| John McFarlane |
 John McFarlane was probably born in Scotland, although his place and date of birth remain unknown to us. * The midfielder signed for George Easton's Thistle on Wednesday, 11th August, 1920. He made his debut appearance on Tuesday, 4th January, 1921, in a 2-0 win away to St Mirren in the Scottish Football League. John scored his only goal on Tuesday, 23rd August, 1921, in a 3-3 draw at home to Clydebank FC in a Benefit match, in the process joining our scoring finale club. As mentioned, that turned out to be his game for Thistle, having appeared as a Jag on 3 occasions. His club-list included Partick Thistle and Bethlehem Steel. We don't know where or when John died. *
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 John, who mainly played at right half, signed for Thistle in August 1920 and played a whole season in the Scottish Alliance with the Partick Thistle Reserves. With Thistle shuffling personnel during the hectic New Year period, John was handed his first team debut at Love Street on 4 January 1921. 8,500 turned out in “Spring-like weather” (Scotsman). Kenny Campbell in goals kept 2nd bottom St Mirren at bay as they enjoyed most of the play, but it was Thistle who took the lead through Andrew Comrie (30). Shortly after the restart David Johnstone scored for 2-0 and although Saints continued to dominate, they found the excellent Campbell unbeatable and so it was a winning debut (and a clean-sheet) for John McFarlane at right half. John got a second run-out as a first teamer in a Monday evening league game against Celtic on 28 March 1921. Strangely, it was played at Ibrox due to ground reconstruction works at Firhill. With Thistle in the middle of negotiating a succesful but gruelling Scottish Cup campaign, there were several changes to the team which had drawn the semi-final with Hearts (also at Ibrox) 2 days earlier. (In fact, the replay against Hearts 2 days later was also set for Ibrox, a most unlikely 5-day freak-streak!) Thistle lost 0-1 to Celtic on the night (1 of only 2 "home" defeats in the 23 games that season) but the second-string boys put in a good effort and were unlucky. “Partick's half-backs were unspairing, both of themselves and of the Celtic forwards. McFarlane - not by the way the gentleman who has been playing centre forward - stuck well into Cassidy and came fairly well out of the tussle.” (DR, 29/3/1921). Despite doing well in his two appearances, that was the end of his first class activity as a Jag. John wasn't re-signed for season 1921-22 but he did get another run-out in August 1921, partnering Bob McFarlane up front in a benefit match to raise funds for the Arran War Memorial. 1,000 were at Firhill on the Tuesday evening of 23rd August and John marked his finale with a goal. In what was a keenly fought contest, he hit a good drive past David Robertson midway through the second half, inspiring Thistle to come back for a 3-3 draw. It's not easy to trace John's footballing career movements, but he was one of the many Scots who were tempted over to play in the United States. Along with fellow ex-Jags Neil Turner and Bill Carnihan, John played with Bethlehem Steel from late 1922 onwards. It was there we found a photo, published in the Sporting Post in September 1924 (see 'Scrapbook' tab). We're currently looking more into John's playing career. Is he one and the same player as "Tommy" McFarlane? Watch this space… Tommy McFarlane @ Wikipedia |
| (WS/JK/AFK/SD) |
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