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| Alec Lockhart |
 Alexander Lawson Lockhart was born on Saturday, 28th October, 1893, in Hutchesontown, Glasgow. The forward appeared as a trialist for George Easton's Thistle in November, 1912, whilst an Ardeer Thistle player. Aged 19, he made his only appearance on Tuesday, 5th November, 1912, in a 2-0 win at home to Morton in the Glasgow & District Mid-Week League. There were no goals for Alec in his one-off appearance for Thistle. His club-list included Pollok, Ardeer Thistle, Partick Thistle and Bolton Wanderers. Alec died on Wednesday, 16th October, 1918, in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, aged 24.
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 The son of Thomas Lockhart (mason) and Mary Lockhart (nÊe Lawson). A left wing specialist, the teenager joined Pollok in September 1910 and stayed for the best part of two seasons. He was highly thought of by his teammates, and they were sorry to see him depart for Ardeer Thistle in the summer of 1912. It wasn't long before he gained international recognition and, on 19 October 1912, he turned out for Junior Scotland in 2-1 win over Wales at Tynecastle, watched by 3,500. Third Lanark were said to be after him at this time, initially to assist with their Glasgow Midweek League games, but he never did appear for the Hi-Hi. Instead, Alec accepted a similar proposition from Partick Thistle. He was never signed to terms as a Jag though and his only appearance, in late 1912, came in a low-key Glasgow & District Mid-Week League game on a Tuesday afternoon at Firhill. This league was especially set up to oblige shopkeepers and such-like who normally had to work on Saturdays! Clubs didn't take the league too seriously, and would often use the games to try out junior trialists and fringe players. 1,500 were there for the visit of Morton on the 5th November, 1912. The 19-year-old Alec lined up at outside left. After some early Morton pressure Thistle took over and trialist (then new signing) Duncan Grant from Forres Mechanics scored after a fine run and cross from our man, Alec, for a remarkable assist/goal debut pairing. James Steel then converted a penalty (43). Thistle were mostly seen on the defensive after half-time but good defending and poor finishing meant there were no further goals; Thistle 2 Morton 0. Having impressed on his debut, Alec was invited back a few weeks later for a second 'Midweek League' game and, despite the players being stripped and ready for action, the referee John B. Stark of Airdrie, declared the game-off due to the stormy weather. The match, against Falkirk at Firhill, never was played, and there was to be no second appearance for Alec. In September 1913, Alec headed down south for a trial with First Division Bolton Wanderers, but not did initially sign a contract as the terms were not to his liking! He represented Irvine & District League on a number of occasions and did so against their Glasgow North Eastern counterparts in January 1914. In April 1914, after a few months of speculation, Alec finally did sign for Bolton Wanderers and started right away in top-flight matches against Blackburn Rovers (a 3-2 loss) and Sheffield United (a 2-0 loss). He turned out to be mainly a reserves player at Bolton though and, just a year after signing, enlisted for the Royal Scots Fusiliers in April 1915, serving with the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion and the 10th (Works) Battalion. He was finally discharged as "no longer physically fit for war service" in September 1916. In 1918, Alec married Alice Bull in Edinburgh and, by this time, was enjoying a dramatic change of career as a variety artistes manager! Shockingly however, in the autumn of that same year, and after several weeks of suffering, Alec succumbed to complications relating to a flu sickness, and died shortly before his 25th birthday. On account of his service during WWI, Alec is included in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle returned â. |
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