The Thistle Archive

Willie Thornton brought this diminutive right winger - a native of Airdrie - to Firhill for the start of season 1961-62. The teenager got his first team chance early too, featuring in the final two games of the league cup section, and scored in both, a 2-1 Firhill win vs. Hibs being followed by a 3-4 reverse away to St Johnstone. That impressive start ensured that Dickie featured in 9 of the first 14 league games and, by co-incidence, his first league goal was also againt Hibs at Firhill, this time a 4-1 win, on the famous occasion when Neil Duffy got married in the morning and was specially designated team captain in the afternoon!

Dickie fell away in first team terms in 1962, but did feature in 4 of the League Cup section games (all victories) to kick the new season off, scoring in an excellent 3-0 win at Pittodrie. The wee man also got on the scoresheet in the first league game of the season - a 2-1 win at Rugby Park which set the tone of what would be a memorable title challenge season! Dickie also featured on match day two - a 5-1 win at home to Clyde - but that was his last appearance in the league. He can always say he played his part with a 100% win rate in that campaign. Not so in the league cup however as there was disappointment for Dickie in his final game, a 1-2 defeat at home to Killie in the first leg of the Quarter Final tie.

Appearances from thereon were limited to the reserves and a move in the summertime of 1963 seemed inevitable. Talks with Doncaster Rovers broke down and Dickie signed with Second Division Berwick Rangers for season 1963-64 where he made over 40 appearances in his first season in all competitions and ran all the way to the league cup semi finals, losing out to Rangers by 3 goals to 1 in the end. Seeking a move nearer to home, Dickie switched to Stenhousemuir in December 1964 where he made over 40 appearances in a season and a half before being freed in April 1966.