| Tommy Rae |
 Thomas McClure Rae was born on Sunday, 17th February, 1946, in Cambusnethan, North Lanarkshire. The 5' 8½ (11st 2lbs) forward signed for Willie Thornton's Thistle on Tuesday, 27th August, 1963, having most recently been with Sauchie. Aged 18, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 4th April, 1964, in a 2-1 win away to Queen of the South in the SFL First Division. Tommy scored his first goal for Thistle on Friday, 23rd April, 1965, in a 4-2 win at home to Hibernian in the SFL First Division. He scored the last of his 71 goals on Wednesday, 25th September, 1974, in a 1-1 draw away to Airdrieonians in the League Cup. He played his last game for the club on Wednesday, 19th March, 1975, in a 1-0 defeat away to Celtic in the Glasgow Cup, having clocked up an impressive 226 appearances as a Jag. Tommy's club-list included Sauchie, Partick Thistle, Aberdeen, Clydebank, Cowdenbeath, Morton and East Stirlingshire. |
 Tommy, yet another product of Sauchie, gave many great years of service to Thistle over two spells at the club. Arriving in August 1963, the young right winger, as expected, spent most of his time in the reserves, gradually finding a little more game time as the seasons passed. He was a mainstay for two seasons from August 1966 onwards. With 11 competitive goals, he was joint-top scorer with Johnny Flanagan in 1966-67 and topped our chart the following season with an impressive 19 goal tally, making him a firm fans favourite of the day. On the back of this form, Tommy left for Aberdeen in May 1968 and enjoyed two seasons as a Don, making 21 competitive appearances and finding the net on two occasions. In late 1968, he played 2 games on the European stage as a Red, home and away to Slavia Sofia in the Fairs Cities Cup, the Scots prevailing by 2 to nil on aggregate. Just after that, he returned to Firhill to face his old team-mates, and a Jimmy Bone goal left him disappointed; Partick Thistle 1 Aberdeen 0. Thistle were on the decline without Tommy and, in November 1969, it suited both parties to be re-united. Alas, the rot which had set in under Scot Symon proved to be too deep, and by season's end the club was humiliated in being relegated for the first time in almost 70 years. 1970-71 was a poor season for Tommy personally, a combination of injuries and poor form limiting his impact on the team, but Thistle bounced back at the first time of asking, and Tommy would be a Premier League player once more. Tommy contributed well in season 1971-72, although he was never quite the automatic pick in this golden era when Thistle had an array of attacking talent, Denis McQuade generally being ahead in Tommy's position. Tommy played twice (and scored two) in the famous League Cup campaign which culminated in the famous 4-1 victory over Celtic. He was on the bench for the Hampden semi and, although he never made the cut for the final, he earned his place in the hall of the fame as a valued squad member. Tommy played with Thistle in an era when they enjoyed a number of foreign tours and it's interesting to note that his 'all games' goals tally included EIGHT goals against opposition from Malaysia, Indonesia, Sweden & Germany! After the League Cup side broke up, Tommy once again came through as a mainstay in 1973-74, making 36 competitive appearances, but with a disappointing return of only 4 goals. The departure of manager Davie McParland - an ever-present player/manager figure in Tommy's two spells - pretty much signalled the end for Tommy too. After spending most of Bertie Auld's first season in the reserves, Tommy accepted that it was time to move on. At the beginning of 1975-76, he had a trial period with Clydebank - the only full-time team in the Second Division - and turned out in a 1-1 friendly against Thistle that August. After short spells at Cowdenbeath and Morton, Tommy finally settled at East Stirlingshire where he played regularly and scored often for a couple of seasons. After his football career, Tommy went into politics and served on Strathclyde Regional Council. |
| (WS) |
