Kenny Watson
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Kenny Watson
Kenny Watson
• Kenny Watson, 1981 (PAN)

born in Scotland

Kenneth George Watson was born on Thursday, 5th January, 1956, in Aberdeen.

The 6' 0 (12st 0lbs) midfielder signed for Bertie Auld's Thistle on Friday, 8th August, 1980, having most recently been with Rangers.

Aged 24, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 9th August, 1980, in a 3-2 win at home to Heart of Midlothian in the SFL Premier Division.

Kenny scored his first goal for Thistle on Saturday, 30th August, 1980, in a 1-1 draw away to Queen's Park in the League Cup.

He scored the last of his 59 goals on Tuesday, 11th August, 1987, in a 2-2 draw at home to Airdrieonians in the SFL First Division.

He played his last game for the club on Tuesday, 16th August, 1988, in a 2-0 defeat (aet) at home to Dundee United in the League Cup, having clocked up an impressive 322 appearances as a Jag.

Kenny's club-list included Sunnybank, Montrose, Rangers and Partick Thistle.
Kenny Watson's Summary Totals
appearances position won drew lost goals
League 256 88 71 97 48
Competitive 303 102 82 119 54
All Games 322 113 84 125 59

Bio Extra

The 1980s were a largely forgetabble period for Partick Thistle. Premier Division status was lost at the end of 1981-82 and by the time the decade ended Thistle had not, nor for some years looked remotely like, regaining their position in Scotland’s top division. In what was an otherwise black time for the club, one bright spot was the contribution made by Kenny Watson.

Kenny started his career in the north east of Scotland with Montrose in 1973 and remained at Links Park for two years, signing for Rangers in 1975. Watson spent the best part of five years at Ibrox and although he was by no means a regular in the first team he still came to Firhill with an impressive pedigree. He was capped twice for the Scotland Under 21 side, against England and Sweden while at Rangers, and included amongst his 62 first team appearances were a number of European fixtures. Highlights of those were probably starring in a win against PSV Eindhoven and marking Argentinean World Cup winner Mario Kempes in a tie against Valencia.

It was something of a coup therefore when Bertie Auld managed to land the services of Watson in time for the start of the 1980-81 season, Thistle paying a reported fee of £150,000 to bring him across the Clyde to Maryhill. Watson was initially signed as a midfielder although as the years rolled by, he tended to occupy a position either at left back or in the centre of the Thistle defence. He made his Thistle debut in a home game with Hearts in August 1980, a game that Thistle won 3-2, and his first goal followed a few weeks later in a League Cup-tie with Queen’s Park at Hampden Park.

It took Watson a little time to win the Thistle fans over but once he had done so he became a firm favourite. In his first season at Firhill he played in all but a handful of fixtures and was part of the side that finished the season by defeating Celtic to lift the Glasgow Cup. Thistle were by now under the tutelage of Peter Cormack and that Glasgow Cup triumph was supposed to herald a new exciting era for the club. It didn’t quite work out that way. In Cormack’s first full season as manager at Thistle were relegated. Watson though made as positive contribution as any other player, and again he missed only a few games; his tally of five goals was bettered only by a youthful Maurice Johnston.

There was to be no immediate return to the top flight either. Twice Thistle came close to promotion with Watson scoring twelve goals in 1982-83, the only season when his tally would reach double figures. After missing out on promotion back to the Premier League in two successive seasons, it then become more and more of a struggle with relegation fights rather than promotion battles becoming the norm. That Thistle didn’t drop to Scotland’s basement League during this era wasn’t singlehandedly down to Kenny Watson, but his contribution shouldn’t be underestimated. A beautifully placed free kick with time running out at former club Montrose that gave thistle a 1-0 win was one such crucial intervention.

As the quality of the players around him began to deteriorate, Thistle started to rely on Watson more and more. Sadly though, his career became increasingly blighted by a series of injuries that denied the team of his services for significant periods. In season 1987-88, his last at Firhill, for example, Kenny played just 18 games. His presence was much missed. Injury finally ended Kenny's Thistle career early on in season 1988-89.

He appeared as a substitute in the opening game against Dunfermline Athletic but that would be the last time that the fans would see Kenny wear the club's red and yellow kit. With the arrival of John Lambie just round the corner, and with him better times, it was cruel in the extreme that Kenny didn't get to play in a better Thistle side than he did for the majority of his time at Firhill. At the age of just 32, there was little doubt that a fit Watson still had a major role to play.
(NK/TH)



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