| Jim Wilkie |
 James Wilkie was born on Sunday, 31st May, 1885, in Kemback, Fife. The 5' 8 (11st 3lbs) forward signed for George Easton's Thistle on Saturday, 30th June, 1906, having most recently been with East Fife. Aged 21, he made his debut appearance on Tuesday, 21st August, 1906, in a 2-2 draw away to Renton in a Benefit match. That day, Jim became a member of our scoring debutant's club. He scored the last of his 5 goals on Saturday, 4th May, 1907, in a 3-2 friendly defeat at home to Kilmarnock. That proved to be his last game for Thistle, having appeared as a Jag on 24 occasions. His club-list included Tayport, East Fife, Partick Thistle and Reading. Jim died on Thursday, 15th June 1944, in Tayport, Fife, aged 59. |
 The son of James Seath Wilkie (blacksmith) and Margaret Wilkie (née Scott) who married in 1882. He was the second-born of 8, with an older sister, Maggie, 3 younger brothers and 3 younger sisters. A Tayport junior since 1903, Jim enjoyed a lot of success in his early career, with a number of cups being won; see the 'Gallery' tab above for a flavour. Jim assisted East Fife on a number of occasions throughout 1905-06, making his debut in a Northern League fixture against Dundee 'A' at Bayview in October. He formally signed his first professional contract with the Fifers in the close season of 1906, but the ink on the paper was barely dry when Partick Thistle came calling within weeks. “Outside left Wilkie had been keen to play with a bigger club against better players” reported the Dundee Evening Telegraph. East Fife agreed to let him go and received £20 compensation, feeling that Thistle had got a bargain. Jim's Thistle debut came in August 1906. The once famous Renton invited the Jags to send a team to Dunbartonshire to play a match in aid of their new pavilion fund – “Partick Thistle favoured the ‘village’ team” as the Glasgow Herald put it. Thistle sent a strong team and led 2-0 at half time, although the game ended 2-2. Robert Gray got one, as did Jim, joining our scoring debutants club. In the following game, the first game at Meadowside of the season, Jim continued to show good form, being involved in all five goals in a 5-0 league win over Morton, scoring one himself. The £20 fee was looking like money well spent. “His dodging, shooting and passing stamped him as a future first-rater” said the Scottish Referee. In his one season at Meadowside, Jim featured in around half of the games, making 20 competitive appearances and getting on the scoresheet twice. 3 more goals were scored in friendlies and, in fact, Jim also joined our scoring finale club for a neat double! Jim re-signed with East Fife in June 1907, where he re-invented himself as more of a centre-forward. Good consistent form got the 24-year-old a decent money move in November 1909, and he joined Reading of the Southern League, but only after some diplomatic endeavours had satisfied both Partick Thistle and East Fife, each of whom retained a financial stake in the contractual matter! Jim immediately made his Reading debut in front of 8,000 at Elm Park; Reading 1 Swindon 4. It would turn out to be a very poor season for 'the Biscuitmen' who finished bottom of the league. Jim played less than 10 games and had one goal on the board, but it was unfortunate that he joined the club during such a low period; they were reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy. By March 1910 he was back in Methil and re-joined East Fife for the third time. There's a photo of a Tayport Thistle line-up in 1925-26 which includes a suited Jim Wilkie with bunnet, so it's quite possible it was our man who was involved there in some capacity. In his personal life, Jim worked as a coal miner in his younger days. He married Marion Miller Lyons on 28th December 1928 in Tayport. He and Marion were living at 40 Linkesfield, Tayport, when he passed away in June 1944. The funeral took place at Tayport New Cemetery on the 18th June, 1944. |
| (WS/NK/JK) |
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