Roxy scored a hat-trick but Dan grabbed the headlines
It can often go wrong for a player when he’s asked to change position.
Sometimes it’s a simple move that can cause a career to suffer.
But others thrive on being given a different role.
Partick Thistle’s Dan Mclindon made the news in September, 1968, when he jumped from the right wing to defence – and was immediately up against the greatest wingers of all time.
He recalls: “We had a young fullback, Russell Brown, who suffered a bad injury in a game against Morton.
“He had to come off at half-time and our manager, Willie Thornton, asked who could fill in at left-back. I volunteered and ended up playing there for a couple of seasons.
“My first three games in the No. 3 jersey saw me up against Willie Henderson, Jimmy Johnstone and then Henderson again! “There were some brilliant wingers in those days. I remember playing against Hibs when they substituted Peter Marinello – and replaced him with Alex Scott.
“Wherever I played, I never felt out of position. I also had a spell as sweeper.” There was a management change at Thistle in September, 1968. Willie Thornton went to Rangers, with former Ibrox boss Scott Symon taking over at the Jags. But Dan was kept in defence, where he quickly set up goals for an up-and-coming winger.
In Thornton’s last match – a 4-0 win over Clyde – he set up a penalty for Jimmy Bone, cleared one off the line and delivered a pinpoint cross for Johnny Gibson to head home.
“I was probably the tallest player on the park, and Johnny the smallest,” says Dan.
“It had taken me a long time to play at full-back again. At school, I’d played at right-back and Billy Mcneill was the centre-half.” Dan began his career as a centre-forward with Dunfermline in 1960, and four years later he was persuaded to move by a famous name.
He said: “I got a telegram saying St Johnstone wanted to sign me in a swap deal for Alex Ferguson. “I wasn’t sure about the move and spoke to Alex about the Muirton Park set-up. He gave the place a glowing reference. By the time we’d finished talking, I felt like I was joining Real Madrid. “Little did I know Alex was desperate to join the Pars. And I wasn’t in Perth for long before I was swapped again, for Partick Thistle’s Neilly Duffy.
Dan was described as the Tommy Cooper of Firhill – a man who always played with a smile on his face.
He’s also remembered for scoring one of their greatest-ever solo goals against Dundee United.
He said: “I started running from inside my own half, and I think I was as surprised as them when I kept beating man after man.
“We won the game 4-1, with Andy Roxburgh hitting a hat-trick.
“Unfortunately for poor Andy, nobody talked about his three.
“You’d have thought I’d beaten United on my own with all the publicity.”
“I came into the ground on the Monday morning and said to the players: ‘I see I won 4-1 on Saturday. Howdidyougeton?’.
Dan, now, 78, also played at Stranraer, East Stirling and was manager of Alloa.
He may not have made a fortune from football, but last year he got something money can’t buy – a Scottish Cup winners’ medal. He added: “I played for Dunfermline in the 1961 Final against Celtic that ended 0-0, but I was replaced for the replay that we won 2-0.
“Only the eleven who played the second game got medals back then.
“I applied to the SFA to get one and Dunfermline gave me great backing. I was great to get it, even if I’d had to wait 56 years.”