All Gerry is feeling now is promotion joy after the pain of last term’s relegation
Gerry Britton’s first memory of a title in professional football was when Celtic won the Double in their Centenary season back in 1988.
Britton was a 17-year-old reserve player at the time, but often trained with Billy McNeill’s first-team squad, the likes of Roy Aitken, Paul McStay, Frank McAvennie and Mick McCarthy among them.
From Parkhead, his playing career took him to the likes of Dundee, Dunfermline, Partick Thistle, Motherwell and Livingston.
Now, 33 years on from that title with the Hoops, Britton celebrated another one on Thursday night when Partick Thistle clinched the League One title.
Britton is now chief executive at Firhill, and is delighted to see the club back in the Championship – especially after the circumstances in which they were relegated last season.
Britton told The Sunday Post: “We made our feelings clear about last season. There was pain around the club, and it took a while to heal. We all felt it.
“Just over three weeks ago, we were in fifth or sixth place in the table. To go from there to winning the title is quite remarkable. It’s been some turnaround.
“Ian McCall, his staff and the players deserve enormous credit. They stayed calm, and they stayed focused, and deserve to enjoy this.
“I was a player for 20 years and only won two titles, with Thistle and Livi. So I know how hard it is. It doesn’t come around too often.
“That’s why the players need to soak this up, and make the most of it. They have shown enormous effort and dedication over the course of several months.
“It’s the same for everyone at Hearts. They suffered in the same way as ourselves last term, but they won the Championship at the first time of asking, and Robbie Neilson deserves credit.
“Remember, Rangers didn’t get out of the Championship at the first time of asking a few years ago. So people should be mindful of what Hearts have achieved in challenging times.
Britton is also delighted for the Jags fans. They have backed their club to the hilt and set up GoFundMe pages last year, raising more than £80,000 to support their club.
“They are most definitely a special breed, said the 50-year-old.
“They have been enjoying themselves since Thursday night, and rightly so.
“It’s a pity they haven’t been in the stadium this season, but we have felt their backing. They’ve been brilliant.
“It would be great if they, and all football fans, were allowed back in for the start of the new campaign.
“That would give every player and every football fan a huge lift. Let’s hope it can happen.”
Britton is also thrilled for Ian McCall, who he appointed to the job almost two years ago.
“I was Ian’s assistant manager at Thistle a few years ago, so I know how good he is. Ian and Partick are just a perfect fit.
“When we looked at managers a couple of years ago, we felt Ian was the right man to get us out of the Championship and back into the Premiership.
“What happened last year set us back, but we now will aim to push on in the Championship. We will have so much to play for.”
McCall and the Firhill hierarchy will now enter a busy summer period shaping the squad for the new season, and that will mean lots of early mornings and late nights for Britton.
He smiled: “After Thursday night, I spoke to Ian and we said we’d have a couple of days to reflect and enjoy.
“But he was on he phone at 9am on Friday, asking about budgets!
“We are already working on things in the background, and that’s the way football is. It never stop will be relentless over the next couple of months.
“But we wouldn’t want it any other way.”