| John Inglis |
 John Inglis was probably born in Scotland, although his place and date of birth remain unknown to us. * The forward may have joined Thistle in 1876 or 1877. He made his first known appearance on Saturday, 19th May, 1877, in a 4-0 friendly win away to Partick Ramblers. That day, John became a member of our scoring debutant's club. He scored the last of his 14 known goals on Thursday, 6th April, 1882, in a 5-2 friendly defeat away to St Bernard's. He played his last known game for the club on Saturday, 9th September, 1882, in a 4-2 win away to Battlefield in the Scottish Cup, having appeared for the Thistle on at least 25 occasions. His known club-list included only Partick Thistle. We don't know where or when John died. *
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 With his appearance and goal in a 4-0 win away to Partick Ramblers on 19th May 1877, this player made history! Alongside two others - Jack Beattie and T. Brown - he jointly became the first to be quoted as a Partick Thistle player, not to mention being the joint-first to be quoted as a goalscorer (no sequence was clarified). You would have to put John down on the short-list as a potential founder-member too. He was captain of the team in 1877-78 and was a quoted member of the first-known committee in September 1877. John played in a number of forward positions and was a man of many firsts for the Thistle over several years. In January 1878, he played in the first-ever competitive game - a home tie versus Cowlairs in the West of Scotland Cup: “Played at Overnewton Park and after a very fast and exciting game resulted in favour of the Thistle by four goals to one. The play on both sides was splendid with the exception of the Thistle backs who played rather loose” (NBDM). There's just no pleasing some folk. The Thistle partisans who were at First Hampden Park on Saturday, 5th April, 1879, 3.30pm, were about to witness John and the club make history as the first-ever trophy was won, the holders being defeated by a single goal, as reported in the North British Daily Mail:
Echoing the pioneering adventures of Partick, their burgh rivals, on Saturday the 26th November 1881, Partick Thistle played their first ever game against non-Scottish opposition – their first ever game on “foreign” soil. John was in place at #8 for the occasion. Blackburn Olympic, who were to win the FA Cup in 1883, were the opponents. Kicking off at 3.10pm before 500 hardy but keen souls, the game was played in the howling wind and rain, and the home side were 4-0 up at half-time. Thistle, playing with the conditions, staged an amazing second half comeback and came away with a highly credible 4-4 draw, the equaliser coming in a scrimmage at the very death. Let's imagine our John was right there in the thick of it! This exciting adventure raised the club's profile greatly, and the memorably romantic name of Partick Thistle became more widely known on a British scale. We know that John played at least once in the Yoker Cup so there's every chance he collected another medal or two as Thistle won it in 1881, 1882 & 1883. There's very little to go on in terms of developing his identity further, but if Inglis done nothing else in the game after Thistle, then he done plenty enough. |
| (WS/AFK) |
