| Robert Jenkins |
 Robert Hamilton Jenkins was born on Sunday, 29th December, 1907, in Maryhill, Glasgow. The 5' 6½ (10st 4lbs) forward signed for Donald Turner's Thistle on Monday, 3rd March, 1930, having most recently been with Dunblane Rovers. Aged 22, he made his debut appearance on Wednesday, 5th March, 1930, in a 0-0 draw at home to Hibernian in the SFL First Division. Robert scored his first goal for Thistle on Wednesday, 23rd April, 1930, in a 2-1 win at home to St Johnstone in the SFL First Division. He scored the last of his 4 goals on Sunday, 25th May, 1930, in a 4-2 friendly win away to Kvik. That proved to be his last game for Thistle, having appeared as a Jag on 6 occasions. His club-list included Ruchill Amateurs, Dunblane Rovers, Partick Thistle, Brechin City and Clyde. Robert died in 1961, in Glasgow, aged 53. *
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 The 19-year-old Robert - who could play centre or out on the left - joined Ruchill Amateurs for season 1927-28 and there he developed his game, before switching to Perthshire Junior League football with Dunblane Rovers for the start of 1929-30. To say Robert was prolific with 'the Heather' would be an understatement. The match secretary, James Brown, kept very detailed records (see 'Scrapbook' tab) from which we can see that Robert registered 42 goals in the first 25 Dunblane games of season 1929-30. This astounding form included 9 hat-tricks, one of which was a "double" as Robert resgistered 7 in one crazy Stirlingshire Cup match on 19th October 1929; Dunblane Rovers 8 St Ninian's Thistle 5! Before the season was out, Robert was back in his home territory, signing for Partick Thistle in March 1930, pretty much at the beginning of the Donald Turner era. He knew he was joining one of the strongest clubs in the country, and that was re-inforced just weeks after joining, when Thistle played two Scottish Cup final ties against Rangers which drew 211,000 spectators to Hampden! Robert never featured in any of those historic games, but he did play 4 times in the League before the season was through. Scoreless draws at home to Hibs and away to Falkirk were registered within a few days of each other. He got a third chance some weeks later and opened his scoring account in a 2-1 League win at home to St Johnstone. He added another two to his account 7 days later, but the feat was spoiled by a 3-4 loss at home to Cowdenbeath. Robert impressed enough to be included in the season-end travelling party which was bound for Norway in May 1930, the club's first-ever foreign tour. He played in the 4-2 win vs. Kvik, marking his first-team finale with a goal. He was a strong member of the reserves side in the two seasons which followed, but this was never going to satisfy him, and he moved on, having spells with Brechin City and Clyde. Fun fact… Robert was born at 800 Garscube Road, not too far from the famous ground which would very soon become Firhill Park. Incidentally, the Dunblane Rovers books show that he was still living there in 1929, albeit a few doors up at no. 813! |
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