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| Davie Mathie |
 David Mathie was born on Friday, 15th August, 1919, in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The 5' 7½ (11st 10lbs) forward signed for Donald Turner's Thistle on Friday, 15th November, 1946, having most recently been with Clyde. Aged 27, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 16th November, 1946, in a 4-1 win at home to Celtic in the SFL First Division. Davie scored his first goal for Thistle on Saturday, 23rd November, 1946, in a 5-1 defeat away to Hibernian in the SFL First Division. He scored the last of his 40 goals on Saturday, 31st January, 1948, in a 1-1 draw at home to Heart of Midlothian in the SFL First Division. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 28th February, 1948, in a 2-0 defeat away to Motherwell in the SFL First Division, having appeared as a Jag on 53 occasions. His club-list included Larkhall Thistle, Wishaw, Motherwell, Hibernian, Dumbarton, Derry City, Linfield, Clyde, Partick Thistle, Llanelli, Kilmarnock and Workington. Davie died on Sunday, 3rd January, 1954, in Law, South Lanarkshire, aged 34. |
 Although only 5 feet 7 inches tall, Davie was a natural and gifted centre forward. He joined Thistle in the winter of 1946, having been called up to the Army early in World War II, as he was a Territorial volunteer. He joined from Clyde, but was better known for his pre-war exploits with Motherwell, a club he would rejoin after leaving Thistle in 1947. He was a prolific striker with the Jags, and scored 40 goals in 53 outings, an excellent record. Davie took Willie Sharp’s number 9 jersey – with Willie moving to the inside left position, during the 1946-47 period. Willie, of course, wasn’t finished at Firhill yet. Well, not for another decade! In an SFL Division A match against Queen’s Park on 21 December 1946 at Hampden, Thistle beat the Spiders 6-2. Davie scored a hat-trick, and all 3 goals were headers. Not bad. Davie also went to Norway for Thistle’s whistlestop tour of 1947. He played in all of the matches against Norway XIs, and in one of the matches scored a brace of goals. Thistle won all 3 games. Davie was a steelworker when he started his career with Wishaw Juniors. Despite his lack of height, he was a hard player. In 1938 he joined Motherwell. He scored 20 goals in 30 matches, before war intervened. He was a guest for the period with Hibernian, Dumbarton, Derry City, Linfield and had a spell with Clyde before joining the Jags. In 1947 he rejoined Motherwell, and continued his goalscoring form. From 1951-53 he was a Kilmarnock player, scoring 20 goals in 34 matches. There was a consistency wherever he went, in being able to score freely. In 1953 he went to Workington Town, but returned north after 2 matches there. He was admitted to Law Hospital, and sadly died on 3 January 1954, at the tender age of 34. On account of his service during WWII, Davie is included in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle returned →. |
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