The Thistle Archive

Graham, an engineer to trade, came through at Kilsyth Rangers before Willie Thornton signed him to semi-professional terms at Partick Thistle in the summer of 1964. The versatile teenager, who preferred to play on the left, was deployed as a wing half or a winger during his season at Thistle, which was mainly spent in the reserves. He got his one and only chance in the first team after inside-right Billy Hainey put in a transfer request in the autumn of 1964. Patrons could have been forgiven for thinking that Rainey was a misprint for Hainey!

Over 9,000 were at Firhill on 3 October 1964 for the visit of Hearts on league business. The "fair-haired youngster" was outside right for his debut - not his preferred position - and it was a big ask against the high-flying Edinburgh side. An overhead kick by Neil Duffy gave Thistle a deserved lead (4) but Hearts equalised (31). Magnificent saves by George Niven kept it at 1-1 but 2nd top Hearts were the better team by now and they went ahead (50). Thistle went all out, 2 shots were cleared off the line and 2-2 looked likely until Hearts scored (88). Thistle were unlucky. As the Daily Record put it "Rainey may develop along the desired lines, but it was impossible to judge on his debut because of the lack of service and the attention given him by Hearts left-back Chris Shevlane who, at times, wasn't too particular how he tackled the teenager."

After being freed in the summer of '65, Jim Bonthrone signed the 19-year-old Graham for East Fife, where he would play alongside future Thistle legend Alex Rae. He played only a handful of games for the Fifers in his sole season in Methil, usually on the left wing. Sometime after being freed in April 1966, he left for a new life down under and continued as a footballer with Port Melbourne Slavia, for whom he played outside left from 1967 to 1968. Graham wasn't long in striking gold with Slavia as they won the Victoria Dockerty Cup in October 1967, defeating South Melbourne Hellas 4-0 in the final.