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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 |
| Bobby Beath |
 Robert Hay Beath was born on Friday, 22nd June, 1906, in Wemyss, Fife. The 5' 8 (11st 0lbs) defender initially signed for Thistle on Tuesday, 26th March, 1929, having most recently been with Kilsyth Emmet. Aged 34, he (finally) made his debut appearance (as a guest) on Saturday, 24th May, 1941, in a 2-1 win away to Celtic in the Glasgow Charity Cup. There were no goals for Bobby during his spell with Thistle. He played his second and last game for the club on Saturday, 31st May, 1941, in a 3-0 neutral-venue defeat against Rangers in the Glasgow Charity Cup. His club-list included Kilsyth Emmet, Partick Thistle, Dundee, Arbroath, Falkirk and Albion Rovers. Bobby died on Tuesday, 22nd July, 1969, in Glasgow, aged 63. |
 Bobby was an inside forward turned defender who found his niche at Albion Rovers as a left back. In 1941, the 34-year-old played two Glasgow Charity Cup matches for Thistle, beating Celtic 2-1 at Celtic Park on 24 May 1941, but falling 3-0 to Rangers in the Hampden Final in front of a 24,500 crowd. Many years earlier, Bobby had previously been a Jags’ reserves player for the seasons 1928-29 and 1929-30. Whilst a Kilsyth Emmett man, he played as trialist with Thistle in a few Alliance games from August 1928, and did likewise with Dundee 'A', turning out as a "Newman" in a game against Bo'ness in January 1929. He finally signed with Thistle in March 1929 but never made it out of the Reserves in 1929-30. Bobby moved to Arbroath in the summer of 1930, playing 25 competitive matches for the club as inside-right and wing-half in 1930-31. He then moved to Falkirk for 1931-32. The following season found Bobby at Cliftonhill, and it was there he stayed for the following 15 seasons. The 2nd Division club won the League in 1933-34, with promotion to the 1st Division, where they stayed for 3 seasons. They returned to the 1st Division in 1938-39, having spent a single season in the lower Division. World War 2 intervened, and Bobby joined the Observer Corps (OC). In 1940, the Daily Record showed a photo of Bobby’s OC post celebrating their part in the destruction of the 1st German plane destroyed in air-to-air combat over the UK, (albeit this may not actually have been the case!). The plane was a Heinkel HE 111 destroyed over the Firth of Forth, and had been attacked by Spitfires from 602 (City of Glasgow) and 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadrons. Both Squadrons were based at Drem in East Lothian, with the naval base at Rosyth a German target. In October of 1942 Bobby was called up for real, and joined the RAF. Post-war Bobby returned to Cliftonhill and in August he became part-time manager of the club, a post he held for 2 seasons from 1950 to 1952. He also served as a scout for The Wee Rovers. Away from football Bobby was a commercial travelling salesman. On account of his service during WWII, Bobby is included in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle returned →. |
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