| Jim Kennedy |
 James Kennedy was probably born in Scotland, although his place and date of birth remain unknown to us. * The 5' 11 (11st 5lbs) midfielder signed for David Meiklejohn's Thistle on Monday, 9th March, 1959, having most recently been with Thorniewood United. He made his debut appearance on Saturday, 21st March, 1959, in a 2-0 defeat away to Celtic in the SFL First Division. There were no goals for Jim during his spell with Thistle. He played his last game for the club on Wednesday, 21st October, 1959, in a 5-3 friendly defeat away to Dumbarton, having appeared as a Jag on 5 occasions. Jim's club-list included Thorniewood United, Albion Rovers and Partick Thistle.
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 Jim, a big no-nonsense centre half, earned a good reputation playing in the Juniors with Thorniewood United in Uddingston from the mid-1950s. He had a try out with Albion Rovers in January 1957, making his debut in a 1-1 draw in a Second Division match at Brechin City. He got the call up from David Meiklejohn in the springtime of 1959 and played in 4 of the League games before the end of the season. He was trusted to play at Celtic Park for his debut, but could do little to prevent a 0-2 loss, despite putting in a decent performance, as the Evening Times wrote: "Young Kennedy was settling to a workmanlike game and he cleared up one spot of Wilson-inspired trouble by a good tackle to dispossess Lochhead." So where did it all go wrong for Jim? Well, we know one thing for sure - he played in the famous last League game of the season when Thistle were humiliated at East End Park, losing by 10 goals to 1 against Dunfermline who were (potentially) in need of massively outscoring Falkirk by that sort of margin to avoid relegation. It was a truly shameful day to be a Thistle fan. Jim was promptly dropped for the final two Charity Cup games. He was probably damaged goods by that point. He appeared only once more for the first team - in a 5-3 friendly defeat at Dumbarton in October 1959. It was his chance to impress the new manager, Willie Thornton, but that result would have done nothing for his chances. Jim was consigned to the reserves for the entirety of that season. He was freed in April 1960. |
| (WS) |
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