| Hugh Beaton |
 Hugh Beaton was born on Thursday, 30th September, 1858, in Glasgow. The forward probably joined Thistle in 1879 or 1880. Aged 22, he made his first known appearance on Saturday, 2nd October, 1880, in a 1-0 win away to Jordanhill in the Scottish Cup. That day, Hugh became a member of our scoring debutant's club. He scored the last of his 17 known goals on Saturday, 11th April, 1885, in a 5-0 friendly win at home to Falkirk. He played his last known game for the club on Saturday, 2nd May, 1885, in a 4-1 friendly win at home to Partick, having appeared for the Thistle on at least 54 occasions. His known club-list included only Partick Thistle. Hugh died on Tuesday, 11th September, 1928, in Partick, Glasgow, aged 69. |
 The son of John Beaton (hammerman) and Euphemia Beaton (née Stevenson). Hugh had two younger brothers, James (b.1861, Glasgow) and Thomas (b.1867, Glasgow). Hugh, who generally played across the forward line, was a big player in the first half of the 1880s decade which saw Partick Thistle slowly prosper and rise during his 5 successive seasons with the club. In the summer of 1880, having secured their own private grounds at Jordanvale, Partick Thistle applied to the Scottish Football Association for membership which was duly granted, resulting in the club's participation in the Scottish Cup for the first time. On the 2nd October 1880, the 22-year-old wrote himself into the Thistle history books by scoring Thistle's first-ever goal in the competition, a milestone which was all the sweeter since it secured a one nil win at Anniesland Park, home to Jordanhill. Hugh played in the next round in front of 1,000 - the record crowd so far - but the 3-0 loss to Rangers at Kinning Park highlighted the gap which existed between Thistle and the top teams in the country. Echoing the pioneering adventures of Partick, their burgh rivals, on Saturday the 26th November 1881, Partick Thistle played their first ever game against non-Scottish opposition – their first ever game on “foreign” soil. Hugh was in place on the right wing. Blackburn Olympic, who were to win the FA Cup in 1883, were the opponents. Kicking off at 3.10pm before 500 hardy but keen souls, the game was played in the howling wind and rain, and the home side were 4-0 up at half-time. Thistle, playing with the conditions, staged an amazing second half comeback and came away with a highly credible 4-4 draw. This exciting adventure raised the club's profile greatly, and the memorably romantic name of Partick Thistle became more widely known on a British scale. Thistle won the Yoker Cup for three consecutive years from 1881 to 1883, and Hugh was almost certainly involved in all three successes. He was reported as a scorer in the 1883 competition, and definitely appeared in the final - a 2-0 win over Sir John Maxwell on 20th March 1883. Although we need to bear in mind that press reports left many gaps in the 1880s, Hugh's busiest season was 1883-84 when 10 of his goals were reported, placing him second only to Bob Robertson in the scoring chart for that campaign. Hugh's last-known appearance for Thistle came on the 2nd May 1885, a momentous day on which Thistle played their last-ever game at Muir Park, their third home. It was the eleventh and final derby match versus Partick, and resulted in an 10th consecutive H2H victory for the Thistle, undisputed kings of the burgh. The takeover of Partick's Inchview as our 4th home was imminent! In his personal life, Hugh worked as a wood sawyer and married twice, to Mary Munro and to Mary Pentland. He seems to have lived in Partick all of his days, and it was there he died in 1928, a kidney ailment being the cause of his demise. His son, also named Hugh, signed the death register entry. Hugh was living in Merkland Street at the time, a famous address in Partick Thistle history. |
| (WS/JK) |
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