Billy Abercromby

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Billy Abercromby

• Billy Abercromby (HA) William Abercromby was born on Sunday, 14th September, 1958, in Ruchill, Glasgow. The midfielder signed for John Lambie's Thistle on Friday, 25th November, 1988, having most recently been with St Mirren. Aged 30, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 3rd December, 1988, in a 1-0 defeat at home to Kilmarnock in the SFL First Division. There were no goals for Billy during his time with Thistle. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 13th May, 1989, in a 1-1 draw away to Raith Rovers in the SFL First Division, having appeared as a Jag on 12 occasions. Billy's club-list included St Mirren, Partick Thistle, Dunfermline Athletic, Cowdenbeath, East Stirlingshire, Inverness Thistle and Kilbirnie Ladeside. Billy died on Tuesday, 18th June, 2024, in Glasgow, aged 65.

Billy Abercromby's Summary Totals

League	10	2	4	4	0
Competitive	12	3	5	4	0
All Games	12	3	5	4	0

Bio Extra

Midfield player signed from St Mirren in 1988 by John Lambie. As well as playing for the club he acted as a coach. He failed to make a good impression in games he played in, and towards the end of the season played mostly in the reserves. Received a free transfer at his own request and joined Dunfermline. Billy actually made a bit of history for himself on 3rd December 1988 when he became the first Jag in history to be sent off on his debut, a 1-0 defeat at home to Killie! He was subsequently joined by Stevie Pittman (1994) and Paul McIntyre (1999) in this bad boy club. This was in-keeping with his hard man image as he himself would admit in a 2009 interview with the Herald: People probably just saw the hard image but I like to think there was more to me than that. Jock Stein seemed to think so too, as I was selected for the Scotland U-21s seven times. Maybe my style of play took away from my skilful side. People would say I was a dirty bastard, and they were probably right. I would have kicked my granny for two points. That's just the type of character I was, but I've no complaints about my playing days. A St Mirren Hall of Fame inductee, Billy began his career at Saints in 1975 - signing professional terms following a spell at St Mirren Boys’ Club. A year later he experienced his first involvement with the first team squad when Sir Alex Ferguson invited him to tour the West Indies. On 29 October 1986, Abercromby was sent off for three red card offences, one for foul play and two counts of dissent during a match against Motherwell at Love Street. As a result, he was banned for twelve matches. In all, Billy spent 13 seasons in Paisley, becoming a fans’ favourite with his tough tackling, no nonsense style, leading to chants of “Aber's gonnae get ye” from the terraces. In his time at Saints, Billy made 367 appearances for the Buddies – nine of which came in European fixtures, a club record. Billy was a part of St Mirren's First Division title winning side in 1976/77, the Anglo Scottish Cup winning side of 1980 and famously captained Saints to their third Scottish Cup triumph in 1987 after a 1-0 win over Dundee United at Hampden. His final match for the club came in 1987 in the second leg of the European Cup Winners Cup tie against Norwegian side Tromso. He was one of the ex-players involved in the after-match parade following St Mirren's last-ever game at Love Street on 3 January 2009. Billy battled with severe alcoholism when his playing days ended, with his experiences and subsequent recovery being detailed in his 2009 biography “Aber's Gonnae Get Ye”. Serious illness led to Billy being hospitalized in May 2024, and his death was announced a few weeks later, aged 65.

(NK/WS/SMFC/WIK)

Every Game

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(age) 1988-89

1. (30y, 2m, 19d) #6 Sat-03-Dec-1988 [h] L0-1 Kilmarnock (SFL First Division - game 17)

2. (30y, 3m, 3d) #6 Sat-17-Dec-1988 [h] W2-1 Queen of the South (SFL First Division - game 19)

3. (30y, 3m, 10d) #6 Sat-24-Dec-1988 [a] W1-0 Falkirk (SFL First Division - game 20)

4. (30y, 3m, 17d) #6 Sat-31-Dec-1988 [a] L0-1 Morton (SFL First Division - game 21)

5. (30y, 3m, 20d) #6 Tue-03-Jan-1989 [h] D0-0 Clyde (SFL First Division - game 22)

6. (30y, 4m, 0d) #6 Sat-14-Jan-1989 [a] L2-3 Dunfermline Athletic (SFL First Division - game 24)

7. (30y, 4m, 7d) #6 Sat-21-Jan-1989 [a] L2-3 Clydebank (SFL First Division - game 25)

8. (30y, 4m, 14d) #8 Sat-28-Jan-1989 [h] D0-0 St Mirren (Scottish Cup 3rd Round)

9. (30y, 6m, 14d) #13 Tue-28-Mar-1989 [a] D0-0 Clyde (SFL First Division - game 32)

10. (30y, 6m, 18d) #7 Sat-01-Apr-1989 [h] D0-0 Dunfermline Athletic (SFL First Division - game 33)

11. (30y, 7m, 4d) #10 Tue-18-Apr-1989 [a] W1-0 Queen's Park (Glasgow Cup Quarter Final)

12. (30y, 7m, 29d) #11 Sat-13-May-1989 [a] D1-1 Raith Rovers (SFL First Division - game 39)

Thistle Honours

1989 - GLASGOW CUP Winner

the decisive game…

1989 - GLASGOW CUP Mon-15-May-1989 [h] W2-0 Clyde (Glasgow Cup Final) Diminishing interest in the competition meant Rangers and Celtic withdrew and the final scarcely got a mention in the press. Goals by Mitchell (30) when he bundled in a cross the keeper failed to hold and McCoy from 12 yards (71) ensured Thistle were the last team to win this cup as a senior tournament. John Lambie

• Listed per out Honours list criteria.
• Players who have contributed an appearance in any given tournament are included.

Scrapbook

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Daily Record, 26th November, 1988

Scotland on Sunday, 4th December, 1988

The Herald, 21st April, 2009

Gallery

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• Billy Abercromby, John Lambie & Brian Gallacher at Firhill, 26 November 1988. (DR)