking over Accrington Stanley’s place in the Football League.
“I didn’t go with them because I was on the move again – this time to Hereford United.
“I’ve been living in Hereford since 1962 and they’ve just about accepted me!”
Ian had a famous Scot and a legendary Welshman for company at The Bulls.
He said: “Jock Wallace came to us as goalkeeper from Bedford Town.
“We became quite good pals, and he recommended players to me when I had a spell in management.
“We also signed John Charles from Cardiff. “He was probably the best I played with, although we had another Welshman, Ray Daniel, in the side.
“He’d won the title with Arsenal and was a great defender.”
The headline was “Daniel tames the Lions”when Hereford created a big upset by knocking Millwall out of the FA Cup.
Six years at Hereford earned Ian, now 86, a testimonial against a team that included Danny Blanchflower, Nat Lofhouse, Derek Dougan, Tom Finney, Don Howe – and Jimmy Tarbuck!
He said: “I played for Gloucester City and managed them before packing in and concentrating on an insurance brokers business.
“I had a copy of the programme for my testimonial, but it went missing when I was chairman of the local golf club.
“I sent it off when we tried to get Jimmy Tarbuck to sign it and speak at a dinner.
“I don’t know what happened because we didn’t hear from him and the programme never came back.”