 |
Your Archive Needs YOU! Page upload volunteers are urgently required; free time is precious for everyone but if you can spare some then please do get in touch â and play your part in helping to build an Archive for all of Jagskind to use and enjoy! Read more â |
| Walter Lindsay |
 Walter Lindsay was born on Saturday, 4th December, 1875, in Blythswood Hill, Glasgow. The forward signed for Thistle on Tuesday, 14th December, 1897 (after a trial game), having most recently been with Ashfield. Aged 22, he made his first known appearance on Saturday, 11th December, 1897, in a 6-3 defeat at home to Celtic in the SFL First Division. That day, Walter became a member of our scoring debutant's club. He scored the last of his 10 known goals on Tuesday, 19th August, 1902, in a 4-0 friendly win at home to Third Lanark. He played his last known game for the club on Monday, 23rd April, 1906, in a 1-0 win away to Third Lanark in the Glasgow League, having appeared for the Thistle on at least 34 occasions. His club-list included Crown Athletic, St Mirren Juniors, Renfrew Victoria, Langside Athletic, Queen's Park Strollers, Ashfield, Partick Thistle, Third Lanark, Ayr and Queen's Park. Walter died on Tuesday, 7th May, 1957, in Pollokshields, Glasgow, aged 81. |
 Son of Robert Lindsay (warehouseman) and Isabella Lindsay (nÊe Forsyth). This left-sided forward played southside in the mid-1890s with Polmadie oufit, Crown Athletic, in the Glasgow Junior League. The player put himself about a bit via a number of clubs, before landing at Saracen Park with Ashfield, where he surely hoped to make a name for himself. This he did, but perhaps not quite in the way that he'd hoped. In May 1897, he appeared for Ashfield in their Glasgow Junior Cup final tie vs. Cambuslang Hibs and thought a winners medal had been won when a handsome victory was earned. However, Hibs appealed on the grounds that Lindsay was ineligible (cup-tied) and the player didn't have a leg to stand on, the Ashfield officials themselves reportedly having been duped by the player's personal assurances before the match. Without Walter's attacking threat, Ashfield lost the replayed tie. With that, his name was in the papers, and several months later Walter got his big break when a trial was set up with Partick Thistle. Under the psuedonym "Fraser" he had a baptism of fire at Meadowside, facing up to the unbeatable champions elect, Celtic. Brilliantly, he managed to score on his debut, albeit he was merely pulling it back to 3-5 en route to the 3-6 final score. This was Thistle's inaugural top-flight campaign, and their first in their new home at Meadowside. It was touch and go, but 5 wins out of the 18 was enough for Thistle to be re-elected in the end. The Thistle committee were under all sorts of pressure at this time; juggling the demands of first-class competition with wages commensurate was a whole new challenge. Against this backdrop, Lindsay's attitude was questionable, exemplified when he simply failed to turn up for the first game of the new year in 1899 versus Rangers. Whatever his excuse, the committee were unimpressed, as PT Early Years explains: âThe match committee then suspended him for a month for insubordination. His absence was a loss to the team as he had developed a good relationship with James Kirkland on the left wing. After his month's suspension he was released and subsequently signed for Third Lanark.â The player made no inroads to the first class Third Lanark side of the day, and, before the year was out, stepped back to Ayr FC of the Second Division. It's my hunch that Walter reached out once more to Thistle towards the end of that season, the name "Fraser" once again being used for an otherwise unidentified player who appeared in a low-key Western League game on 5th May 1900, a 3-2 defeat at Clune Park against Port Glasgow Athletic. If it was indeed he, then nothing came of it immediately, and he spent two further seasons at Somerset Park. However, make his way back to Meadowside he did, re-signing in May, 1902. By now, Walter offered his services as an amateur, as and when required. The old spark was gone though, and only a handful of appearances were made, before he tried for another of his earlier loves, Queen's Park. He was purportedly registered with the Spiders for a few years at this time, although only one competitive first team appearance is recorded, so perhaps he mainly played in the reserves. Two final appearances were made for Thistle in April, 1906, both being made in low-key Glasgow League games. His father later became a dock superintendent and Walter, a bachelor, followed suit as a shipping clerk. He was living in Lenzie latterly, and died of heart failure whilst in Glasgow. His brother, Thomas, signed the death register entry at Kirkintilloch. |
| (WS/JK) |
click on image to enlarge (magnifiable if deemed necessary by your browser)