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| David Lilley |
 David William Lilley was born on Monday, 31st October, 1977, in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. The 6' 1 (11st 4lbs) defender signed for John Lambie's Thistle on Tuesday, 2nd July, 2002, having most recently been with Aberdeen. Aged 24, he made his debut appearance on Tuesday, 16th July, 2002, in a 2-0 friendly win away to Derry City. David scored his first goal for Thistle on Sunday, 1st September, 2002, in a 1-0 win away to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League. He scored the last of his 3 goals on Saturday, 3rd May, 2003, in a 3-1 defeat away to Livingston in the Scottish Premier League. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 24th January, 2004, in a 2-0 defeat away to Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League, having appeared as a Jag on 64 occasions. David's club-list included Queen of the South, Aberdeen, Ross County, Partick Thistle, Kilmarnock and Airdrie United. |
 A seasoned campaigner who made almost 400 Scottish League appearances between 1995 and 2013. Usually played in the centre of defence, but was also utilised at right back. Lilley handled himself fairly well in the top-flight, always a tough environment for a Partick Thistle defender. Lambie signed him from Aberdeen and, such is often the way with these things, he really made his old club pay. Thistle's class of 2002-03 made some unique history for themselves by doing a League treble over the Dons. Lilley featured in all three of the wins and scored in two of them; September's 1-0 win at Pittodrie being followed by November's 2-1 win at Firhill. In-between, Thistle wasted a glorious opportunity to reach the semi finals of the League Cup, but blew chance-after-chance at Celtic Park in a penalty shoot-out that was riddled with error on both sides. Lilley was the ultimate fall guy, his kick (the 19th) being saved by Rab Douglas to end the contest. His second season with Thistle in 2003-04 seemed to reflect the niggly, unhappy environment under Gerry Collins and, with many key players having jumped ship post-Lambie, the writing was on the wall. By January, new managers Britton & Whyte allowed him to move on to Kilmarnock. Almost inevitably, within weeks, he scored for them against us in their 2-1 win at Rugby Park! In all, he spent a decade in the SPL with Aberdeen, Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock. During his five seasons at Rugby Park, Lilley was given the club captaincy at various times. He played in 112 league matches and scored 5 league goals for the Ayrshire side. In 2009 he rejoined his first club Queen of the South before finishing at Airdrie United, captaining both clubs. After hanging up his boots, he had a spell as manager of Bellshill Athletic in the SJFA West Region League. |
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