| James Brydson |
 James Brydson was probably born in Scotland, although his place and date of birth remain unknown to us. * The forward signed for Thistle on Friday, 6th May, 1898, having most recently played with 6th G.R.V. He made his first known appearance (as a trialist) on Wednesday, 4th May, 1898, in a 6-1 win at home to Rugby Rovers in a Benefit match. That day, James achieved the rare feat of scoring a hat-trick on his debut! He scored the last of his 4 known goals on Wednesday, 9th May, 1900, in a 2-1 win at home to Morton in the Western League. He played his last known game for the club on Tuesday, 15th May, 1900, in a 3-2 friendly win at home to Galston, having appeared for the Thistle on at least 7 occasions. His club-list included 6th GRV, Partick Thistle, Preston North End and Hamilton Academical. We don't know where or when James died. *
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 In May 1898, this right-sided forward made his debut in an unusual fixture played against Rugby Rovers (yes, a team made up of rugby players) in aid of the Partick Nurses Jubilee Fund. Five trialists played that evening: John Buchan (Alloa Seafield), Willie Ferguson (Ashton), George Drummond (Alloa Seafield), James Brydson (6th GRV) & Houston (Copeland). Scoring on your debut is always a bit special, but a hat-trick on day one is something else. That evening, James became only the second player known to have done such a thing and to this day only 6 others have joined the elite club. As the Scottish Referee tells it, Jags were keen on a few of them, but hat-trick hero James was the only one who subsequently signed to terms. If his debut was spectacular, then his start to season 1898-99 was equally so, but for very different reasons: 15.08.1898 Linthouse [a] L0-8 (Friendly) Dear oh dear! The writing was on the wall and before the season was out James was allowed to turn out for his old club. He played on loan at Hamilton Academical in 1899-00, and a brief spell was also arranged at Preston North End. He re-appeared at Meadowside for a final few games in May 1900, after which his deal at Hamilton became a permanent one. |
| (WS/JK) |
