| Thomas Shiels |
 Thomas Shiels was probably born in Scotland, although his place and date of birth remain unknown to us. * The goalkeeper was a trialist for Thistle in February, 1896, whilst a Maryhill player. He made his only appearance on Saturday, 29th February, 1896, in a 10-0 friendly win at home to Paisley Academicals. In doing so, Thomas joined the goalies' clean-sheet debutant's club. Thomas's club-list included Maryhill, Partick Thistle, Glasgow Perthshire, Clyde and East Stirlingshire. We don't know where or when Thomas died. *
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 Nicknamed 'Stacks' for some reason, Thomas was a hot young prospect at Maryhill in the mid 1890s, and was capped by the Glasgow Junior League on at least two occasions. He got the call from Inchview for a trial game in late February 1896, with the regular 'keeper, James Crozier, one of several who had a bust-up with the committee following the 5-3 league defeat at Leith Athletic on the 22nd. And what a day it was; Partick Thistle 10 Paisley Academicals 0! Despite the clean-sheet, there was no deal forthcoming for Thomas, and it was John C. Spence who was quickly drafted in as the replacement for Crozier who abruptly departed. Thomas played out the season with the 'Hill before making the switch to Glasgow Perthshire for season 1896-97. The season had hardly got started before he was being linked with a big move and the rumours soon came to be when he signed to Clyde of the First Division. On 21 September 1896, the Dundee Evening Telegraph wrote of his debut for the Bully Wee away to Celtic: “He seems to be in a fair way of becoming famous. Shot after shot was succesfully propelled by this promising goalkeeper, and if his future performances be in keeping with Saturday's exhibition, he will prove a decided acquisition to Clyde.” It was a generous description for a 6-1 defeat! Thomas featured in 12 of the 18 league games that season as Clyde, 9th in the 10 club league, retained their top-flight status for the third successive campaign. Thomas moved on to East Stirlingshire for 1897-98 where he had a memorable campaign in the Scottish Qualifying Cup, although he had to settle for silver in the end when the 'Shire went down by 4 goals to 2 versus Port Glasgow Athletic in the final at Hampden Park on 18th December 1897. |
| (WS/JK) |