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Partick Thistle – a People’s History will be the 150th anniversary book; author Kenny Pieper needs your memories and stories from following the Jags… read more on the club website  or get straight to it by e-mailing: ku.oc.cftp|051#ku.oc.cftp|051 |
| Willie Paul - The First Partick Thistle Giant |
by William Sheridan
1 — A foreword
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From what little we know of them, we can tell there were some great loyal men who played big roles in helping to establish and develop the Partick Thistle Football Club.
We might consider Andrew Duff, perhaps the first Thistle maverick. Regarded as one of the best ‘keepers in the land, but would just as soon play centre forward as the fancy took him. We should certainly acknowledge John Hendry, a back of some mettle who gave a decade and a half of service from the late 1870s. Both of these players led Thistle to their first Cup success in 1879. And how about the versatile powerhouse Bob Robertson, 10 years of service from 1883, and over the 200 appearances mark in the era of many missing teamlines. Not only did these aforementioned Corinthians render their services for free on the field, they did likewise by taking up various roles on the committee.
Respect is due to all of these men (and others), but when we gaze back through the mists of time, there’s one name which positively towers above them all, for many different reasons, in Partick Thistle’s 19th century story. That man is Willie Paul – Thistle's first-ever bona fide internationalist.
Writing in the “Legends” book in 2007, Niall Kennedy wrote of Willie: “We know he played in at least 396 games for the club scoring at least 186 goals, but in reality almost certainly more than 200.”
He certainly got that right. Since then, more and more of the old press has become digitized, and some of history’s best-kept secrets have revealed themselves (and continue to do so). Those of you who follow my statto meanderings will know that, early in 2015, I was demonstrably able to show Niall’s forecast to be true. By my current reckoning (and you should know it remains an ever-restless figure) Willie Paul now sits on 235 legitimate goals (excluding voided matches).
For want of an actual founding date (it's almost certainly in December 1875), 19th February 1876 stands as the adopted birthday of Partick Thistle FC, this being the date of our first recorded match. When I first published this piece, we Thistle fans were looking forward to a special toast on February 19th 2016 – the 140th anniversary of our club. Now, with a few extra twists and turns ten years on, the tribute is as important today as it was back then, as we now revel in 150 years of this famous old footballing institution.
What better time, therefore, to celebrate Willie’s phenomenal career / scoring record as a Partick Thistle player? As we lead up to our latest “birthday” celebration, I will be taking a look back at the life and times of Willie Paul – the ups, the downs, and even more ups!
Serialised by season, the Willie Paul story can be enjoyed properly; it was quite the journey. I know that dusty old tales from more than 100 years ago are not everyone’s cup of Bovril, but I promise I’ll do my best to keep it interesting.
And so, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will join me in the waving of hats, handkerchiefs, umbrellas and what-not in a manner befitting Partick Thistle’s first double centurion…
With special thanks to my Thistle Archive colleagues Jack Little, Joe Kelly & Stuart Deans for all the invaluable research chip-ins over the years, and to Niall Kennedy for the inspiring and informing PT Early Years
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Originally published on 31-Jan-2016 (WAT) |
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Re-published here on The Thistle Archive, 04-Oct-2025. |
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Latest edit version, 03-Oct-2025. |
| see also: |
| Willie Paul → |
| Who Put The Ball In The Rangers Net? → |
| The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists → |