| John Howden |
 John Howden was born on Tuesday, 18th June, 1878, in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire. The goalkeeper joined George Easton's Thistle as a guest in May, 1905, whilst an Ardeer Thistle player. Aged 26, he made his debut appearance on Thursday, 11th May, 1905, in a 0-0 draw away to Clyde in a Benefit match. In doing so, John joined the goalies' clean-sheet debutant's club. He made his second and final appearance on Thursday, 15th November, 1906, in a 2-2 draw at home to Celtic, again in a Benefit match. His club-list included Ardeer Thistle, Renfrew Victoria and Partick Thistle. We don't know where or when John died. *
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 The son of David Howden (spirit merchant) and Ann Howden (nÊe Weir). The big brother of Thistle's internationalist goalie Willie, John was drafted in a benefit game for the late Andrew Johnston's widow, a 0-0 draw away to Clyde on the Thursday evening of 11th May 1905. 1,000 were at Shawfield to see it. Defences were on top and both teams tried out a few fringe players and trialists. âShooting was anything but deadlyâ said the Record and the keepers were seldom troubled. John was playing with Ardeer Thistle in 1905 and switched to Renfrew Victoria in August 1906, where he played for at least two full seasons. As the Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette reported, John made the remarkable switch to centre forward for the 4-1 win at home to Port Glasgow Clydevale in the Renfrewshire Junior Cup on 8th September 1906, allowing a recruit from Neilston Victoria a place in goal. In November 1906, John was invited back for another game in goals for Thistle, a Thursday afternoon affair at home to Celtic for the benefit of the striking boilermakers of Partick. An entertaining 2-2 draw with Celtic was played, both teams experimenting with Junior guest players. With the above goalie-turned-forward anecdote in mind, we can't help but wonder if our man is the same John Howden who played centre forward for Arthurlie (1901-02), Port Glasgow Athletic (1903) and Ayr (1903-04). The time and place fits like a glove. |
| (WS/AFK/JK) |
