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| Ralph McElhaney |
 Ralph McElhaney was born on Tuesday, 17th March, 1874, in Govan, Glasgow. The forward signed for Thistle on Wednesday, 25th December, 1895, having most recently been with Clyde. Aged 21, he made his first known appearance on Saturday, 2nd January, 1896, in a 3-0 friendly win away to Dundee. There were no known goals for Ralph during his spell with Thistle. He played his last known game for the club on Saturday, 11th January, 1896, in a 3-3 draw away to Motherwell in the SFL Second Division, having appeared for the Thistle on at least 3 occasions. His club-list included Dreghorn, Third Lanark, Celtic, Clyde, Partick Thistle, Tottenham Hotspur, Swindon Town, Beith, East Stirlingshire, Brentford, Dunipace, Grays United and Southall. Ralph died on 5th December, 1930, in Romford, Essex, aged 56. |
 Poor Ralph didn't get off to a great start in life, being mis-transcribed as Ralph Mawhinney on his birth register entry! He was a right sided player who could play either in midfied or attack. He cut his teeth in the Ayrshire Juniors with Dreghorn, before signing with Third Lanark in 1894. He played 15 top-flight games during 1894-95, two of which came with reigning champions Celtic, with whom he signed in April, 1895. It soon became clear that opportunities would be restricted in that high company, so he moved over to Clyde just 4 months later. After just 5 League appearances with the Shawfield club, he signed for Thistle on Christmas day 1895. Again, his stay was fairly brief and appearances few, but despite this he got a move to Southern League Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1896. He had a single season with Tottenham, scoring 7 goals in 20 appearances, before moving on to Swindon Town in the summer of 1897. He made just 3 Southern League appearances for Swindon during 1897-98, and after a stint back in Scotland with Beith (1898) and East Stirlingshire (1899), he joined Brentford of the Southern League Second Division early in 1900. In his first full season there, 1900-01, Ralph took his goals tally into double figures, helping the side clinch the championship, which led to promotion. He had one further season at Brentford scoring 13 goals in 50 appearances, before returning to Scotland to join Dunipace in 1902. After one season there, Ralph began a third spell in England, joining Southern League club Grays United in 1903. He finished his career with a spell at non league club Southall, joining them in 1904 before his retirement in 1905. |
| (WS/JK) |
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