Andrew MacGillivray
Andrew MacGillivray
Andrew MacGillivray
● Andrew MacGillivray, 1936 (DU)

born in Scotland

Andrew George Ritchie MacGillivray was born in 1909, in Bo'ness, West Lothian, although the date remains unknown to us. *

The 5' 9 (11st 0 lbs) forward signed for Donald Turner's Thistle on Monday, 3rd March, 1930, having most recently been with Penicuik.

Aged 20 or 21, he made his only appearance on Wednesday, 27th August, 1930, in a 3-3 draw away to King's Park in a benefit match.

There were no goals for Andrew in his one-off appearance for Thistle.

His club-list included Penicuik, Partick Thistle, Albion Rovers, Leith Athletic, Stenhousemuir, Dundee United, Dumbarton and Montrose.

Andrew died on Saturday, 31st May, 1980, in South Queensferry, West Lothian, aged 70.

* If you can help us to improve any of these marked points on The Thistle Archive, then please do get in touch →

Bio Extra

MacGillivray was more commonly thought of as a left sided half back, although his single game for Thistle was played at inside left. He had been playing at junior level with Penicuik when he signed for Thistle in the springtime of 1930, and got his first team start some 5 months later in the non-pressured enviroment of a benefit match at Forthbank Park, home to King's Park. Played for the benefit of King's Park's centre-half Robert Baird, it was a surprisingly competitive affair, played at a fast pace despite the heat. Miller opened the scoring for Thistle (10) but King's Park equalised with a free-kick by h-t. The home side went ahead (80), but Peter Cunningham equalised for Thistle (82) before a beautiful goal looked like claiming the spoils for the Stirling men. However, a last-minute John Torbet penalty forever ensured that MacGillivray's only Thistle game would not be a losing one.

He was a registered Thistle player for just over 2 seasons, but never got near the first team again, and switched to Albion Rovers in August 1932. He played for them 11 times in the Second Division that season, before moving on to Leith Athletic a year later. There, he really made his mark, so much so that he was an ever-present in their Division 2 campaign of 1933-34. In all he made 90 appearances with the Edinburgh side over the course of his 3 seasons there. Andrew was unsettled in 1936-37, with short-term spells at Stenhousemuir, Dundee United & Dumbarton, before having a final succesful season at Montrose, where he was a near ever-present in 1937-38.

In his personal life, Andrew married Eva Ross in Edinburgh in 1935 and they spent 40 years together. Eva passed away in November, 1975, and Andrew spent 4½ years as a widower. The couple lie together at Queensferry Municipal Cemetery (see 'Scrapbook' tab).

(WS/AFK/JK)


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