Adam Black |
Adam Black was born on Monday, 27th April, 1896, in Hutchesontown, Glasgow. The midfielder signed for George Easton's Thistle on Monday, 18th June, 1917, having most recently been with St Anthony's. Aged 21, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 11th August, 1917, in a 2-1 defeat away to Motherwell in a Benefit match. That day, Adam became a member of our scoring debutant's club. He scored his second and final goal for the club on Saturday, 19th October, 1918, in a 6-3 win at home to Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Football League. He played his last game for Thistle on Wednesday, 5th May, 1920, in a 4-0 defeat away to Rangers in the Glasgow Charity Cup, having appeared as a Jag on 84 occasions. His club-list included Benburb, Pollok, St Anthony's, Partick Thistle, Lochgelly United, Dalbeattie Star, Royal Albert and East Stirlingshire. Adam died on Friday, 2nd January, 1970, in Crookston, Glasgow, aged 73.
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Adam Black was born on 27th April 1896 into, what would become, a footballing family. Two of his brothers would go on to feature in the Scottish League, John turning out for Celtic and Clyde amongst others, while Robert would make the relatively short journey from the family home on Aitkenhead Road to join Third Lanark. Adam joined Pollok in the summer of 1914 from Govanhill Croydon and netted his first goal for 'Lok, a strike from 20 yards, in a 7-0 home win over Kirkintilloch Harp on 8th August. Initially he was part of the forward line, but soon dropped back to play at right-half with great success. The following season his form saw him receive representative honours in the shape of twice being selected by the Scottish Junior League to face off against the Western (Senior) League. The first game on 23rd October 1915 ended after ten goals were shared between the sides, Adam with one of them. The second game on 1st April 1916 finished 1-1. In July 1916 the Daily Record reported of Adam's transfer, making the short hop from Pollokshaws to Govan where he signed for Benburb. He would only be with the Chooky Hens for one season, but that was enough to pick up a Glasgow Junior Cup medal, Bens defeating Petershill in the final. That match was played in front of a 12,000 crowd at Firhill on 16th June 1917, one goal being enough to settle the issue. The following day's Sunday Post cited Adam as one of the standouts, and, given where the game was played, the press would appear not to have been the only ones impressed. Partick Thistle signed Adam soon after his display at their home, although this proved to be less than straightforward as Black had already signed forms with Ayr United. Both forms reached the registration department on the same day, with the correspondence from Maryhill arriving first. He made his competitive debut for the Jags on 8th September 1917 in a home 0-0 draw with Dumbarton, the Daily Record describing the debutant's performance as "satisfactory". He was in and out of the side at first, but from February onwards he was a regular. The following season, the name "Black" appeared in 34 of the 39 Partick Thistle team-lines, and he netted his only competitive goal for the club on 19th October in a 6-3 win over Hamilton Academical. 1919-20 saw him feature less regularly, though he did play in the final of the Glasgow Cup on 4th October at Hampden Park. Unfortunately for Adam, and all those of a Thistle persuasion, the game was settled in Celtic's favour by a solitary cross-cum-shot by Tommy McInally. For season 1920-1 Central League outfit Lochgelly United fixed Adam up, though his time there ended somewhat acrimoniously when the club suspended him until the end of the season for failing to turn up for their fixture on New Year's Day. It is therefore perhaps unsurprising that he moved on to Royal Albert for the 1921-2 season and was at East Sirlingshire the following year. Unfortunately I have been unable to obtain much information about Adam beyond his signing for East Stirlingshire. He sadly passed away on 2nd January 1970, and his funeral service was held at Craigton Crematorium. |
(MD) |