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| Sam Donnelly |
 Samuel Donnelly was born in Scotland, although his place and date of birth remain unknown to us. * The forward signed for Donald Turner's Thistle on Friday, 3rd June, 1932, having most recently been with Irvine Meadow XI. He made his debut appearance on Wednesday, 24th August, 1932, in a 2-1 win away to Celtic in the SFL First Division. There were no goals for Sam during his spell with Thistle. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 11th March, 1933, in a 2-0 defeat away to Ayr United in the SFL First Division, having appeared as a Jag on 6 occasions. His club-list included Irvine Meadow XI, Partick Thistle and Rochdale. We don't know where or when Sam died. *
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 This inside forward was part of a very succesful Irvine Meadow side and 1931-32 was particularly memorable for him. Not only did he do the Ayrshire Cup and West of Scotland Cup double with the Medda (the latter won at Firhill!), he earned 3 international caps for Junior Scotland, playing in a 1-1 draw with Ireland (Solitude 5 March 1932), a 1-0 win over England (Tynecastle 23 April 1932) and a 4-1 win over Wales (Dens Park 7 May 1932). Brilliantly, Sam got on the scoresheet in the latter game. All of this success led Donald Turner to offer him terms at Firhill. Sam got his first taste of senior football at the hotspot of Celtic Park and, brilliantly, the Jags came away with a 2-1 win. However, it was part of one of the most bizarre runs ever seen by fans of the club. Thistle lost 7 of their opening 8 League games, the only victory coming away to Celtic! This was followed by 12 successive League wins - the all-time club-record! Literally, they were the great unpredictables. On a personal level, Sam never got much of a chance after the opening run of defeats, and he was largely confined to the reserves. Sam spent a month on trial with Rochdale at the beginning of 1933-34, but soon returned to the junior game in Ayrshire, settling once again at Irvine Meadow. |
| (WS/JK) |
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