You Couldn't Make It Up!

by Jack Little

Many centre-halves found George Smith's pace too hot to handle. When the Thistle v Rangers match on 2/1/1962 was postponed, most of the players would have treated their afternoon off as a bonus - but not George. On 6/1 the "Evening Times" reported that he drove east and entered the 80-yard sprint handicap at the New Year Sprint meeting in Newtongrange. He was beaten in his heat in a photo-finish by the eventual winner of the race whose time was 8.36 seconds. He was eventually advised by the club to give up sprinting because he became prone to ankle injuries.

Publishing date An original Thistle Archive publication, 07-Sep-2020.
Latest edit date Latest edit version 02-Jun-2020.

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