| Wilf Gillow |
 Wilfred Bernard Gillow was born on Friday, 8th July, 1892, in Preston, Lancashire. The 5' 10 midfielder temporarily transferred to George Easton's Thistle on Monday, 2nd September, 1918, from his parent club, Preston North End. Aged 26, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 31st August, 1918, in a 1-0 win away to Ayr United in the Scottish Football League. There were no goals for Wilf during his spell with Thistle. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 25th January, 1919, in a 3-1 defeat at home to Dumbarton in the Scottish Football League, having appeared as a Jag on 6 occasions. His club-list included Lancaster, Preston North End, Fleetwood, Blackpool, Leyland, Partick Thistle, Grimsby Town and Lancaster Town. Wilf died on Saturday, 11th March, 1944 in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, aged 51. |
| Wilf Gillow's Summary Totals |
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 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| League | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Competitive | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| All Games | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
 Midfielder Wilf was a war-time guest for the Jags in the late autumn of 1918, joining from Preston North End. The player served in a Highland regiment during World War 1. The Lancashire Evening Post of 29 September 1917 reported that “Wilf Gillow is playing capital football in battalion matches, and the training and experience are doing him considerable good physically.” Wilf played on 6 occasions for Thistle in a season when the Jags finished 4th in the League. He first appeared on 31st August 1918 in a 1-0 victory over Ayr United at Somerset Park, replacing Alex Black at right-half. The Scotsman newspaper described the match as “another tight game at Ayr and a lucky win”. In the SFL match against Hearts on 28th September 1918 the Jags were beaten 1-0. Wilf, however, had a 40-yard shot that the Hearts keeper took two attempts to save. Considering the weight of the ball at that time, that’s some effort! The press report claimed Thistle were unlucky not to come away with a draw. Although replaced in the side following week, he returned for the next League match against Falkirk at Firhill on 5th October 1918. The Jags won 4-2. That was Wilf’s final first team outing in 1918. He did play twice in January 1919, by which time the war had ended. He played in the League match against Hibs at Easter Road on 18 January 1919. Thistle won 2-0, but the Hibs keeper Harold Gough was carried off unconscious in the second half, and they ended up with only eight players on the pitch! Perhaps the war hadn’t ended in Leith. With World War 1 and it’s immediate aftermath over, Wilf returned to Deepdale. Wilf married Rachel Proctor in February/March 1914 in Preston. In the late 1900s, the teenage Wilf played as an amateur with Lancaster in the Lancashire Combination Division Two. By 1910, Wilf had signed for Preston North End, but didn’t play first team football. From the Lambs, he moved onto Fleetwood Town in the autumn of 1911, and then Second Division Blackpool, where he had his maiden first team outing against Barnsley in October 1912. Playing inside-left, he had a successful season, but after a barren patch, moved back to Preston in 1914. When war broke out, English League football was suspended, and Wilf kept his hand in with a guest appearance for Leyland in a 4-2 win over Rossendale on 30 October 1915. It's unclear whether Wilf joined Thistle after or during his Army war service. He only played a handful of matches for Preston as right-half after the war, before moving on to Grimsby Town in early 1920. He stayed with Grimsby as player and manager until 1932, apart from the 1922-23 season, when he signed for Lancaster Town. With Wilf as manager Grimsby were promoted to the EFL 2nd Division in 1926, and then promoted to the EFL 1st Division in 1929. Wilf took Town from the English Division 3 North to the English League 1st Division, with the club absent from the top table for the previous 27 years. Wilf left the club in May 1932, when Grimsby were relegated to the EFL Division 2. He became Middlesbrough manager in 1934, and the popular manager stayed with the club until his untimely death 10 years later in March 1944. He died from complications following an operation in a Middlesbrough hospital aged 51. Wilf was also a talented cricketer. He played for Cleethorpes, and in 1926 he played for his county, Lincolnshire. During the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Wilf worked on the Lancashire County cricket ground staff for a 4-year period. On account of his service during WWI, Wilf is included in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle returned →. |
| (DMAC) |
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