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| Johnny Swann |
 John White Swann was born on Monday, 7th April, 1913, in Larne, County Antrim. The midfielder signed for Donald Turner's Thistle on Tuesday, 25th February, 1936, having most recently been with Larne. Aged 23, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 22nd August, 1936, in a 3-2 defeat at home to Hamilton Academical in the SFL First Division. There were no goals for Johnny during his time with Thistle. He played his last game for the club on Monday, 2nd January, 1939, in a 4-1 defeat away to Clyde in the SFL First Division, having appeared as a Jag on 16 occasions. His club-list included Carrickfergus, Larne Harriers, Larne, Partick Thistle and Ballymena United. Johnny died on Wednesday, 15th September, 1943, in Aldershot, Hampshire, aged 30. |
 Johnny Swann was born on 7th April 1913 in Old Glenarm Road, Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He was the eldest son of Andrew & Jeannie Swann, with 2 brothers and 3 sisters. He worked in a weaving factory while playing junior football for Carrickfergus and Larne Harriers, winning the Larne Junior League with the latter in 1933. That year he joined Larne FC, playing most of the 1933/34 season in the Olympic (Larne reserves) team, scoring 3 hat-tricks. He became a first team regular in 1934/35, losing after 2 Replays in the 1935 Irish Cup Final against Glentoran. He moved to Partick Thistle in February 1936, having scored 18 goals in 108 appearances for both first team and the Olympic team. Having spent 3 years with the Jags, he returned to Northern Ireland to play for Ballymena United in July 1939. He finally won an Irish Cup Winners medal in 1940 when United defeated Glenavon 2-0. The following season he returned to Larne FC and was a first team regular between October 1940 and March 1941 when he enlisted as a Volunteer Reserve in 107 Squadron Royal Air Force. On 2 July 1941 he married Rosetta Brown and the couple lived in Castle Street, Glenarm, County Antrim. He was serving (with the rank of Sergeant) as a member of a bomber crew when he died on active service due to war operations, at Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot on 15 September 1943. He was buried in Glenarm New Cemetery, County Antrim. An act of remembrance took place at his graveside on 15 September 2018 (covered by the local newspaper, The Larne Times), marking the 75th Anniversary of his death. We commemorate his life in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle Fallen →. |
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