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| Willie Gray |
 William Gray was born on Tuesday, 19th May, 1959, in Glasgow. The 5' 11 (10st 8lbs) forward signed for Bertie Auld's Thistle on Tuesday, 17th February, 1976, having most recently been with Eastercraigs. Aged 22, he made his debut appearance on Tuesday, 28th July, 1981, in an 11-1 friendly win away to Fort William. That day, Willie became a member of our scoring debutant's club. He played his second and last game for the club on Saturday, 1st August, 1981, in a 1-1 friendly draw away to Forfar Athletic. Willie's club-list included Partick Thistle, East Stirlingshire, Baillieston Juniors, Thorniewood United and Albion Rovers. |
 Willie won two Amateur Cup medals with Eastercraigs and the 16-year-old was snapped up by Bertie Auld's in February, 1976. He never made the breakthrough at Firhill however, and was transferred to East Stirlingshire in November, 1978. He got his first taste of senior football there, making two League appearance in the Scottish Second Division that season. In the close season of 1979, Willie stepped back to the juniors with Ballieston. They got to the Junior Cup final at the end of that season and Willie (an unused sub on the night) received a winners medal as they defeated Benburb 2-0 after extra time in the replayed tie in front of nearly 10,000 at Hampden. Just 3 months later, Willie signed with Thorniewood United in a bid to enjoy more game time. Whilst still a Thorniewood player, Willie joined Peter Cormack's Thistle for a pre-season trial. He finally made his first team debut more than 5 years after his first signing, and proceeded to score on his debut, heading home the crucial 5th in an 11-1 routing of Fort William! In his second and final trial game, he played for the last 40 minutes of a 1-1 draw away to Alex Rae's Forfar. No deal was forthcoming for Willie, and he duly resumed at Thorniewood. Rejoined Ballieston in January 1984, and made a surprise return to the seniors in April 1986, appearing a couple of times for Albion Rovers. |
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