The Thistle Archive

The son of Andrew Gilfillan and Jessie Gilfillan (née Kennedy).

David, a versatile forward, made his name with his hometown team, Renton, and played with them in the top-flight in his late teens. Unfortunately for him, the legalisation of professionalism was an ominous development for the Dunbartonshire region, where giants subsequently became minnows, unable to compete with their meagre gates in the hundreds. David experienced relegation in 1894, and Renton never would return. They continued to run into trouble with the authorities, failing to turn up for their away fixture against Dundee Wanderers in 1894–95, in favour of playing a more lucrative friendly against Queen's Park. The points were therefore awarded to the Wanderers. On a much more positive note, the club were more rigorous in their attention to that season's Scottish Cup, and reached their fifth Scottish Cup final. Although he scored a goal which reduced the deficit, it was merely silver for David (playing inside left on the day) as the Cup headed eastwards to St Bernard's of Edinburgh, who ran out 2-1 winners in front of 13,514 at Ibrox.

He was a near ever-present in the Renton side which finished 3rd in the 1895-96 Second Division, 3 points ahead of Thistle, but perhaps he saw the writing on the wall when he decided to jump ship for the Jags in for season 1896-97. That would be an historic season for Thistle as they won the title and gained promotion to the top-tier for the first time, but David would play very little part in it, both of his appearances coming in two League draws in August. He did sign off with a goal, putting Thistle ahead in a stubbornly contested 2-2 draw against Morton in front of 4,000 at Inchview. By the next month, he had been tempted away by Darwen, no doubt incentivised financially. David was back at Renton for season 1897-98 and played in all 4 of their League games, but it was a disastrous return. Renton's league career ended four games in when, unable to meet their financial guarantees, they tendered their resignation. This was accepted, with Hamilton Academical taking on Renton's remaining fixtures – less than a decade after Renton's "world championship". The club continued to play in a variety of minor senior leagues.