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| Craig Nelson |
 Craig Robert Nelson was born on Friday, 28th May, 1971, in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire. The 6' 1 (13st 0lbs) goalkeeper signed for John Lambie's Thistle on Friday, 17th August, 1990 (after a trial period), having most recently been with Ashfield. Aged 18, he made his debut appearance on Wednesday, 11th April, 1990, in a 3-0 friendly win at home to Stjarnan. In doing so, Craig joined the goalies' clean-sheet debutant's club. He registered the last of his 37 clean-sheets on Wednesday, 9th November, 1994, in a 0-0 draw away to Celtic in the SFL Premier Division. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 26th November, 1994, in a 3-1 defeat away to Motherwell in the SFL Premier Division, having clocked up 109 appearances as a Jag. Craig's club-list included Airdrieonians, Ashfield, Partick Thistle, Cork City, Heart of Midlothian, Falkirk, Ayr United, St Johnstone and Brechin City. |
 Came to Thistle from Ashfield Juniors and his Thistle career looked to be over after playing just one first team match. He played in a 3-3 home draw with Brechin City at the start of the 90/91 season and he was far from convincing. He continued to play for the Thistle reserve team until the following season when he looked set to join Pollok Juniors. The proposed transfer never took place with Ronnie Lowrie making the move instead and that decision had a major effect on Nelson's career. An injury to Andy Murdoch pushed Nelson back into the first team and this time he performed excellently as Thistle edged out Hamilton in the race for a Premier League spot. With Thistle now in the top division, Nelson held onto his position as first choice keeper for the start of the following season and like the rest of the Thistle side he was in spectacular form. His performance against Falkirk at Brockville, Thistle winning 1-0 with a goal from Gerry Britton, stands comparison with any other performance from a Thistle keeper. His form for Thistle brought him international recognition as well when he was capped for Scotland at 'B' level in a match against Wales. In December 1994 he moved to Hearts with Nicky Walker making the opposite journey to Firhill. |
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