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| John Herd |
 John Douglas Herd (originally John Douglas) was born on Thursday, 2nd January, 1868, in Paisley, Renfrewshire. The defender joined Thistle in 1890. Aged 22, he made his first known appearance on Saturday, 16th August, 1890, in a 9-6 friendly win away to Port Glasgow Athletic. There were no known goals for John during his time with Thistle. He played his last known game for the club on Saturday, 9th May, 1891, in a 7-1 friendly defeat away to Airdrieonians, having appeared for the Thistle on at least 35 occasions. His club-list included Partick Thistle, Glasgow Thistle and Motherwell. John died on Thursday, 2nd November, 1944, in Shawlands, Glasgow, aged 76.
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 John was born to the unmarried Jane Douglas and took the surname Herd when his mother married John Herd in Renfrew in 1870. John joined Thistle in his early 20s in time for season 1890-91. Within weeks, the Scottish Referee had formed their opinion, noting that the established Thomas McCulloch was the better of the Thistle backs: “His partner — Herd — is good in the open, but has of little use when pressed. Practice should, however, remedy this defect.” That may well have been true, but it was not reflected in the appearances table come season's end, John being listed on 35 occasions, twice as many as his “better” half! John, in fact, was second to no player in that regard; both he and John Cameron were the leading men for 1890-91 on 35 apiece. As it transpired, John more often played alongside William Proudfoot. It was a decent season up until the middle of February when form fell away disastrously, Thistle finishing the season on a run of 13 games without a win, 12 of which were defeats. A 10 (TEN) nil defeat away to Aston Villa in late March was a particular lowpoint and, as one contemporary report put it: “Thistle have earned the questionable honour of being the best thrashed Scottish club who have ever been to Perry Barr”. It's likely that John suffered as part of the clear-out and he moved to Glasgow Thistle for the following term, where his form earned him a representative cap for Glasgow at the end of 1891; a 6-0 win at Aberdeenshire. Keeping a clean-sheet alongside him in the backline was Thomas McCulloch, his old teammate from the previous season at Inchview. John moved on to join Scottish Federation outfit Motherwell in the springtime of 1893. In his personal life, John worked as a school teacher during his days as a footballer and beyond. This seems to have been his true calling. He married Agnes Logan in 1903 at Cathcart and they raised a family together. At the time of his death aged 77, John was described as a retired school master. Chronic bronchitis led to his demise in late 1944, leaving Agnes a widow. Their daughter, Jessie, signed the death register entry. |
| (WS/JK) |