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| Bill Gray |
 William John Gray was born on Sunday, 5th March, 1882, in Inverness. The 5' 9 (12st 10lbs) midfielder signed for Thistle on Thursday, 14th August, 1902, having most recently been with Inverness Thistle. Aged 20, he made his debut appearance on Tuesday, 19th August, 1902, in a 4-0 friendly win at home to Third Lanark. Bill scored his first goal for Thistle on Tuesday, 18th August, 1903, in a 1-0 friendly win at home to Stenhousemuir. He scored the last of his 18 goals on Saturday, 1st May, 1909, in a 3-1 defeat away to Rangers in the Glasgow Charity Cup. That turned out to be his last game for the club, having clocked up 131 appearances as a Jag. His club-list included Inverness Thistle, Partick Thistle, Dunblane, Southampton and Raith Rovers. Bill died on Saturday, 18th November, 1916, in Somme, France, aged 34. |
 Inverness-born Bill played 9 competitive games in the 1902-03 season, scoring 3 goals. In 1903-04 season he appeared on 9 competitive occasions, with 1 goal and notched up 13 appearances with 5 goals in 1904-05. Twenty eight appearances with 4 goals in the 1905-06 season, saw Thistle finishing 5th in a 16 team league. Bill had a short spell in Southampton in 1907, but returned to Thistle where he played 27 competitive matches and managed 3 goals for the season. His final season was in 1908-09, with him making 31 competitive appearances, scoring 2 goals. Overall the player played on 131 occasions. Bill returned to Inverness, where he worked on the railways, and played for Inverness Thistle. In September 1915 he enlisted in the 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. He became a sergeant, but was wounded in the Battle of Ancre. Bill died of his wounds on 18 November 1916, and is buried at Abbeville Cemetery. We commemorate his life in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle Fallen →. Bill’s story doesn’t end there. His son William Gray was born on 21 December 1915 in Inverness. William joined Thistle on 23 September 1936, and played for the Jags on 27 occasions. They were one of our early Father and Son pairings. |
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